Project managers must be smart, honest, hardworking, and multiskilled. The ability to use project management tools and techniques is one more quality needed to be a successful project manager.
Data visualization tools can help you manage projects. These charts provide project insights and help you steer projects and deliver better results.
What is a project management chart?
A project management chart displays project data graphically. Different project management charts can help you eliminate bottlenecks and make better project decisions. These charts also simplify project management, resource management, and time management. The biggest benefit of project management charts is that they simplify complex project data. If you pursue PMP certification then you become familiar with these charts in details.
Project managers analyze and monitor various project aspects using various charts. Gantt charts are widely used, but Pareto and control charts are less so.
It’s time to learn about managers’ favorite project management charts:
1. Gantt chart
Gantt charts are the most popular project management charts used by modern businesses and managers. A Gantt chart shows project timelines. It shows how project tasks/activities relate and fit into the project timeline.
It is an advanced version of bar chart and is easy to interpret. The horizontal axis of a Gantt chart represents project duration and the vertical axis represents project tasks.
2. PERT chart
Other popular project management charts include PERT charts for scheduling, controlling, and monitoring tasks. A popular project management method used in many industries is PERT, which stands for Program Evaluation and Review Technique.
A network diagram illustrates project milestones and activities in a PERT chart. PERT and CPM are similar and sometimes used together to manage projects.
3. Work breakdown structure (WBS)
The work breakdown structure organizes projects into manageable chunks. WBS charts typically have a level 1 with the main tasks. Level 1 tasks are divided into subtasks and listed downward.
Although the WBS does not provide statistics, it simplifies project management. It helps you organize and allocate resources for projects.
4. Flowchart
Multiple-process projects with complex activity flows are hard to manage. A flowchart is the best way to simplify complex projects and make your life easier.
A flowchart is a visual representation of project workflow. It includes all project activities and processes from start to finish. Boxes, figures, and arrows show event sequences and connections.
5. Cause-effect chart
Project managers in most organizations solve problems. After a project development issue arises, managers must determine its cause and take corrective action.
Managers can highlight all potential causes of a problem using the cause-effect chart. Generally, the chart shows project problems’ causes and effects. If you don’t include all potential causes in a cause-effect chart, it will be hard to solve the problem during project development.
6. Pareto chart
Pareto charts are next on this list of popular project management charts. Project managers use this chart when they need more project information than a graph.
A Pareto chart combines bar and line graphs. You can highlight project factors with this chart. Pareto charts identify project issues and complications. It helps you identify the most common causes of a problem so you can fix it.
7. Bar chart
Bar charts are popular in project management because they are simple, versatile, and easy to interpret. These charts are used in project management to visualize billable and non-billable work hours, completed and pending tasks, and more.
A typical bar chart has two axes: one for categories and one for parameters. Horizontal bar charts are more popular than vertical ones.
8. Pie Chart
Pie charts are simple and popular in project management. Like bar charts, they can display various project data. Circular charts are ideal for data segmentation.
Pie charts are used to show the numerical proportions of categories that make up a whole. This chart is one of the simplest data visualization tools for managing projects of all complexity.
Final Thoughts
Project management charts help you organize project development phases. These charts provide simple, useful information for project completion. Knowing about these charts is one of the important Skills You Will Learn In PMP Certification.
Managers can use project management charts that suit their needs to simplify their work. The charts in this article are popular with managers to improve project quality and delivery.