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Creating a Gantt chart
This material demonstrates the use of an important tool in project planning, the Gantt chart.Syllabus outcome
H5.1 A student applies project management techniques to maximise the productivity of the software development.
Students must learn to “produce an initial Gantt chart” and to “use project management techniques to ensure that the software solution is implemented in an appropriate time frame” (Syllabus document, pp. 50-51).
The following headings may help you navigate.
- Overview
- Sample project
- Activity 1: Creating a list of tasks for the sample project
- Activity 2: Creating a Gantt chart for the sample project
- Project management software
Overview
A good time management plan is a prerequisite to a successful software development project. A Gantt chart is commonly used to communicate a project time management plan and is usually produced after a detailed and well-planned list of tasks has been created.
Students must begin with a decomposition
of the project into smaller manageable chunks. Creating a simple list or a
hierarchy chart (a tree-like structure that shows a breakdown of tasks involved
in completing the project) usually helps. The following details about each task
must also be determined.
- Duration: how long it will take a task to be completed
- Predecessor(s): which task(s) must be completed before it is carried out
- Resources: mainly project team members but can also be supplies and equipment necessary to complete the task
The creation of this list of tasks gives way to the development of a project Gantt chart, a graphical representation of the start and finish times for each task and its relationship with the other tasks. The chart will show:
- a horizontal axis showing time units, e.g. days
- tasks listed on the vertical axis
- for each task, a horizontal bar is drawn with its length proportional to its duration.
- for each task, its start and finish times as represented by its position relative to the time (horizontal) axis
Creating a Gantt chart will assist students in completing a software development project for the course. The following sample project will be used to illustrate the processes involved in developing a Gantt chart.
Sample Project: Creating a school web site
The students were set a task to create a school web site. The teacher together with a few keen students met and organised a project team as follows:
- Senior designer: student in charge of coordinating the project. In addition to good web design skills, this person has strong team management, project management and communication skills.
- Associate designers: two students who together with the senior designer will determine the overall presentation of the web site.
- Graphic designer: student responsible for creating and manipulating the required graphics, e.g. school logo, selecting suitable photographs, scanning existing photographs, cropping photographs, etc
- Photographer: student responsible for taking photographs requested by the content writers.
- Writers: six students who will develop content for the web site.
- Supervising teacher: liaises with the team and school organisation, provides guidance to team members.
- define requirements
- design user interface
- develop content (school information, history, curriculum, special programs, etc)
- create graphics
- integrate all submissions (content and graphics placed in the appropriate location in the web site structure)
- testing
- finishing touches
- upload to server
Activity 1: Creating a list of tasks for the sample project
Complete the table below. Use the following to guide you.
- Note that some of the tasks listed above have been broken down into more detailed tasks.
- Team members will not devote 100% of their time to the project as they have other things to do. For example, a writer might take four hours to write his or her draft document. But due to other commitments, he or she might only set aside two hours a day to do the task. The table should therefore reflect two days, not 1/6 day.
- Predecessors are the latest tasks that need to be completed before the task can be done.
- For simplicity, resources are team members only. Assume supplies and equipment are always available.
|
No. |
Tasks |
Duration (in days) |
Predecessor Task
No. |
Resources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Define requirements | |||
|
2 |
Determine scope, time and expertise
available |
|
|
|
|
3 |
Formulate preliminary
sitemap |
|
|
|
|
4 |
Seek approval from
principal |
|
|
|
|
5 |
Conduct project team
meeting |
|
|
|
|
6 |
Design user interface | |||
|
7 |
Create preliminary
designs |
|
|
|
|
8 |
Designers’
conference |
|
|
|
|
9 |
Finalise web site design |
|
|
|
|
10 |
Develop assigned
content |
|||
|
11 |
Research |
|
|
|
|
12 |
Write drafts |
|
|
|
|
13 |
Submit request for
graphics |
|
|
|
|
14 |
Editing and proofreading |
|
|
|
|
15 |
Finalise content |
|
|
|
|
16 |
Create graphics | |||
|
17 |
Take photographs |
|
|
|
|
18 |
Seek parental permission |
|
|
|
|
19 |
Create other graphics |
|
|
|
|
20 |
Integration |
|
|
|
|
21 |
Insert content
submissions |
|
|
|
|
22 |
Insert graphics |
|
|
|
|
23 |
Testing | |||
|
24 |
Test links |
|
|
|
|
25 |
Test using different
browsers |
|
|
|
|
26 |
Finishing touches |
|
|
|
|
27 |
Upload to server |
|
|
|
|
28 |
Project team morning tea |
|
|
|
View a solution some students prepared.
Activity 2: Creating a Gantt chart for the sample project
- Using information summarised in the table above, draw a Gantt chart for the sample project.
- How long will it take complete the project?
View the suggested solution. Note the red bars in the Gantt chart.
Project management software
It is not difficult to imagine the amount of work (and space!) required to plan a more complicated project. In the same way that word processors helps in the writing process, project management software facilitates the planning and tracking of a project. It is important to note that project management software is only a tool. Just as a word processor cannot write a novel by itself, it cannot plan the project for you.
The screen dump below shows one of the useful features of project management such as Microsoft Project. It is able to automatically generate the Gantt chart based on the information entered by the user in the task table shown on the left hand side of the screen below.
(Click on image to view full size version)
"Screen shot reprinted by
permission from Microsoft Corporation".
This work was prepared by Elsa Lat
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