Asana is project management software that offers a variety of easy-to-use tools like timelines, task lists and kanban boards which are mainly used for managing simple projects, everyday tasks and team workflows. It’s a good alternative for small teams that need to manage their workload and collaborate online.
In this blog, we’ll show you how to make a Gantt chart in Asana and we’ll do an in-depth analysis of its features, benefits and limitations.
What Can You Use an Asana Gantt Chart For?
Asana’s Gantt chart is a lightweight alternative to more complex Gantt chart software. It’s an easy-to-use tool that allows you to easily create a project schedule, visualize project tasks, track their due dates and collaborate with your team online.
However, while Asana Gantt charts can help you create a project schedule, they’re not ideal for managing projects as they lack many project management features. If you need Gantt chart software for project management, you should use ProjectManager instead, project management software with award-winning Gantt charts.
ProjectManager‘s Gantt charts offer advanced project management features that Asana Gantt charts don’t, such as tracking all four types of project task dependencies, tracking resource utilization and costs for each task, comparing planned versus actual costs, setting project baselines and much more. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.
Does Asana Have a Gantt Chart?
Not really. Asana has a timeline, which is a weak version of a Gantt chart. You can create a Gantt chart with some limited functionality, but that’s going to take some time and effort. If you’re wedded to Asana it could be worthwhile, but with many superior software products that have real Gantt charts with robust features, it might be time to seek an Asana alternative.
What Can You Use an Asana Gantt Chart For?
If you’re willing to build a Gantt chart in Asana, it allows you to create a simple project schedule and track the due dates, duration and dependencies of your project tasks. It can also be used for identifying the critical path of your project and tracking project milestones. Additionally, an Asana Gantt chart allows you to:
Split your project schedule into sections, a feature that allows you to group related tasks
Mark project milestones in your Gantt chart timeline
See the critical path activities based on their due dates and duration
Edit your project schedule by dragging and dropping tasks on the timeline
Collaborate with your team members by sharing messages and files for each task
Asana Gantt Chart Example
The best way to learn what an Asana Gantt chart is and how it works is to look at an example, so we’ve used one to create a construction schedule. On the left side, there’s a list of project tasks and details such as due dates, duration and assignee. On the right side, there’s a stacked bar chart that uses bars to represent project tasks on a timeline. Each of these bars or project tasks is linked by arrows, showing the dependencies among them.
Now that we have a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of an Asana Gantt chart, let’s learn how to make one. Creating a Gantt chart in Asana is an easy process that’ll allow you to create a project schedule in minutes.
Cons of Making an Asana Gantt Chart
Asana Gantts track very little information about your project and the software offers the bare minimum project planning, scheduling or tracking features expected from a Gantt chart software. Here are some of the most important features they’re missing.
No cost tracking functionality which is essential for monitoring project budgets
Missing resource allocation, scheduling or monitoring features
Only has two types of task dependencies unlike more advanced Gantt chart software which offers four types of task dependencies, which are important for project planning and scheduling
Asana Gantt charts don’t display the percent complete of your tasks, which affects their ability to track project progress
For these and other reasons, Asana Gantt charts can help you create a project schedule, but they’re not ideal for managing projects as they lack many project management features.
ProjectManager Has Better Gantt Charts Than Asana Gantt Charts
That’s a lot of hurdles to clear. When managing a project you don’t want your hands tied with inferior tools. The features missing from an Asana Gantt chart are going to leave project managers scrambling to deliver their projects on time and within the budget.
If you want a real Gantt chart with powerful features that Asana doesn’t have, make a Gantt chart in ProjectManager. Just start a free 30-day trial and you can easily export your Asana project into an Excel file and import that into ProjectManager. You’ll retain your Asana data and now have the features you need to better manage your project.
ProjectManager has Gantt charts that are more thorough than Asana Gantt charts. Here are just a few of the reasons why.
Real-Time Resource Availability for Assigning Tasks
You can create a timeline in ProjectManager, but also schedules based on real-time availability. When onboarding teams, project managers can set their availability, whether they’re on vacation, have PTO or even on global holidays for remote teams.
Set Baselines to Compare Planned vs. Actual Effort With Real-Time Progress Shading
It’s critical to monitor your baseline if you want to stay on schedule and within your budget. Setting a baseline captures your planned schedule and costs so you can now compare them to where you actually are in the project to help you stay on track. ProjectManager also tracks all four types of task dependencies as compared to Asana, which only has two. Linking dependent tasks helps to avoid costly delays.
Real-Time Tracking Against Your Baseline
ProjectManager lets users track project costs, resource costs, task costs and expenses in real time. This allows you to ensure your project is meeting the constraints of your budget and, if it’s not, quickly make adjustments to get back on track.
How to Make a Gantt Chart in Asana
Most projects need these features. If yours does, then it’s time to consider ProjectManager. But If you still want to see how to make an Asana Gantt chart, we’ll go through the process from beginning to end. All you’ll need to get started is an Asana license or simply a free trial.
1. Create a New Project & Select the Asana Gantt Chart View
The first step is to create a new project by clicking the “Create” button at the top left corner of your screen.
Then you can choose to import a file or start creating your Asana Gantt chart from scratch. For this Asana Gantt chart example, we’ll start a project from scratch.
Next, choose a project name and select your starting project management view. As you can see, Gantt charts are not an option by default but don’t worry, pick any view and you’ll be able to switch to the Gantt chart view once you click “Create project.”
For this Asana Gantt chart example, we’ll name this project “Construction Schedule” because we’ll use this Gantt chart to represent one.
Once you create a new project, you’ll land in Asana’s task list view. To switch to the Gantt chart view, click the plus icon and select Gantt as shown in the image below.
2. Add Sections and Project Tasks
Now it’s time to add your project tasks, their due dates and durations to the Asana Gantt chart. You can also use its “Sections” setting, which allows you to group related tasks and create project phases on your Gantt chart timeline, but it’s not required.
We’ve filled out the Asana Gantt chart with project tasks, due dates and duration based on a construction schedule. As you can see on the left side of the image below, there are six different sections in this Asana Gantt chart to reflect various stages of the construction project (contracts, procurement, design, construction, post-construction and closing).
3. Link Task Dependencies
Project tasks need to be executed in a specific order, which is defined by the dependencies among them. For example, some tasks can’t start until the previous task has been completed. This is the type of task dependency that applies to all the tasks in our construction schedule.
To link a dependency between tasks using an Asana Gantt chart, you’ll need to hover over a task, left-click the dependency icon and then hold your left mouse button and drag it to the next task.
Repeat this process until all your project tasks dependencies have been linked as shown in the Asana Gantt chart below. This is important for the next step, which is identifying the critical path of your project.
4. Highlight Your Project’s Critical Path
The critical path of a project refers to the tasks that must be completed on time, or their delay will affect the total duration of your project, unlike other project tasks which can be completed past their planned due date without affecting the project schedule, which have a lower priority level. To find the critical path, you’ll need to consider the start and end dates of your project tasks, their duration and their dependencies. But luckily, Asana’s Gantt chart automates this process.
To identify the critical tasks of your project, click Gantt options on the right side of your screen and then turn on the “Highlight critical path” option. This will automatically highlight the critical path of your project as the image below shows.
5. Add Project Milestones to the Asana Gantt Chart
Project milestones are important achievements that are often used to summarize the progress of a project schedule. For this example, we’ll mark the final completion task as a project milestone. To do so, simply right-click a task and select “Mark as milestone.”
This will turn the taskbar into a diamond symbol in your Asana Gantt chart. Congratulations! You have successfully created an Asana Gantt chart and have used its project management features.
It might be straightforward to put together an Asana Gantt chart, however, it’s missing countless features that you can find in many Asana alternatives with more robust Gantt chart tools. So if you’re looking for a Gantt chart that has more advanced project management features, you should try a fully featured Gantt chart like ProjectManager instead.
ProjectManager Has Better Gantt Charts Than Asana
Asana Gantt charts are only good for visualizing project schedules and assigning tasks to your team members, but they lack scope, resource and cost management features which makes them deficient tools for managing all areas of a project. ProjectManager’s Gantt chart, on the other hand, has all the features you need to track all the aspects of your project. Here are some examples of the project tracking features that make ProjectManager Gantt charts better than Asana Gantt charts.
Task Priority: Set a priority level for your project tasks so you and your team members know where to prioritize your efforts.
Resource Utilization: Assign tasks to team members, track their work hours and monitor their workload. This information from ProjectManager’s Gantt chart syncs automatically with ProjectManager’s timesheets, which you can then use for the payroll process.
Planned & Actual Duration (Hours): Estimate the duration of every task and then track the actual number of hours that a task took to be completed.
Planned & Actual Cost: Estimate the costs of each project task and then log the actual costs once the task has been executed. This is very important to monitor and control your spending to make sure you don’t exceed the project budget.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): The WBS column allows you to understand which of your project tasks are related and the order in which they should be completed. This is similar to the “sections” feature in the Asana Gantt chart.
Percent Complete: Your team members can update the progress they’ve made on tasks by setting a percentage of completion. The best part is that ProjectManager’s Gantt chart syncs with its real-time dashboard which allows you to track the overall progress of your project.
ProjectManager Is More than Gantt Charts
Now that we’ve learned what an Asana Gantt chart is and how it compares to ProjectManager’s Gantt chart, let’s look at some other benefits of using ProjectManager as a project management software beyond Gantt charts.
Multiple Project Management Tools
ProjectManager offers a complete set of project management tools that include kanban boards, task lists, project calendars and much more. These tools adapt to multiple project management methodologies and work styles so you and your team members can plan, schedule and track projects however you like.
Track Progress and Costs With Real-Time Dashboards
All of ProjectManager’s project planning tools like Gantt charts and kanban boards sync with real-time dashboards that track your project progress, costs, resource utilization, budgets and timelines. Additionally, ProjectManager has timesheets that track labor costs.
Monitor Resource Utilization and Balance Workload
ProjectManager has workload charts that show how your team’s workload is being distributed among your team members so you can identify who’s over or underallocated and reassign project tasks accordingly.
Related Asana Gantt Chart Content
Choosing the right project management software for your team can be a challenging task. That’s why we’ve created content that helps you better understand what you should look for. Here are some blogs that compare Asana to other alternatives.
Best Asana Alternatives: Free & Paid Options Ranked
Asana vs. Microsoft Project: In-Depth Comparison
Asana vs. Monday: In-Depth Software Comparison
Asana vs. ClickUp: In-Depth Software Comparison
Asana vs ProjectManager: Which Software is Better?
ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams in the office, out in the field and everywhere else. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.
Asana是一款项目管理软件,提供各种易于使用的工具,如时间表、任务列表和看板,主要用于管理简单的项目、日常任务和团队工作流程。对于需要管理工作量和在线协作的小型团队来说,这是一个很好的选择。
在这篇博客中,我们将向你展示如何用体式制作甘特图,并深入分析它的特点、优点和局限性。
你可以用体式甘特图做什么?
Asana的甘特图是更复杂的甘特图软件的轻量级替代品。这是一个易于使用的工具,允许您轻松创建项目时间表,可视化项目任务,跟踪其截止日期,并与您的团队在线协作。
然而,虽然Asana甘特图可以帮助您创建项目时间表,但它们并不适合管理项目,因为它们缺乏许多项目管理功能。如果您需要甘特图软件进行项目管理,您应该使用ProjectManager,这是一款带有获奖甘特图的项目管理软件。
ProjectManager的甘特图提供了Asana甘特图所没有的高级项目管理功能,例如跟踪所有四种类型的项目任务依赖关系,跟踪每个任务的资源利用率和成本,比较计划成本和实际成本,设置项目基线等等。立即免费开始使用ProjectManager。
体式有甘特图吗?
不是真的。Asana有一个时间线,这是甘特图的弱版本。您可以创建一个功能有限的甘特图,但这需要一些时间和精力。如果你坚持体式,这可能是值得的,但许多优秀的软件产品都有真正的甘特图和强大的功能,可能是时候寻找体式的替代品了。
你可以用体式甘特图做什么?
如果你愿意在Asana中建立一个甘特图,它允许你创建一个简单的项目时间表,并跟踪项目任务的截止日期、持续时间和依赖性。它还可以用于识别项目的关键路径和跟踪项目里程碑。另外,体式甘特图允许你:
将项目日程划分为多个部分,这一功能允许您对相关任务进行分组
在甘特图时间线中标记项目里程碑
查看基于截止日期和持续时间的关键路径活动
通过在时间表上拖放任务来编辑项目时间表
通过共享每个任务的消息和文件与团队成员协作
体式甘特图示例
学习什么是体式甘特图以及它是如何工作的最好方法是看一个例子,所以我们用一个例子来创建一个施工进度表。在左侧,有一个项目任务和详细信息的列表,如截止日期、持续时间和受让人。在右侧,有一个堆积条形图,它使用条形图来表示时间线上的项目任务。这些条或项目任务中的每一个都通过箭头链接,显示它们之间的依赖关系。
现在我们对体式甘特图的优点和缺点有了更好的理解,让我们来学习如何制作一个。在Asana中创建甘特图是一个简单的过程,可以让你在几分钟内创建一个项目时间表。
制作体式甘特图的缺点
Asana甘特图跟踪很少关于你的项目的信息,该软件提供了甘特图软件所期望的最低限度的项目规划、时间安排或跟踪功能。以下是他们缺少的一些最重要的功能。
没有监控项目预算所必需的成本跟踪功能
缺少资源分配、调度或监视功能
只有两种类型的任务依赖关系,不像更高级的甘特图软件提供四种类型的任务依赖关系,这对项目计划和调度很重要
Asana甘特图不显示任务的完成百分比,这影响了他们跟踪项目进度的能力
出于这些和其他原因,Asana甘特图可以帮助您创建项目时间表,但它们并不适合管理项目,因为它们缺乏许多项目管理功能。
ProjectManager的甘特图比Asana甘特图好
有很多障碍需要清除。当管理一个项目时,你不希望你的手被劣质的工具所束缚。Asana甘特图中缺少的特征将会让项目经理争先恐后地在预算内按时交付他们的项目。
如果你想要一个真正的甘特图,具有Asana没有的强大功能,请在ProjectManager中制作甘特图。只需开始30天的免费试用,你就可以轻松地将你的Asana项目导出到Excel文件中,并导入到ProjectManager中。你将保留你的体式数据,现在拥有你需要的功能来更好地管理你的项目。
ProjectManager的甘特图比Asana甘特图更全面。以下是其中的几个原因。
用于分配任务的实时资源可用性
您可以在ProjectManager中创建时间表,也可以根据实时可用性创建时间表。当团队入职时,项目经理可以设置他们的可用性,无论他们是在度假,有PTO,甚至是远程团队的全球假期。
设置基线,通过实时进度着色来比较计划和实际工作
如果你想按计划和预算进行,监控你的基线是至关重要的。设定基线可以捕获您的计划时间表和成本,因此您现在可以将它们与您在项目中的实际位置进行比较,以帮助您保持在正确的轨道上。ProjectManager还跟踪所有四种类型的任务依赖关系,而Asana只有两种。链接相关任务有助于避免代价高昂的延迟。
根据基线进行实时跟踪
ProjectManager允许用户实时跟踪项目成本、资源成本、任务成本和费用。这可以让你确保你的项目符合你的预算限制,如果不符合,迅速做出调整,回到正轨。
如何用体式制作甘特图
大多数项目都需要这些特性。如果你的有,那么是时候考虑ProjectManager了。但是如果你还想看如何制作体式甘特图,我们将从头到尾介绍这个过程。你所需要的只是一个体式许可证或者简单的免费试用。
1.创建一个新项目&选择Asana甘特图视图
第一步是通过点击屏幕左上角的“创建”按钮来创建一个新项目。
然后你可以选择导入一个文件或者从头开始创建你的体式甘特图。对于这个体式甘特图示例,我们将从头开始一个项目。
接下来,选择一个项目名称,并选择您的起始项目管理视图。如您所见,甘特图在默认情况下不是一个选项,但是不要担心,选择任何视图,一旦您单击“创建项目”,您将能够切换到甘特图视图。
对于这个Asana甘特图示例,我们将这个项目命名为“施工进度”,因为我们将使用这个甘特图来表示一个项目。
一旦你创建了一个新项目,你将进入Asana的任务列表视图。要切换到甘特图视图,请单击加号图标并选择甘特图,如下图所示。
2.添加区段和项目任务
现在是时候将你的项目任务、截止日期和持续时间添加到体式甘特图中了。您也可以使用它的“分区”设置,该设置允许您对相关任务进行分组,并在甘特图时间线上创建项目阶段,但这不是必需的。
我们已经根据施工进度填写了Asana甘特图,包括项目任务、截止日期和持续时间。正如你在下图左侧看到的,在这个Asana甘特图中有六个不同的部分来反映施工项目的各个阶段(合同、采购、设计、施工、施工后和收尾)。
3.链接任务依赖项
项目任务需要按照特定的顺序执行,这是由它们之间的依赖关系定义的。例如,有些任务只有在前一个任务完成后才能开始。这是适用于我们的施工进度表中所有任务的任务依赖类型。
要使用体式甘特图链接任务之间的依赖关系,您需要将鼠标悬停在任务上,左键单击依赖关系图标,然后按住鼠标左键并将其拖到下一个任务。
重复此过程,直到您的所有项目任务依赖项都已链接,如下面的Asana甘特图所示。这对下一步很重要,下一步是确定项目的关键路径。
4.突出项目的关键路径
项目的关键路径是指必须按时完成的任务,否则它们的延迟将影响项目的总持续时间,这与其他项目任务不同,其他项目任务可以在计划的到期日之后完成而不影响项目进度,它们的优先级较低。要找到关键路径,您需要考虑项目任务的开始和结束日期、持续时间以及依赖关系。但幸运的是,Asana的甘特图自动化了这个过程。
要确定项目的关键任务,请单击屏幕右侧的甘特图选项,然后打开“突出显示关键路径”选项。这将自动突出显示项目的关键路径,如下图所示。
5.将项目里程碑添加到Asana甘特图中
项目里程碑是重要的成就,通常用于总结项目进度。对于本例,我们将把最终完成任务标记为项目里程碑。为此,只需右键单击任务并选择“标记为里程碑”。
这将把任务栏变成体式甘特图中的菱形符号。恭喜你!您已经成功创建了Asana甘特图,并使用了它的项目管理功能。
制作一个体式甘特图可能很简单,但是,它缺少了无数的功能,你可以用更强大的甘特图工具在许多体式替代品中找到这些功能。因此,如果您正在寻找具有更高级项目管理功能的甘特图,您应该尝试像ProjectManager这样的全功能甘特图。
ProjectManager拥有比Asana更好的甘特图
Asana甘特图只适用于可视化项目进度和向团队成员分配任务,但它们缺乏范围、资源和成本管理功能,这使它们成为管理项目所有领域的不足工具。另一方面,ProjectManager的甘特图具有跟踪项目所有方面所需的所有功能。以下是一些项目跟踪功能的示例,这些功能使ProjectManager甘特图优于Asana甘特图。
任务优先级:为你的项目任务设定一个优先级,这样你和你的团队成员就知道在哪里优先考虑你的工作。
资源利用:为团队成员分配任务,跟踪他们的工作时间并监控他们的工作量。ProjectManager甘特图中的这些信息会自动与ProjectManager的时间表同步,然后您可以将其用于工资单流程。
计划和实际持续时间(小时):估计每项任务的持续时间,然后跟踪完成一项任务所需的实际小时数。
计划和实际成本:估计每个项目任务的成本,然后在任务执行后记录实际成本。这是非常重要的监测和控制你的支出,以确保你不超过项目预算。
工作分解结构(WBS):WBS列允许您了解哪些项目任务是相关的,以及它们应该完成的顺序。这类似于体式甘特图中的“截面”功能。
完成百分比:您的团队成员可以通过设置完成百分比来更新他们在任务上取得的进度。最棒的是,ProjectManager的甘特图与其实时仪表板同步,允许您跟踪项目的整体进度。
ProjectManager不仅仅是甘特图
现在我们已经了解了什么是体式甘特图,以及它与ProjectManager的甘特图相比如何,让我们看看使用ProjectManager作为甘特图之外的项目管理软件的其他一些好处。
多种项目管理工具
ProjectManager提供了一套完整的项目管理工具,包括看板、任务列表、项目日历等等。这些工具适应多种项目管理方法和工作风格,因此您和您的团队成员可以按照您喜欢的方式计划、安排和跟踪项目。
使用实时仪表板跟踪进度和成本
ProjectManager的所有项目规划工具,如甘特图和看板,都与跟踪项目进度、成本、资源利用率、预算和时间表的实时仪表板同步。此外,ProjectManager有跟踪人工成本的时间表。
监控资源利用和平衡工作量
ProjectManager有工作量图表,显示团队的工作量如何在团队成员之间分配,因此您可以确定谁分配过多或分配不足,并相应地重新分配项目任务。
相关体式甘特图内容
为您的团队选择合适的项目管理软件可能是一项具有挑战性的任务。这就是为什么我们创建了内容来帮助您更好地了解您应该寻找什么。这里有一些博客将体式与其他选择进行了比较。
最佳体式选择:免费和付费选项排名
Asana与Microsoft Project:深入比较
Asana与周一:深入的软件比较
Asana与ClickUp:深入的软件比较
Asana vs ProjectManager:哪个软件更好?
ProjectManager是一款在线项目和投资组合管理软件,它将办公室、现场和其他任何地方的团队联系在一起。他们可以共享文件,在任务级别发表评论,并通过电子邮件和应用内通知保持更新。加入Avis、Nestle和Siemens的团队,使用我们的软件交付成功的项目。立即免费开始使用ProjectManager。
以上中文文本为机器翻译,存在不同程度偏差和错误,请理解并参考英文原文阅读。
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