What Is A Gantt Chart Used For? Top 4 Use Cases

Gantt charts are used to plan resources, personnel, tasks, and deadlines.

In this article, I'll cover the details of each use cases and how you can use Gantt charts (which are best created with Gantt chart software) to better schedule and resource your projects, and achieve project success.

What Is A Gantt Chart?

A Gantt chart is a type of horizontal bar chart that shows the start and end dates of tasks in a project. It's a graphical representation of all tasks you need to complete within a project.

Tasks are represented as bars, and each bar is color-coded to indicate its status (e.g., not started, in progress, or completed). Gantt charts also usually include a timeline that shows when each task is scheduled to start and end along with any key task dependencies.

Gantt charts can also show what resources you for each task or project over time, and they pair well with resource calendars, which allow you to be sure that tasks are staffed and will be executed on time.

4 Key Use Cases For Gantt Charts

Gantt charts are used to create resource planning diagrams, keep track of deadlines, and see what needs to be done and who is responsible for it.

Here are four key use cases for Gantt charts in project management:

1. Planning tasks: shows what needs to be done, when
2. Planning personnel: shows who needs to do what, when
3. Planning physical resources: shows what physical items or spaces are needed, when
4. Tracking project deadlines: shows what will be done, when

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1. Planning Tasks

The most common use of Gantt charts is to plan tasks that are sequential in nature. They help you visualize what tasks need to be done and how long each one will take, as well as the overall timeline and deadlines.

Gantt charts also keep all this information in one place for team members to reference as they're collaborating with each other. It's best to keep this in the project management tool you're using, because it will be easy for all team members to access.

A Note About The Critical Path

In project management, the critical path is the sequence of tasks that are essential to the completion of a project. If any of these tasks are delayed, it will affect the deadline for the entire project.

 

Most Gantt chart tools will identify the critical path for your project based on dependencies.

Steps To Planning Tasks With A Gantt Chart

• Gather the information that is needed to develop the Gantt chart. This includes a list of tasks along with estimated start dates and end dates.
• Determine how long it will take to complete each task by using data or estimates based on experience with similar projects.
• Create your Gantt chart. You can start this on paper to quickly make edits, and then make your way to a tool once it's worked out.
• Assign a team member to each task. Gantt charts are most effective when all members of the project have specific responsibilities and can clearly see what work they are responsible for and how it impacts the other tasks in the project.
• Share the Gantt chart with your team and make it a key artifact of your project work. This way, each task and member’s planned start and finish dates are visible to the whole group. Gantt charts should be updated weekly so that you can track progress and adjust if necessary.

Author's Tip

If you’re not planning to use software, be sure to check out this Gantt chart template. It’s not as quick as a Gantt chart tool, but it will still save you some time.

2. Planning Personnel Resources

Gantt charts are great for planning personnel resources, as they allow you to track resource allocation and team member schedules throughout the project. They are especially helpful when a project involves overlapping tasks or if there are multiple projects requiring the same person's attention.

Gantt charts help with short-term planning and long-term scheduling, as well as with identifying when there are too many tasks going on at the same time. If things are falling behind schedule, this is a sign that you need more assistance or that scheduling adjustments are needed.

Steps To Planning Personnel Resources

1. Identify tasks, their sequence, and any dependencies. Identify the critical path and any other non-negotiable requirements.
2. Decide what personnel resources will work best for your project based on skill sets or task allocations. Team members should only be allocated to tasks that fit their skill set. If you’re not sure who is good at what, ask! A collaborative approach works best when assigning tasks.
3. Create and publish the Gantt chart with personnel resourcing details. Consider using a resource calendar to minimize overcommitting individual members of the project team.
4. Update your chart weekly. Give all team members access to make sure they understand the critical path, project schedule, start date, and end date. Be sure the team knows who to contact if they see issues with the plan or need to shift their work.

Many software tools allow allocation of tasks to individuals or teams directly in the tool. For example, TeamGantt allows resource management directly in the tool via an integrated Gantt chart.

3. Planning Physical Resources

Gantt charts are also great for planning and allocating resources, and they can help you identify when there is too much or not enough of a specific physical resource.

Tracking physical resources on a resource calendar is helpful here as well. This can help you avoid meeting room conflicts, overuse of software licenses, and other project conflicts.

Generally, physical resources fall into two categories:

1. Equipment (e.g. computers, software, limited software licenses or specialized tools)
2. Facilities (e.g. buildings, meeting rooms, hotel rooms)

Steps To Planning Physical Resources

1. Identify available resources: e.g. Number of hotel rooms
2. Identify any key details about the resources: e.g. 1 bed, 2 beds, 3 beds in a room
3. Identify the operational status of the resources: e.g. Power doesn’t work in room 3 (should not be bookable), room 5 needs the carpets cleaned (will be done this week)
4. Gather details of existing bookings across physical resources: e.g. previously booked reservations that will limit new reservations
5. Add your needed resource reservations to the chart. See if you can in fact get the physical resources you need when you need them. If they are already booked, get ready to make adjustments.

4. Tracking Project Deadlines

You can also use a Gantt chart to plot task due dates, milestones, project due dates.

• Task due dates: these are the deadlines for individual tasks that you and your team need to meet.
• Milestones: these are significant markers that indicate your project progress is on track.
• Project due dates: these are dates that indicate when your project will be complete.

Because they can help identify the critical path, Gantt charts are an excellent way to plan durations for tasks. This can be useful information when deciding what needs priority and determining dependencies or other potential causes of delay.

Author's Tip

All your project deadlines should be mapped out and agreed upon during the planning stage of your project. As things change, the Gantt chart should be updated based on real results to allow shifting of expectations based on real results. Remember, communication is key!

Steps For Planning Project Deadlines

1. Determine the scope of your project and key requirements from stakeholders. Gain commitment from stakeholders on the scope of the project.
2. Break down large tasks into smaller activities.
3. Plan out the project activities in a logical order and note any key dependencies across tasks.
4. Estimate start and end dates for each task, noting dependencies (software tools are great for this).
5. Estimate the resources needed to complete each task. Resourcing can be at the team or individual level. Use a resource calendar to ensure resources are actually available to execute their tasks. Shift as necessary.
6. Estimate how long it will take to complete each activity, task, and the project as a whole. Update as necessary and make sure to keep all teams and stakeholders involved.
7. Compile all the information into your Gantt chart and share widely. Socialize the chart with the project team and stakeholders so they can visualize what’s happening, when, and by whom it will be completed. Keep the Gantt chart up to date so everyone has a clear view of what’s going on.

What's Next?

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