9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Speaker: In this video, I want to answer[br]the question 'what is a Gantt chart?' 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 [intense music] 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The Gantt chart is arguably the most[br]widely used project planning tool. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In fact, it is so widely used, that for [br]some people, it's almost the archetype 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of what a project is all about. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The Gantt chart is if you like the icon[br]for project management. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The Gantt chart was invented by[br]Karol Adamiecki. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Karol Adamiecki invented his[br]harmonograph 5-10 years before 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Henry Gantt went into print, describing[br]what is now known as the Gannt chart. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And there is absolutely no evidence that[br]I am aware of, saying whether Gannt was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 either aware or not aware of[br]Adamiecki's work. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But it does emphasize something important. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Which is, that if you want something named[br]after you, the best thing to do is to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 write about it in english. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Because that way, Americans and British [br]people understand what you're writing about. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If you write about it in Russian, [br]as Adamiecki did, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 then it might not get noticed,[br]and picked up. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That's just the way the world worked in [br]the early 20th century. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Anyway, Henrey Gantt gives us the rules[br]that we use for creating our Gantt chart. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 A Gantt chart plots time along the[br]horizontal axis. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And on the vertical axis, we list all the[br]tasks that need to be done to accomplish 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 our project. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And if you've created a work break down [br]structure, then that immediately gives 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you your task list. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And if you don't know what a work break[br]down structure is. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Take a look at our video, 'What is a[br]Work Breakdown Structure?' 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, once you've created your graph, and[br]here's something important about the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 way Gantt charts work, equal units of[br]distance along the horizontal axis 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 represent equal units of time. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Once you've created that, then you[br]represent each activity by a bar. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And the length of the bar represents[br]the duration of the task. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And the positioning of the bar represents[br]the scheduling of the task. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, if one task follows another, then the[br]bar follows the previous bar. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And so, what we often see on our Gantt [br]charts, are these long diagonals of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 one activity following another in time, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because each task is dependent on[br]the completion of the predecessor task 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to get started. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But then, we might have other work[br]streams that run in parallel. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The other commonly used symbol you see on [br]a Gantt chart is a simple geometrical shape 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 like a triangle or a diamond, that[br]represents a milestone. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And we have a video on what a[br]milestone is as well. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, that's your basic Gantt chart. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And it's very easy to read. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And we can put a vertical line though [br]the Gantt chart to indicate today. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So that at any point in time during our[br]project we can read off where we should 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 be in our project, and then assess the[br]level of completeness. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now of course, when you look at real [br]Gantt charts produced by sophisticated 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 software, they are often different sorts[br]of bars with different sorts of shading. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There are sometimes different types of[br]milestones. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Different shaped symbols. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 A milestone could be a decision point, or[br]a completion, or a gateway review for example. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, how do you read these complicated [br]Gantt charts? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Well my answer is, it's simple. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If you don't know what the symbols mean,[br]that's not your fault. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It's the fault of the person who created [br]the Gantt chart. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, when you create your Gantt charts,[br]always be clear and put a key on the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Gantt chart explaining what the different[br]symbols, and shading, and types of line mean. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And that way your reader will be able to[br]understand it very simply. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, a Gantt chart, sometimes called a[br]bar chart, represents your project plan 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 by making each task into a bar and putting[br]those bars onto a time schedule. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Your Gantt chart is a powerful tool to [br]help you think through your plan, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to articulate it, to communicate it, and [br]to monitor it during delivery. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 [intense music] 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If you enjoyed this video, please do [br]gives us a like, and if you want more 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 subscribe, and why not hit the notification[br]bell as well. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To get notified of future videos from[br]PM courses, thank you.