A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart showing the start and end dates of each task within a project. It shows the tasks on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis. The tasks are shown sequentially. It can have many other pieces but these are the basic building blocks. Gantt Chart Example 1 Here is a Gantt chart that was created with Microsoft … [Read more...]
How to Create a Gantt Chart in Excel
Believe it or not, gantt charts can be created relatively painlessly in Microsoft Excel. A simple one will take about 10 minutes with only a basic knowledge of Excel, and I'm going to show you how. Step 1: Enter the Task data The first step is to enter your tasks in table form in Excel. The following four pieces of data are the minimum requirement for a gantt chart, so … [Read more...]
12 Things to Include in a WBS Dictionary
A WBS Dictionary is a supporting document to the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). It provides supporting data about project tasks in the WBS. This information can be any type and format, ranging from textual information to numerical data to milestone dates. In short, it is an information bank for meta data about the project tasks. For example, WBS Task WBS … [Read more...]
Budget at Completion (Earned Value Analysis)
The Budget at Completion (BAC) is a value used in earned value management, a division of project management. It represents the original project budget. For example, if a project has a budget of $10,000, BAC = $10,000 Therefore, there is no other formula or calculation for this metric. The BAC is often compared to the Estimate at Completion (EAC) which … [Read more...]
Easy Earned Value Tutorial
Love it or hate it, the measuring stick for a project manager is often their ability to keep projects on time and under budget. Thankfully, project management theory provides us with a fantastic tool to keep us on target. But it has to be used correctly. Like a software tool, if you are not trained to use it, it’s just a bunch of numbers. Once the technique is … [Read more...]
10 Gantt Chart Templates: Beautiful, Professional, and Free
Sometimes the easiest way to create a Gantt chart is by starting from a template and customizing it to your project. To that end, we present the following 10 templates, which have been designed to be easily customized to your project. Using only basic Excel skills, you should be able to complete your own Gantt chart in 10 minutes or less. Template 1: Build a … [Read more...]
The Complete Guide to Gantt Charts
A Gantt Chart is to a project manager like a hammer is to a carpenter. It is the project manager's most used tool. It is used to convey the most critical information. And it plays an outsized role in project success. Since a project is by definition temporary, the completion date is a critical item in virtually every project. The gantt chart is used during project … [Read more...]
Task Completion Criteria
It's a surprisingly common occurrence that a project manager specifies a task as complete only to see more time, materials, and expenses charged to it the next week. Naturally, this is a frustrating situation. Of course, we want the task to be complete and we thus are motivated to check it off a soon as possible. There are often administrative and closing tasks that … [Read more...]
How to Write a Schedule Management Plan
With little exception, missing deadlines reflects poorly on the project manager and sometimes has financial consequences too. Because projects are by definition temporary, someone has authorized the project and expects its deliverables in a timely fashion. To meet the deadlines, a schedule management plan is produced which is a subset of the project management … [Read more...]
Guide to Earned Value Management
Staying within budget and schedule is one of the project manager's most important jobs. It is not an understatement to say that if you master this one thing, most other things will fall into place. The secret to doing this well is called earned value management. It is one of the foundational processes of project management, as well as a central component of … [Read more...]