Gantt charts

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Introduction

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Gantt charts are horizontal bar charts developed as a production control tool in 1917 by Henry L. Gantt, an American engineer and social scientist. Frequently used in project management, a Gantt chart provides a graphical illustration of a schedule that helps to plan, coordinate, and track specific tasks in a project. Gantt charts are also used to illustrate a project schedule for your research. Keep in mind that a Gantt chart is a graphical presentation of tasks and a progression of time, which is useful for planning. Charts are also helpful in quickly illustrating the start and finish points for different activities in a project. Gantt charts also show dependencies of the relationships between activities. They can be used to show current schedule status using percent-complete shadings and a vertical "TODAY" line. Although regarded as a common technique, Gantt charts were considered revolutionary for their time. During the rise of scientific management, Henry Gantt developed the tool to display a project's progress such as the tracking of ship building projects. Gantt charts may be simple versions created on graph paper or more complex automated versions created using project management applications such as Microsoft Project or Excel.

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