Reading a Gantt also means following the relationships between activities. When a predecessor changes the date, the delay can propagate: looking at just the single bar is not enough to evaluate the effect on delivery.
Read and navigate the Gantt
- Open Project Planning and set the necessary time interval. If available, use the PIC filter to focus on the relevant manager.
- Read the hierarchy in the table on the left: a result can contain multiple tasks. Expand and collapse layers before interpreting bars.
- Compare start, estimated end, actual end and deadline. Scrolling the calendar horizontally changes the visible window and not the data dates.
- Identify a possible critical issue and open the detail of the deliverable to verify the causes. The color of the bar must be interpreted together with the values of the row.
Predecessors, successors and delays
- Open the deliverable detail and consult the predecessor or successor links. Check the identifiers of the two ends.
- Read the connection type and lead or lag indicated. End-start, start-start, end-end, and start-end are not equivalent relationships.
- Before adding or changing a link, check the operational meaning of the sequence and the units used for the delay.
- Check the resulting dates and downstream activities. Don’t fix an inconsistent chain by forcing only the last result date.
Putting this into practice
Before changing a deadline, identify predecessors, successors, and constraints. Then re-read the relevant path to understand if the new structure remains sustainable.
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Comments and questions
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