Easy to use and really powerful

The Gantt chart allows you to visualize the scheduling of tasks on a planning, to follow their completion and the overall progress of the project.

The Gantt chart also materializes the links between tasks if some of them are conditioned by the realization of other tasks. It also allows you to easily visualize the main deadlines in the form of milestones.

The coordination of the project and the associated tasks is based on the construction and the update of this project schedule according to the operational realization of the work.

The project schedule will be all the more relevant as it integrate the workload constraints of the various resources involved in the project.

Workload is the amount of time it takes to complete a task. It is different from the duration of a task.

Indeed, a project member can have a workload of 2 days to achieve a task whose duration is 5 days.
For example, a painter will work a day to apply the 1st layer of paint, wait 3 days before coming back to work a day to apply the 2nd layer. The duration of the task “Painting the facade” is indeed 5 days but the workload of this task is 2 days.

The distinction between the workload and the duration of the task then allows the member to position himself on other tasks up to 3 days (workload), to parallelize the member’s tasks and to optimize his working time.

Conversely, it is not possible for a project member to work 7 days on a task that last 5 days. Therefore, if the workload of a member is 7 days on a task that lasts 5 days, the duration of the task in the schedule must be modified so that it lasts at least as long as the member’s workload, thus ensuring the consistency of the schedule. In this example, it is also possible to distribute the workload among several resources.

The workload is an essential component of time management to ensure the consistency of the schedule, optimize the parallelization and sequencing of tasks according to the availability of project resources.

Time management integrates the notion of workload in different forms in order to achieve a precise and coherent planning:

• The initial time is the forecasted workload of the work (the painter will have 2 days of work to put on the 2 coats of paint, or the consulting firm has sold a 2-days mission for a consultant).
• The achieved time corresponds to the work done (the painter or the consultant has worked 1 day).
• The remaining time is the time necessary to finalize the work. This is normally obtained by subtracting the time of work carried out from the initial time of work, but this can vary in response to a bad evaluation at the start or to operational unforeseen events (the painter or the consultant notices after the 1st day that he will need an additional day Initial time = 2; Time achieved = 1; Time remaining = 2).
• The total time is the sum of the time achieved and the time remaining. This may be different from the initial time in case of a bad evaluation at the beginning, or operational contingencies (Initial time = 2; Time achieved = 1; Remaining time = 2; Total time = 3). This total time must then be planned (Planned time) for a complete planning and the good progress of the project.

Very few project management solutions offer elaborate time management features by distinguishing these notions. Most project management applications only propose to enter time, but this is insufficient if you want to have a vision of the remaining workload in order to plan it and identify the impacts on the project schedule.