{"id":6571,"date":"2018-12-04T08:36:17","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T06:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.teamweek.com\/?p=6571"},"modified":"2024-06-15T07:41:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-15T07:41:08","slug":"what-is-a-gantt-chart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toggl.com\/blog\/what-is-a-gantt-chart","title":{"rendered":"What Is A Gantt Chart? (And How It Made Me a Better Manager)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year, the manufacturing company where I used to work had a holiday party. In addition to drinks, dancing, and dinner, it featured an awards ceremony where employees received prizes for \u201cBest Smile,\u201d \u201cMicrosoft Master,\u201d stuff like that. I can\u2019t remember now what awards I got, but none of them were ever for \u201cBest Team Leader.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After a certain work-related debacle, there was no way my name would ever come up on that nomination list. What makes this memory extra-painful is that I thought I was doing the right thing. <\/span><\/p>\n

I was managing a project that transitioned the company product manuals from a legacy management system to a new one that supported easy cross-document updates and maintenance. <\/span><\/p>\n

Every person on the team had been with the company for years and had worked on similar projects in the past. I was new to leading a team and didn\u2019t want to come across as a micromanager, so during the inaugural meeting, I made the project objectives clear (so I thought) and left it at that. We had weekly meetings, during which everyone assured me that things were fine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"What<\/p>\n

My Big Managerial Mistake<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s the catch. I assumed that we were all on the same page after the first meeting. In retrospect, I don\u2019t think we were even in the same book. Everyone understood the goal, but they didn’t know how to get there. They used outdated tools that they were more comfortable with instead of newer versions that supported the new platform, and by the time I discovered the mistake, we were halfway to our deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n

No, ladies and gentlemen, the ends do not always justify the means, especially if the means are version 8 and the industry standard is version 10.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was dismayed and embarrassed. So was my supervisor. If we weren\u2019t so deep into the project by the time this fundamental mistake was discovered, he would have replaced me with another manager. As it was, I had to explain to the department heads that I was going to need the employees they had loaned me for another three weeks. You can imagine how well that went over.<\/span><\/p>\n

When people make a career blunder, they usually do one of two things. They drop that path like a hot potato and look for opportunities more suited to their \u201cskillset.\u201d \u00a0Or they look for a solution.<\/span><\/p>\n

I took the latter path. Let me tell you about the solution I found.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Is a Gantt Chart?<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019ve managed projects in the past, you\u2019ve probably heard of Gantt charts. Simply defined, they are horizontal bar charts that provide a visual representation of a project. Gantt charts enable you to see and evaluate the following project essentials at a glance:<\/span><\/p>\n