Project Management - Project Plans
What is the definition of a Gannt Chart?
A Gannt chart is an outstanding instrument when used by PMP's who hope to envision, schedule, and monitor estimated and true project progress. Its graphical nature allows upper management and non-managers alike to readily recognize project flow, without requiring a full class for project administration.
Each occasion we, along our paths as PMP's, go through the challenges
of our worlds, toiling
to make or exceed the self-targeted goals,
a quiet thought of appreciation
extends to the heavens to HL Gannt for innovating
this intuitive mechanism for charting project timelines, because the project schedule allows us to perform well in the role of project
manager.
timeline Example
Background
 |
| H. L. Gannt |
HL Gannt (1861-1919) was an American industrial advisor, management consultant, and mechanical engineer.
HL Gannt devised Cartas de Gannt in the early 1900's.
Back then, project plans were thoroughly ground-breaking and fresh.
Huge construction projects like like the Hoover Dam and the Eisenhower National Defense Interstate Highway System necessitated a tool such as the Gannt diagram,
Now, a staple project management tool and buzzword in the repertoire of modern project administration tools today, project timeline charts are routinely deployed in the
by managers, planners, and system developers.
Working on projects without them is unthinkable, except in the rare case when the inherent nature of the work does not require them.
The Carta Gannt has found universal status,
known in French as diagramme de Gannt and Spanish as carta Gannt, grafica de Gannt, and diagrama de Gannt],
indeed the whole world speaks this common language of
project representation.
HL Gannt's global contribution to the modern project management is honored today through the HL Gannt Medal.
This medal, established in 1929, is awarded for distinguished achievement in management and service to the community.
Practical Application
So, how does someone use a project plan? These charts are generally introduced during the planning and scheduling stages of projects.
A visual tool, the charts allow us to obtain a bird's eye view of the project in its totality.
From beginning to the end, the charts force us to:
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Make a realistic assessment of the end-time of the project.
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Arrange the work (or phases) - one after the other, as well as at the same time.
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Think in terms of task dependencies - which task is dependent on what.
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Concentrate on the necessary resources, both when and where, throughout the run of the project.
After the project schedules are drawn up, and project execution begins, we start comparing our actual, ground-level performance against what was planned.
This comparison is possible by checking the field reports against the Graphicas de Gannt.
Thus, we get to benefit from them in two immediate ways:
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To supervise work in progress. At the minimum, a percentage of completion can
be worked out, by taking a snapshot of the progress "right-now", and comparing
it with the chart, for the "right-now" point of time. If there are any slip-ups
in terms of time or cost, we are forced to question our optimism (or hope?)
that the tasks would get completed earlier then they actually did, at the
planning stage. This introspection helps in more realistic planning for a now
more matured manager in their future projects.
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To also think in terms of speeding up future tasks, while there is still time,
to redeem the total project's deadline. Perhaps resources (better manpower,
more funds, or additional material) need to be allocated much in advance for a
task that is going to be initiated later down the line? Perhaps some tasks may
be rescheduled in a more efficient manner, in order to meet some unforeseen
contingencies that have occurred after the project started?
How to create a Carta de Gannt
A project timeline, after all this effort, is just a chart with rows and columns.
One simply writes all the tasks, one below the other, so that each task occupies a single row.
Alongside the names, columns are drawn to indicate the dates.
The dates may be in increments of days, weeks or months.
Depending on the total length of the project, we may decide the granularity of the date increments which is appropriate - days, weeks or months.
Now, for each task in a row, we draw a horizontal (preferably hollow) bar alongside, with its start point in the column representing the date when it is scheduled to begin, and the end point in the column of the date when it is
expected to end.
Once these horizontal bars are drawn, we step back and get to observe the tasks that are going to run sequentially, in parallel, or overlap.
Once the effort has commenced, program managers simply fill in the hollow bars to a length that is in proportion to the fraction of the work that has
been completed, for every task. In order to judge where we stand on any given
date - say today, we can draw an imaginary vertical line through the chart at
the current date - this is a "snapshot line". The tasks that are supposed to
have completed fully shall be to the left of this snapshot line. If they are
indeed completed, their hollow bars shall have been completely filled. Partial
filling indicates slip-ups. Tasks that are crossing the snapshot line are
current tasks in hand; well, at the least they are tasks that were scheduled to
have begun before today. If the horizontal bar on such tasks is filled in to
the left of the line, then the current tasks are behind schedule; if they are
filled in to the right of the line, then they are ahead of schedule. Future
tasks, of course, will lie completely on the right of the snapshot line.
Complicated projects
The previous information is about simpler Gannt's.
Ideally, tasks in simple projects would not go beyond a single page, which makes them manageable.
Often, and especially in complex projects, each task may be broken into smaller and more easily manageable subtasks.
These subtasks may be moved to subordinate charts, with their own timelines.
In management terminology, the process - of breaking up of these tasks into independent unit-tasks that can be completed on their own - has been given an exotic name of Work Breakdown Structure.
The Work Breakdown enables the project manager's mind to grasp the project in its entirety as well as to think in terms of allocating resources, assign responsibilities, and measure and control the project, for every task and sub-task.
Further, in team-oriented projects, where each task is to be handled by
different personnel, there might be an additional column against each task,
where initials of these personnel may be entered, to identify who is supposed
to be doing what.
Project Milestones
When the team achieves a project milestone. It is cause for celebration.
They help to boost the morale of personnel involved in making the project a success.
If the timeline is drawn up along with suitable (and achievable!) milestones, by using some special symbol such as brightly-colored diamonds, and the chart is kept in some centrally visible place, it would motivate all the
people to achieve them.
These milestones could range from perhaps the approval of project design by the customer, or completion of project prototype, to delivery of individual modules by different teams.
Conclusion
Now that HL Gannt showed the way, such a library of management literature has been written on managing projects.
Indeed, Project Management is a full-fledged discipline in itself, deserving of a separate academic degree for those who pursue it as a career and profession.
More powerful models have evolved in the past few decades, which strive to capture the complexity of human endeavor and track and monitor its progress.
The project schedule continues to be used in some avatar or the other in all such models.
And for simple projects, The Gannt Chart is the solution.
A Gannt Diagram is a pictoral portrayal of work effort as segments of work over time. It aids arrangement and monitoring of project development and resource allotment. On the left-hand segment of the Gannt Diagram flows a column with the work breakdown structure (basically, a list of tasks). The chart part shows time progression, expressed either relatively or absolutely.
When reading a Gannt Diagram, each task consumes one row. Calendar segments run along the top, incrementing as applicable for the size of the project under review. Rows of bars in the Gannt Diagram depict the starting and end times of every WBS item in the project. Effort may happen in order, in parallel, or staggered.
Nearly all project administration application (like ProjectHand) allows management of projects with Gannt diagram representation of project workflow.
These tools offer a number of tools for managers to start, track and report projects.
Sample Gannt Diagram
History of the Gannt Diagram
The Gannt Diagram was designed by HL Gannt, an American engineer, in 1917.
He devised the prototype of the Gannt chart to build ships around World War I.
His eponymous tool proved to be such a useful tool that it has remain unchanged for 80 years.
It was only in the 1990's that Gannt Charts were improved to include lines to link tasks.
Tip drawing Gannt Charts:
On large projects, tasks with a number of internal subtasks can be split into constituent Gannt Diagrams to improve readability.
