Creating Gantt Charts With Excel And Microsoft Project

1. Creating Gantt Charts With Excel And Microsoft Project Technology Plug-In T12

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES • Explain what a Gantt Chart is • Describe the main steps involved in creating a Gantt Chart using Excel • Describe the main steps involved in creating a Gantt Chart using Microsoft Project

3. INTRODUCTION • Henry Gantt developed the famous Gantt Chart as a tool for scheduling work in factories • A Gantt Chart is a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format

4. INTRODUCTION Gantt Chart in Excel

5. INTRODUCTION Gantt Chart In Microsoft Project

6. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL • Excel does not offer Gantt as a chart type, but it is fairly easy to create such a chart by using a stacked bar chart • To do so, follow these steps: • Start with a new workbook and enter the task data (see the next slide for our example) • Column A contains the task descriptions • Column B contains start date for each task • Column C contains the number of days to complete the task • Column D contains formulas that determine the end date for each task • The formula used in our example in cell D4 is =B4+C4

7. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL

8. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL • Create a stacked horizontal bar chart by selecting the Insert tab, then choose the Bar button in the Charts ribbon, and then the 2-DStacked Bar Chart option • A blank chart appears in your spreadsheet • To select the data, right mouse click anywhere inside the blank chart, then choose Select Data

9. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL

10. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL • Under the Legend Entries (Series) section, click on the Add button • The first series to add will be the label containing the start date • Under the Series Name, select cell B3 • Under the Series Values, select cells B4:B13, therange of cells containing the various start dates • Click OK • Another series is needed, therefore click on the Add button • This series will be the duration • When the Edit Series dialog opens, select cell C3 for the Series Name, then select C4:C13 for the Series Values

11. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL • Edit the labels by selecting the Edit button under the Horizontal (Category) Axis Labels section • Select cells A4:A13, the various task names • Click OK • Click OK again to close the Select Data Source dialog box • Remove the chart's legend by selecting it and pressing the delete key or the backspace key, since the legend is not needed for a Gantt Chart

12. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL • Since you do not want to see the Start data series, select that series by clicking on any one of the data items, right mouse click and select Format Data Series • Select the Fill tab on the left and select No Fill • Then select the Border Color tab and select No Line • Click Close

13. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL

14. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL • You need to now reverse the order of the y-axis labels • Right click on any one of the labels, then select Format Axis • The Format Axis dialog opens • Under the Axis Options tab, click on the Categories in reverse order • Click Close

15. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL

16. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL • To get a better view of the actual dates, you need to adjust the date range • Excel does not view (ie. interprets) dates as we do • In other words, dates are displayed as 3/1/2008 to you, but Excel interprets that date as 39508 • Dates are in numerical value, simply formatted to look like dates • Since the first task in the project is set to 3/1/2008, you need to convert that to a numeric value • And the same is true for the last task, however, you can extent the date a few days past the end date for visual effect

17. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL • Right mouse click on any of the dates at the top of your chart, then select Format Axis • Using the Axis Options tab, select Fixed for the Minimum, and type in 39508 (which is the numeric value for 3/1/2008, the start date) • Select Fixed for the Maximum, then type in 39619 (the numeric value for 6/20/2008, the end date) • Click Close

18. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH EXCEL

19. CREATING GANTT CHARTS WITH MICROSOFT PROJECT • Microsoft Project, a powerful project management software tool that can help manage schedules and resources and to track project progress • Microsoft Project is one of the most widely used project management software applications available

20. Microsoft Project Basics • Microsoft Project is a Microsoft Office application, so it has many elements similar to other Office titles such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint • The Project Guide is an interactive interface element in Microsoft Project that helps you work through your project from the standpoint of project management processes and goals

21. Microsoft Project Basics

22. Creating a Project File • To create a blank Gantt Chart: • On the File menu, click New • Under New, click the Blank Project link • Microsoft Project creates a new project, and the New Project task pane is replaced by the Tasks pane of the Project Guide

23. Creating a Project File • To set up your project plan to be scheduled from the project start date and finish date: • Click Project, then select Project Information • In the Start Date box, enter the start date • By default, the State Date box shows today’s date • In the Schedule From box, click the Project Start Date • Leave the Project Finish Date box as is • Microsoft Project will calculate this date for you later • Click OK

24. Creating a Project File

25. Saving Your Project • To save your project: • Click File, then select Save As • In the Save As dialog box, choose the drive and folder in which you want to save the new project • In the File Name box, enter a descriptive name for your project, and then click the Save button

26. Entering Tasks • To enter tasks directly into your project plan, follow these steps: • Make sure you are working in the Gantt Chart • You can see the name of the current view in the Active View bar that runs vertically along the left side of the view • If it does not say Gantt Chart, click View, then select Gantt Chart • Type the name of the task in the Task Name field • Press Enter or your down arrow key to move to the next row • The task name is not recorded and other commands remain unavailable until you press Enter or the down arrow key

27. Entering Tasks

28. Entering Recurring Tasks • To create recurring tasks: • In the Task Name field, click the row below where you want the recurring task to appear • Click Insert, then choose Recurring Task • In the Recurring Task dialog box, type the name of the recurring task in the Task Name field, for example, “Testing” • Under Recurrence Pattern, specify how often the task is to be scheduled, that is, daily, weekly, or monthly

29. Entering Recurring Tasks • Specify the details of when the task is to take place during that frequency, for example, every other Thursday or the first Monday of every week • Under Range Of Recurrence, specify when the recurring task is to begin and end • When finished, click OK • The recurring task is marked with a recurring task indicator

30. Entering Recurring Tasks

31. Moving Tasks • To move a task from one row to another, follow these steps: • In the table portion of the Gantt Chart, select the entire task row by clicking the gray row heading • With your mouse pointer still over the row heading (the pointer should appear as a black crosshair), drag the task to the location in the Gantt Chart where you want to place it • A gray line along the row border follows your mouse movements, indicating where the task will be inserted when you release the mouse button • Release the mouse button to insert the task in the new location

32. Inserting Additional Tasks • To add a new task to other existing tasks, follow these steps: • In the table portion of the Gantt Chart, click the row below where you want the new task to be inserted • Click Insert, then select New Task • Type the name of the new task, and then press Enter

33. Deleting Tasks • To delete a task you do not need, do this: • Select the row heading, and then press the Delete key • If you want to delete the entire task, click the indicator • If you simply want to clear the task name, press Enter or click elsewhere in the view

34. Organizing Tasks into an Outline • Tasks need to be structured representing the hierarchy of tasks from the broader perspective to the deep and detailed perspective • A task at a higher outline level than other tasks is called a summary task • The tasks beneath that summary task are called subtasks

35. Organizing Tasks into an Outline

36. Organizing Tasks into an Outline • To make a task a subtask: • Click the task • On the Formatting toolbar, click Indent • The task is indented, and the task above it becomes its summary task • To create a subtask under a subtask • Click a task under a subtask • Click Indent twice • To move a subtask to a higher level: • Click a subtask, and then click Outdent

37. Organizing Tasks into an Outline

38. Organizing Tasks into an Outline • To add a note to a task, follow these steps: • Click the task, and then click Task Information on the Standard toolbar or press Shift-F2 • Click the Notes tab • In the Notes area, type a note • When finished, click OK

39. Adding Supplementary Information to Tasks

40. Scheduling Tasks • To develop an accurate and workable schedule that truly reflects how your project will run, you need to: • Set task durations • Identify dependencies, or the relationships, among tasks • Schedule certain tasks to achieve specific dates when necessary

41. Setting Task Durations • To enter a duration, follow these steps: • In the Duration field for each task, type the duration, for example, 1w or 4d • If a duration is an estimate, add a question mark after it, for example, 1w? or 4d? • Press Enter

42. Setting Task Durations

43. Establishing Task Dependencies • To link tasks with the finish-to-start task dependency: • In the task sheet, select the two tasks you want to link • Drag from the predecessor to the successor task if they are right next to each other • If they are not adjacent tasks, click the predecessor, hold down the Ctrl key, and then click the successor • On the Standard toolbar, click Link Tasks

44. Establishing Task Dependencies

45. Establishing Task Dependencies • There are four types of dependencies, as follows: • Finish-to-start (FS) - As soon as the predecessor task finishes, the successor task can start • Finish-to-finish (FF) - As soon as the predecessor task finishes, the successor task can finish • Start-to-start (SS) - As soon as the predecessor task starts, the successor task can start • Start-to-finish (SF) - As soon as the predecessor task starts, the successor task can finish

46. Establishing Task Dependencies • To apply a task dependency, follow these steps: • Select the task that is to become the successor in the dependency you will be setting • On the Standard toolbar, click Task Information • Click the Predecessors tab • Click the first blank row in the Task Name field, and then click the down arrow • Click the task that is to be the predecessor to the current task • Click the Type field, and then select the type of task dependency: Finish-to-Start (FS), Start-to-Start (SS), Finish-to-Finish (FF), Start-to-Finish (SF), or None • Click OK

47. Establishing Task Dependencies

48. Overlapping Linked Tasks by Adding Lead-Time • To enter lead-time for a linked task, follow these steps: • Select the successor task that is to have the lead-time • On the Standard toolbar, click Task Information. • In the Task Information dialog box, click the Predecessors tab • In the Lag field for the existing Predecessor, type the amount of lead time you want for the successor • Click OK

49. Overlapping Linked Tasks by Adding Lead-Time

50. Creating Milestones in Your Schedule • To change a regular task into a milestone: • Select the task you want to become a milestone • On the Standard toolbar, click Task Information • In the Task Information dialog box, click the Advanced tab • Select the Mark Task As Milestone check box