Gantt chart is a tool for those who do not like to miss deadlines

What is a Gantt chart

The Gantt chart is a planning, task management tool that was invented by the American engineer Henry Gantt. It looks like horizontal bars located between two axes: the list of tasks vertically and dates horizontally.

The diagram shows not only the tasks themselves, but also their sequence. This allows you not to forget about anything and do everything in a timely manner.

Who needs a diagram

If you are a planning fanatic and love beautiful charts, the Gantt chart is for you. She will help both with the launch of an online store and in preparation for a large-scale event. In everyday life, the diagram is useful for self-planning a wedding, renovating or building a house, traveling or preparing for a session.

For example, a freelancer with a Gantt chart will be confident that they can take on another project. And the bride, looking at the schedule, will not worry that she is not doing anything.

In business, a Gantt chart helps everyone. The contractor knows exactly what needs to be done, for what and when, his boss controls the deadlines, and the client is calm if he sees at what stage the process is.

The tool will also come in handy for project presentation. The customer or the boss will see the volume and timing of the work and understand why the site design, for example, takes three months, and not a week.

How to get started with a Gantt chart

First of all, you need to create a table with the source data. You can do this anywhere: even on a piece of paper, even immediately in the program for building a diagram.

The table needs three types of data: the task name, the start date and the duration, or the predicted finish date of the task. Consider the timeline, resources, and budget of the project to provide a realistic finish date.

For example, let's say you two decide to redecorate your bedroom. The table will look like this:

If the repair is done by a working team, then the timing of each task will be different.

Where and how to build a Gantt chart

There are programs in which you need to build a diagram in several stages. And there are specialized tools in which it is enough to click on a couple of icons.

The choice of tool depends on the scale and value of the project. If you are making a diagram for yourself, you can use free solutions or trial versions of programs. Large companies working with expensive projects are better suited to professional software.

1. Microsoft Excel

Price: 5,199 rubles for one PC or licensed subscription from 269 rubles per month.
Free period: 1 month.

One of the most popular programs for working with tables and graphs. You can use a template to create charts over and over again.

Microsoft Excel →

2. LibreOffice Calc

Price: is free.

An analogue of MS Excel from The Document Foundation, a non-profit company.

To build a Gantt chart, create a table with source data. Enter the names of the tasks, their start dates, and the duration in days in the three columns.

Then select the range with values (you do not need to select the column names) and start the chart wizard using the appropriate icon or through the menu "Insert" → "Chart".

Select a stacked bar chart. You will end up with a reverse order diagram.

To flip a vertical axis, click on it and select "Format Axis …". Then, on the "Scale" tab, click "Reverse".

To display dates on a horizontal axis, click on it and select "Format Axis …". In the Numbers tab, find the date format you want. Then, in the "Scaling" tab, uncheck the "Automatic" checkboxes for the "Maximum", "Minimum" and "Main interval" items.

In the fields that appear, fill in the values:

Minimum is the start date of the first task.
Maximum is the end date of the last task.
Main interval. If the tasks are short-term, then a small interval (1) is needed so that the exact start and end dates are visible on the chart. And if the tasks and the project itself are long-term, then it is better to choose a larger interval so that the schedule does not turn out to be too long.

For readability, in the Caption tab of the Y-axis options, set the Text Orientation to 90 degrees.

To keep only the display of duration data, right-click on the color of unnecessary lines and select Format Data Series. In the "Areas" tab, select "None" from the drop-down menu. You will have the simplest Gantt chart.

LibreOffice Calc →

3. Microsoft Project

Price: from 1,875 rubles per month.
Free period: 1 month.

A specialized product from Microsoft for project management. It's built in with familiar Microsoft tools like Excel, PowerPoint, and even Skype for Business. There are additional add-ons.

Suitable for medium and large companies that want to not only visualize data, but also fully manage projects, project portfolios and resources.

The diagram template is built into the program, so you need a minimum of effort.

Microsoft Project →

4. OnlyOffice

Price: from 60 rubles per month.
Free period: 1 month.

Project management software. When registering, the functions of CRM, mail server, work with documents, corporate chat and blog are available.

The diagram is built automatically after entering all tasks into the project structure. Dependencies and deadlines can be set directly on the chart by dragging and dropping tasks with the mouse. The interface is intuitive, there are tips.

OnlyOffice →

5. Smartsheet

Price: from $ 14 per month.
Free period: 1 month.

The tool is sharpened for managing collaboration. You can use templates for projects and recurring tasks. There is integration with office applications Microsoft, Google and others.

Suitable for large companies with large-scale projects and freelancers who are ready to join other people's projects.

Creating a project is like creating a list of tasks in tables. You can import tables from your documents. The Gantt chart is built by clicking on the corresponding icon in the "Views" section.

The interface is Russified, but the video instructions are in English.

Smartsheet →

6. GanttPRO

Price: from 6, 5 dollars per month.
Free period: 14 days.

You can create multiple workspaces and manage different project teams. You can edit tasks, their deadlines and dependencies right on the diagram by dragging and dropping elements with the mouse.

There is management of resources, work schedule of performers, hourly rates and project costs. You can provide access by reference or export the diagram for presentation to the customer.

When creating a project, the program will offer to fill out a short questionnaire about your company in order to find a suitable template. Then you can edit the template or create your own.

GanttPRO →

7. Comindware

Price: from 300 rubles per month.
Free period: upon request from the manager.

Comindware is suitable for medium to large companies. The program allows you to manage projects, resources, business processes. Business processes can be integrated directly into projects. Has its own corporate social network. You can import files from tables, transfer projects and tasks from MS Project.

Comindware →

8. "Google Sheets"

Price: is free.

The Google Sheets Chart Wizard won't help here. But there is a workaround - conditional formatting.

After entering the initial data into the table to the right of it, place the dates of the project.

Select the area of cells between the original data and the dates. A diagram will be built there. Right-click and select Conditional Formatting.

From the Format Cells menu, choose Your Formula and enter = AND (E $ 1 = $ B2). E1 is the first cell of the project dates. C2 - cell with the end of the first task. B2 - cell with the beginning of the first task.