Gantt view

What is Gantt?

By default, both the Table and Gantt charts are enabled after creating a new portfolio. A Gantt chart is a project management tool that visually represents the timeline of a project, showing the start and end dates of various elements or tasks.

By combining with the WBS - Work Breakdown Structure, it integrates the WBS's hierarchical structure with timeline and task dependencies from the Gantt chart to help visualize and manage a project more effectively.

Plan issues in Gantt

Normally, your planned issues across Jira projects will be automatically synchronized on the Gantt timeline as long as these issues already have been planned with Start date and End date.

For unplanned Jira issues, you can click on the white space in the task area, then drag each end of the issue bar to adjust the task’s duration.

Additionally, you can drag and drop an issue bar freely in the Gantt chart to quickly adjust its timeline.

Or, you can also input the dates to Start and End dates in the Table accordingly if you don’t feel like dragging and dropping.

Critical Path

The Critical Path in a Gantt chart refers to the sequence of tasks or activities that determine the shortest possible duration to complete a project. It represents the longest path of interdependent tasks in the project schedule, and any delay in the critical path will result in a delay in the overall project timeline.

This critical path helps project managers stay focused on the tasks that determine whether a project will be completed on time.

*How to enable Critical Path

To enable this feature, simply click the Critical Path button.

Baseline

A Gantt Baseline is a snapshot of the original project plan at a specific point in time, which includes the planned start and finish dates, task durations, and dependencies. It provides a "planned" timeline against which the actual performance of the project can be measured.

You can use the baseline as a reference point for comparing the actual progress of the project to what was originally planned.

1. Create a baseline

Your current view of the portfolio serves as the original view of your project planning. You can use it to create a new baseline by clicking on the Baseline button and choosing + Create a new baseline.

Now all you have to do is name this baseline and click Create.

2. Enable baseline

You are now free to move and adjust your planned issues while working on the Gantt. To enable a baseline, simply open the menu again and select the baseline you want.

You can also deselect a baseline to disable it.

You can confirm the baseline bars on the Gantt timeline after enabling it.

Milestones

A milestone is a specific point in time on a Gantt chart that represents a significant event, achievement, or decision point in a project. Milestones are typically used to track key deadlines and to indicate the completion of major project phases or deliverables.

Unlike tasks, milestones have no duration; they are represented as a single point in time.

1. Convert a task to a Milestone

As for now in GanttTable, you can convert a task to a milestone. Simply right-click on the issue bar and choose Convert to milstone.

2. Convert a milestone to a task

Vice versa, you can convert a milestone back to a task by right-clicking on the diamond and selecting Convert to task.

Dependencies

Gantt dependencies are relationships between tasks in a Gantt chart that define the sequence in which tasks must be completed. They help in visualizing and managing the workflow of a project by showing how one task is dependent on another.

GanttTable offers 4 common types of task dependencies: Finish-to-Start (FS), Start-to-Start (SS), Finishi-to-Finish (FF), and Start-to-Finish (SF).

Finish-to-Start (FS)	This is the most common type in project management. It signifies that a successor task (Task B) cannot begin until its predecessor task (Task A) is completed. For example, coding the back-end functionality (Task A) must be finished before integrating it with the front-end interface (Task B).

Start-to-Start (SS)	In a Start-to-Start dependency, a task cannot begin until a preceding task has started. For example, setting up the server infrastructure (Task A) must begin before deploying the application (Task B) can start.

Finish-to-Finish (FF)	This dependency dictates that a task cannot be completed until its predecessor task is finished. In other words, both tasks must be completed at the same time. For example, completing the system testing (Task A) is necessary for finalizing the user acceptance testing (Task B).

Start-to-Finish (SF)	This relationship indicates that a task cannot be completed until a preceding task has started. For example, the deployment team’s task of releasing the software (Task B) cannot be completed until the operations team begins monitoring the application in the live environment (Task A).