Software projects are complex not only because the technology but mainly because the human behaviour. Humans collaborate to create solutions for complex problems, are Gantt charts useful to model human behaviour and collaboration?
It seems to me that gantt charts are well suited for very predictive projects or production lines with machines, and software projects are everything but predictive. What is the point of using a technique that assumes a predictive future in a environment in constant change?
As far as I know, Henry Gantt worked with Frederick Taylor and I assume they had the same way of thinking. Now, if Taylor is a Theory X manager what's the point to use their tools when you are a theory Y manager? Does it make any sense to use gantt charts to manager projects, specially SW projects?
Additionally, I heard from someone that the first time Henry Gantt introduced what we today know as Gantt charts never used the word projects, mainly because those charts were used to manage assembly and production lines... why are we using Gantt charts to manage the complexity of projects? Saving Changes...
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Prasad VelagaExecutive| OptisolCollege Station, Tx, United States
Gantt chart is just a diagram that graphically shows estimated / projected start and finish times for each task for an easier comprehension of schedules. It is not easy to fully grasp the entire schedule from numerical data. Gantt chart is useful in manufacturing or project management or any other activity as long as those task start and finish times are available. A Gantt chart representing a schedule is useful when the schedule is valid and meaningful.
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Andrew BartonManaging Director| ACV Solutions LtdTrowbridge, United Kingdom
I manage software development projects and find Gantt Charts an excellent way of seeing a snap shot in time of where the project is and where there will be potential resourcing or other issues. Gantt charts alone are no good. I don't use MS Project but a tool called MindManager 8 (http://mindmanager.murge.com) to plan and organise my project and task information. Add JCVGantt to the mix (which active syncs to my mind map) and I have a very dynamic view of the project. I can edit tasks in a Gantt view with my visual map that everyone can understand updated instantly. Let me know if you would like more information but it is well worth a look. Http://www.murge.com
What tools do you use for PM? Another topic maybe? Saving Changes...
I've only managed software projects and I find a gantt to be very valuable at the planning stage. Its a great way to visually represent the schedule, see dependencies & predecessor tasks and plan concurrent efforts.
Once things start changing, as they always do, a gantt can start to get unwieldy and becomes a serious admin task unto itself.
I come from a Scrum background but currently work in a hybrid environment. In the future I think I would still estimate & plan (I love the ability to have a Work column beside the Duration column) via
MS Project although I may rely on burndowns thereafter. Saving Changes...
I think that using a Gantt chart to come with and present a tentative schedule is Ok, and, IMO, besides the risk I mention at my post http://jpereira.eu/2009/05/09/useless-gantt-chart/, gant charts, if used in to "manage" a project, can lead to a decrease in visibility of the real status of the project. When someone looks at a gantt chart and see that WP_X is 100% complete, what can they conclude from that?
It's really finished? But it's finished the way it should be finished? How can we prove it?
I think Gantt charts are ok to get a initial and tentative schedule, however using a gantt chart to report progress, for example, can cause this lack of visibility. What do you think? Saving Changes...
Dina Garfinkel PMPProject Manager| Horn Group IncNew York, Ny, United States
Joao, I completely agree with you. I have repeatedly had a hard time with the traditional gantt chart for the following reasons:
- I was held to an exact date and task duration
- I didn't like showing my tasks as 75% complete or 5% complete, I have a hard time with using those metrics. I have learned that a task is either 100% done or 0% done.
So, I use LiquidPlanner because it allows me to estimate my tasks in ranges. So, the schedule is much more fluid (pun intended) and the dates are in a range rather than one specific date that we might not realistically be able to hold to. LiquidPlanner does not allow the task owner to report a status as percent complete, rather the owner reports how much work was done on a task (hrs/days) and what is still left to be done. This seems easier to work with than reporting that something is 85% done.
I've been using LP for about a year now, and think I might be one of their biggest fans (http://bit.ly/zJgNP).
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Prasad VelagaExecutive| OptisolCollege Station, Tx, United States
I guess Henry Gantt's initial intention in creating a chart that was named after him was only to collect task schedules from tables and display them graphically in a simple, comprehensive manner. After computers came into existence, the chart has been extended by adding a lot of related information for covering many other purposes. It may not be sufficient for grasping the real status of a project. But, it still provides some valuable information about project schedules. You can design an innovative Gantt chart to meet your specific visual requirements.The very first link provided by Google for "Gantt chart" is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gantt_chart . The section on "Advantages and limitations" of Gantt chart on this page include:
"Although a Gantt chart is useful and valuable for small projects that fit on a single sheet or screen, they can become quite unwieldy for projects with more than about 30 activities. Larger Gantt charts may not be suitable for most computer displays. Projects are often considerably more complex than can be communicated effectively with a Gantt chart. Although project management software can show schedule dependencies as lines between activities, displaying a large number of dependencies may result in a cluttered or unreadable chart".
I do not know who wrote these drawbacks of Gantt charts. But, this is exactly what we wanted to eliminate in Gantt charts and network diagrams. For large projects with hundreds of tasks, one has to scroll Gantt chart (on computer screen) horizontally and vertically to compare schedules of various tasks and get a good grasp of the entire project schedule. The laborious scrolling which makes task schedule comparison uncomfortable and reduces the overall perception of the project schedule is necessitated because Gantt chart is extremely poor in utilizing the space on computer screen. For this reason, we developed a Gantt chart that packs all task bars within the smallest rectangle and display all task bars in a single screen. For illustration, see our web page www.optisol.biz/gantt/ganttpack.htm .
Additional information about tasks can be obtained from the chart by many mouse-enabled functions on the screen, thanks to Windows operating system. Such chart may not be very useful for small projects with 30 tasks or less. It is very useful to grasp the schedule of any project involving a few hundred tasks. As Vladimir commented on another forum a few days ago, the basic purpose of our chart will be reduced when tasks run into thousands because the packed Gantt chart loses clarity for thousands of tasks. The user can see task dependencies on the chart with the help of mouse clicks on the chart. To overcome the drawback concerning the display of a large number of dependencies, our network diagram shows all paths of a project network without any overlap of arrows.
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It's often necessary to present a set of project schedules, oftentimes of multiple dependent projects, to an audience.
There can be several milestones, integration points, and other relevant details for reference so that all audience members can see how their piece of the project fits in, or integrates etc.
If these various items are captured in MS project, is there a nice way to transform it into a presentable graphic for a slide? Saving Changes...
