Plan Your Projects With TeamGantt
ProfHacker 2013-06-11
Gantt charts are a widely used project management tool that visualize the start and end dates of projects, sub-projects, and tasks using horizontal bars. Gantt charts are often used to plan and track large-scale projects with many people and/or sub-projects and deliverables.
At their best, Gantt charts provide a clear overview of the dependencies and timelines of the component parts of a large project. They can also be used to track progress completed on those tasks and projects. At their worst, Gantt charts are cluttered, hard to read, and time-consuming to create.
Gantt Chart Tools
Today, many different tools exist for creating Gantt charts, ranging from basic charts in Excel to online Gantt tools, to project management software. Some options include:
Gantter (free cloud-based tool that integrates with GoogleDrive and GoogleApps)
Tom’s Planner (limited free account available)
Smartsheet (free trial; personal account currently $15.95/month)
GanttProject, an open-source cross-platform desktop tool for project management
Why I Like TeamGantt
I’ve been using TeamGantt for about a year now to plan and manage my research and writing projects. At any given point in the year, I have multiple commitments and ongoing projects with intersecting, overlapping, and dependent time frames. A Gantt chart is the best way I know to get a clear visual overview of the relationships among those projects and how they fit into the calendar.
After trying a few different tools, I selected TeamGantt for its ease of use and attractive design. It’s organized around a hierarchy of Project, Task Group, and Tasks. I keep all of my research projects as Task Groups under one project heading of Research so that I can see them all together.
To create a Gantt chart as in this example, you simply name task groups in the left hand pane and drag the bar ends to select the calendar datespan. (You can choose a 5-day or 7-day display of weekdays). Tasks are defined the same way. Once defined, tasks and task groups can be easily edited and moved through drag-and-drop selection. You can also define the colors for tasks and task groups to visually reinforce categories or importance. Milestones like submission dates appear as diamonds.
(click to see larger image)
In this example, I defined two dependent tasks which can only begin when a particular task is completed; these dependencies are easily created by connecting dots that appear when you highlight the task bar with your mouse.
For me, TeamGantt’s drag-and-drop interface allows me combine some of my reflective project planning with the act of creating the Gantt chart. Many other tools are a bit more cumbersome and make the chart-building an entirely separate activity.
TeamGantt’s simple, uncluttered aesthetic is another big reason I’ve been using this tool over others which have similar functionality. As I’ve written before, one of my personal productivity rules is find tools that you like to use, and use them. I like creating and using the project planning charts I can build in this tool, so for me it’s well worth the monthly fee.
Do you use Gantt charts for planning your projects? Let us know in the comments!