Easy Project Representation With A Gantt Chart

What is project management? It is a field in which you have to manage resources such as people effectively. It will help to complete the project in time with desired quality. It also reduces the cost of project with better methods. A few examples are projects like construction of a dam or implementation of a new satellite network.

Developing a project plan is a part of project management. The development of project plan includes many things such as defining project goals and objectives, specifying tasks or how goals could be achieved, what are the resources needed? Further, it includes estimating budgets and time schedules for completion of the project. It also takes care of the implementation of the project and ensures that project is being executed as per the original plan.

A special type of horizontal bar chart is used to give a graphical overview and list of all activities, elements and dependencies of a project. It is a chart that has rectangular bars of lengths proportional to values that they represent which helps in the comparison of two or more values. An example of a bar chart is the Gantt chart. It depicts the overall image of a project's timeline.

This chart illustrates the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work break down structure of the project. Some also show the precedence network relationships between activities.

Henry Gantt's name was attributed to this chart format when it became popular. In addition to this chart type, Gantt created and inspired many more. The particular type of Gantt chart widely used today was first called a layout chart when it was created by W. Clark in 1942. The idea of using more charting lines to indicate task interdependencies did not come until much later, becoming established in the late 1980's.

In project management, a terminal element is the smallest task tracked as part of the project. A Gantt chart shows when the project summary and terminal elements start and finish as well as terminal element dependencies. Most modern project management software produces an illustration of tasks in a Gantt format. Others choose simpler communication tools like message boards, to-do lists, simple scheduling, etc.

The steps involved in creating this chart process are first to determine and list the required activities. Then create a rough draft of the chart. Determine the dependencies and schedule the activities. Calculate the number of man-hours for each activity. Determine who will perform the activities. And then calculate the throughput time.

The purpose of a Gantt chart is to show the start and finish dates of the terminal and summary elements of a project. These elements are the work breakdown structure of the project and may show the precedence and network relationships between the activities in the project.