One of the most used diagrams in the business sector is the Gantt diagram, a particular type of graph that allows you to sort all activities in well spaced timelines, so that you can immediately understand the duration of the work done. These types of diagrams are widely used for example by Microsoft and Mozilla to show the duration of support for operating systems or programs made, but they can be very useful when we have to plan the dates on which the work must be carried out, the dependencies between the different phases and sub-phases, the people involved in the project to coordinate and many other more or less detailed information. If we have never created these diagrams before, in this guide we will show you how to create Gantt diagrams for projects and plans using the most famous programs available both in the workplace and at home.
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1) Microsoft Excel
The program we recommend to use to quickly and quickly create a new Gantt chart is Excel, the spreadsheet manager included in the Office suite and available in any office or at any business. To create a new Gantt chart we open Excel and, in the initial screen, we scroll the page of the models until we find the model called Gantt Project Planning . A new spreadsheet will open immediately with the diagram ready for use.
We can also search for other Gantt models by typing in the Gantt top search bar and choosing from the 5 models proposed by Microsoft.
Much of the graphic work is already done, we will only have to modify the cells in which the project name is present, modify the names of the various Activities, insert the plan start dates and plan duration, insert (also later) also the dates start and end of activity and lastly the percentage of completion of the activity. Each modification within the cells corresponds to a modification to the bars on the right side, which is the true Gantt chart. At the end of the changes, simply click on the Save button at the top to save a copy of your diagram, so that you can share it with other colleagues.
2) Microsoft PowerPoint
Another tool in the Microsoft Office suite that allows you to create Gantt charts is PowerPoint, the program for managing slides and slides. To do this we open PowerPoint on our PC and, in the initial screen, we type at the top in the Gantt search bar, so as to start the online search for the appropriate model. We will have 5 Gantt models to exploit, we choose the one that best suits our needs.
Once the model is opened, we will be able to change the title of the slide and also modify the various elements inserted in the diagram, deciding the name of the various activities, the duration of the various lines of the diagram and the presence (or not) of the important activities, highlighted in our case from yellow rhombuses. In the second slide there is usually the legend of the diagram, so as to be able to provide help in understanding the data entered. Once you have edited all the fields as desired, click on the Save button in the upper left to create a copy of our Gantt chart on presentation, ready to be projected in a conference or meeting.
3) Microsoft Visio
The most popular program for flowcharts is, of course, Microsoft Visio, which is more functional than the other Office program, Microsoft Project, intended to be absorbed by cloud platforms for companies. We open this program (unfortunately it is not integrated in Office and must be purchased separately) and, in the start screen, we type in the top bar Gantt, so as to open the model offered online by Microsoft.
At the first start of the model we will be asked to immediately enter the data that will characterize the diagram, such as the number of activities, the start date and the end date of the project and the expected duration. Once the initial compilation is complete, we click OK to generate the actual Gantt chart; to apply all the necessary changes, simply click on one of the points of the diagram or use the convenient sidebar, where there are the main buttons to manage this type of diagram. This is the decidedly more difficult choice, but if we are professionals and Visio is our daily bread, a Gantt chart generated with it is definitely a step forward compared to all the other models seen so far.
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4) LibreOffice
If we want to create Gantt diagrams in the domestic environment without disturbing the Office suite (which we remember is paid), we can use the free LibreOffice suite to achieve the same result. First of all we download LibreOffice on our PC, using the link here -> Download LibreOffice. Once the suite is added to our system, we can download the Gantt chart models available online and compatible with LibreOffice.
The best models that we can download are the following:
- Gantt Chart (Simple)
- Gantt Chart Template
We download the one best suited to the work we have to do by clicking on the download link contained on the page (you can recognize it by the large green arrow that accompanies the link). Once the model is downloaded to the computer, open it with LibreOffice Calc, so as to obtain a Gantt chart ready to be compiled.
We modify all the fillable cells and insert the name of the activity, the duration of the project and the effective duration, so as to also modify the lines present in the right part of the spreadsheet (the actual Gantt chart). The more complex model has nothing to envy to the solutions offered by Office, while the simple model is for those who want to generate very simple and linear Gantt charts.
5) GanttProject
Another free program, in Italian, with which we can create efficient Gantt diagrammid is GanttProject.
With GanttProject you can plan large projects by dividing them into numerous minor activities, view the schedules and dependencies between different activities, the calendar dates of the activities and the resources they occupy. With the Gantt diagram it is thus possible to see the duration of each activity until the end of the project and monitor and control its development over time. Projects can also be set up in great detail, and all changes and updates made to the project can be tracked. GanttProject is compiled in Java and is available for Linux, Mac OS X and all versions of Windows but requires the presence of the Java component (JRE) on the PC to work.
6) TeamGantt
TeamGantt is a web application that can be used for free to manage a project with up to three people. Then there are subscription plans for less limited use. As soon as you visit the TeamGantt website, the interface of a similar to MS Project appears immediately and you can immediately start creating the management file of your project. Its use is very simple to manage and plan complex jobs and projects, create the list of activities, organize the resources involved, divide into sub-activities and set deadlines and durations.
7) gantt.io
gantt.io is a site that allows you to create unlimited Gantt charts, with free styles and export functions in various resolutions (the free version only allows in low resolution), style designers and more. Once registered (so fast that it does not require or confirm the e-mail), we can choose between creating a diagram from a model or creating it from scratch and both give the possibility to customize the design by changing colors, texts and structure in general.
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