A Gantt chart helps you schedule your project tasks and then helps you track your progress. To communicate detailed task and schedule information to managers or other team members, you can create a Gantt chart in Microsoft Visio. You can also use a Gantt chart to manage the project's schedule at the task level.
Set up a Gantt chart
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Select File > New, then search for Schedule.
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Click Gantt Chart, and then click Create.
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In the Gantt Chart Options dialog box, set up the dates for the timescale:
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Click the Date tab, and then choose the options that you want.
Major units are the longest unit of time (such as years or months) that you want to use in the chart, and Minor units are the smallest (such as days or hours). -
On the Format tab, click the shapes and labels that you want to use on the task bars, milestones, and summary bars, and then click OK.
If you aren't sure what formatting to choose, just accept the default choices. You can change the formatting later.
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Add data to a Gantt chart
Tasks
Each task in a Gantt chart occupies a row in the chart frame. When you type task names in cells in the Task Name column, task durations are represented as task bars in the area under the timescale.
Goal |
Action to take |
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Change a task name |
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Set or change task duration |
Type a duration as follows:
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Add new task rows |
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Add percent complete indicators to tasks |
As you make progress on a task, type the percentage of the task completed in the new column. A percent complete indicator appears in the task bar. |
Delete a task |
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Milestones
Because a milestone represents a significant event in a schedule rather than a task, set its duration to zero.
Goal |
Action to take |
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Add a new milestone |
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Convert an existing task to a milestone |
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Change the way a milestone marker looks |
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Delete a milestone |
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Summary tasks
You can use a summary task when you want to combine several subordinate tasks under one umbrella task.
Goal |
Action to take |
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Create subordinate tasks under a summary task |
A summary task is a normal task row. It summarizes the subordinate tasks that are indented below it. To create subordinate tasks:
The indented task is now subordinate to the summary task above it. |
Set the duration for a summary task |
The summary task duration fills in automatically after you add the task duration information for all the subordinate tasks. |
Promote (Outdent) a task |
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Change the way a summary task bar looks |
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Dependencies (Linked tasks)
When you make one task in your Gantt chart dependent upon another, an arrow connects the two task bars. If you change a date or duration of the task that another task is dependent upon, the dependent task dates change also.
Goal |
Action to take |
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Set dependencies between tasks |
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Break dependencies between tasks |
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Change the style of dependency arrows |
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Add columns
Goal |
Action to take |
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Rename an existing column |
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Add a new predesigned data column |
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Add a new data column that you design yourself |
Note: If you add more than one text column, click a different user-defined text option each time. For example, click User Defined Text 1 for the first column, User Defined Text 2 for the second column, and so on. |
Delete (hide) a data column |
Note: When you delete, or hide, a column from the chart, the data from the column is preserved in a file. To show the column again later, right-click a column heading, and then click Insert Column. From the list, select the column that you want to show again, and then click OK. |
Move a data column |
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Timescale
The timescale is a scale of major and minor time units that extends from the date that your project begins to the date that it ends. You can define the time units for the timescale, its start and end dates, and the days that you consider to be nonworking days.
Goal |
Action to take |
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Change start or end date, or both |
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Change time units |
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Set nonworking days |
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Scroll to a particular task or milestone |
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Scroll to a particular date |
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Change the width of the timescale region |
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Display more time units |
Note: When you extend the timescale to display more time units, you also change the end date associated with your project. |