Although I haven't started working in industry yet, I want to add a little to the Gantt chart "margin of error". You need to have concrete goals for end dates for aspects of the project. You also need to do your best to get stuff done by those deadlines. You can't allow too much time to be built in as a margin. Let's say something ships late. Going off of past knowledge in how long things may take to ship, you would add a specific amount of days as a safety margin. You can't just say "This part of the project will take 5 days, let's add another two or three to be safe". Those small additions add up. Knowing that you have those extra days may not incentivize you as much to finish early or on time as not having them. You can finish early, and you can have delays that have to be accounted for. I don't believe having extra days added "just in case" is a good idea. If things happen and your dates need to shift, that's life, but starting out with the idea that you're going to need an unnecessary amount of time may be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I have not worked with Gantt charts in industry, though I have during my senior design project in developing a neuro-prosthetic arm. The first factor to understand is to know the relationships between tasks in terms of their dependencies on one another. Normally, tasks are connected on a Gantt chart under a Finish-to-Start relationship, which states that a predecessor task must be completed before a successive task can be initiated (a 3D model of the device must be generated before a prototype can be manufactured). The same applies to start-to-start, start-to-finish, and finish-to-finish relationships. An example of a finish-to-finish relationship would be writing up a procedural document while having it edited in that both the writing and editing must be completed before submitting the final document for approval. A start-to-finish relationship can be refilling supplies for a process that is dependent on the supplies themselves, meaning that the start of restocking supplies is dependent on when the process is finished. Finally a start-to-start relationship can be exemplified by relating a writing task (written description of a device's primary components) with the drawing of blueprints in that the start of drawing blueprints depends on the start of writing. In reality there will be a lag time in between the two tasks since a decent amount of writing is required for drawing blueprints.

An online article about creating a Gantt chart advises certain techniques such as subdividing tasks into subtasks to simply elaborate what must be done (1). Other advice mentioned includes defining the critical path of tasks that the project must take to reach completion, as well as assigning milestones for major events. Can Gantt charts be established in a way that optimizes float time, the maximum allowable time for a delay to occur? How would the use of a design matrix compare to a Gantt chart in terms of scheduling tasks and determining dependencies between those tasks?

Reference:
(1) "Tips for Project Planning with Gantt Charts", Smartdraw website

Heh Folks:

You've all provided quite some reading; I was tempted to just get by; but Gantt charts are a little more tempting than the don't give a damn attitude.

Simply put, haven't had much experience dealing with Gantt charts; but what they are conjures quite a few ideas in my mind that I am willing to shared. I do agree with most that has been said.
- Hetal, the topic initiator, attempts to outline what a Gantt Chart is to him before throwing the
topic up for this discussion; to begin the discussion, Saadi, serially numbered 1246, doesn't
hesitate to add that a Gantt chart could provide as a guideline and suggests it should, therefore,
be realistically drawing out. With similar fairmindedness, other interesting suggestions are made by
almost everyone else that came after Saadi. In fact, ia14 - serially numbered 1236 - even outlines
the 4 stages to constitute the design of a Gantt chart and then neb2, serially numbered 1256, comes
up with the suggestion that a contingency plan to back up a Gantt chart should be made to take care
of un-expected occurrences that could delay the project.

Nothing is wrong with any of these suggestions; they've well thought out. We only have to be careful not get too spread out - grabbing at too many ideas as we lay out a Gantt chart just so things don't go wrong. We must avoid being filled with fear that things will go wrong. The fear could make things go wrong. What I suggest we do is ensure care in choosing our contingency plans - they could become more expensive than the project itself.

I believe the person to design the Gantt chart is the manager; to design the Gantt chart there must be clarity of thought as to what the project entails. Knowing these details, a plan out the details of the needed tasks. With this clarity of thought the various units of the project can then be defined. If the company isn't a new company, leaders of project units may then be defined in the mind. Otherwise, advise on unit leaders may be sought from the known leader of the department.

We can then pursue the following steps:
- We lay out the project in the form of the Gantt chart
- along with this we define the accompanying PERT chart
- consider the budget to fit
- an extra provision of approximately 10% of the budget is allocated for unexpected project
disabling contingencies. Such budget provision will be designed to counter the unexpectedness of
eventualities.
- After consulting with the department head and our idea - as portrayed by the Gantt chart - is approved, we
may then consult with all we need to use as unit supervisors, disclose the intention to have them
supervise specific project units making sure they feel trusted.

Hello Folks:

Simply put, haven't had much experience dealing with Gantt charts; but after studying Gantt charts, the take of each individual on this topic conjured a few ideas into my mind; I just had to share them with you; hope you don't mind.

I do agree with most of what has been written so far.

Hetal, the initiator of the topic, attempts to outline what a Gantt chart is to him before throwing it up for this discussion.
Saadi, whose posting's code is 1246, doesn't hesitate to add that a Gantt chart could be an outline and so should be realistically drawn out.
With similar firm mindedness other great suggestions were posted after Saadi's; in fact, participant ia14 who makes a posting coded 1236, even outlines the four stages he thinks constitute the phases of a Gantt chart design; then neb2 whose posting is coded 1256 then drops the idea that a contingency plan be made to back up a Gantt chart; he feels this should take care of unexpected occurrences.

I see nothing wrong with these well thought out suggestions. Only problem in all of these is that we seem to forget a Gantt chart is drawn by a person, implemented by people and on a budget. If we should forget these components associated with Gantt chart, I will not hesitate to conclude that we are getting too spread out from the core; this alone could eventually cost more than the project itself.

I believe the person designing the Gantt chart is the Manager.

If I were to take his place my first preoccupation would be to establish clarity of thought with respect to what the project entails. Appropriate project units will then be defined and if the company is not too new to me, leaders of the project units will then be selected knowing each of their competencies; otherwise advice for the unit supervisors will be sought from the head of the department later during the introduction of the Gantt chart of the project to the head of the department as I seek his/her approval. Then I proceed as follows:
- project Gantt chart will then be physically drawn out
- the accompany the Gantt chart will follow
- the project budget to fit will then be worked out
- to take care of any unexpected eventualities, an amount equal to about 10% of the budgets cost will be
set aside.

- Consultation with the projects committee will then be arranged to seek his/her approval of all spelt our
for the project for the project, so far.
- During this meeting the following will be accomplished:
: the Gantt chart will be laid out together with the accompanying PERT chart
: project's budget computations will be laid out and explained

If the project receives a go from the project committee
- a pre-project's meeting with the select project's unit supervisors will arranged

- during the meeting, the supervisors are made to understand that selecting then was based on trust
- that the success of the project will be theirs and
then each of them will be handed with the details of their unit's operation
- The supervisors will then told that there will be a weekly project follow up to ensure the project's
milestones are being approached.

I have no had experience in making a Gantt Chart in industry yet but I do have to make it for my Capstone class. It seems very helpful but it also seems very stressful. From my understanding of it, the most important part to get out of it is the critical line. But I do not fully understand what that line is for. Is it where we should be in the project? It is very helpful because it breaks down each section of a project into subsections and you can set a time limit to each subsection which then creates a time limit for that certain section of the project. With the chart we can actually see what needs to be done for the project and it puts it in perspective of how much work needs to be done. Can the Gantt Chart be adjusted if a certain section was not completed on time or will that ruin the entire chart?

Gantt chart allows you to create an outline of the tasks involved in a project and the time period in which those tasks need to be completed in order to finish the project on time. It gives you a visual representation of your schedule with horizontal bar charts that you can easily follow. You can prioritize your tasks by setting a critical path for yourself and see the progress you make as you go. I never had to make a Gantt chart for work before but just like many other people who posted under this post earlier, I did have to make a Gantt chart for the capstone class that I took in my senior year. There were times where we fell behind and had to make modifications to our timeline but overall it was a very useful tool in keeping us organized and giving us a sense of direction for what came next in the product development process.

Within my own experience with Gantt Charts in industry, as others have said, it is a tool to help keep a project on track. It outlines the necessary steps that need to be taken, and the sequences they need to be done in so that a project can be completed in entirety and on time. One person made a point however that it documents what should be happening. As a project actually unfolds in reality, problems and events crop up that are not possible to account for, delaying the project timeline. For example, a project I was involved with was set to move into production at a certain date, but had components within it that overlapped with other projects. Since the product could not move to production until the overlapping project was closed, it delayed our timelines significantly (by months).
While errors and events happen and we cannot always predict them, the most important thing is reacting to these situations: What plan will you create in order to get back on track? What actions will help to achieve the best possible outcome, given the situation? In this case, we worked with those in the overlapping project to speed up closure, and in the mean time prepared all of our deliverables in parallel so that once the project closed, we could sail through our processes.

I totally agree with you. I saw some Gantt Charts that made the project more complicated rather than breaking down the process and mapping it in the right and simple way. However, Gantt Charts may not be an ideal option for some complex projects that includes many details associated with a big number of tasks. Another case that Gantt chart won't help as much as it could be in managing a project is when the processes, tasks and time need to be continually updated and refreshed.
Other factors to consider when designing a Gantt Chart is to make sure that it simplify and manage the project process in a clear and realistic timeline, it demonstrates the work clearly with a high level of visibility which makes it easier for the group member or any other employer to read it and understand it quickly. It is also essential to use a professional software application to build the chart (Ex. Mavenlink, Wrike, Smartsheet, AceProject).
Personally, I never worked in the industry yet, but I used Gantt charts in many projects since I was an undergrad, and I find it very important in planning a project and a powerful method when it is designed in the right and simple way.

Due to the projectmanager website:
Gantt Chart should include:

"- The start date of the project
- What the project tasks are
- Who is working on each task
- When tasks start and finish
- How long each task will take
- How tasks group together, overlap and link with each other
- The finish date of the project."

Gant Chart can be used to produce an accurate timescale of a project. Though it can also be used to Break down the structure, show their team members how their work relate to others, create a schedule of day to day work, and can also be used in critical path method.

Some things to be considered while making a Gant Chart are: 1)Identifying the processes while planning the project. This means you will need to use arrows to indicate the process is completed. YOu will have to know which process are can begin after which task that are carried out and how long will they last. 2) Mapping the processes to the Gant chart. So after having all the information it gets better to be laid out on a paper. By this you can view you project from start to finish with plans and tasks and also can share with others. 3) Sharing and working together for a success of a project. YOu can easily share anything in gant chart to team members via email, so everyone can include their comment and suggestions . 4) Using the Information to you advantage.

The only experience I have with Gantt Chart is from my capstone class. It basically shows the schedule outline of task that is going to be done in the project. It is very important to follow the schedule because there important critical paths that must be done before beginning a new task in the project. If the time set are not met before the deadline, the product will be delayed causing problems with the customer. There are many phases which helps keep track of the product. There are research phase, design phase, fabrication/manufacture phase, and testing phase. The Gantt Chart is very useful it helps manage time. It spread out the task in an orderly manner so the product can be constructed on time.

The Gantt chart is a useful organizational tool, if not for actually keeping track of the project timeline. When creating the Gantt chart, you are forced to think about reasonable time estimates for the project tasks. It helps to break the tasks up as small as reasonably possible to ensure that team members have a clear idea of what they are doing. For example, if the product requires an app, the "programming" task is ambiguous. But if it is broken up into "program database on server; program app in Android Studio to obtain data; establish a bluetooth communication" it becomes clear what exactly the app needs programming-wise. The Gantt chart is a great way to have the team really think about the logistics of a project before investing resources into it.

I have not created a Gantt Chart in industry but I did have to create one for my Capstone class at NJIT. I also had to create one very early on in the project and I believe this made it more difficult especially since Capstone is a two semester course so I did not actually know the exact deadlines for Capstone 2. The only dates I was sure of were the start and end dates of the project as a whole. For example if one little thing goes wrong it can ruin the entire plan as a whole. I think the Gantt Chart is more helpful in splitting up responsibilities and deciding which part of the project needs to be done first. It can also help in saving time because through the Gantt Chart you can see which parts can be done at the same time.

Gantt charts are used to plan projects using long term and short term deadlines. In my experience it is important to incorporate both of these components to the timeline. Often, only hard deadlines such as those determined by external factors are considered. In order to meet these crucial deadlines, smaller tasks that are key components of an important phase help break down the project visually.
Some people only use gantt charts as a checklist. This is limiting the visual benefits of using a Gantt chart. This happens more with larger, more complex projects. To avoid this, a subset of charts can be created. This can be grouped by date or by modular component.

Regarding the Gantt chart, I have yet to gain experience in the industry, but from my senior year capstone course, I do have experience in creating Gantt charts. A simple and basic essential you need to start the chart is by documenting the purpose of the project and steps in order to accomplish that project. After that start adding milestone that highlights the important tasks which need to be finished before moving forward with another task. Furthermore, the time period color code bar next to the milestone gives you updates on the progress. With that being said, the color code bar also gives you a notification if you are falling behind the schedule. Therefore, I think having Gantt chart is very helpful and must when doing a project.

Hello,
I have some experience developing Gantt charts through my undergraduate program and through industrial experience.
From my perspective, some important factors before starting the Gantt chart are as follows:
• Define generic key milestones of the project
• Identify target dates for the key milestones
• Define functional groups that will be working on activities of the project
• List out deliverables per function group
Important factors for the development of the Gantt chart:
• Have the first section show key milestones (i.e. technical reviews and product development committee reviews for the products lifecycle)
• List each function per expectation of their involvement per the product’s development.
o My suggestion: R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Operations, Marketing.
• Underneath each function, list their respective deliverables.
• Link the predecessors of each deliverable/task. Setting predecessors will help identify the critical path of the project’s schedule.
• Set up a column or two for resources. Which ever is easiest for you, either setting the department within that function team (i.e. R&D – Sensor), and/or identifying the employee who will be completing that task.
• Have a comments section. Schedules are being modified all the time, so it is helpful having a comments section to identify changes, lessons learned, etc.