Progress Reports: Gantt Charts

 

While the Work Completed and Works Scheduled sections of your report will tell the reader about the progress you have made on the project, you should also consider incorporating into the latter section what in the business is known as a Gantt Chart. This chart visually, in bar graph form, shows the progress you are making on each task.

Why a Gantt Chart is Called a Gantt Chart

The chart we know today as a Gantt Chart did not originally have that name. The first such chart was created in the 1890s by Polish engineer Karol Adamiecki, who as the manager of a steelworks was interested in improving management techniques^[1].

But it was American engineer and project management consultant Henry Gantt who popularized the chart as we now know it. In the early teens of the 20th century, Gantt created his own chart—and although Adamiecki had gotten to the idea first, it was Gantt’s version that caught on. As a result, today we have the Gantt Chart, a mainstay of many reports.

Gantt Chart Tips & Tutorials

Gantt charts can be quite simple—ones that use minimal sections and variations of a single color—or they can be quite complex. As you can see from the above example, a Gantt Chart helps your reader visualize your tasks and their intended completion dates.

Using a Gantt Chart in Your Document

When you use a Gantt Chart in your progress report—or in any other document—it is not enough to simply pop in the chart beneath a heading.

Instead, between the section heading and the chart itself you should insert an introductory sentence that explains the purpose of the chart, something like one of these examples:

• The following chart shows our planned tasks and the deadline for each.
• Several major project tasks remain, as shown in the following chart.
• The following chart projects the due dates for our remaining work.

Any of these sentences—or something similar—will orient your reader to the purpose of the Gantt chart.

Gantt Chart Tutorials

You can create a Gantt Chart in Microsoft Excel or Word, as well as in several other programs. Both programs offer tutorials to help you build the chart. Column widths can be altered, and the bars that are an ever-present feature of such charts can be drawn using the line tool in the Object Palette. The thickness and color of the bars then can be sized accordingly.

How to Create a Simple, Effective Gantt Chart in Excel Links to an external site. [Dana Miranda, Rob Watts; Forbes]

How to Make a Gantt Chart in Excel Links to an external site. [Innovative Learner, video]

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^[1] "Gantt Chart History." Gantt.com Links to an external site.. 1 August 2023.