Gant Chart Software

A Gant chart is a graphical representation of task duration against a timeline.

Example Gant Chart

Henry L. Gant

Henry L. Gant (1861-1919) was a mechanical engineer, industry advisor, and management consultant. Henry Gant developed the first Gantt chart examples in 1910. Gant charts served as a visual tool to depict the beginning and completion dates of a project. Understood as a standard planning and scheduling of projects tool now, it was revolutionary idea unlike any the world had ever seen until that time. Gant charts were used in massive construction projects like the Eisenhower Interstate highway system in 1956 and the Hoover Dam in 1931.

H. L. Gant's contribution to the management process is honored today with the Henry Laurence Gant Medal. This award, established in 1929, is given for distinguished achievements in management and for service to the community.

Nowadays, Gant charts are used widely for project administration. The Gant Chart allows the manager to show how long a project is estimated to take, to understand what type of remedial action can pull the project back on course, arrange the order in which tasks need to be handled, indicate task dependencies, allocate the resources needed, and monitor project progress. You can also immediately see what should be complete at any given point in time.

Most power of Gant charts is available through planning and scheduling of projects software packages.

Common features of modern Gant charting software:

• Drag and drop operations with Gant chart items
• Changing the work calendar, arranging for holidays and overtime periods
• Easy resizing rows and columns of a Gant chart using the mouse
• Zooming in and out of the Gant chart
• Quick navigation to other views and master tables
• Customizing the text displayed on the Gant chart
• Displaying overdue tasks in a visual form on the Gant chart
• Representing time constraints between project tasks

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