Gantt Chart Excel Tutorial - How to make a Basic Gantt Chart in Microsoft Excel
Summary
TLDRThis tutorial from excelfornoobs.com guides viewers on creating a basic Gantt chart in Microsoft Excel 2013. It starts with entering task data including start dates and durations. Then, it demonstrates how to insert a 3D stacked bar chart, configure it with task data, and adjust the chart's axis to display tasks in the correct order. The tutorial also shows how to remove unnecessary bars and gaps, and adjust the date bounds to match the project's start date. Finally, it suggests exploring more advanced tutorials for automated progress tracking in Gantt charts.
Takeaways
- 📊 **Gantt Chart Definition**: A Gantt chart is a graphical representation that depicts the timeline of a project's tasks.
- 📅 **Data Input**: To create a Gantt chart, first input your tasks, start dates, and duration into columns in Excel.
- 🔑 **Chart Creation**: Insert a bar chart in Excel to start building the Gantt chart.
- 🎨 **Chart Customization**: Select a 3D stacked bar chart for a more visual representation.
- 📑 **Series Data Entry**: Add data series for start dates and duration (days to complete) to the chart.
- 🔄 **Reversing Order**: Use the 'categories in reverse order' option to correctly sequence tasks from earliest to latest.
- 🚫 **Removing Unnecessary Bars**: Format data series to 'no fill' to remove unnecessary bars representing non-working periods.
- 🗓️ **Adjusting Date Bounds**: Format the axis to adjust the date range, ensuring the chart starts on the project's actual start date.
- 🔢 **Understanding Date Numbers**: Excel represents dates with a serial number system; adjust the chart's minimum bound to match your project's start date.
- 🖼️ **Final Touches**: Use the design tab to format the chart with titles, colors, and layout to your preference.
- 🔍 **Advanced Tutorials**: There are more advanced tutorials available for creating automated Gantt charts that reflect task progress.
Q & A
What is the purpose of a Gantt chart in project management?
-A Gantt chart is used to show the time frame of an overall project, broken down by each individual task, indicating the start date and duration of each task.
Which version of Microsoft Excel is the tutorial using?
-The tutorial is using Microsoft Excel 2013.
How many columns of data are required to create a basic Gantt chart according to the tutorial?
-Three columns of data are required: one for task names, one for start dates, and one for the duration of each task.
What type of chart is used as a basis for creating a Gantt chart in the tutorial?
-A 3D stacked bar chart is used as the basis for creating a Gantt chart.
How do you add a new series to the chart in the tutorial?
-You add a new series by clicking the 'Add' button in the 'Edit Series' dialog box and selecting the appropriate data range.
What does the 'Series Values' field in the 'Edit Series' dialog box represent?
-The 'Series Values' field represents the range of cells that contain the data to be plotted for that series, such as start dates or duration of tasks.
How can you change the order of the tasks on the Gantt chart?
-You can change the order of the tasks by right-clicking on the axis, selecting 'Format Axis', and then choosing 'Categories in reverse order'.
Why might you want to remove the fill from the bars representing the start date?
-You might want to remove the fill from the bars representing the start date to clean up the chart and only show the duration of tasks, not the gaps between them.
How does Excel represent dates in the context of the tutorial?
-In Excel, dates are represented by a serial number system, where each day is assigned a unique number.
What is the serial number for May 22nd, 2013, as mentioned in the tutorial?
-The serial number for May 22nd, 2013 is 41414.
How can you adjust the date range displayed on the Gantt chart?
-You can adjust the date range by right-clicking the date axis, selecting 'Format Axis', and manually entering the minimum and maximum bounds.
Outlines
📊 Creating a Basic Gantt Chart in Excel
The paragraph provides a step-by-step guide on creating a basic Gantt chart in Microsoft Excel 2013. It begins by explaining what a Gantt chart is and its purpose in project management. The tutorial then instructs viewers to input data into three columns: Task, Start Date, and Days Complete. The Start Date column indicates when each task will commence, while the Days Complete column shows the duration of each task. After entering the data, the tutorial proceeds to guide users on how to insert a bar chart, select data for the chart, and format it to display the tasks in the correct order. The process includes adding series for start dates and duration, editing axis labels to list tasks, and adjusting the chart to display tasks in reverse order and to remove unnecessary date gaps.
🔧 Refining the Gantt Chart
This paragraph continues the tutorial by addressing issues with the initial Gantt chart setup. It explains how to remove unnecessary bars that do not represent any task and how to adjust the date axis to remove gaps and accurately reflect the project's start date. The tutorial demonstrates converting dates to a serial number format to set the chart's bounds correctly. It concludes with tips on customizing the chart's design, including changing the layout, title, and colors. Additionally, it encourages viewers to explore more advanced tutorials on creating automated Gantt charts that reflect project progress.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Gantt Chart
💡Microsoft Excel 2013
💡Task
💡Start Date
💡Days Complete
💡Bar Chart
💡3D Stacked Bar Chart
💡Select Data Source
💡Format Axis
💡Date Bound
💡Serial Number System
Highlights
Introduction to creating a basic Gantt chart in Microsoft Excel 2013
Explanation of what a Gantt chart is and its purpose
How to enter data into Excel for the Gantt chart
Setting up task names, start dates, and duration
Instructions on creating a chart using the Insert tab
Choosing the 3D stacked bar chart option
Accessing the Select Data Source dialog box
Entering the first series for the start dates
Moving the chart to access the data source
Adding a new series for the duration of tasks
Editing the horizontal axis labels with task names
Fixing the order of tasks in the Gantt chart
Removing unnecessary bars representing start dates
Adjusting the date axis to remove gaps
Understanding how dates are represented as numbers in Excel
Setting the minimum bound for the date axis
Finalizing the Gantt chart and customizing its appearance
Invitation to explore more advanced tutorials on creating Gantt charts
Transcripts
guys welcome to excel for noobs.com in
this tutorial i'm going to show you how
to create a basic gantt chart in
microsoft excel 2013 now what a gantt
chart is is a chart that shows the time
frame of an overall project broken down
by the each individual by each
individual task that the project is to
consist of showing the time frame that
each task is uh
to take from start date to finish
all right so you can see here first we
have to enter in our data into excel
before we can even create our chart so
here i have three columns i have a task
column these are all of my task tests
one through eight the project is to
consist of we have the start date
these days dates represent the day that
each task is to start so task 8 will
start on july 15th and then we have the
days complete column
showing how long
each project is to last so pro
or each task is to last task 8 should
last 12 days so if it starts on july
15th
task 8 should urge
task 8 should end on july
27th
okay so we have our data now we can go
ahead and get started creating our chart
what we're going to do is click
the insert button and in the
chart the insert tab and in the charts
group
we're going to select
our insert bar chart which is like a
sideways bar chart basically
okay so we click the insert bar chart
and
we are going to click
on
[Music]
you can do either 2d stacked bar chart
or 3d stacked bar chart
so i'm going to click on the 3d stacked
bar chart
and then you can see that a blank chart
area appears
in the chart area
i will now right click
and in the shortcut menu i'm going to
click on select data
okay so you can see the select data
source dialog box appears you can also
see that our chart area and select data
source dialog box is kind of blocking
our data over here so we're going to
move that out of the way but first let's
enter in our first series
right here in legend entries we're going
to click the add button
and the edit series dialog box will
appear with the box for series name and
series name we're going to enter we're
going to select the start date column
header
and then
in series values we're going to remove
the default data and we're going we're
going to enter in the
we're going to select the range of cells
that has our start dates and then we'll
click ok
ok
now i'm going to click ok so i can move
this out of the way
and so i can also get this chart
out of the way okay now in a blank area
of the chart somewhere up here i'm going
to right click again to get to um the
select data source dia log box and you
can see i'm clicking on select data and
it appears just now i can access my that
over here all right now i need to add a
new series we're going to click the add
button
and in series name i will select days to
complete
in series values again remove the
default data and select the range of
cells that has our data is complete
click ok
and again we're back at our select data
source dialog box now on the horizontal
axis label
click the edit button and i'm going to
select task 1 through task eight
and click ok
now we have all of our data
so we can close our select data source
dialog box
okay so you can see that we're on our
way to having a gantt chart what is
going on
okay you can see we're on our way to
having a gantt chart i'm just kind of
resizing it
now you can see a few problems our tasks
right here in reverse order so we need
to fix that
we have these blue bars here which
represent
um the start date and
then we have our dates
which uh there's a large gap see our
project's gonna start on may 22nd
we don't really want our chart the
bounds of our dates to go all the way to
april 16th so we want to remove that we
want this chart i want to remove those
uh
these boundaries these um
these gaps of dates
so uh the first thing we're going to do
is just get our
we want to get our task in the right
order so just click right here on the
task and then right click
and click on format axis and the
shortcut menu
and then the the axis options will
appear over here to the right the format
axis dialog box and in access position
you're gonna click categories in reverse
order
okay so the first problem is solved now
let's get rid of these bars there's
nothing going on
during this time
for these projects so we don't need any
bars there to represent anything
all we want is to uh we want bars that
represent
the task
when they're going to be um
when they will the time frame of the
task so we click on the bars
which represent the start date
and then we're going to right click
and then click format data series
and the format data series dialog box
appears we will click on the fill button
and then we'll select no fill
then we can close this all right
final problem let's get rid of this gap
in the dates so we just uh
let's get rid of this
padding of the dates i mean you can see
it's more than a month the chart
shows a date that's more than a month
before our startup date so let's get rid
of that
so we click on the dates
then we right click
and again select
format axis
okay you can see over here our bounds
these are our dates these numbers
represent our dates actually let me
close this and kind of explain how dates
work i'm going to copy this date and
enter into another cell may 22nd our
start date now i'm going to convert this
to
a number format
and you can see
that
um our dates are actually represented
by a number and that's how it works
dates in excel are represented by a
serial number system so the uh number
the serial number for may 22nd 2013 is
41 416 and that's where we want our
chart to start
so just we're going to keep that there
so we remember that number so again
click on the dates
right click
format axis and then here in the minimum
bound
we will enter
the date
that we want our chart bounds
to show so we're custom
manually entering in
that number which represents may 22 2013
and we hit enter and there you can see
now our chart starts on may 22nd
22nd 2013.
we can close that
and then
um let me remove this and now you can
see that we have our gantt chart here
now all you have to do is you can change
different um
formatting to the chart so we can go to
the design and we can change the layout
i like this layout
you can
change the title
and you can mess around and change the
color and anything else you want to
change all right thanks for watching
guys now you know how to make a basic
gantt chart in microsoft excel 2013
don't forget to check out all of our
other tutorials and we also have
a more advanced tutorial on how to
create a gantt chart that is that
automatically shows the progress
of a project and each task it shows the
days completed of each task
and it shows the days remaining
for each task
and it's automated using the now
function and a nested if function so be
sure to look that up alright thanks for
watching
and have fun with excel
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