• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

PM Blog

Learn To Manage More Effectively With Priority Matrix

By

Create A Gantt Chart In Excel

Creating a Gantt chart in Excel can be daunting.

We get it. We’re here to help.

In this article, we’ll walk you STEP by STEP how to create a Gantt chart in Excel. We’ll also show you a tool that makes creating a gantt chart a WHOLE lot quicker and easier. Because, you know, it’s 2016 and we have better Gantt chart creation options than Excel now.

Visualizing Project Timelines

When a new project comes up, you may think to yourself:

“How am I going to organize this project and show my team how much time needs to allocate for specific tasks?” 

If you have a project with 5 tasks and each task will take a day, you know the project will take you a week. However, if you have a project with 50 tasks of varying duration, how do you know when the project will be finished? You make something that looks like this.

Gantt Chart Simple

WARNING: Creating a Gantt Chart in excel is time consuming and can be frustrating. Especially when you have to manually update it every time something changes.

For small projects, making a simple Priority List in Excel might be more beneficial. For those of you thinking, “wait, it’s 2015, isn’t there something better than a Gantt chart in Excel?” you’ll want to skip to a better solution.

For those of you who have chosen to embark on this Gantt Chart journey, open Excel, create a new spreadsheet, and get ready to Gantt!

How to Create A Gantt Chart in Excel

Step 1: Set Up Your Assignments

Create a list in Excel of all of the different tasks that need to be accomplished in this project. In the next three rows include all the tasks’ start dates, amount of days it should take to finish each task, and their all important due dates.

Gantt Chart in Excel

Remember to try to include as much of your project information as possible since going back and adding more tasks, due dates, etc. could be a big hassle.

Step 2: Bring In the Bars

Next, it’s time to take your list and turn it into a set of bars. Horizontal bars will work the best. You can do this by selecting the chart icon in your excel spread sheet. Pick the set of bars that looks like this:

Gantt chart in excel

Now a blank chart should appear on your spreadsheet. See it? Great. let’s keep going!

Part 3: Set Up Your Axes

Don’t panic! You might experience a brief moment of Deja-vu because we are taking a trip back to 9th grade math class and graphs.

Here, we need to set up an X-Axis (tasks) and a Y-Axis (days to completion).

This can be done by right clicking on your blank bar chart (don’t worry if you don’t actually see any bars, its supposed to be blank) or simply selecting “Select Data” on the right side of your screen.

Then, click on the the Start Dates and Due Dates along with tasks to create your specific Gantt Chart. 

Gantt Chart in Excel

Part 4: Complete The Gantt Chart

After setting up your X and Y axis, you can now customize your Gantt chart.

Use different colors to identify urgency level, or even assign a color to a particular person to give a visual overview of which parts of the project belong to whom. 

Gantt Chart in Excel

How easy was that? Not easy at all?

Did setting up the Gantt chart in excel manually take you longer than the actual project you were working on?

Do you want to find a better way to use a Gantt chart to help prioritize the different tasks for your team?

Do you want to go from just having a sidekick to having a full on Super Hero?

Gantt Chart Maker: Meet Priority Matrix

This super hero program will help you create a Gantt Chart in minutes.

So, how does it work?

Priority Matrix is a lightweight project management tool that allows you to execute projects by breaking them down into tasks and assigning those tasks to team members.

For Example

Here’s an example of a project in Priority Matrix. In this project, I’m planning on mailing a physical 4-quadrant Eisenhower Matrix template to a certain geographical area to see if it can spike our trial sign-ups.

You can see that I’ve broken this project into different priority levels, so I need what to work on first.

What’s more, I’ve set start and end dates for each task.

Gantt chart in excel

Based on these start and end dates, at the touch of a button, Priority Matrix builds a Gantt chart for you.

So you can turn that (project above) into this:

Gantt chart on Priority Matrix

Like what you see? Sign up for a free trial here to get started with your own simple gantt charts:

 



Priority Matrix Gantt Chart

With Gantt charts in excel, you constantly have to re-enter your information to re-calculate how much time remains until project completion. 

With Priority Matrix, though, your information is automatically pulled into the chart. So, when you add new tasks and update due dates, the chart moves for you  Plus, you can use the rest of the features Priority Matrix provides to indicate progress levels, delegate tasks to team members, and more. 

Progress In PM

If you don’t have the time to make a Gantt chart in Excel (who does, really), try Priority Matrix to kill two birds with one stone – keep track of your tasks, and the Gantt chart is built for you. 

Start your free trial now. What have you got to lose? The answer is TIME. What are you waiting for?? Get started ASAP.

 

 

Happy Prioritizing!

Read Next:

What President Eisenhower Can Teach Us About Prioritization

How to: Manage Your Team Workload in Excel

Time Management Strategies for Busy People

Filed Under: For Productivity, For Small Businesses, How To, Tips & Tricks

Prioritize Tasks, Projects, and Emails

TRY PRIORITY MATRIX FOR FREE

Sign in with Microsoft via sync.appfluence.com/accounts/login/?next=%2Foffice365%2Fapp%2Findex Sign in with Google via sync.appfluence.com/accounts/login/?next=%2Foffice365%2Fapp%2Findex

------- or create an account with your email --------


Have dozens of tools but still struggle with staying aligned with your team, or staying on top of emails, or spending all your time shuffling priorities? Priority Matrix uses 4-quadrants to help you focus on top priorities and projects. When you use Priority Matrix, you become more effective and ensure that you are spending time where it matters most. Learn more about Priority Matrix.

Footer

Our Most Popular Posts

Prioritization Matrix
Eisenhower Time Management
Gantt Chart in Excel
Weekly Status Report Template
Time Management Skills for College Students
Free Swot Template
Omnifocus for Windows
SMART Goals Worksheet
Converting Goals into Action Items

ABOUT PRIORITY MATRIX

Priority Matrix is lightweight project management solution that increases visibility and accountability within teams. Manage more effectively with Priority Matrix.

NAVIGATION

  • Web App
  • Microsoft Office Add-In
    • Prioritize Emails in Outlook
    • Manage Projects in Microsoft Teams
  • Project Management
    • Workload Management
  • For Executive Assistants
    • Top 5 templates for Exec Assistants
    • How to tackle responsibilities
    • How to be a successful EA
  • For Managers
    • How to Create 30-60-90 Day Plan
    • President Eisenhower’s Prioritization Method
    • Employee Performance Review Template
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2023 Appfluence Inc