More and more people are starting to turn to Google Spreadsheets for their project management software needs because the application makes it easy to share files with others, can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection and is completely free. Another plus for this software solution is Google has made it easy for third parties to create add-ons (called gadgets) that extend the capabilities of the application. One of these nice little tools is the Google Gantt Chart gadget developed by Viewpath.
You can access Google Spreadsheets from the Google Docs interface. If you already have a Google account, you can get started immediately. If you don’t, it only takes a couple moments to create one. After that, you can follow the steps described in the next section to create a Gantt chart.
Step 1: Begin by creating a new Google spreadsheet and entering your data that will be used to construct the Gantt chart. One example of such is shown below. (Click any image for a larger view.)
In particular, for the Google Gantt chart tool to work correctly, you should include columns with the following data.
- Unique ID (optional) – This column will contain a unique number assigned to each row of the table (1, 2, 3, 4, … for example). You only really need to include this column if certain tasks in your list are dependent on the completion of other tasks and you want this information reflected in your Gantt chart. If not, you don’t have to worry about this column.
- Name – In this column, include the name or a brief description of each task.
- Start – Enter the proposed start date for the task in this column.
- Finish – This column should contain the proposed or actual completion date of the task.
- Percent Complete – The number in this column should indicate what percentage of the task has been completed. Tip: Leave off the percent sign in order for the Gantt chart tool to read this field properly.
- Prerequisites (optional) – Like the Unique ID field, this column is only needed if certain tasks are dependent on others. If they are, input the Unique ID of any prerequisite task here.
Note that you can give these columns any title you wish and that you can include additional columns with other project data – just make sure that the above information is included somewhere in the table.
Step 2: Select all of the data in the chart, including the column headers.
Step 3: From the Insert menu on the Google spreadsheet toolbar, select Gadget.
Step 4: The Add a Gadget window should now appear on your screen. Click on Charts from the list on the left side of window and scroll down until you see Gantt Chart. Then, click on the Add to spreadsheet button.
Continue on to the next page for the remainder of this tutorial on using Viewpath's Gantt chart tool in Google Spreadsheets.