Gantt Chart In Excel Examples How To Make Gantt Chart

Gantt Chart in Excel

A Gantt chart in Excel is a useful graphical visualization tool representing activities or tasks achieved against predetermined standards. Everybody wants to regularly check their progress in their job, project, or any other activities. The Gantt chart is one tool that can fulfill your requirement.

Especially in project management, it plays a pivotal role in tracking the project’s progress. Therefore, the Gantt chart is the closest friend to a project manager. They can track the progress of each stage of the project. Starting from day one until the end of the project. It will show the manager each step of the time analysis to plan better.

Sadly, if we go and look in Excel, we will not see any dedicated field for the Gantt chart. Instead, this is a kind of bar chart in excelBar Chart In ExcelBar charts in excel are helpful in the representation of the single data on the horizontal bar, with categories displayed on the Y-axis and values on the X-axis. To create a bar chart, we need at least two independent and dependent variables.read more. Each bar represents different tasks and the time taken to complete the job. This article will see the stages of creating a beautiful Gantt chart to track our activities.

How to Make a Gantt Chart in Excel? (Examples)

Gantt chart is very simple and easy to use. Let us understand the working of with some examples.

Example #1 – Track Your Programme Schedule

Example #2 – Sales Cycle Tracker

Assume you are a “Sales Manager,” and you want to decide the sales cycle duration for different events. You are ready with your below data. The management asks you to present it in a neat and professional graphical presentation. But you do not know how to put it across. This example will guide you in preparing a graphical representation.

We must first create agenda data in the Excel sheet. We start by entering the day’s activity in the worksheet. Next, list each hour’s activity, including when is the start time, what is the topic, what is the duration time, and the end time. Only the “Start Time” and “Duration of the Activity” matter. The “End Time” is only for our reference. First, select “Start Time” (B2:B6) and insert a bar chart. Then, go to the “Insert” tab, and choose the “Stacked Bar” chart. As soon as the chart is inserted, it will look like the one below.After this, we need to tone more series to the chart. Now, right-click on the chart and follow the below steps.The “Select Data” pop-up will appear. Next, click on the “Add” option and select the “Duration” series. The below image will guide us in choosing the duration data series.For “Series name,” select duration, and “Series value,” choose data from C2:C6.In the “EDIT” option, select the “Vertical axis” values. The vertical axis is the task, activity, or project name.As a result, the chart should look similar to the one below. Format the X-axis, as shown in the below picture. In number, formatting makes format in time format, hh:mm:ss. Now, the chart will look like the one below. Now, we must select blue bars and format them. Make “Fill” as “No fill.” Remove gridlines, delete legends, add a chart title, etc. The final chart is ready, and we believe it is just rocking at the movement.

Only the “Start Time” and “Duration of the Activity” matter. The “End Time” is only for our reference.

As soon as the chart is inserted, it will look like the one below.After this, we need to tone more series to the chart. Now, right-click on the chart and follow the below steps.The “Select Data” pop-up will appear. Next, click on the “Add” option and select the “Duration” series. The below image will guide us in choosing the duration data series.For “Series name,” select duration, and “Series value,” choose data from C2:C6.In the “EDIT” option, select the “Vertical axis” values. The vertical axis is the task, activity, or project name.As a result, the chart should look similar to the one below.

Now, the chart will look like the one below.

The final chart is ready, and we believe it is just rocking at the movement.

Step 1: Ready with the below data.

Step 2: First, we must select the “Start Date” and insert the bar chart.

Step 3: Once the chart is inserted, click on the data and add the data series. The data series we will add is the “Duration” column. Again, please refer to the previous example to know the steps.

Step 4: As soon as we insert the new item, we need to add vertical axis names.

Once we are done with the chart, the chart will look like this.

Step 5: Format X-Axis values to arrange the date properly. The below image will give us an idea.

Now, the Gantt chart may look like this.

Note: We have removed Legends from the chart.

Step 6: Now, select blue bars, the “Start Date” series in the chart, and format it.

Step 7: Design the chart with different colors for different events.

Apply 3-D formatting. For 3-D formatting, we must go to the “formatting” sections of the chart and explore all the possible options.
Apply different colors for different bars to give differentiation.

Finally, we are ready to present your presentation to the management.

PRACTICE TIME

Now, we have learned the idea of creating a Gantt chart. Here, we are giving you simple data to present.

We are required to do the production of mobile phones in an ABC Co. Therefore, we need to create a schedule of tasks to go to and the job. The below data is what we have, and we present it in a Gantt chart to track the activities.

Pros of Gantt Chart

Cons of Gantt Chart

For many tasks or activities, the Excel Gantt chart becomes complex.The size of the bar does not indicate the weight of the job.Regular forecasting is required, which is a time-consuming task.

Factors to be Considered

We must determine the tasks that need to be completed. Also, how long the job will take.We must avoid complex data structures.We must not include too many X or Y-axis values, making the chart look very long.

Gantt Chart In Excel Examples How To Make Gantt Chart