Gantt Charts

Gantt charts are one of the most common tools for graphic communication in project management. Named after American engineer Henry L. Gantt (1861–1919), Gantt charts are essentially bar charts in which the bars represent activities (tasks) in a process. In the typical layout the bars are plotted horizontally with the x-axis representing time, while the left of the chart reports the names of the tasks. The initial and final positions of each bar reflect the start and end dates of the activity; hence the length of the bar is proportional to the amount of time required to complete that task. A Gantt chart can optionally show the activities grouped into phases. The chapter provides examples of Gantt charts with activities alone as well as with phases and activities.