What is project management? Project Management is a field of employ in which the manager must control resources, such as people, money, and time, effectively. These controls help complete the project in the necessary time with desired quality. The skill of project management also reduces the cost of the project through application of better methods. A few examples are projects would be the construction of a dam or the implementation of a new computer network.
Project management includes the development of a project plan, frequently in the form of a Gantt Chart, which includes defining project goals and objectives, specifying tasks or how goals will be achieved, what resources are needed, and associating budgets and timelines for completion. It also includes implementing the project plan and to ensure that the plan is being managed according to plan.
A specialized bar chart is used to give a graphical overview, schedule of all activities or to provide elements and dependencies of a work effort. This is a chart with rectangular bars. The length of each bar is proportional to the value to which it corresponds. You can compare tow or more values with this bar chart. One of such charts is Gannt chart. The final product illustrates the schedule of a project.
The Gantt chart depicts the begin and end dates of the terminal elements. It also illustrates summary elements of a project. The work breakdown structure of the project is illustrated by the terminal elements and summary elements. A few elements also illustrate the precedence and network relationships between activities.
The initial format of the Gant chart was developed by Henry L. Gantt, hence the name. Henry Gantt created many different Gant charts and inspired many others. The Gantt chart that is popular today was described in 1942 as a layout chart by W. Clark. The use of additional charting lines to show the dependencies between tasks was a much later innovation and did not really become established until the late 1980's.
In project management, the chart can show when the project terminal elements start and finish, summary elements or terminal element dependencies. A terminal element is defined as the smallest task tracked as part of the project effort. Most modern project scheduling packages are able to produce a representation of tasks in a Gantt format. Other project management applications avoid this concept in favor of simpler communication tools (message boards, to-do lists, simple scheduling, etc).
When creating the chart process, first figure out what the required activities are and list them. Next, draft a preliminary version of the chart. Analyze the dependencies and pencil in the activities. Determine the amount of time in hours that each activity will take. Specify who will accomplish each activity. Then, analyze the total time required.
The main advantage is that it is a common technique which gives a good graphical overview and it is easy to understand. The main disadvantage is that projects are often more complex than that can be communicated effectively with this chart.
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
