Every complex project has a constant struggle with a timeline that seems to always be fast approaching. Project managers are all too aware of how high degrees of task interdependence can lead to severe delays if one process along the way is held up. Being able to identify how one task relates to another and the various factors that affect its completion is half the battle.
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A recent study indicated that 70%-80% of project changes can be attributed to internal and controllable issues, so being able to keep track of all those balls in the air is essential to ensure the timely and effective completion of any project.
While some tasks can be done at any time others can only begin once another is completed. Understanding this relationship is critical to determining workflow, allocating resources and setting deadlines.
To do this effectively, the project as a whole needs to be visualised from start to finish and a great way to do that is with a Gantt chart.
A Gantt chart is a tool that assists in the planning and scheduling of projects. This horizontal bar chart lists tasks against a timeline as well as displays start and end dates, dependencies and showcases how much of the task is completed per stage and who the owner of each task is.
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Here is how a Gantt chart helps in planning your project:
Ensures clarity: A Gantt chart allows you to look at a complex project and break it down into smaller manageable tasks. You can then assign roles better, implement clear milestones and communicate with your team more effectively. All dates and time frames are listed out in relation to another which allows everyone to get on the same page and better understand their responsibilities.
Explains task relatability: The biggest challenge in executing a complex project is understanding the interdependence of workflow. Identifying the difference between sequential and parallel tasks allows for more efficient planning and greatly reduces delays and duplication of work.
Effectively allocate resources: The ability to visualise the entire project in one place allows you to assign priorities to individual tasks. You can now see where things are getting held up, what task needs assistance in reaching an important milestone and provide more resources if needed.
Make future-looking decisions: Oftentimes we are so caught up in the day-to-day that we lose sight of the big picture. Relatively unimportant tasks can sometimes take large chunks of time and effort and have cascading effects on the overall timeline of the project. A Gantt chart helps to identify these inefficiencies faster. The ability to recognise bottlenecks and address them quickly allows for better long term planning.
4 ways to create an effective Gantt chart
- Get granular: One great aspect of Gantt charts is that it allows you to add tasks in great detail. For efficient project planning you should break up tasks into smaller sub-tasks, the more information you can provide about the various things that need to be done for a task to be completed, the better. For example, the task of ‘create website’ can be further divided into, create wireframe, choose a theme, write content, etc. This will better explain the relationship each subtask has to each other and allow for more efficient planning.
- Identify responsible parties: The people, companies or teams that are responsible for each phase of the project should be clearly identified and represented on the chart. People should understand who to hand over the task to once completed and what other teams are working on it parallely.
- List specific start and end dates: Identifying individual milestones along the way is extremely important. Your Gantt chart should have a clear start and end date for each task which fits into the broader schedule of the entire project. You can then identify individual delays if any and make adjustments so that the entire project is not affected.
- Note dependencies: The Gantt chart should clearly represent which tasks should overlap and which tasks need to be sequenced. The clearer this relationship is represented, the more efficiently individual tasks can be carried out. Tasks that are highly related to each other should be broken down into groups and represented next to each other on the chart.
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Gantt charts can be used for everything from large scale infrastructure projects to online product development. Its efficiency lies in the ability to simplify and visualise every aspect of a project. Creating Gantt charts have now become extremely easy with the rise in online visualisation tools. Tools like Creately make planning and visualising projects a breeze with its intuitive software that makes the otherwise tedious task of creating a Gantt chart much easier.
Chiraag George is a Communication Specialist at Creately, a visual workspace for team collaboration. He is a marketing junkie that is fascinated by how brands occupy consumer mind space. A lover of all things tech, he writes a lot about the intersection of technology, branding and culture at large. He covers a wide range of topics; everything from UX design to marketing strategy and uses Creately and its templates to visualise everything he writes about.
Email – chiraag@cinergix.com
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