Reading: Gantt Chart/Project Scheduling and Tracking

Gantt Charts are bar charts showing the start and finish dates of the different tasks that comprise a project. These charts can help in scheduling, managing, and monitoring specific tasks and resources in a project. The horizontal bars of different lengths represent the project timeline, which can include task sequences, duration, and the start and end dates for each task and is widely used in project management.

Use of Gantt Charts

Construction managers, facility managers, and civil engineers use Gantt charts to plan and schedule engineering and construction projects. They are used to track the progress of the project and to ensure that the project is completed on time. Gantt charts are also used to allocate resources and to identify potential problems that may arise during the project. They are an essential tool for managers and engineers to ensure that a project is completed on time and within budget. They are used on nearly all projects.

This figure is from project management software and shows a Gantt chart for a construction project. The chart shows the start and finish dates of the different tasks that comprise the project. The horizontal bars of different lengths represent the project timeline, which can include task sequences, duration, and the start and end dates for each task. You can use the information in this chart to associate resources, staff, costs, and other important information with tasks and perform critical path analysis to identify the most critical tasks in the project.

gantt_chart.png

Gantt Chart Basics

A Gantt chart is a project management tool that shows tasks (or activities) along a timeline. It helps visualize what needs to be done, when, and how tasks overlap. Each task is represented by a horizontal bar:

  • The length of the bar = task duration
  • The position of the bar = start and end dates on the calendar
  • Bars can overlap (parallel tasks) or be sequential (dependent tasks)
  • Often shows dependencies (e.g., Task B starts only after Task A finishes)

Input Data Needed for a Gantt Chart

To build one, you typically need:

  1. Task List
  • All activities or work packages that make up the project
  1. Start Date for Each Task
  • When work is planned to begin
  1. End Date or Duration for Each Task
  • Either a finish date or how long it will take
  1. Dependencies (Optional but Useful)
  • Links showing if a task must wait for another to finish/start (e.g., “Finish-to-Start”)
  1. Resources (Optional)
  • Who or what is assigned to each task (people, teams, equipment)
  1. Milestones (Optional)
  • Key deadlines or deliverables with zero duration (e.g., “Prototype Complete”)

👉 With just tasks, start dates, and durations, you can make a basic Gantt. Adding dependencies and resources makes it much more powerful.

Gantt Charts in Excel

While there is dedicated software for creating Gantt charts, you can also create them in Excel. This is a useful skill to have as it can be used to create simple Gantt charts for small projects. This is also a good comprehensive exercise to use some of the skills we have learned in Excel.

Note

CFM students will later take a semester long class that teaches you the specifics of scheduling and go more in-depth so this will be a helpful head-start on the concepts talked about in scheduling.

Gantt Chart Tutorial Video

Please watch the following video as part of your assignment. This video is for educational use and to help you create Gantt charts for your own projects. The video will give you a good overview of what we will be doing in class. Please watch the entire video before continuing. Don't worry about remembering all the details - we will go over them in class. The objective of this video is to give you a general idea of how we will be creating our Gantt chart and how they work.

📺 Watch on YouTube

Gantt Chart Creation in Excel

We will learn to create very basic Gantt charts in Excel. You will use them later in your project proposals for this class.

This involves several distinct steps

  • Identify the start date of each task
  • Identify the duration or end of each task. One of these can be calculated from the other.
  • Create a "calendar" sheet to draw the task lines
  • Use conditional formatting to color the Gantt chart
  • Use the SPARKLINE function to draw the "percent complete" on Gantt chart

Formulas Used in Gantt Chart Creation

Our in-class exercise will involve creating a Gantt chart in Excel. To prepare for that exercise, we will introduce some of the functions that will be used in the exercise. If you want more information or are confused on any of the functions, click on the title of the function, and it will take you to a website with a more in-depth explanation.

WEEKDAY()

This formula returns a number representing the day of the week of the day provided.

Syntax

  WEEKDAY(serial_number,[return_type])
  • serial_number - A sequential number that represents the date of the day you are trying to find. Typically this will be a cell with a "date" in int. Dates should be entered by using the DATE function, or as results of other formulas or functions.
  • return_type - [OPTIONAL - 1 by default] - A number that determines the type of return value. You can look at the documentation for WEEKDAY() to see the different return types. The default is 1, which means that the week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday. If you want the week to start on Monday, you can use 2 as the return type.

Usage

We will use this to convert a date into a number representing the day of the week. We will do some math so that the week always starts on a Monday.

TEXT()

This formula converts a number into text according to a specified format.

Syntax

  TEXT(number, "format")
  • number - the number, date, or time that needs to be formatted.

  • format - the pattern by which to format the number, must be enclosed in quotation marks. You can look up the different format codes in the documentation for TEXT(). For our use we will do something like:

    TEXT(A1, "DDD")

  • This will convert the date in cell A1 into a three letter abbreviation for the day of the week. For example, if A1 is a Monday, it will return "Mon".

Usage

We will use TEXT() to convert the number returned by WEEKDAY() into a text representation of the day of the week. So a "3" becomes "Mon" for a week that starts on Saturday which is the default in Excel.

LEFT()

LEFT returns the first character or characters in a text string, based on the number of characters you specify.

Syntax

  LEFT(text, [num_chars])
  • text - The text string that contains the characters you want to extract.
  • num_chars - [OPTIONAL - 1 by default] - Specifies the number of characters you want LEFT to extract. Num_chars must be greater than or equal to zero. If num_chars is greater than the length of text, LEFT returns all the text.

Usage

We will use Left() to extract the first letter of the day of the week. This will be used to format the Gantt chart using only single letters for the days of the week.

Pre-Class Quiz Challenge

First, make a copy of the starter sheet here: (Starter-Workbook)-Pre-Gantt-Chart.xlsx

This exercise will help you practice the functions we will use in class to create a Gantt chart in Excel.

  1. Use the =TODAY() formula in cell B2 to input today’s date.
  2. Use the =WEEKDAY() formula in cell B3 to return the weekday today’s date falls on. Use the value in B2 as your argument.
  3. Use the =TEXT() formula in cell B4 to return the weekday today’s date falls in the “DDD” format. Use the value in B3 as your argument.
  4. Use the =LEFT() formula in cell B5 to return the first letter of the weekday today’s date falls on. Use the value in B4 as your argument.
  5. Explain what each of these functions is doing in the C column under formula explanation.

Friendly reminder that if you can’t figure any of these steps that’s okay! This assignment is so you have some exposure to these formulas, and we will clarify confusion in class. You are also more than welcome to come to TA office hours or message a TA for help!

Turning in/Rubric

REMINDER - For this class, you will only turn in the links to your Excel files. You will get a 0 for this assignment if you turn in an Excel file or a link that is not shareable.

  1. On the top right, click the share button --> share --> settings
  2. Click "anyone" at the top, then underneath "More settings", change "can view" to "can edit". Then click apply.
  3. Copy the link, then turn it into Learning Suite in the feedback box for that assignment.

Rubric:

Item Points Possible
Total
 3

The following is not a part of the rubric, but specifies how you can lose points. For example: if you fail to share your link correctly.

Reasons for Points Lost Amount
Link shared incorrectly -10%