Using Gantt chart in Fingertip

• Why use the Gantt chart?
• How to access the Gantt chart in Fingertip
• Using the Gantt chart

 

Why use the Gantt chart?

A Gantt chart is a timeline of your projects and allows you to schedule your tasks, define duration and dependencies, and build out all the steps visually.

Use the Gantt chart to see how tasks in your plan, project or space are scheduled and to quickly make adjustments to your project's timeline.

Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project.

Benefits of using Gantt:

• Determine the most important tasks to manage
• Save time and resources
• Compare the planned schedule with actual progress
• Clarify dependencies in a visual way
• Identify the critical activities requiring attention

How to access the Gantt chart in Fingertip?

Gantt chart is available within Plan records in Fingertip. You can find it in the tab menu, like shown below:

 

Using the Gantt chart

The Gantt Chart consists of two parts:

1. Table on the left.
2. Timeline of projects and tasks on the right

 

Header Function Buttons

1. Collapse/Expand All – Collapses or expands the hierarchy in the table.
2. Undo/Redo - Revert the action performed earlier or restore any action that were previously undone.
3. Toggle critical path - Used to toggle the critical path on/off. More about critical path here.
4. Group Tasks - When clicked, all the tasks are listed independently.
5. Reset grouping - When clicked, Tasks are reverted back to hierarchy.
6. Zoom In/Zoom Out - Used for changing the date range from dates to weeks, months or years.

 

Creating a New Task

Tasks can be created from the table part of the Gantt chart:

1. Click on the "+" icon to open the new task popup. Click the one on the top to create it in the root of the hierarchy, or click the icon next to another task to create the task as a child task.
2. In the task popup, fill the Subject.
3. Add comments for details.
4. Choose the current status of the task.
5. Select the task type: Task, Project or Milestone:

   1. Task – The type used by default. Normal tasks can have 1 parent and any number of child tasks. They can be dragged and resized.

   2. Project - Project task is a task that starts, when its earliest child task starts, and ends, when its latest child task ends. Use Projects to collect other tasks.

   3. Milestone - is a zero-duration task that is used to mark out important dates of the project. It will appear as a diamond on the Gantt chart.

6. Assign the task to a user.
7. Select the timing of the task: date and duration.
8. Once done, click on Save.

Your task is created and appears on the timeline portion of the view.

 

Rescheduling Tasks

Timeline drag and drop

1. Click and hold the task you want to reschedule.
2. Drag the task to the appropriate dates and release your mouse.

Inline editing from table

1. Locate a task in the table and double-click the "Start time" column.
2. Select the new date from the date picker.
3. The new date is saved once selected.

 

Increasing or reducing the task duration

1. Find the task you want to re-schedule.
2. Hover your cursor over the timeline and place it in the task's row. You'll see a bar representing the task.
3. Click and hold your left mouse button to increase the bar’s size from either side.
4. Move the cursor to the date you want to change it to and release your mouse.
5. The date automatically updates on the list.

Changing the Task Order

To change a task's position in the task hierarchy (subtask of a task, subtask of a subtask, etc), navigate to the table portion of the Gantt chart:

1. Click and drag the row of the task whose position you want to change.
2. A blue line will indicate the new position of the task:
   1. If the whole borders are highlighted, the task will be added as a child task.
   2. If a line is shown with a circle on the left end, the new task will be added below the task.

 

Editing a Task

There are two ways to edit the Task details:

1. Click on any of the fields in the table. For example, you can edit the title by clicking the name
2. Double-click on the task bar on the timeline to open the popup and edit from there.

 

Deleting a Task

1. Double-click the bar on the timeline representing the task you want to delete.
2. Click the delete button. 

Creating Dependencies

Drawing dependencies in the timeline

1. Hover over a task bar.
2. Click the dot that appears to the left or right of the taskbar.
3. Drag your mouse to the beginning or end of the task you want to create a dependency with.
4. Release the mouse button to create the dependency.

Inline editing from table

1. Double-click on the "Predecessors" column.Find the task which should precede the task.
2. Enter the row number from the task you want to create the dependency to.
3. You can use four types of dependencies. To use one, add it directly after the row number:
   • FS - to create a Finish to Start dependency.
   • FF - to create a Finish to Finish dependency.
   • SS - to create a Start to Start dependency.
   • SF - to create a Start to Finish dependency.  (This dependency is used as default, so it will display only the row number after saving)
4. Press enter on your keyboard to save.

 

Deleting Dependencies

There are two ways to delete a dependency:

1. Double-click on a Dependency arrow on the timeline. Click yes to delete the arrow.
2. Double-click the Predecessor column in the table and remove the text to remove the dependency.

Critical Path

Critical Path shows a task or tasks which can cause your project to fall behind (i.e. if a task on the Critical Path is delayed then you can/will miss your Project due date). On the timeline portion of the Gantt Chart, all tasks which are part of the Critical Path turn red, tasks not on the Critical Path remain their original color.

Use Critical Path to:

• Focus on the tasks which are crucial to the project’s completion.
• See what tasks can be rescheduled without affecting the project’s deadlines.

In Fingertip, the Critical Paths highlights:

• The latest scheduled task in a Folder(s)/Project(s).
• If the latest scheduled task is linked to other tasks via dependencies, then any task where even a 1-day delay would push out the final task’s end date is also highlighted in red.

Resource Allocation

The resource allocation can be found in the bottom of the Gantt chart:

• Allocate resources to tasks and track the workload with the help of resource usage diagram.
• When the amount of workload a user has in a day exceeds the limit, it turns to red.
• Each business day is counted as 8 hours by default. The duration can be configured.

You can change it's position by clicking and dragging from the edge of the component.

 

Relevant Further Reading

GANTT charts are closely related to Project Management solutions, find out more about them here:

Project Management Office (PMO)

Project Planning and Management

Project Management Functionalities in Fingertip