Which type of planning tool shows each task as a horizontal bar whose length is proportional to the time required to complete it?

PERT and Gantt charts are visualization tools that are often used in project management. Both of these charts are used for task scheduling, controlling, and administering the tasks necessary for the completion of a project. The difference between them is that a PERT chart is a kind of network diagram, while a Gantt chart is a bar chart.

What is the PERT Chart?

PERT Chart is an acronym for (Program Evaluation and Review Technique). A PERT chart is a project management tool used to schedule, organize, and coordinate tasks within a project. It is a method to analyze the tasks involved in completing a given project, especially the time needed to complete each task and to identify the minimum time needed to complete the total project.

What is a Gantt Chart?

A Gantt chart is a type of horizontal bar chart commonly used in project management, which is a visual view of tasks scheduled overtime. It provides a graphical visualization of a schedule that helps to plan, coordinate, and track specific tasks (or elements) in a project.

Gantt chart boils down multiple tasks and timelines into a single page. Using a Gantt chart allows all stakeholders to perceive the same schedule information, sets mutually understood expectations, and conducts their efforts according to the desired protocol. The Gantt chart tool provides a visual timeline for the start and end of tasks, making it clear how tasks are interrelated and perhaps rely on the completion of another before one can start.

PERT vs Gantt Chart

PERT charts are network diagrams that use boxes to represent tasks and arrows to present dependencies between tasks. The boxes are laid out from left to right, but there is no fixed Y-axis with dates. The first box, or root, is centered vertically on the left side, and the subsequent tasks can be drawn anywhere along the Y-axis. Arrows can point to the right, up or down, but never to the left.

Gantt charts are bar graphs. The X-axis contains dates and the Y-axis lists separate tasks. On each line of the Y-axis, the chart depicts a bar positioned to extend from the task’s start date to its end date. Tasks are listed in the start-date order.

PERT vs Gantt Example

A Pert Chart:

The ‘Gantt Chart version” of the PERT Chart above:

Summary

Because the PERT Chart clearly illustrates task dependencies, a PERT chart sometimes is preferred over the Gantt chart (another popular project management charting). While the PERT chart can be harder to interpret, especially for large-scale projects. Most often, project managers use both techniques in order to serve multiple purposes.

On the contrary, a Gantt chart does not show clear dependencies or relationships between tasks and also fails to provide enough information for showing the critical path and as well as the detail information for each of the activities.

We can summarize the differences between the two as listed in the table below:

Learn all about the famous Gantt chart and how you can create your own on monday.com.

Your knowledge of a Gantt chart might be limited— maybe you know they are used to map out project timelines and activities. You may have seen stacked bar charts as well.

If you haven’t delved much deeper than that, don’t worry. In this blog, we will cover what you need to know about Gantt charts as a project management tool and answer your burning questions like, ‘should you be using online Gantt chart software’, ‘build a Gantt chart in Excel or one in Google sheets’ —or stick to pen and paper for project planning?

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What is a Gantt chart?

A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that shows a project’s planned schedule and its tasks or events between a start and finish date. Each bar in the Gantt chart represents a task, while the dates are laid out horizontally.

Gantt charts are commonly used as project schedules because they are one of the most useful and classic ways of showing activities (tasks or events) displayed against time. It is based on Henry Gantt’s original design that evolved from Karol Adamiecki’s harmonograph.

Modern Gantt charts can also show task dependencies—how each task connects to others. A simple Gantt chart provides clarity on deadlines, milestones, and project progress. Everyone on your team knows what they have to work on, when, and how it impacts the overall project.

While no two Gantt charts look the same, let’s take a closer look at their key components.

Key components

• Date/Time: the date and duration of each task are often displayed in days/weeks/months, but can also be represented in minutes/hours. The current day/time is usually highlighted. P.S., the length of each rectangle tells you how long a task is expected to take, known as the duration of the task.
• Tasks/Items: there are individual activities (or tasks) that live at various stages of completion. Each task can stand on its own, and if you use monday.com you can also group tasks together to create sub-items.
• Owner: this represents the person responsible for the task. Note: this can be more than one person or an entire team.

Critical path

Any explanation of Gantt chart structure should also include something called a critical path. A critical path refers to the phenomenon in which any individual task could cause a delay in a related sequence of tasks, therefore pushing back a project’s overall end date. 

The critical path method is an approach used by project managers to determine the longest sequence of tasks that must be completed for the project to be a success. Gantt charts allow you to quickly visualize which tasks are auxiliary, which are most critical, and which of all tasks are most vital to the delivery of a project happening on time. Once you know a project’s critical path, you’ll be able to set some deadlines for each individual task.

What is a Gantt chart used for?

A Gantt chart is primarily used to assist the planning and scheduling of projects of all sizes, but they are particularly useful for simplifying complex projects and their KPIs. Project management with Gantt charts could include anything from resource management plans to planning killer marketing campaigns.

Understanding a project’s scope and requirements is made easier with Gantt charts because they provide a visual representation of your project at any stage, including task dependencies, priorities, and ownership. This can also be useful as a high-level guide for managers as they are tracking project progress.

This relates to Work Breakdown Structure of WBS, a specific method of breaking down large or complicated goals into manageable objectives. It is often the foundation for creating a solid Gantt chart. It depicts what tasks (and subtasks) are to be completed, but it does not show when each task will begin and end. By starting with a hierarchical representation of tasks and their dependencies (WBS), you can then layer in Gantt chart components such as time, ownership, status, milestones, etc. to create a clearer picture.

What to look for in Gantt chart software — must-have features

Before we cover how to create a Gantt chart—online that is—we first need to address what to look for in a Gantt chart tool. All of the features we mention are included with monday.com Work OS.

There are many platforms out there that offer only the ability to create a Gantt chart or just provide you with ways to configure a Gantt chart. With monday.com Work OS, you have access to more dynamic features that enhance your Gantt chart on top of an already robust platform:

• Drag and drop: Drag and drop events on the horizontal and vertical axis as things change instead of having to start from scratch—it saves you time and the flexibility makes it work for any team.

• Multiple assignees: monday.com’s Gantt Chart view also allows you to focus on people, not just tasks, by assigning entire teams to them.

• Statuses: The status represents what stage each task currently resides in and can be customized as well. 

• Milestones: Indicate the overarching tasks that don’t have a specific duration, and generally mark the end of a certain part of a project.

• Vertical line marker: Our vertical line moves with you and makes it easy to see exactly where you are in the project between the start and end date.
• Dependencies: Indicate which tasks cannot start until another task is completed.

How to create Gantt charts on monday.com

It really requires about three simple steps to create a Gantt chart with our Work OS:

1. Make sure your board has a Timeline Column and Dependency Column.
2. Select Add View, the Gantt
3. Et voila! Your tasks are now organized in one Gantt chart and you can get more creative with on-the-fly edits and cool features like Baseline.

For a detailed walkthrough on how to create a Gantt chart or any of our features, you can visit our Knowledge Center.

Rachel Hakoune is a Content Marketing Manager at monday.com. Originally from Atlanta, she is finding the balance between southern charm and Israeli chutzpah.

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