Gantt chart

Activity	Predecessor	Time estimates (in days)			Expected time (TE)
		Opt. (O)	Normal (M)	Pess. (P)
a	—	2	4	6	4.00
b	—	3	5	9	5.33
c	a	4	5	7	5.17
d	a	4	6	10	6.33
e	b, c	4	5	7	5.17
f	d	3	4	8	4.50
g	e	3	5	8	5.17

Once this step is complete, one can draw a Gantt chart or a network diagram.

A Gantt chart created using Microsoft Project. Note (1) the critical path is in red, (2) the slack is the black lines connected to non-critical activities, (3) since Saturday and Sunday are not work days and are thus excluded from the schedule, some bars on the Gantt chart are longer if they cut through a weekend.

Progress Gantt charts

In a progress Gantt chart, tasks are shaded in proportion to the degree of their completion: a task that is 60% complete would be 60% shaded, starting from the left. A vertical line is drawn at the time index when the progress Gantt chart is created, and this line can then be compared with shaded tasks. If everything is on schedule, all task portions left of the line will be shaded, and all task portions right of the line will not be shaded. This provides a visual representation of how the project and its tasks are ahead or behind schedule.

Linked Gantt charts

Linked Gantt charts contain lines indicating the dependencies between tasks. However, linked Gantt charts quickly become cluttered in all but the simplest cases. Critical path network diagrams are superior to visually communicate the relationships between tasks. Nevertheless, Gantt charts are often preferred over network diagrams because Gantt charts are easily interpreted without training, whereas critical path diagrams require training to interpret. Gantt chart software typically provides mechanisms to link task dependencies, although this data may or may not be visually represented. Gantt charts and network diagrams are often used for the same project, both being generated from the same data by a software application.

See also

• Critical path method
• Data and information visualization
• Event chain methodology
• Float (project management)
• List of project management software, which includes specific Gantt chart software.
• Program evaluation and review technique (PERT)
• Progress bar
• Event chain diagram

References

• Clark, Wallace (1922). The Gantt Chart: A Working Tool of Management. New York, NY: Ronald Press.
• Flouris, Triant G.; Lock, Dennis (2012). Managing Aviation Projects from Concept to Completion. Ashgate Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4094-8613-8.
• Gantt, H.L. (1910). "Work, Wages and Profit". Engineering Magazine. New York.; republished as Work, Wages and Profits. Easton, Pennsylvania: Hive Publishing Company. 1974. ISBN 0-87960-048-9.
• Klein, R. (1999). Scheduling of Resource-Constrained Projects. Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series. Springer US. ISBN 978-0-7923-8637-7.
• Marsh, Edward R. (1974). "The Harmonogram of Karol Adamiecki". Academy of Management Proceedings. 1974: 32. doi:10.5465/ambpp.1974.17530521. ISSN 0065-0668.
• Morris, Peter W. G. (1997) [1994]. The Management of Projects. Thomas Telford. ISBN 978-0-7277-2593-6.
• Project Management Institute (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide). Project Management Institute (7th ed.). Newtown Square, PA. ISBN 978-1-62825-664-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Richman, L. (2002). Project Management Step-by-step. Amacom. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-8144-2657-9.
• Selig, Gad J. (2008). Implementing IT Governance: A Practical Guide to Global Best Practices in IT Management. Van Haren Publishing. ISBN 978-90-8753-774-6.
• Weaver, Patrick (2012a). "Henry L Gantt, 1861–1919: A retrospective view of his work" (PDF). PM World Journal. Retrieved 29 January 2018. (It is unclear when this was last modified. The PDF metadata indicates 2015, and a note in the text says "Augmented with additional materials received since publication".)
• Weaver, Patrick (2012b). "Henry L Gantt, 1861–1919: Debunking the myths, a retrospective view of his work" (PDF). 1 (5). Retrieved 29 January 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Weaver, Patrick (2017). "A Brief History of Scheduling: Back to the Future" (PDF). Retrieved 29 January 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) Adapted from "A Brief History of Scheduling: Back to the Future" (PDF). PM World Journal. 3 (8). 2014. Adapted from an even earlier 2006 presentation.
• Wilson, James M. (2003). "Gantt charts: A centenary appreciation" (PDF). European Journal of Operational Research. 149 (2): 430–437. doi:10.1016/S0377-2217(02)00769-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.

Further reading

• Burkhard, Remo Aslak; Meier, Michael; Rodgers, Peter; Smis, Matthias Thomas Jelle; Stott, Jonathan (2005). Knowledge visualization: A comparative study between Project Tube Maps and Gantt Charts. 5th International Conference on Knowledge Management. Graz, Austria: University of Kent. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
• Geraldi, Joana; Lechter, Thomas (2012). "Gantt charts revisited: A critical analysis of its roots and implications to the management of projects today". International Journal of Managing Projects in Business. 5 (4): 578–594. doi:10.1108/17538371211268889.
• Kumar, Pankaja Pradeep (2005). "Effective use of Gantt chart for managing large scale projects". Cost Engineering. 47 (7): 14–21. ISSN 0274-9696. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
• Marsh, Edward R. (1975). "The Harmonogram of Karol Adamiecki". Academy of Management Journal. 18 (2): 358–364. doi:10.2307/255537. JSTOR 255537.
• Maylor, Harvey (2001). "Beyond the Gantt chart: Project management moving on". European Management Journal. 19 (1): 92–100. doi:10.1016/S0263-2373(00)00074-8. S2CID 153555271.
• Schürch, Hermann (1915), "Der Bau des Talüberganges bei Langwies an der elektrischen Bahn Chur-Arosa" [The construction of the valley crossing at Langwies of the Chur-Arosa electric railway line] (PDF), Armierter Beton: Monatsschrift für Theorie und Praxis des gesamten Betonbaues (Reinforced concrete: Monthly for theory and practice of the entire concrete construction) (in German), vol. 8, no. 10, Berlin: Springer, pp. 229–238, retrieved 29 January 2018
• Virine, Lev & Trumper, Michael (2013), ProjectThink. Why Good Managers Make Poor Project Choices, Gower Pub Co., ISBN 978-1409454984{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Virine, Lev & Trumper, Michael (2017), Project Risk Analysis Made Ridiculously Simple, World Scientific Publishing, ISBN 978-9814759373{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Weaver, Patrick. "Henry L. Gantt: A Retrospective view of his work". Retrieved 29 January 2018.
• Weaver, Patrick. "A Brief History of Scheduling".

External links

• Long-running discussion regarding limitations of the Gantt chart format, and alternatives, on Edward Tufte's website