A Gantt chart, designed by Henry Gantt, is a powerful visual scheduling tool that helps streamline time management and resource management in project planning. Introduced in 1910, it has since become an essential resource in project management, allowing teams to map out project milestones and schedule project tasks along a clear timeline for optimal organization and efficiency.
With its ability to break down tasks, assign resources, and track progress, the Gantt chart plays a critical role in defining the project scope and ensuring that the entire project stays on track. Its versatility makes it widely adopted across industries that demand structured planning, positioning the Gantt chart as an indispensable tool for modern production processes and successful project scheduling.
Gantt Chart in Cubicl Project Management Tool
Cubicl is a powerful all-in-one project management software designed to streamline the management of tasks, projects, teams, files, and clients. With its comprehensive suite of features—including detailed reporting, time tracking, recurring tasks, seamless integrations, and more—Cubicl empowers teams to work efficiently and stay organized. Among its many capabilities, Cubicl offers a modern Gantt chart, providing a clear visual timeline for project planning and execution.
No Need Another Tool
In Cubicl, you create “projects” to organize teams, departments, or specific initiatives. Think of these projects as dedicated workspaces, each with its own tasks, files, calendar, timeline, and Gantt chart.
For example, your HR team can efficiently oversee recruitment processes in Cubicl, while the R&D team plans and tracks projects using the Gantt chart. At the same time, the sales team can manage customer interactions and related tasks—all within their own dedicated workspaces. Meanwhile, although teams work independently, Cubicl ensures seamless collaboration and alignment across the organization from a single, unified platform. Thanks to this all-encompassing structure, there’s no need for separate applications for chats, CRM, knowledge management, or online Gantt chart software. Cubicl consolidates everything into one platform, simplifying your workflow and eliminating the need for multiple, disconnected tools.
Gantt Chart Used in Project Management
Cubicl's Gantt chart feature provides an intuitive and efficient way to visualize and manage your project timelines. If you're wondering how to use a Gantt chart effectively, this tool is designed to help you organize tasks, set deadlines, and track progress all in one place. As one of the most powerful charts used in project management, it allows you to easily allocate resources, monitor milestones, and ensure timely delivery. Ready to get started? Learn how to create a Gantt chart work for your team and streamline your workflow in Cubicl today.
Task List View
The Task List on the left side of the Gantt chart neatly organizes all your tasks. Each task has a name and a sequence number to help you track its order. Click any task name to open its detailed page for more information and management.
Adding and Managing Tasks
At the bottom of the task list, there’s an input line where you can easily create a new task. Clicking on this line opens up a taskbar, allowing you to add a task quickly. You can set the start date and deadline by dragging and resizing the taskbar on the time grid. To cancel, simply click the "Cancel" button to the left of the task name.
If you have existing tasks that aren’t yet on the Gantt chart, you can easily add them by clicking on "There are ... tasks not included in this table. Click to show/hide" at the bottom of the chart. When you hover over the task you want to add, an "Add to Chart" button will appear. Click this to bring in previously created tasks and have them displayed on the Gantt chart.
Grouping Tasks with Task Groups
If your project involves multiple interconnected tasks, you can create Task Groups to organize them under one umbrella. To create a new task group, click the settings icon next to the "New Task" line and select the "Task Group" option.
Once you name the task group, you’ll notice that unlike individual tasks, no taskbar appears immediately. Instead, a gray bar will represent the start dates and deadlines of all tasks within the group, giving you a consolidated view of the group’s timeline.
Additionally, Task Groups in Cubicl have an internested structure, meaning you can create sub-groups within a group for even more detailed organization. So, you can create a work breakdown structure, making it easy to manage complex projects with multiple layers of tasks.
Sorting Tasks and Task Groups
You can simply drag and drop them to rearrange tasks order, giving you full flexibility in how your project timeline is organized. This makes it easy to adjust and prioritize tasks as your project evolves.
Removing Tasks and Task Groups
Sometimes, you may want to remove tasks or task groups from the Gantt chart—perhaps because they’re no longer needed or no longer part of the project. To do so, hover over the number next to the task name, and a cross icon will appear in place of the number. Click on the cross to remove the task from the Gantt chart.
Important: Removing a task from the Gantt chart does not delete it. The task will remain on the tasks page of your project. If you want to delete a task completely, go to the task's edit form or task details page and click the delete button. Tasks deleted in this way will be removed both from the tasks page and the Gantt chart.
Time Grid in Gantt Chart Diagram
The Time Grid is located on the right side of the Gantt chart and provides a clear visual representation of task timelines. It offers two viewing options to suit your project’s needs: daily view and weekly view.
- Daily View: In this mode, each column represents a single day, allowing you to track tasks with precise daily details.
- Weekly View: This mode displays each column as a week, with sub-columns breaking down the days of that week. This view is particularly useful for long-term projects, where a broader overview of progress is needed.
Additionally, holidays are marked in gray columns, making it easy to see non-working days at a glance. You can customize your team's work days and work hours through the Gantt settings menu, ensuring that the Time Grid aligns with your team’s working schedule.
Cubicl Gantt Chart FAQs: Components
The Gantt Chart tool in Cubicl is an interactive and intuitive tool that helps you manage tasks with ease. Here’s how each component works to keep your project on track:
Task Bars: Visualizing Task Progress
Each task is represented as a task bar (chart bar) on the Gantt chart. The task bar provides key insights into the task's start date, deadline, duration, and progress. When a task reaches 100% completion, its task bar is fully filled in dark color, indicating it's done.
Task-bar Colorizing Tool: Personalize Your View
To help you visually differentiate tasks, Cubicl allows you to colorize task bars. Simply click the "Colorize" button, and a color selection tool will appear. Choose your desired color and click on the task bar you want to colorize. You can reset the color by clicking the rubber button, which will revert it to the default blue color.
Editing Tasks: Quick Adjustments on the Go
You can easily edit tasks directly from the Gantt chart. Just click on the task bar, and the task editing form will open, allowing you to make changes or delete the task as needed.
Dragging and Dropping Tasks: Flexible Timeline Adjustments
The Gantt Chart’s interactive functionality lets you drag and drop task bars to adjust their dates without changing the task's duration. If you need to modify a task's duration, simply stretch the task bar from its right side to extend or shorten the timeline.
Creating New Tasks: Adding Tasks Made Simple
To create a new task, click on the "New Task" line on the Time Grid. This will open a form where you can quickly set up a new task for the selected day.
Task Group Bars: Organizing Tasks into Groups
In Cubicl Project Management Software, you can organize related tasks into task groups. Task group bars are shown in gray and represent the collective start and end dates of all tasks within that group. Clicking on a task group bar opens an editing form where you can change the group’s name and adjust the color of the tasks within it.
Task Links: Connecting Dependencies
Managing task dependencies is easy with task links. You can link tasks to establish a sequence—ensuring that one task cannot start until its preceding task is complete. When a linked task’s date changes, the dates of other connected tasks will automatically update.
To create a link, simply click the dot on the right side of a task and drag it to the dot on the left side of another task. Multiple links can be added, and tasks can link to several others. Clicking on a link opens an edit connection form where you can set a time period between linked tasks or delete the link. By default, tasks are linked with zero time between them, meaning one task will start immediately after the previous one finishes.
How to Make a Gantt Chart with Detailed Task Information
Creating a detailed Gantt chart in Cubicl allows you to visualize not only the project timeline but also key task information at a glance. You can enhance your Gantt chart by including hidden features for Components.
You can easily customize the visibility of components within the Gantt chart. Just click the eye button at the top of the chart to hide or show specific elements based on your needs.
Assignees
On the right side of each task bar, you'll find the list of users assigned to each task. This helps you quickly identify who is responsible for each aspect of the project.
Completion Dates
Each task's completion date is indicated by a yellow icon on the Gantt chart. This makes it simple to compare planned vs. actual completion times, highlighting any discrepancies in the project schedule.
Task Status Colors
Cubicl visually represents task status through color-coding:
- Red: Overdue tasks
- Blue: Active tasks
- Green: Completed tasks
- Gray: Archived, suspended, or canceled tasks
Tracking Date Changes
Any changes made to task dates in the task detail page will automatically reflect on the Gantt chart gray slashes above the taskbar. This ensures you can track adjustments in the project schedule and stay informed of any updates to previously planned timelines.
Manage Both Time-offs and Tasks
In project management, it’s essential to ensure that project tasks align with team availability. When time-offs are added for team members, and these time-offs overlap with task dates, a warning will appear beneath the project management chart with a message like, "You have an update recommendation for [task]."
To resolve this, you have two options:
- Adjust Task Dates: You can modify the dates of the affected tasks to avoid overlap with time-off periods.
- Reassign Tasks: If rescheduling isn’t ideal, you can assign another team member to take over the task during the time-off period.
To make these adjustments, simply click the "Actions" button on the task update recommendations page. Additionally, detailed instructions on adding or modifying time-offs can be found here. This ensures that your project continues smoothly, even when team members are away.
Gantt Chart Works in Offline
Cubicl Project Management Software is a cloud-based SaaS solution, accessible online for seamless project management. However, if you need to work offline, you can download your project plan in PDF format by simply clicking the "Download" button. This allows you to continue managing and reviewing your Gantt chart, even without an internet connection.
Need Free Gantt Chart Template?
Are you looking for free Gantt chart examples or Gantt chart templates to kickstart your project? Visit these websites for inspiration, and easily apply them to your projects in Cubicl Project Management Tool to streamline your planning and timeline management.
Use gantt charts for business rebranding, training and development, business development, software development process, business event planning, or social media marketing planning.
Start to Use A Gantt Chart Software Alternative
Hey project managers! Gantt chart explained — this powerful tool is the key to mastering important project management tasks with ease. Stop wasting time switching between different apps. Get started today with a 14-day free trial of the Cubicl Project Management App and take control of your visual project planning. No credit card required! Need assistance? Reach out to us at support@cubicl.io—we're here to help!