Column Assignee – Use this column to assign team members to each of your tasks.Column Progress – Use this column to keep track of your progress.Column End Date – this column contains all the values corresponding with the end of each of the tasks.Column Start Date – this column stores all the values corresponding with the start date of each of the tasks.To get up and running, you need to modify seven elements of the template while the rest is adjusted automatically: The formula subtracts the task start date (C5) from the task end date (D5) and adds one day to come up with the number of days it will take to complete a given task. Create a column named “ Duration” (G4), type “ =D5-C5+1” into cell G5, and copy the formula down into cells G6:G11 using the fill handle. Start with populating column Duration (G4:G11). Whew, that was a lot of theory, so let’s get cracking.Ĥ. For instance, the date “ ” equals “ 44460” which indicates the number of days since January 1, 1900. Project Start & Project End – These values convert the project start date and end date in cells E1 and E2 into sequential serial numbers which we will use to define the horizontal axis limits.Today’s Date (Helper) – These helper values will be used to create the red line illustrating today’s date on the Gantt chart.Today’s Date – This column pulls today’s date using the TODAY function to position the current date line on the Gantt chart.Remaining – This column determines the remaining number of days it will take to complete a task based on the progress percentage points it takes to reach 100%.Progress – This column converts the progress percentage into the corresponding number of days spent on a given task.Duration – The values in this column count the total number of days it takes to complete each task (the duration data).Here’s the breakdown of the chart data highlighted in blue to help you retrace the steps outlined below. Highlight the values in column Start Date (C5:C11), right-click, and select “ Format Cells.” Right out of the gate, we need to format the dates in column Start Date in a different way so the horizontal axis will display neat-looking dates.ġ. If you don’t want to use this feature, set all the values to 100% and change the background and font color to white to hide the column. Progress – This column indicates the task completion stage.Enter the dates in the dd/mm/yyyy format. Start Date & End Date – These columns define the beginning and end of each task.Alternatively, you can use the departments responsible for the execution of a given task. Assignee – These are going to be used only as data labels.Task – These values determine the actual key tasks and will be charted as vertical axis values.Project Start & Project End – These two dates define the beginning and end of your project and will be used for charting the horizontal axis of your Gantt chart to create your project timeline.Project Name & Team Lead – These two cells won’t be used in the setup process and serve merely to provide your users with more context.Here’s the breakdown of the tables to help you adjust it to your own specifications: Start with adding all the actual project tasks using the screenshot below: The template is completely free and you don’t have to give away your email address or sign up for anything to get it.Īlso, check out our top picks for the best Gantt chart software if you’re looking to take your project management to the next level with features such as task descriptions, task dependencies, etc. Without beating around the bush, let’s jump right in-we’ve got some charting to do!Īlso, if you’re short on time, you can grab a Gantt chart template and follow the setup instructions we mapped out at the end of the article. We have broken everything down into small, simple steps to make sure you can actually build out the same Gantt chart illustrated above on your own. The setup process is a bit lengthy and may take you anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes. And you can get all of that (and more) without paying a dime. You can even use it in your dashboards, as opposed to in-cell Gantt charts. You have full control over every single element of the graph. With this Gantt chart, you are in the driver’s seat. Gantt charts have their own pros and cons, but it’s one of the few project management tools that stood the test of time. The beauty of this Excel Gantt chart, the main competitor of Excel Kanban boards and Kanban makers, is that it supports a whole bunch of critically important features that third-party software providers typically charge you for:
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