When it comes to project management dashboard software tools, the first thing that comes to mind for many people is the Gantt chart! This is because anyone who frequently deals with data knows that when we have a big project that needs to be executed on schedule or when we need to manage all tasks and data in a unified manner, we need a user-friendly project management tool, and the Gantt chart is the best tool for the job!

Excel may be the most common tool for creating Gantt charts, as it does not require downloading additional software. Gantt charts can be created by filling in colors in Excel cells or by using bar charts. However, Excel does not have built-in Gantt charts, making the process cumbersome and the resulting Gantt chart style monotonous. It may take half an hour or more to create a Gantt chart with your desired style.

Therefore, this article will show you practical examples of Gantt charts and tell you how to use professional reporting software to quickly create a professional and visually appealing Gantt chart.

Note: All the gantt chart templates shown in this article are created by FineReport, a powerful reporting software that has been honorably mentioned by Gartner Magic Quadrant for ABI Platforms. You can download FineReport for free and have a try!

What is a Gantt Chart?

A Gantt chart is a graphical representation of the sequence and duration of activities in a specific project, using an activity list and a time scale.

In simple terms, a Gantt chart is a chart that links activities with time, showing the duration of each activity.

The Gantt chart provides an overall view of the progress in time, clearly indicating the start and end time of each task. It is not difficult to understand the reason for the need for Gantt charts: they were created to meet the needs of production planning in the field of production management.

Let’s take a look at what a Gantt chart looks like. The following image is a simple Gantt chart for project management made with the professional reporting BI software FineReport.

In this Gantt chart, the progress of each project can be intuitively viewed and compared across multiple projects. In the multi-project Gantt chart below, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents project progress, which is a common format for Gantt charts.

Usage of a Gantt Chart

With an understanding of the origins and characteristics of Gantt charts, it is easy to imagine their various applications.

Gantt charts are widely used in modern project management as a chart format. They can help us predict results in terms of time, cost, quantity, and quality, and enable us to consider elements such as manpower, resources, dates, repetitive and critical parts of the project, and also, multiple Gantt charts can integrated into one overall chart. Using a Gantt chart, we can intuitively see the progress of tasks and the utilization of resources.

Gantt charts are now used not only in production management but also in various fields, such as construction, IT software, automobiles, and any field that needs project management. They are used to display the achievement progress of a particular indicator or task, such as departmental performance completion and expense declaration progress. To more intuitively display the progress of various indicators and tasks, we generally use stacked bar charts and Gantt charts to display data progress.

Example of the Gantt Chart for Project Management

As project complexity and business needs continue to increase, simple Gantt charts are no longer sufficient, leading to the emergence of various types of complex Gantt charts.

In this article, we will use FineReport, a professional reporting software to create several commonly used Gantt charts for project management. These include basic Gantt charts that meet fundamental requirements, as well as more complex Gantt charts such as Gantt charts with Milestone, Gantt charts with Machine Status, and so on.

You can download FineReport to access these Gantt chart templates for free.

Example of Basic Gantt Chart

A basic Gantt Chart can meet the needs of most project management, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents project progress.

Example of Gantt Chart with Milestone

In complex projects, it can be challenging to keep track of critical deadlines and milestones. This is where Gantt Charts with Milestones come in.

The Milestone Gantt Chart is an enhanced version of a traditional Gantt Chart that includes visual indicators for significant project milestones. These milestones can include critical deadlines, project deliverables, or other major events in the project timeline. It can mark a fixed time point (milestone event) in the progress of a task. The display effect is shown in the following figure:

Example of Gantt Chart with Machine Status

In the report management of the manufacturing industry, it is often necessary to show the operation status of machines in a period, such as semiconductor industry equipment, parts industry lathe, etc.

Gantt chart can accurately show the state of the machine in a period, and the effect is shown in the following figure:

Example of Gantt Chart with Relevancy Line

Gantt chart can not only reflect the completion of plans and actual activities but also express the sequence of tasks.

• FS: Task B cannot be started until Task A is completed
• SS: Task B cannot be started until Task A starts
• SF: Task B cannot be finished until Task A is finished
• FF: Task B can’t finish until Task A starts

Taking the FS relationship as an example, the display effect is shown in the following figure:

Example of Gantt Chart with Multiple Tasks

Gantt chart supports multiple projects and can be classified based on modules. As shown in the example below, a Project leader is added based on Modules.

In FineReport, the Gantt chart function is extremely powerful, supporting multi-level projects and multiple task series, as well as milestones for each task, 13 levels of timeline settings, four types of task dependency lines (start-to-finish, start-to-start, finish-to-start, and finish-to-finish), chart export, and many other rich features.

If you’re used to storing data in Excel, you can also import your Excel data into FineReport with just one click and easily create Gantt charts in FineReport.

FineReport has 19 major visualization chart categories and over 60 dynamic chart styles, which can cover all your charting needs!

Unlike Excel, which often requires repeatedly creating tables, if you use FineReport, the same table can be easily reused as a template. In other words, even the most complex charts or reports only need to be created once as a template and can then be applied to other data.

How to Choose Software to Make a Gantt Chart?

How to quickly create a professional Gantt chart? Here are some reporting software tools recommended for creating Gantt charts.

There are roughly three types of tools that can be used to create Gantt charts:

1. Excel for Gantt Chart

Excel reports are the most common software for creating Gantt charts. However, Excel does not have built-in Gantt charts, and it requires using bar charts instead. This can be very cumbersome to work with and is not very flexible for debugging. Additionally, it is not possible to use rich Gantt chart templates with a single click like other professional tools.

2. Professional Charting Software Specifically Designed to Create Gantt Charts

Software specifically designed for creating Gantt charts is available in both free and paid versions, with varying levels of functionality. It is suitable for users who only need to create Gantt charts.

3. Professional Reporting Tools that Include Gantt Chart Functionality

Reporting tools that include Gantt chart functionality have already integrated Gantt charts into the reports, which can be combined with other report and chart formats. They are suitable for processing complex data and are generally professional data analysis software (such as FineReport) suitable for enterprise-level users with higher functional requirements.

Use FineReport to Make Gantt Chart

FineReport is a professional BI Reporting & Dashboard Software, FineReport offers a variety of chart types and more than 60 dynamic chart styles, providing you with the flexibility to create Gantt charts that best suit your project management needs. What’s more, with FineReport, you can easily reuse existing Gantt chart templates, eliminating the need to repeatedly create charts from scratch.

There are only five simple steps to quickly develop a professional Gantt chart in FineReport.

• Data Preparation
• Insert a Chart
• Data Binding
• Style Setting
• Preview

1. Data Preparation

Firstly, download FineReport for free.

And then create a new built-in dataset, as shown in the figure below:

2. Insert a Chart

Taking the project progress of each module of the software as an example, this document introduces the basic method of making a Gantt chart. The insertion method of a Gantt chart is the same as that of a pie chart.

• Pop up the [Chart Type] panel, and select [Gannt Chart] on the left.
• Select [Gannt Chart] on the right.
• Click [OK] to complete the insertion of the Gantt chart.

3. Data Binding

1) Bind Gantt chart data

• Select [Dataset data] for [Data source], [software] for [Dataset], and [module] for [Project Name].
• Select [task] for [Series], [start time] for [Start Time], [end time] for [End Time], [milestone time] for [Milestone Time], and [completion rate] for [Progress].

2) Bind task associated data

• Click [Data]-[Gantt Chart].
• Select [Dataset data] for [Data source] and [software] for [Dataset], and the data below need not be set.

4. Style Setting

1) Delete the chart title

• Remove the tick before [Show Title].

2) Set the series

• Click the [Style] label.
• Select [Series].
• Select [Custom Combined Color] for [Color]-[Color Scheme].
• Set [Pattern]-[Series New Line] to [Off].
• Select [Rule] for [Milestone]-[Point Style], [Shape], and [Color] settings as shown in the figure.

3) Set the project axis

• Click the [Style] label.
• Select [Project Axis].
• Set [Proportion]-[Horizontal Proportion] to [Auto].
• The specific settings of [Horizontal Header], [Vertical Header], and [Content] are shown below:

4) Set the timeline

• Click the [Style] label.
• Select [Time Line].
• Select [On] for both [Status config]-[Time Zoom] and [Weekend Tips]. Set [Initial Level] to [Automatic].
• The specific settings of [Upper Header] and [Lower Header] are shown below:

5. Preview

An example of a Gantt chart with a style setting is as follows.

A Conclusion of the Gantt Chart

Gantt chart, a graphical representation of a project schedule, is an essential tool in project management. It enables project managers to track the progress of individual tasks and the overall project timeline.

To create professional and visually appealing Gantt charts, we highly recommend using FineReport, a powerful business intelligence reporting tool. FineReport offers a variety of chart types and more than 60 dynamic chart styles, providing you with the flexibility to create Gantt charts that best suit your project management needs. What’s more, with FineReport, you can easily reuse existing Gantt chart templates, eliminating the need to repeatedly create charts from scratch.

By using FineReport to create Gantt charts, you can gain a clear understanding of your project’s progress and track the performance of individual tasks. With its advanced features, FineReport can help you predict outcomes related to time, cost, quantity, and quality, making project management much more efficient.

FineReport is an excellent tool to help you create professional Gantt charts quickly and efficiently. Try FineReport today and streamline your project management process.