Celebrating 100 years of the Gantt Chart! - (But have we got it right?)
Russell GeakeProject Management Consultant| Deciduous Partners LtdLostwithiel, Cornwall, United Kingdom
At some point between 1910 and 1915, American engineer, Henry Gantt developed what we now know as the Gantt Chart. (although Polishman, Karol Adamiecki had devised a similar structure around 1896).
So I propose that we PMs celebrate from now on with a 4 year long party...the project plan for this is not attached, as there is likely to be significant variation after the first few drinks, and it would most likely never be agreed or approved by the project board anyway. Too many cooks etc.
Russell
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Russell GeakeProject Management Consultant| Deciduous Partners LtdLostwithiel, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
Russell,
First important question - 'Has the budget for this 4-year long party project been approved?' :-) Saving Changes...
Sonya CalefSenior Project Manager| Hennepin CountyMinneapolis, Mn, United States
You know how I spot a fraud posing as a project sponsor? If they demand a 6 page, 8x17" Gantt chart by 12:00:00 on the third Thursday of the month. The only communication you ever get from them is if the Gantt chart is more than 2 seconds late. Clearly, this person is clueless about sponsorship. I have never one time had a sponsor who knew how to read a Gantt chart, who could spot problems in the schedule from a Gantt chart, nor have I had a Gantt chart magically reveal anything material, like the Marauder's Map in Harry Potter. It's a nice overview, somewhat gratifying to print out in its entirety and meticulously tape the pages together, but it's a purpose-specific tool. If the reader doesn't understand what they're looking at it's about as helpful as adding a Goldfish to the team. Saving Changes...
Linda HillProgram Manager| MicrosoftRenton, Wa, United States
touche Saving Changes...
Russell GeakeProject Management Consultant| Deciduous Partners LtdLostwithiel, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Sonya, why are you still taping together the pages? Oh, no... this is purely the justification for an A0 roller printer ;) At least that was one of my predecessors legacies to me, that and a whole pile of unusable plans that are out of date as soon as you print them (sometimes before you have finished printing them).
As for budget? Well, I am still awaiting the final sign off as this had originally been left out of the proposal while some feasibility work was undertaken.
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Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
Sonya, if the 6 pages ganttt chart can't provide any good details for you or your project team, one thing for sure is that it can definitely make a nice poster on the wall to decorate your office. :-) Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
I've also suffered the sponsor who wants to see a Gantt chart but isn't really sure what they are looking at. The way I've found to get round that is to produce one (and if it is bamboozling then they can always ask for help interpreting it) and then provide the same information in bite-sized easy to understand reports like coloured blocks in Excel or month-by-month tick sheets. Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
Elizabeth, that's a good idea.
Alternatively we may just show them the highlevel timeline and status instead of throwing out a 6 pages gantt chart. Most executives will not have time to go into details unless they belong to those micromanage type. Saving Changes...
Russell GeakeProject Management Consultant| Deciduous Partners LtdLostwithiel, Cornwall, United Kingdom
talking of micromanaging how about this one this week... a client wanted to run through "The Plan" to see what could be done to bring in the end date...so there were 7 people in the room, and for two or three hours we (I took a back seat to observe the interactions) discussed at length the possibilities of changing the order of steps to discover different scenarios...the end result was a 1 week gain...but it effectively took half a week to find this out (and probably more because earlier iterations of the plan being produced by several people on a whim). I did chuckle quietly to myself. Saving Changes...
