Higher Education CoP - Toolbox Cafe: Gantt Charts

Abstract

One of the oldest management tools that project managers use to plan, execute and monitor a project is a Gantt chart. During this event, Gantt chart aficionado Cynthia Cain will review the basic elements of a Gantt chart and share examples so you can produce and use them for any size project. An important element of building an effective Gantt chart is making the project schedule. This is the hardest part that requires detailed thinking to confirm the schedule is workable and that you have all of the necessary tasks outlined on a timeline. She will also cover the concepts of the critical path and being able to confidently identify the activities that drive the project completion date.

Learning Objectives

Participants will

• Describe the basic elements of a Gantt chart
• Explain how to set up the project schedule
• Monitor progress using the Gantt chart and analyze the data using reporting features within MS Project

Speaker

Cynthia Cain

Cynthia Cain joined Duke Health Technology Solutions in April 2020. She feels fortunate to be leading exciting and transformative technology projects and is delighted to be part of such a talented and diverse team. Cynthia started her career as a PL/1 programmer at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. In the years that followed, Cynthia held a variety of programing, Business Analyst, Program/Project Management, and consulting manager roles at startup and global software/technology and life science companies. Cynthia was a member of the Computer Science Adjunct faculty at Franklin Pierce College (now part of the University of New Hampshire) and taught Business Analysis classes at Boston University’s Corporate Education Center.