Gantt charts are an invaluable resource when managing projects of any size. A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that visualizes a project schedule. Tasks are represented by horizontal bars laid across a horizontal axis of dates.
Using a Gantt chart to visually represent your project schedule makes it easier to recognize important information like key dates and project progress than by viewing tasks as rows in a spreadsheet. With Spreadsheet.com’s Gantt chart views, you can transform any task list into an interactive Gantt view in just one step.
You could create a Gantt chart in a traditional Excel spreadsheet, but it’s not exactly a simple process. First you need to make sure your data is formatted in a specific way, then you need to create a bar chart, and then you need to format the bar chart to resemble a real Gantt chart.
And even after you’ve done all that, you’re left with a “Gantt chart” that isn’t interactive, doesn’t support task dependencies, doesn’t display a project’s critical path, and can only be edited by changing the underlying spreadsheet data. Really, you just have a bar chart with some added visual flair.
Fortunately, there’s a better way. With Spreadsheet.com, you can take any task list or project schedule and add a fully-featured, interactive Gantt chart to your worksheet in just a single step.
Most project task lists begin with some simple information: a list of tasks and their owners, start and end dates, and maybe some information about the status of each task. Take a look at our sample task list below:
With Spreadsheet.com, that’s all the information you need to add a Gantt chart to your workbook. From your task list worksheet, open the Views sidebar and click the + Gantt button at the bottom.
Creating a new Gantt view will enable Project Management settings for your workbook. When you enable Project Management settings, Spreadsheet.com will automatically recognize important columns like start and end dates in your workbook. Confirm these settings, click Save, and your new Gantt chart will appear side-by-side with your workbook data.
It’s that simple.
That’s not a typo – there is no Step 2 (except for exploring your brand new Gantt chart).
Since you’ve just saved so much time by creating a one-step-Gantt chart, it’s the perfect opportunity to learn more about Spreadsheet.com’s advanced project management features.
If you have a complicated project or lengthy task list, you can break it down into tasks and subtasks by creating row hierarchies. Or, try adding dependencies between tasks to better convey task sequencing and scheduling.
Save even more time in your workflow by adding automations to your worksheets to automatically update your team of upcoming deadlines, change task statuses, assign team members to new tasks, and more.
Spreadsheet.com makes it easy to turn a simple project task list into an all-in-one project management solution.
Ready to create your first one-step-Gantt chart? Get started with Spreadsheet.com today for free. Browse our Template Gallery to find dozens of project management templates, as well as templates for product development, finance, operations, and more. Or, start with a blank workbook to begin building your project plan from scratch.