It is no coincidence that Gantt charts have been around for a long time. The best Gantt chart software is made for planning. As a basic tool for project managers, the software offers many benefits. Yes, there are many reasons to use Gantt chart software in project management. Let’s discuss them further!
Provides All Your Project-Related Questions in One Place
Most tasks require multitasking. So you can understand how difficult planning can be if you need to be in two places at the same time. Additionally, it is not uncommon to double-book a room or equipment. Mistakes happen! Especially when it comes to stress. Luckily, the best Gantt chart software provides you an excellent overview of everything that actually happens, when it happens, and who is involved. This will help to avoid the nightmare of double booking. In case multitasking is unavoidable, the best feature allows you to schedule tasks at the same time.
Offers a Visual Overview of the Entire Project
You may need to manage dozens or hundreds of resources. All of this needs review. Accordingly, you may need software to share these resources with other project managers and help everyone succeed. Gantt chart software not only helps with an overview. More than that, this software will help with the automatic calculation of planning metrics and KPIs. For example, the use of resources to avoid the risk of exhaustion of the team or equipment. With these instant visual overviews of dates, reservations, and availability, everyone can get more relief.
Gives Flexible Change and Real-Time Change
As mentioned in Gantt chart software reviews, this software is not like hand-drawn ones. Instead, it gives users the flexibility to create charts. In addition, it is also capable of adapting easily to change. This makes this tool ideal for those who want a flexible management style. Even better, you can try combining Gantt charts with Kanban boards. Together, they can improve your workflow.
Assists You to Use Resources More Efficiently
Growth and results are only possible by finding more effective strategies. The best Gantt chart software can help with this. This tool will give you a better overview of your resources, how they are being used, and when they will be free. All this information will help you plan ahead. Most importantly, it also gives you the ability to deal with upcoming problem steps before they become problems. The best part? This software will help you to add some extra resources. Better capacity planning now helps prevent more serious problems in the future. Similarly, observing how resources interact with the timeline of a chart will help you make better decisions. This, in turn, can provide an opportunity to generate more revenue. More money, less trouble!
Helps You to Solve Problems Before They Happen
Problem-solving is an important task for project managers. Do you know that it will be much easier to solve problems in advance than in a crisis situation? Gantt chart software helps you to sort before even the bottlenecks occur. Lack of resources, overload, timing issues? Problems always arise. Yet, it is always a good idea to solve them ahead of time "out of sight".
Helps You to Focus on the Future and Plan for the Long Term
Many Gantt chart software reviews have mentioned how this software helps project managers to see a bigger picture of the future. When should you start doing something else? How far are you from completing Task X? Running out of resources? Or if a team member is sick, how do you find a replacement next week? This tool can help you plan your future direction right now. Eventually, you can make long-term planning easier and less stressful. At the same time, it simplifies the work of project managers.
Enables You to See the Task Dependencies
It is impossible to build a house without a foundation. The same goes for projects. Sometimes some tasks need to be addressed first. The best Gantt chart software helps you visualize the dependencies between tasks. This allows you to understand what starts, what changes, and what ends. Better yet, it tells you how all of this can affect other addictions, whether to the entire project or portfolio.
Planning and Scheduling Features Offered by Gantt chart Software
Gantt chart software can help with project management as well as resource management. Kanban Software also provides some same functionalities. You can simply assign tasks to employees and other resources, then schedule them. But what are the planning and scheduling features offered by Gantt chart software? Here they are.
Custom Data Fields
This feature allows you to customize projects, tasks, people, and other resources based on metrics that are important to your project. This could be their skills, the year the particular equipment was purchased, or the name of the project manager. This allows much more information to be processed in tasks and histograms. As the chart becomes more detailed, this information can be used for planning and reporting.
Color Scheme
As the name suggests, this feature is ideal for combining tasks by color, using different colors for different projects. Additionally, it also helps to define milestones (red if canceled, green if completed). This customizable feature allows you to quickly evaluate your needs and metrics.
Reports
Sometimes graphs along with calculation tables can be very useful to calculate time, usage, duration, etc. You can also automate this feature in many cases to receive reports at desired time intervals. In simple words, let the program do all the work for you so you can focus on other things.
Notes and History
This feature allows you to take notes on tasks and view the history of task changes. This will help you avoid mistakes by keeping track of who changed what.
Utilization
Scheduling allows you to use your time and resources more efficiently. With Gantt chart software, you can see an overview of the use of all personnel and resources. This enables you to check that no items are reserved or to import unused capacity from other projects.
Flexible Timeline
The best Gantt chart software is no longer drawn by hand on paper. Instead, there are programs to play with the timeline. If you need to see today's plans, you can simply zoom in. If you need to understand your plans for the next month or your project schedule for next year, just zoom out. After all, you are the project manager who manages your project and not the other way around!
