Gantt Chart

For public relations projects, practitioners need a system for keeping track of the tasks that need to be done and those that have been completed. Henry Gantt invented the Gantt Chart as a way to track tasks for a project. The Gantt Chart is used in a wide variety of fields that involve project manage-ment. To build a Gantt Chart, the practitioner must identify all the tasks to be completed, the time each task will take to complete, and the sequencing to the tasks. The first step involves brainstorming and listing all possible tasks for the project. For instance, a simple news release could require researching the topic, drafting the release, selecting appropriate media targets, approving the news release's content, choosing proper contact names and addresses for the media targets, and distributing the news release. Next, the practitioner determines how much time each task will take. Assigning time demands that the practitioner understands the factors that affect the time it takes to complete a task.

Finally, the practitioner develops the sequence of the tasks. Sequencing requires that the practitioner separates contingent and concurrent tasks. Contingent tasks are those that are dependent on another task: Task A must be completed before Task B. For instance, research must be completed before a new release is written. All contingent tasks are arranged in the proper sequence. Sequences from the earlier example would be (a) research-draft-approval and (b) media selection-contact infor-mation. Both sequences are needed to arrive at the final task, distribution. Concurrent tasks are tasks that can be done simultaneously because they are not contingent on one another. The practitioner can select media and locate contact information while waiting for approval of the news release.

A Gantt Chart takes tasks, time, and sequence and displays them graphically. The horizontal axis on the chart is the time and the vertical axis repre-sents tasks. Bars on the chart mark time. The unit of time depends on the nature of the project. The time units could be hours, days, weeks, or months. The longer the bar, the more time the task takes to complete. Lines drawn between the bars are used to connect the sequential tasks. Bars that overlap in time represent the concurrent tasks. A Gantt Chart makes it easy to “see” the sequential and concur-rent tasks: what has been completed, what still needs to be done, when each of those tasks must be finished, and whether the project is on or off the schedule. A Gantt Chart is both a planning docu-ment and a means to monitor the progress of a project, and it works best for smaller projects. For large, highly complex projects, a practitioner is better off using the PERT Chart to organize, illus-trate, and track the project (see PERT Chart). Microsoft Project is one of a number of software programs that provide templates for constructing Gantt Charts.

Gantt Charts are valuable planning aids to practitioners but are only as good as the work that goes into creating them. If a task is left off the Gantt Chart or times are miscalculated, the value of the Gantt Chart is reduced or completely lost. Therefore, care-ful preparation is necessary to develop a chart that truly reflects the demands of the project.

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