Gantt Charts

Gantt Charts

Gantt Charts

Definition and Purpose

• Gantt Charts are a visual tool primarily used for project management.
• They clearly communicate the timeline, tasks involved and progress of a project.
• They’re important for scheduling, coordinating, and tracking specific tasks and resources in a project.

Creating a Gantt chart

• It begins with a table listing the tasks to be completed.
• These tasks are then graphically represented in horizontal bars along a timeline.
• The length of each bar corresponds to the scheduled task duration.

Reading a Gantt chart

• Each task is represented by a horizontal bar whose left end marks the expected beginning of the task and whose right end marks the expected completion date.
• Progress in the task can be illustrated by shading the portion of the task bar that has been completed.

Limitations of Gantt Charts

• They don’t show the interdependencies among tasks, for that, a network diagram is needed.
• They can become overly complex for large-scale projects with multiple overlapping elements.

Using Gantt Charts in Decision Math

• Gantt charts can be used to solve problems involving scheduling and resource allocation.
• They provide an easy way to visualize the critical path and can help with making decisions about task sequencing and identifying potential bottlenecks in a project process.