Project managers frequently use Gantt and PERT (Project Estimation and Report Technique) charts to show the constituent tasks within a project. These two charts are the most popular project management charts. Gantt charts and PERT charts are both very useful project management tools for visually communicating project information. They are both used to schedule tasks, keep the project on schedule and ensure that the timeline is met in accordance with the original project plan.

Depending upon the duration or complexity of a project, the effort may be broken down into phases or iterations, and those then broken down into tasks within each phase or iteration. Both the Gantt and PERT chart would be broken down in a similar manner, potentially using a new chart for each phase, or connecting them to convey the entirety of the effort. Gantt charts have milestones at the completion of key deliverables, while PERT charts utilize review tasks or ‘dummy’ activities at the end of each phase, during which the deliverables of that phase would be validated or as placeholders indicating an intersection of subtasks into one deliverable.

Each tool, however, has their respective strengths and weaknesses. The fact that both of them are quite easy to produce using project management software adds to the confusion between the two project management charts.

A key difference between Gantt Charts and PERT charts is the manner in which flow is conveyed. A PERT chart is essentially a flowchart, or network diagram, while the Gantt chart is a bar chart with volume of time determining how big the bar will be. PERT charts focus on the sequence of tasks and their dependencies between one another while Gantt charts focus on the time required for each task.

PERT Advantages and Disadvantages

PERT Chart Example

These types of project charts were created in order to work on large projects with a great deal of unknowns and a large number of dependencies. The PERT chart starts off with what’s called an initiation node that then splits off into a network of tasks. A PERT diagram could end up with parallel and interconnecting task networks. As a result, when there are many interlinked tasks within the project, a PERT chart can end up looking being fairly complicated, and might cause more confusion for those unfamiliar with them. Frequently, Gantt charts, with their familiar calendar-like presentation are used in conjunction with PERT diagrams to convey projected scheduled.

The PERT chart is an effective way to display complex projects. A project is made up of a group of tasks. The critical path can readily be identified on a PERT chart. The critical path is series of tasks through the project which require the greatest amount of time to complete. A project will take as long as it takes to achieve all of the tasks in the critical path. The non-critical paths, can consume all of their slack with delaying the project.

Advantages of PERT Charts

• PERT diagram’s Critical path conveys important activities which can cause the project to run over.
• Critical path on PERT chart allows focus of resources and effort to reduce risk.
• Allows visibility into possible extreme delivery dates using PERT estimation as a result of potential opportunities to be exploited or risks which to mitigate.
• Excellent for projects focusing on research or new technologies.
• Lets the project manager manage to the critical path.

Disadvantages of PERT Charts

• Can become confusing for the uninitiated or when projects have complex task relationships.
• If some activities take longer than expected, the critical path originally being managed to might end up being wrong. If other paths are near the critical path, they, too should be managed diligently to prevent project overruns.

Gantt Advantages and Disadvantages

Gantt Chart Example

Gantt charts emphasize the time it takes to complete tasks. The Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule, focusing on task timing. A Gantt chart, with its calendar-like schedule, makes it very easy to show the timeline for a project. Each individual task is shown with a bar representing the duration of that task. Gantt charts show the beginning and ending dates of the project and roll-up tasks. They are useful for planning and scheduling projects since it is graphical representation of the duration of tasks against the progression of time.

However, when there are multiple dependencies lining up for a given milestone, the lines frequently intersect or overlay, making it nearly impossible to determine which tasks are the true predecessors. The original Gantt chart didn’t even have this means of conveying dependency. The connecting lines to do were introduced later as a convention to provide this crucial aspect of project planning. As such, Gantt charts don’t show dependencies very well for more complicated projects.

Gantt charts are quite suited for project which are clear-cut and won’t need constant rearrangement and adjustment as the project continues. The Gantt chart depicts the amount of time a given task should take and the required resources for each task. In doing so, the Gantt chart quite suited to assessing the status of the project. It’s quite easy to tell if a task is completed by the time it should be. The only issue with that would be large tasks, wherein it is difficult to tell an accurate percentage of completion, which is part of all project management, regardless of the tool used to convey the schedule.

Advantages of Gantt Charts

• Provide an excellent presentation tool for illustrating sequence of the task and demonstrating individual resources scheduled to time.
• A Gantt chart shows the steps by which tasks should be carried out.
• Easy to identify what should have been achieved at any point in the schedule.
• Makes it easy to ensure that the project is completed on time.
• Easy to prepare, manage, and present.
• Easy to show the importance of special checkpoints with milestones.
• Ability to set meeting points or reviews of the project.
• It is best used to show summary of the whole project to the top management as it does not show detail information for every activity.

Disadvantages of Gantt Charts

• Estimates must be completed before the chart can be drawn.
• Do not effectively convey task dependencies in more complex projects.
• It is difficult to show two sets of dates when using techniques such as earliest start date and latest start.
• It fails to show the critical and non-critical tasks.
• Changes to the schedule require a redrawing of the chart.
• Resource assignments are not easy to illustrate.
• Several scheduling possibilities cannot be shown in the same chart.
• It does not highlight Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) elements with the highest risk of failure or delay.

Summary of Differences between PERT and Gantt charts:

1. A PERT chart is essentially a flowchart, or network diagram, while the Gantt chart is a bar chart.
2. PERT charts focus on the sequence of tasks and their dependencies between one another while Gantt charts focus on the time required for each task.
3. Gantt charts handle sequence and duration, while PERT charts manage large and complex projects with variable duration tasks.
4. Gantt charts focus on the time required to complete a task; whereas a PERT chart focuses on relationships between the tasks.
5. Gantt charts are straightforward and are not made for projects which will experience change; while PERT charts are intricate and tolerate great deals of unknowns.

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PowerPoint Gantt Chart Template

There’s a new PowerPoint Gantt Chart template available from a company called “LoveHealth”

This is helpful for when you need to create a quick PowerPoint presentation to convey a timeline, but you don’t want to bother with putting it into your project management software, exporting it to an image, and then suffering from a ugly looking black and white Gantt chart on what is otherwise an attractive presentation.  Since this is built into PowerPoint, it should work pretty well Gantt charts on a Mac as well as Windows.

The company LoveHealth specializes in PowerPoint templates, and they have quite a few different ones available that all look pretty good.

I wish their adverts weren’t so stuffed with keywords that it made them seem so hungry for business.  The text description for it reads pretty poorly, but I guess that’s so they can optimize it for search engines or something.

I haven’t used any of their templates yet, but it seems like a pretty good idea.  They say that there are 15 different editable PowerPoint Gantt chart templates to pick from, and the samples they put up all seem fairly nice looking.

PowerPoint Gantt Chart Template #1

Gantt Chart PPT Template #2

In case you didn’t know, a Gantt chart is a tool employed by project managers for tracking tasks on their projects. One example of such an undertaking might be creating and executing an advertising and marketing plan. A sole owner business could make a plan using the Gantt chart. However, it should be noted a Gantt chart could make a simple project more complicated if you really get in extreme detail. It is possible that using the Gantt chart would be overkill for a simple planning job, but these template seem perfect for conveying overall timelines or smaller projects. All the project members should thoroughly understand a tool like a Gantt chart so that good communication is maintained with involved parties.

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In LifeHacker’s write-up today, by the How-To Geek, we learned about an awesome Web-based Gantt tool for project management called Gantter.  If you’re used to MS Project, you’re in luck, because the app looks a whole lot like it.   And, if you’re using MS Project for some of it’s more advanced features on your local computer, you can import your MS Project files right into Gantter for sharing with your remote team.

I really see that this is best used when you have a LOT of participants with minor roles and you don’t want to fork out for the CALS for the web project server or you just don’t have the cash for MS products anyway, what with all of your outsourcing to Pakistan and India, right?

It’s straightforward to use the app, so you can bring new people up-to-speed on it in now time.  Just add tasks and resources to your WBS like you do on MS project,   If you need to, you can download the project plan as an XML file for loading into Project at the home base.

Gantter is completely free project management software – yes, FREE, so Gantt away and manage those projects like you’ve never managed before.

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It’s amazing what the concept of Open Source has done to the software industry.  Realize, my friends, that “Open Source” is another way of saying “no support” — if you feel that your team needs project management software that works perfectly all of the time and that you should be able to call the vendor and complain to them every time you get stuck or it does something stupid.

1. Microsoft Project is not for you.
2. Open Source is not for you.

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As you all know, I abhor MS Project  because of its lack of intuitiveness as well as stove piping a certain way of doing work.  I checked out Merlin 2 to see if there was Gantt Chart software for the Mac that might use instead.

Additional Resources

Here’s how Merlin is Awesome — especially in comparison to MS Project:

• You can zoom in to days and zoom out to weeks/months quite easily. Scaling seems like a really awesome feature that Project is just way behind in presentation-wise.
• Merlin provides a library of frequently used Gantt Chart templates to get you started.  When importing Gantt charts from one project into another projects in MS Project, it just hurts.  Bad, BAD things happen.
• Gantt Chart presentation in Merlin is just splendid.  Simply right off the charts.  Drop-shadows, anti-aliasing, soft edges — it’s just gorgeous.  With this Gantt chart tool for the Mac, my project documentation now has substance and style.
• Merlin’s representation of task completion is incredibly intuitive.  The shading of the entire bar just makes so much more sense than how it’s done in Project.
• Task names are printed on the bars in the Gantt chart.  You can print the Gantt chart without the WBS, and convey nearly the entire project plan in so much less space.
• Merlin has a well thought-out Print dialog with tons of helpful options which allow you to quickly print exactly what you want of the Gantt chart.
• Merlin’s help system is remarkable – it provides a thoughtful and well presented introductory course in Project Management concepts mapped to the part of the software to which that lesson applies.
• Merlin is completely compatible with Microsoft Project – but MS Project is not Project Management software for the Mac – so, no Gantt charts on the Mac from MS Project.
• Merlin is scads cheaper.  In fact, if you want to get the beta of Merlin 2.5, it’s FREE!  Yes, you heard me right, free.  Have at it.

If you’re looking for a Gantt Charting tool for the Mac or for Project Management Software for the Mac — Merlin is a serious contender.  Give ‘er a peek.

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I’ve learned to despise all of the idiosyncracies of Micro$oft Project, and am always on the lookout for a management software.  I need something that lets me easily add tasks, resources, baseline, compare schedules vs. actuals and as so frequently happens — allow people to book more time in a single work day than an 8 hour shift without rearranging my entire project plan for me.  Jeez, that annoys the living crap out of me. </rant>

Okay, so I’m definitely going to pick up the demo version.  I use a Wintel machine, but I also work with graphic artists who almost always work on their Mac.  So, another great thing about OmniPlan is that there’s a Mac version available.  I’ll keep you posted on how exciting the OmniPlan 1.51 release is, but let me tell ya… from the screenshots online, this is one super-sexy piece of project management software.

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Since 50% of FastTrack Schedule’s users are not very experienced with project management software , they designed their project management software with ease-of-use as a paramount concern.  Since every project manager, whether one by training or by task, needs to show project estimates and project completion to the stakeholders and project sponsors. AEC’s FastTrack has a reporting module that works perfectly for this.  It also integrates with other mainstream project management tools like Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project.

Their project management software handles project consolidation as well – empowering you to manage several projects within a single project file.  The resources layout tool enables you to track the contributions of project participants over time, including scheduling project personnel and resolving conflicts which undoubtedly arise when you have someone who’s 250% allocated.  The reporting piece allows you to archive a snapshot of the project and drop it into a PowerPoint presentation so you can mail that off to all of the stakeholders..

But here’s something you don’t frequently get with other project management software — It’s cross-platform.  This means that your back-office team can see the share project files with the creative team so devoted to their Macs.  Now, finding Mac Project Management Software is frequently hard enough, but here you get a solution that works all around.  I know people will be excited to hear that there are more choices when looking for Project Management Software for the Mac.

The price of FastTrack Schedule is $350 per license. You can learn more about their product at AEC Software .

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