
Gantt charts are used by project managers, business owners, team leaders, and executives in many different industries across various departments. Gantt charts also help you keep track of project deadlines, milestones, and hours worked so you can spot and address delays or overages before they wreak havoc on your project. A gantt chart is incredibly useful because it allows you to simplify complex projects into an easy-to-follow plan and track the status of tasks as work progresses. In project management, gantt charts are used for planning and scheduling projects. What is a gantt chart used for in project management?

Here’s a sample gantt chart with these components highlighted.


Milestones: Yellow diamonds that call out major events, dates, decisions, and deliverables.Bars: Horizontal markers on the right side of the gantt chart that represent tasks and show progress, duration, and start and end dates.Dateline: A vertical line that highlights the current date on the gantt chart.Timeline: Runs horizontally across the top of the gantt chart and shows months, weeks, days, and years.Task list: Runs vertically down the left of the gantt chart to describe project work and may be organized into groups and subgroups.What are the components of a gantt chart?Įvery good gantt chart includes the following basic parts: Let’s review the parts of a gantt chart so you understand how they function in a project plan.

Reading a gantt chart really comes down to understanding how the different elements come together to make a gantt chart work. But once you learn the basics, you’ll be able to tell exactly where your projects are and what needs to happen to guide them to success. Gantt charts may seem complicated at first.
