What is a Gantt Chart?

Gantt Diagramm:
Definition, Examples and Synonyms

The Gantt chart was originally devised by Polish engineer, Karol Adamiecki, and American engineer, Henry Gantt, independently. In project portfolio management (PPM), Gantt charts support the scheduling and monitoring of projectsProjectA project is a time-limited undertaking with defined objectives and resources that delivers unique results and often includes complex tasks. to help organizations make informed decisions about resourceResourceResources are all the people, places and things that you need to complete projects. The most important resource? Employees, of course! allocationAllocationAllocating describes the strategic process of identifying the correct resources for projects or individual tasks and assigning them accordingly. and project priorities.

A Gantt chart maps each project against an ongoing timeline. How does a two-dimensional chart inform decision-making exactly?

A Practical Example

Imagine you work at a company that manufactures electronic equipment. Sounds simple, but your colleagues are likely working on a few different kinds of projects at any given time: research and development, order delivery, shifting production capacity from one product to another, rolling out a new HR software and presumably much more!

Each of these projects could be represented by a horizontal bar. One of the unique advantages of a Gantt chart, though, is the ability to group and categorize projects. For example, regularly occurring, run-the-business projects like order delivery or cyclical shifts in production capacity can be grouped together by being placed above the gray horizontal line in the left-hand sidebar.

Below the bar come one-off projects, like new product development and software integrationIntegrationAn integration is a virtual interface that connects different software programs and enables automated data exchange between them. This allows for more efficient processes, better planning, and consistent information.. Product development and order delivery, with their focus on the product side of things, can both have the same color, let’s say yellow. HR software rollout is a department-specific project, so we can give it a unique color: green.

And just like that, you have all your projects organized by type, with start dates, end dates and department visible at glance.

Synonyms and Abbreviations

There are none.

FAQ 

Need a Gantt chart software?
Try Meisterplan.

Meisterplan offers multiple views to give you a comprehensive overview of your entire projectProjectA project is a time-limited undertaking with defined objectives and resources that delivers unique results and often includes complex tasks. portfolio. For instance, the Portfolio Designer at the heart of our software builds off of a basic Gantt chart with drag-and-drop functionality that allows you to visualize your portfolio in real time.

Looking for a roadmap view? Meisterplan has got you covered there too! See your long-term strategic roadmapRoadmapA roadmap is a strategic overview of one or more projects, their progress, milestones, and objectives., including milestonesMilestoneIn project portfolio management, a milestone marks an important point in a project’s progress that requires monitoring or decision-making. Milestones indicate project phases, marking the completion of objectives or the… and dependencies, and ensure your projects are aligned with your long-term goals.

Meisterplan is even easier to use than Excel. Automatically see the effects of rescheduling projects thanks to immediate visual feedback. Plus, thanks to our easy-to-use user interface, your colleagues don’t need to know VBA to get started.

But it’s still possible to import data for use in Meisterplan if that’s what your teams prefer. This means you can keep using Excel if you’d like, while also gaining access to Meisterplan’s other helpful features, like intuitive resource managementResource ManagementWhen it comes to resource management, the focus is on the optimal planning, coordination and monitoring of resources. The term “resources” includes things like employees, budgets, materials and time. and comprehensive reporting.