Last week I showed you how to create a Timeline in excel. Today, I will show you how to create a Simple Gant Chart. (A Gant Chart is a visual depiction of a project schedule)
The right tool to produce a Gant Chart is Microsoft Project, but if you just need a quick chart, Excel can do the trick.
1. Create your data
- Column A is the Task Name
- Column B is the start date
- Column C is the end date
- Column D is the number of days the task took to complete (column C-B)
- Column E is the number value of the start date, it references column B and is formatted as a number
- Column F is the number value of the end date, it references column C and is formatted as a number
2. Create your chart
- Highlight cells A1:B9
- INSERT >> CHART
- In the Chart Wizard, select Bar Chart, then click the picture of the stacked bar
- Click Next
3. Add the Days to Complete in column D to the Source Data
- Click Add
- In Name, type “Days to Complete” or reference cell D1
- In Values reference cells D2:D9
- Click Next
4. Uncheck the “Show Legend” box
5. Add a Title on the Title Tab, then click “Finish”
Your chart looks like this:

6. Change the order of the Y axis so that Task 1 is on top
- Double click on the Y axis
- Check both the “Categories in reverse order” and “Value (Y) axis crosses at maximum category”
7. Format the background
- Double click on the outside of the gray area
- Select Border=None and Area = None
- Click OK
8. Make the first bar in the stack invisible
- Double click on the “Start Date” data series
- Select Border=None and Area = None
- Click OK
9. Change the start date of the chart to the start date of the first task
- Double click on the X axis
- Change the “Minimum” to the start date
- Change the “Maximum” to a few days past the highest number in the end date column
10. Manually change the bar colors
- Double click on the bar that you want to change
- Change the Area color to blue
- Click OK
- Repeat for each bar that you want to manually change
Your Gant chart now looks like this:
I saved the template at the BusinessToolsBlog Shared Files Google Group. Feel free to download.
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Any advice given on this blog is my own opinion and not that of anybody else. That said - any advice taken from this blog is at your own risk.
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