Gantt Chart

The Gantt Chart in SmartPM provides a visual representation of your project schedule, allowing you to analyze progress, track milestones, and access detailed activity metrics. You can access the Gantt Chart from the Gantt Tab on the project page.

This guide covers navigation, customization, and key features to help you make the most of the Gantt Chart.

Viewing and Customizing the Chart

• Grouping Activities:
  By default, SmartPM groups activities by WBS code. You can change this using the Group By button:
  • None – No grouping.
  • Activity Code – Group by specific fields, such as Major, Phase, Area, SubArea, Responsibility, or Selection.
  • WBS – Group by the project’s embedded WBS structure.
    
    
• Expanding and Resizing:
  • Click the expand button to make the Gantt Chart full-screen and view as many activities as possible.
  • Expand or contract the left panel to uncover additional columns or view more of the Gantt chart.
  • Use the Collapse To option at the top to collapse the entire chart by WBS structure.
    

• Sorting and Managing Columns:
  • Click the pencil icon next to the activity name to add, remove, or reorder columns.
  • Sort by any column by clicking the column header.

Color Coding

The Gantt Chart uses color-coded bars to indicate activity status:

• Blue – Actual progress
• Green – Planned work
• Red – Critical path activities
• Yellow – Near- Critical path activities
• Dark Purple – Actual Level of Effort Progress
• Light Purple – Planned Level of Effort Progress
• Dotted Lines – Historical Data

Metrics and Activity Insights

• Toggle the Show Metrics button to view metrics. Project-level metrics appear at the top ribbon, and automatically update based on any filters you apply.
• Search and Filter: Use the search bar to find activities by name, and apply filters to narrow your view by activity type or custom criteria.

Activity Details

Clicking on an activity opens a metrics bar at the bottom of the screen with the following tabs:

• Performance – Key performance metrics for the activity.
• Attributes – Duration, activity codes, constraints, and other relevant data.
• Change Log – Historical changes for that activity.
• Field Log – Average rate of progress.

You can also hover over an activity to view popups with additional information. Toggle these on or off using the Show/Hide Popups button at the bottom of the Gantt Chart.

Creating a Filter in Gantt Chart

Project filters help you focus on the projects that matter most by narrowing your view to a subset of projects based on specific criteria.

To create a filter from the Gantt Chart: 

1. Click Filter from the menu bar on the top right
2. Click Add Filter
3. Define Filter Criteria
   1. Choose your parameters from the dropdown.
4. Give it a clear, descriptive name (e.g., “Active High-Risk Projects”). Saved filters can be reused anytime.
5. To immediately apply the filter, click Apply Filter. To Save, click Save Filter.

View Look Ahead Schedules

SmartPM features quick 3 and 6 week look ahead filter buttons so you can see which activities are coming up. This allows you to make better informed decisions when updating your schedule.

To view Look Ahead Schedules:

1. Click the Filters button above the Gantt chart
2. You can either look through the list or search in the search box for the 3 & 6 Week Look-Ahead filter
3. Click the checkbox next to your desired filter
4. The Gantt Chart will update with the filtered selections.