How to Create a Gantt Chart Template in PowerPoint

(16 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)

Loading...

By Puneet Gogia

If you are a project manager then I’m sure you agree with me on this:

For a project manager, one of the most important things is to track the progress of the project.

Type “Yes” in the comment section, if you agree.

Well, there are a lot of charts and templates which you can use to track your projects, but one of my favorites is the Gantt Chart, which is also one of the popular charts. And if you are an aspiring project manager then it’s important for you to learn to create a Gantt chart in PowerPoint.

Here’s the thing, creating a chart directly in PowerPoint gives you an edge that you can present it anytime without any hassle.

So today, to help you with this, I’ll be sharing a step by step process to create a Gantt chart in PowerPoint.

What is a Gantt Chart?

A Gantt chart is a bar chart where each bar represents the start and end schedule of one phase of the entire project. In simple words, the entire chart is made of bars for each phase of the project showing the starting and ending date. It was named after Henry Gantt, who created it in 1910.

Before we dive deep into the Gantt chart, make sure to download this free e-book, 10 Tips for Cool PowerPoint Charts + latest PowerPoint tips and tricks directly into your inbox.

Benefits of the using a Gantt Chart

As I said, the Gantt Chart is one of the most used charts for project managers and it has some benefits:

1. Clear Picture of the Project

In a Gantt chart, you can track all the phases of a project and their time of completion, which helps you get a clear picture of the entire project. You how many phases are complete, the running phase, and the pending phases.

2. Help to Manage Time

With a clear picture of the project, you can manage your time in a proper way. So if you know that some phases of the project took more time then expected, or the running phase in consuming more time, you can plan for the rest of the phases accordingly.

3. Help to Communicate Effectively

Once you have a clear picture of your project and you know where you need to put extra efforts and you can communicate it clearly to your team or all the people who are involved in the project.

Things You Need to Create a Gantt Chart in PowerPoint

Before you create your own Gantt chart you need to know how a typical Gantt chart looks like and what are the major components that you require to create it.

1. Dates: To track every project you need to have dates and for the Gantt chart you need to have a start date and end date of each step/phase of the project so that you can plot each phase on the chart with accuracy.
2. Phase Name: It’s important to have the proper name for all the project phases so that you can identify which is the first and which is last and use them in the chart.
3. Duration Days: This is the difference between the start date and the end date of a phase. It tells you how many days each phase took to complete which is the major component to analyze.

Steps to Create a Gantt Chart in PowerPoint from Scratch

At this point, you are pretty sure about what a Gantt chart is, why it’s so helpful, and you know there’s a huge benefit of creating a Gantt chart in PowerPoint, so it’s time for action now, let’s create your first Gantt chart on PPT slide.

Follow the below steps to create a Gantt Chart in PowerPoint:

1. First of all, make sure to have a clean and clear slide so that you can have enough space to create your chart. This can be easily achieved by selecting the Home tab | Layout option. Next, choose wither the Blank or the Title only options.

Now, your Gantt chart is complete. You can also add some formatting to it like I have marked red all those project phases which are late and rest all green and I have also added the project name to the chart title.

Final Gantt chart in PowerPoint

Adding a Gantt Chart in PowerPoint from Excel

The steps which you have learned in the above section of this post are the same steps that you need to follow to create a Gantt chart in Excel.

So even if you like to create a Gantt chart in Excel, you can do so. But let me make you one more step smarter from here, below I have a code that you can use to copy your existing chart from Excel worksheet to a new PowerPoint slide.

You just need to select the chart which you have in your worksheet and run this code from the macros

Sub ChartXL2PP()
Dim PowerPointApp As Object
Dim myPresentation As Object
Dim mySlide As Object
Dim myShape As Object
If ActiveChart Is Nothing Then
MsgBox "Hey, please select a chart first."
Exit Sub
End If
If PowerPointApp Is Nothing Then _
Set PowerPointApp = CreateObject(class:="PowerPoint.Application")
On Error GoTo 0
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Set myPresentation = PowerPointApp.Presentations.Add
Set mySlide = myPresentation.Slides.Add(1, 11) '11 = ppLayoutTitleOnly
ActiveChart.ChartArea.Copy
mySlide.Shapes.Paste
Set myShape = mySlide.Shapes(mySlide.Shapes.Count)
myShape.Left = 200
myShape.Top = 200
PowerPointApp.Visible = True
PowerPointApp.Activate
Application.CutCopyMode = False
End Sub

      Puneet Gogia is the Co-Founder of Excel Champs and a spreadsheets expert. Through his blog, he has helped thousands of people to understand the power of spreadsheets. You can find him online, tweeting about Excel, on a running track, or sometimes hiking up a mountain.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company.