A Brief Tutorial on Gantt charts

Adapted from W. Durfee and T. Chase, 2003

http://www.me.umn.edu/courses/me4054/assinments/antt.htm!
Using Gantt Charts to Manage your Senior Design Project
"our team is e#pected to produce a $antt chart and to %eep it up&to&date for use in p!annin 'our pro(ect.
We encourae 'ou to use )* +ro(ect to produce 'our chart. ,Wh' )* +ro(ect- .ecause it/s the most
wide!' used pro(ect p!annin pac%ae in industr', and 'ou shou!d 0e !earnin how to use 1rea! wor!d1
too!s.2
3o!!ow these uide!ines whi!e creatin 'our chart:
4se wee%s as the time unit.
*how more detai! on desin tas%s, !ess detai! on reports/documentation/presentation tas%s. "our
chart shou!d ha5e a0out 3/4 desin tas%s, 6/4 documentation/presentation re!ated tas%s.
De0uin and testin are time consumin tas%s. .e sure that 'our chart ref!ects the rea!it' of
how 'ou spend 'our time.
7e5iew and update $antt chart e5er' 5 da's, more often if needed.
Project Planning Basics
A 1+ro(ect1 is a set of acti5ities that ends with specific accomp!ishment and that has ,62 non&routine tas%s,
,22 distinct start/finish dates, and ,32 resource constraints ,time/mone'/peop!e/e8uipment2.
1Tas%s1 are acti5ities that must 0e comp!eted to achie5e the pro(ect oa!s. .rea% the pro(ect into tas%s and
su0tas%s. Tas%s ha5e start and end points, are short re!ati5e to the pro(ect and are sinificant ,not 1oin
to !i0rar'1, 0ut rather, 1search !iterature12. 4se 5er0&noun form for namin tas%s ,e.. 1create drawins1 or
10ui!d protot'pe12. 4se action 5er0s such as 1create,1 1define,1 and 1ather,1 rather than 1wi!! 0e made.1
9ach tas% has a duration. :t is 5er' difficu!t to estimate durations accurate!'. Dou0!in 'our 0est uess
usua!!' wor%s we!!.
1)i!estones1 are important chec%points or interim oa!s for a pro(ect. )i!estones can 0e used to catch
schedu!in pro0!ems ear!'. ;ame mi!estones 0' noun&5er0 form, ,e.. 1report due,1 1parts ordered1
1protot'pe comp!ete12.
"our p!an wi!! e5o!5e, so 0e f!e#i0!e and update 'our chart on a reu!ar 0asis. :t a!so he!ps to identif'
ris% areas for pro(ect, for e#amp!e, thins 'ou don/t %now how to do 0ut wi!! ha5e to !earn. These are ris%'
0ecause 'ou ma' not ha5e a ood sense for how !on the tas% wi!! ta%e. <r 'ou ma' not %now how !on it
wi!! ta%e to recei5e components 'ou purchased for a pro(ect.
Work Breakdown Statement
A wor% 0rea%down statement ,W.*2 is a cateori=ed !ist of tas%s with an estimate of resources re8uired
to comp!ete the tas%. An e#amp!e W.* appears 0e!ow.
WBS
#
Task
Descrition
!st
Person
"#rs
Who $esources M%S
5 +rofi!e motor power

5.6 Desin test stand 20 *9, >) +ro/9

5.2 .ui!d test stand 65 *9, >) 3rame ? 0ra%e parts @35
5.3 Test 3 motors 3 *9, >) *tro0oscope @A5
5.4 +!ot tor8ue 5s. speed 2 >) 9#ce!

,)?* B )ateria!s ? *upp!ies2
Gantt Chart Basics
$antt charts are a pro(ect p!annin too! that can 0e used to represent the timin of tas%s re8uired to
comp!ete a pro(ect. .ecause $antt charts are simp!e to understand and eas' to construct, the' are used 0'
most pro(ect manaers for a!! 0ut the most comp!e# pro(ects.
:n a $antt chart, each tas% ta%es up one row.
Dates run a!on the top in increments of da's, wee%s or months, dependin on the tota! !enth of
the pro(ect.
The e#pected time for each tas% is represented 0' a hori=onta! 0ar whose !eft end mar%s the
e#pected 0einnin of the tas% and whose riht end mar%s the e#pected comp!etion date.
Tas%s ma' run se8uentia!!', in para!!e! or o5er!appin.
As the pro(ect proresses, the chart is updated 0' fi!!in in the 0ars to a !enth proportiona! to the
fraction of wor% that has 0een accomp!ished on the tas%. This wa', 'ou can et a 8uic% readin of
pro(ect proress 0' drawin a 5ertica! !ine throuh the chart at the current date.
Comp!eted tas%s !ie to the !eft of the !ine and are comp!ete!' fi!!ed in.
Current tas%s cross the !ine and are 0ehind schedu!e if their fi!!ed&in section is to the !eft of the
!ine and ahead of schedu!e if the fi!!ed&in section stops to the riht of the !ine.
3uture tas%s !ie comp!ete!' to the riht of the !ine.
:n constructin a $antt chart, %eep the tas%s to a manaea0!e num0er ,no more than 65 or 202 so that the
chart fits on a sin!e pae. )ore comp!e# pro(ects ma' re8uire su0ordinate charts which detai! the timin
of a!! the su0tas%s which ma%e up one of the main tas%s. 3or team pro(ects, it often he!ps to ha5e an
additiona! co!umn containin num0ers or initia!s which identif' who on the team is responsi0!e for the
tas%.
<ften the pro(ect has important e5ents which 'ou wou!d !i%e to appear on the pro(ect time!ine, 0ut which
are not tas%s. 3or e#amp!e, 'ou ma' wish to hih!iht when a protot'pe is comp!ete or the date of a
desin re5iew. "ou enter these on a $antt chart as 1mi!estone1 e5ents and mar% them with a specia!
s'm0o!, often an upside&down trian!e.
A samp!e chart made usin )icrosoft +ro(ect appears 0e!ow. +ro(ect is the most wide!' used schedu!in
too! for sma!! pro(ects.
We want 'ou use )* +ro(ect to create 'our $antt charts 0ecause it wi!! i5e 'ou e#perience usin this
important pac%ae.
To em0ed a +ro(ect $antt chart into a Word document, et the chart showin on the screen, then 9dit C
Cop' +icture... C to $:3 fi!e. 3rom there 'ou can import the if fi!e into Word. "ou ma' ha5e to rotate it
D0 derees in )* +aint to et it to fit and 0e reada0!e.
Do ;<T put the Chart in 'our document as a >+9$ fi!e. 4se a non&!oss' format, such as a $:3 fi!e.
.ottom !ine: )a%e it !oo% oodE