Gantt Chart: A Deep Dive
Note: This article assumes you've read "Overview of Project Views in Motion" [Link]. If you haven't, we recommend starting there for foundational concepts.
What is a Gantt Chart?
A Gantt chart is a visual project management tool that displays tasks over a timeline, illustrating project schedules and progress. It helps teams track progress, manage deadlines, and allocate resources effectively by providing a clear overview of a project's timeline.
By offering a bird's eye view of tasks and their durations, Gantt charts facilitate better planning and coordination in complex projects.
Why Gantt Charts in Motion?
Gantt charts in Motion tie projects together, giving you a comprehensive view. They allow you to see how different tasks and projects interconnect over time, making it easier to manage resources, track progress, and adjust timelines as needed. With Motion's Gantt charts, you can visualize your entire workflow, identify potential bottlenecks, and ensure your team stays on track.
To access the Gantt chart in Motion:
Go to the "All Projects" located on the left-hand sidebar:
Navigate to the "All Projects" tab.
At the top of the page, there are three tabs:
List: Think of it as an Excel table of your projects and tasks.
Kanban: A Kanban board for visualizing workflow.
Gantt: A timeline for your projects.
Click on the Gantt tab.
Group By Criteria and Gantt Charts
The "Group By" criteria is crucial in Motion as it determines how your projects are displayed on the Gantt chart. Here's how it works:
Group by Assignee: Projects are grouped by the person responsible.
Group by Status: Projects are grouped by their status (e.g., completed, to-do, in progress, backlogged).
Example:
Grouping by Assignee will show projects assigned to each person.
Grouping by Status will show projects based on their current status.
Understanding the Gantt Chart UI
Color Coding Projects in Gantt:
Select the specific project you'd like to color code.
Right-click the project to open the color palette.
Select your preferred project color.
Changing your project color in Gantt will also change the project's color in your Workspace as well as all associated tasks for that project.
Using the Sort By Criteria: The "Sort By" criteria control the order of your Y-axis.
If grouped by assignee, you can rearrange the order of the assigned tasks using the "Sort Groups" control.
Different Timeframes in Gantt
We offer multiple views in the Gantt chart to suit different planning needs:
Monthly View: For shorter-term planning.
Quarterly View: For medium-term planning.
Yearly View: For long-term planning.
Each view allows you to see your projects on different scales, and you can use the "Jump to Date" or "Jump to Today" functions to navigate quickly through time (pictured to the right of the timeline selection).
Editing and Managing Projects
You can edit a project by directly clicking on the project bar within the Gantt chart view.
This opens the project modal, where you can update project descriptions and task lists on the right-hand side.
Dragging Projects: Change the due dates or timeframe of a project by dragging the project block from left to right.
Adding a Project from Scratch
Within the Gantt chart editor, you can add a project from scratch by clicking on the blank space (or black space if you're in dark mode).
Things to Consider When Creating a Project in the Gantt Chart View
Ensure the workspace and assignee are set correctly.
The project start date and deadline will be the dates you dragged on the Gantt chart - be sure to verify these dates align with your project.
Creating Gantt Chart Views
You can create Gantt chart views to organize your timeline and projects the way you like. Here are a couple recommended views:
Group by Deadline > by Month > by Assignee (add additional filters for extra customization).
This view shows what is happening each month, what each person is doing, and their work stack ranked by priority.
Group by Workspace > by Status:
See all projects across all teams by their statuses (repeat the creation process outline above using Workspace > Status)
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