subject: Project Schedule & Gantt Chart [print this page] The Project schedule is a calendar that links the tasks to be done with the resources that will do them. Before a project schedule can be created, the project manager must have a work breakdown structure (WBS), an effort estimate for each task, and a resource list with availability for each resource.
The first step in building the project schedule is to identify the resources required to perform each of the activities required to complete the project . When preparing a schedule estimate, consider that transition between activities often takes time.
A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. A Gantt chart is a graphical representation of the duration of tasks against the progression of time. In a Gantt chart, each task takes up one row with dates running across the horizontal axis in increments of days, weeks or months. The bars in the Gantt chart visually show the start and end dates of each task in a project. Tasks may run sequentially, in parallel or overlap each other.
Henry Laurence Gantt (1861-1919) developed Gantt charts in the second decade of the 20th century as a visual tool to show scheduled and actual progress of projects. Accepted as a common-place project management tool today, it was quite a radical concept and an innovation of world-wide importance in the 1920s. Gantt charts were first used on large construction projects like the Hoover Dam in 1931.
Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Gantt Charts are useful tools for analyzing and planning complex projects. When a project is under way, Gantt Charts help you to monitor whether the project is on schedule. If it is not, it allows you to pinpoint the remedial action necessary to put it back on schedule. This can be essential for the successful and profitable implementation of the project.
