Project Management; Importance of Charts

Project management is the field of organizing and managing resources (such as people) in a way that the project is completed within the defined scope, quality, time and cost constraints. The construction of a building or implementation of a new computer system are examples of projects that would be managed.

Developing the project plan is at the core of project management. This includes defining the goals and objectives of the project, identifying tasks or how goals will be achieved, the resources required, and specifying budgets. Also it has to be seen that the project is implemented on time and managed according to the plan.

A special type of horizontal bar chart is used to give a graphical overview and list of all activities, elements and dependencies of a project. It is a chart that has rectangular bars of lengths proportional to values that they represent which helps in the comparison of two or more values. An example of a bar chart is the Gantt chart. It depicts the overall image of a project's timeline.

The project's summary and terminal elements, which combine to form the project's internal structure, are shown on the Gantt chart. Many charts will also depict the precedence rankings and dependencies of various tasks within the project.

The format of initial in the chart was developed by Henry Laurence Gantt. Henry Gantt innovated many different charts and inspired many others. The Gantt chart that is popular today was described in 1942 as a layout chart by W. Clark. The use of additional charting lines to show the dependencies between tasks was a much later innovation and did not really become established until 1987.

Project management software is capable of keeping track of even the the smallest items, called "terminal elements". These modern scheduling devices use Gantt Chart techniques to produce a schedule. This is a great tool for big projects and keeping track of all the details on a intricate and complicated job. There are some simpler programs available also that may be more to you liking that use lists, e-mail and so on.

There are a number of steps involved in creating a Gantt chart. First, you have to decide on the list of necessary activities. Then a rough draught of the chart is created. Next, find out the dependencies and plan the activities in that sequence. The number of man-hours for each activity has to be calculated as well. Then determine who will carry out the activities. Finally, calculate the total end-to-end time.

The purpose of a Gantt chart is to show the start and finish dates of the terminal and summary elements of a project. These elements are the work breakdown structure of the project and may show the precedence and network relationships between the activities in the project.

Daiv Russell is a marketing and management consultant with Envision Consulting in Tampa, Florida. Consult our Project Management Course Guide or learn more about Project Management Basics, and How to draw a Gantt Chart.

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