Project & Development
Gantt Chart for Beginners: Schedule Board to List Tasks and Draw Start Dates, End Dates, and Owners
Beginner | 2 whiteboard pages · Task board: 5 columns (4 parent tasks, 12 subtasks)
Beginner: No technical terms. Just answer the whiteboard's questions, following the examples, and it takes shape.
Beginners learning how to make a Gantt chart use this schedule template to list the tasks of a small project and draw start dates, end dates, and owners as bars on a weekly timeline. The left page of the whiteboard has three WBS frames that split the work into prepare, produce, and publish, a four-column MoSCoW filter that narrows the rows, and a Gantt grid of 5 tasks across 6 weeks; the right page holds the goal and deadline, a five-step how-to, three frames on common mistakes and staying on track, the weekly update rules, and a three-column KPT. The task board has five columns, from listing tasks and setting dates to in progress, in review, and done, and starts with 4 parent tasks and 12 subtasks, all not started. A Gantt chart is a table with tasks down the side and weeks across the top, where each period is drawn as a bar. Putting every task on it makes a wall of bars, so narrow the rows with MoSCoW first.
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Whiteboard preview
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Gantt Chart Starter for Beginners
How to use: (1) Lock the goal and the deadline → (2) Split the work into prepare, produce, and publish (WBS) → (3) Narrow the rows with MoSCoW → (4) Set the order and the days, then draw the bars → (5) Update on the same weekday every week and close with a KPT review
1. Listing the tasks (WBS) / Prepare
- Decide the plan (goal, date, headcount)
- Book the venue and secure the budget
- Ask the people involved and set owners
- e.g. hold the venue by Sept 25
2. Listing the tasks (WBS) / Produce
- Write the invitation and the sign-up form
- Write the run sheet for the day
- Gather and print the handouts
- e.g. get the copy reviewed on Oct 2
3. Listing the tasks (WBS) / Publish
- Send the invitation email
- Watch sign-ups and announce again if needed
- Run the desk and the clean-up on the day
- e.g. send Oct 6, remind again Oct 13
4. Sort this round of work into four levels (MoSCoW = Must, Should, Could, Won't this time)
Must must have
- e.g. decide the plan, write the invitation, collect sign-ups, run the day and clean up Without these it does not happen. Always a row in frame 5
Should should have
- e.g. gather and print the handouts (the "Make handouts" row in frame 5) Painful if it slips. A row in frame 5 if you have room
Could nice to have
- e.g. post photos from the day on social media Good to have, but not a row in frame 5
Won't not this time
- e.g. tallying the attendee survey Decide not to do it, and write it down
5. Gantt chart (tasks x weeks). ■ = week you work, ▲ = deadline. Only Must and Should from frame 4 become rows
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decide the plan | ■ Alex | ■▲decided | – | – | – | – |
| Write the invitation | – | ■ Sam | ■▲final | – | – | – |
| Make handouts | – | – | ■ Sam | ■ Sam | – | |
| Collect sign-ups | – | – | – | ■ Mia | ■▲due | – |
| Day and clean-up | – | – | – | – | ■ all | ■▲event |
6. Project goal and deadline
- What does done look like e.g. run next month's in-house event through to the end with 50 people
- Dates that cannot move e.g. event day Oct 20 / invitation email Oct 6 Week 1 in 5 is the week of Sept 15; six weeks up to the event
- Still undecided e.g. venue not booked. Budget cap not confirmed. Ask who: ____ / by when: __/__
7. How to make a Gantt chart in 5 steps
- Step 1 Start from the deadline Place the dates that cannot move first. Decide them last and you redraw everything.
- Step 2 List the work Make three big blocks and split them until each piece takes half a day to three days. Then pick Must and Should in the MoSCoW (frame 4) and work only with those from here on.
- Step 3 Set the order Link the tasks that cannot start before another one finishes, and put the ones that run in parallel side by side.
- Step 4 Estimate the days Write how many days each task takes. Count review and waiting time as days too.
- Step 5 Draw the bars and name the owners Put ■ on the working period and ▲ on the deadline, and write an owner on every row. Rows are only the main tasks that hurt when late (Must and Should from frame 4), not everything you listed.
8. Mistake 1: tasks that are too big
- e.g. one row called Build the site got three weeks of bar
- Nobody can tell whether it is on track or stuck
- Fix: split until each piece takes half a day to three days
- If a row longer than one week is left, split it again
9. Mistake 2: zero slack
- e.g. no days for review, and the bar ends on the deadline itself
- One slip moves everything behind it
- Fix: add review and waiting time as their own row
- Keep the last week for running the day and finish making things earlier
10. Keeping it alive (drawn once, never opened)
- e.g. drawn on day one, opened again three days before the deadline
- You see the delay too late and have fewer options left
- Fix: decide the weekday and time of the update first
- Keep the update to ten minutes and it will stick
11. Weekly update rules
- When to update e.g. every Friday at 16:00 for ten minutes. Owner: ____ Put it in the calendar as a repeating event
- What to update 1. Mark the tasks that are finished 2. Write one line on how far each running row has got 3. Put an owner on the rows starting next week
- When you find a delay Pick one of three: move the deadline, cut work, or add people, and write the date and the person who decided on the same row
12. Look back when it is over (KPT)
Keep keep doing
- e.g. kept the Friday 16:00 update going for all six weeks
- e.g. review time had its own row, so delays showed up early
Problem what hurt
- e.g. one task estimated at 2 days actually took 5
- e.g. forgot a review row on one task and it sat for 3 days
Try next time
- e.g. read 8 and 9 together before locking the bars next time
- e.g. estimate 1.5 times the days for tasks that slipped
Task board contents
Listing tasks 16 items
Set goal & deadline
Before you draw a single bar, fix what counts as finished and which dates cannot move. Leave this vague and you will redraw the whole chart later.
What done looks like
Write in one line who has what in their hands when it is over. Once it is concrete, put it on frame 6 of the board.
Lock the deadline
Confirm the date that cannot move with everyone involved. If it moves, the whole Gantt chart is redrawn, so lock it first.
List the people
Write down the names involved and what you can ask each of them to do. This is the material for the owner on every Gantt row.
List all the tasks
The WBS step. Break the work down from big blocks into small pieces. Anything missing here turns into a delay later, so have someone else look at it.
Split into 3 blocks
Split the whole project into three blocks such as prepare, produce, and publish, and write them in frames 1, 2, and 3.
Break into subtasks
Split each block until every piece takes half a day to three days. Anything longer than a week is still too coarse.
Ask others for gaps
Show the list to the people involved and add what is missing. The first pass always misses two or three items. After adding them, pick Must and Should in the MoSCoW of frame 4.
Add dates and owners
The step that puts the listed work on a timeline. Decide the order and the days before you draw, and you go back far less.
Set the task order
Taking only Must and Should from frame 4: find the pairs where one cannot start before the other finishes, and line them up. Put things that can run in parallel side by side.
Estimate the days
Write how many days each task takes. When in doubt take more, and count review and waiting time as days.
Draw the Gantt bars
On the grid in frame 5, put ■ on the weeks you work and ▲ on the deadline week, and add the owner. Only the Must and Should tasks from frame 4 become rows. Your first version is done here.
Update it every week
A chart you draw and abandon stops being used. Fix a weekday, update it, and turn it into a way of spotting delays early.
Mark what is done
On the chosen weekday, mark the tasks that are finished. For running tasks, add one line on how far they have got.
Fix what is late
Look for rows behind schedule and choose one of three: move the deadline, cut work, or add people.
Review at the end
Write down three tasks where the estimate and reality differed most, and sort them into Keep, Problem, and Try in the KPT of frame 12. Use it for your next estimate.
