How-To: Read A Gantt Chart
Products like Microsoft Project and Standard Time offer Gantt
charts to show visual representations of project tasks. Gantt
charts are optional, but valuable for project management. This
article helps you read and understand them. Your project
management knowledge will increase by knowing the anatomy of a Gantt
chart. They are very easy to read and understand.
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Gantt Chart
Henry Gantt invented the Gantt chart to measure tasks in a project.
It measures task duration on a horizontal time scale using graphical
bars. The image below is a typical Gantt chart. It shows
both summary tasks and normal tasks. Notice the different bar
styles.
Scale
Tasks are measured against time. In other words, we wish to
know how long tasks will take, and when they will start - in
graphical form. It is much easier to see the relationships
between tasks when we see a picture of them. We can easily see
that one tasks starts before another, or that one tasks takes
longer. We know this because each task is set against a known
time scale. Normally, the time scale will measure days, weeks,
months, quarters, or years. You can scroll back and forth
through time. Right-click on the scale to change it.
Bars
Each bar represents a task. Project tasks are work to be
performed. They may be assigned to one or more employees, and
usually have a starting time and duration. The start time and
duration is placed against the time scale for visual comparison.
That lets you see how each task compares with others - all at a
glance. Summary Tasks
Sometimes projects are broken down into phases or sub-projects.
Standard Time calls them subsystems. Microsoft Project calls
them summary tasks. No one ever works on a summary task - they
work on the actual tasks under them. Summary tasks are used to
summarize all the actual work. They help break down a project
into manageable parts. These manageable parts are the real
tasks. In a Gantt chart, summary tasks are shown with
triangles at each end. This signifies the start and end of the
summary. You'll notice these in the Gantt chart above.
All tasks under the summary task are included in the summary bar.
Project Tasks
The actual tasks of a project are represented by a rectangular bar.
The start dates and finish dates determine the position and length of
the bars. This helps us visually compare one task with another,
or all at once. Percent Complete
Inside the task bars is a smaller bar representing the actual work
that has been performed on that task. Standard Time obtains
this value from the timesheet. As employees enter time into
the timesheet, it fills up the percent complete bar in the Gantt
chart. Standard Time Gantt Column
To show the Gantt column in Standard Time, follow these steps:
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Click the 'Project Tasks' tab
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Choose View, Columns
-
Click the Gantt column in the left-hand column
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Click Add
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Click Move Up or Move Down to reposition the column
-
Click OK
After showing the Gantt column in Standard Time, you
will see bars representing each project task. The summary
tasks will be collapsible, meaning that you can hide the real tasks.
When you collapse a summary task, the bars in the Gantt chart will
go away as well as the text.
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