A Gantt chart is a popular type of bar chart, that aims to show the timing of tasks or activities as they occur over time. Although the Gantt chart did not initially indicate the relationships between tasks this has become more common in current usage as both timing and interdependencies between tasks can be identified.
In project management, a Gantt chart can show when the project terminal elements start and finish, summary elements (shown) or terminal element dependencies (not shown). A terminal element is defined as the smallest task tracked as part of the project effort. The tasks are displayed on a page as bars. The page is laid out such that time increases as you move across the page. A task's start time/date is indicated by the point on the page the bar starts, and it's duration is indicated by the length of the bar.
Since the initial introduction of Gantt charts, they have become an industry standard as a key project management tool for representing the phases, tasks and activities that are scheduled as part of a project Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) or timeline of tasks.
The initial format of the chart was developed by Henry L. Gantt (1861-1919) in 1910 (see “Work, Wages and Profit” by H. L. Gantt, published by The Engineering Magazine, NY, 1910).
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