PowerPoint Gantt Chart Template

Download this free PowerPoint Gantt chart to organize tasks, set start and end dates and see the project’s duration on a timeline. Using this PowerPoint Gantt chart template is a step above a task list and benefits multiple industries, from construction to manufacturing, professional services and more. It’ll help you schedule projects and monitor progress to stay on track.

Or, to get the control you need to manage the project, track it in real time and access other project management features, open the Gantt chart in ProjectManager. Our Gantt chart links dependencies to avoid cost overruns and delays, filters for the critical path to identify essential tasks and can set a baseline to capture the project plan and compare it to actual progress in real time. You can’t achieve this with a Gantt chart PowerPoint template.

Not only that, but our software has multiple project views, sharing the Gantt chart plan with kanban boards that visualize workflow, task lists and calendar views. There are also dashboard and reporting tools to get the project status, resource and risk management features and so much more. Get started for free with ProjectManager and build a dynamic Gantt chart in minutes.

Gantt chart in ProjectManager — ProjectManager’s Gantt chart is free to use and more powerful than PowerPoint. Try it now

What Is a PowerPoint Gantt Chart Template?

A PowerPoint Gantt chart template is a pre-designed slide or set of slides that visually represent a project timeline. Gantt charts are popular project management tools that illustrate a project’s schedule, showing the start and end dates of various tasks, their duration and the relationships between them.

Using a PowerPoint Gantt chart template makes it easier to create a professional-looking Gantt chart without using project management software. Templates can be customized to fit specific project timelines and are typically used for presentations to communicate the project plan to stakeholders, team members or clients.

PowerPoint Gantt chart templates are popular as they avoid the need for project management software, which can make it an option for small teams managing small projects on a tight budget. This free template is suitable for simple presentations, though they’re not as feature-rich as Gantt chart software.

Why You Need a PowerPoint Gantt Chart Template

The biggest reason to download this free PowerPoint Gantt chart template is that it’s a free alternative to Gantt charts in project management software. Templates aren’t as powerful as software, but they offer some benefits in that they’re relatively easy to use, reusable and can provide some of the features needed to map a project schedule.

Gantt charts are essential project management tools, especially when managing a more traditional project in a waterfall methodology. They visualize the project’s timeline, tasks and interdependencies to give users a quick understanding of the overall project scope and how everything fits together. It can also help prevent scope creep by defining each task and its duration.

Using a Gantt chart helps with task management by breaking the larger project into manageable chunks, each assigned with a start and end date. This helps to track progress and ensure that everything is moving forward according to schedule. It also helps to identify dependencies, which are tasks that can’t start or finish until another task has started or finished. Of course, the PowerPoint Gantt chart template can’t link dependent tasks, but that can be done in ProjectManager.

Other things that a Gantt chart in project management software can do beyond the reach of a PowerPoint Gantt chart template include scheduling resources and making sure they’re allocated appropriately and efficiently. Templates can’t track real-time progress, but project management software can help project managers quickly see if the project is on track or if adjustments are needed.

Who Uses a PowerPoint Gantt Chart Template?

A Gantt chart is an important tool for managing a project. A variety of professionals across industries use it to plan, manage and track projects. Here are some of the people who use a PowerPoint Gantt chart template.

Project managers
Product managers
Event planners
Marketing teams
Construction managers and builders
Software developers and development teams
Human resource managers and recruitment teams
Supply chain and logistics managers
Financial managers and accountants
Entrepreneurs and small business owners
Researchers and academic professionals
Nonprofit organizations

When to Use a PowerPoint Gantt Chart Template

The foremost reason to use a PowerPoint Gantt chart is to avoid investment in project management software. While that might not be the best reason in the long run, it could benefit those who have small teams and projects with limited resources. However, a Gantt chart can be used for many things, some of which are listed below.

To quickly plan a project
Manage a small or medium-sized project
Create a visual project timeline
Presenting a project plan to stakeholders
Track milestones and deadlines
Collaborating with a team
Improve accountability and transparency

How to Use Our PowerPoint Gantt Chart Template

Once you download the PowerPoint Gantt chart template, follow these steps:

Right-click anywhere on the Gantt chart template.
Click the “Edit data” button. Once you do so the data table will appear.
Edit the task names and their due dates, but don’t make any changes to the duration column (column D).
Add or remove project tasks to your Gantt chart template as needed by using the data table.
Add or remove due dates to your Gantt chart template as needed by using the data table.
Once you’re ready, copy the PowerPoint Gantt chart and paste it into your presentation or to any file you want.

More Free Project Management Templates

The PowerPoint Gantt chart template is only one of over 100 free project management templates in a variety of formats that can be downloaded from our site. Some templates cover every aspect of managing a project across multiple industries. Here are a few that can help when making a Gantt chart and planning a project.

WBS Template

A work breakdown structure is a tree diagram that starts with the final deliverable and identifies all the deliverables that lead to it. Use this free WBS template for Excel to help identify tasks, which is essential for making a thorough Gantt chart.

Project Plan Template

The Gantt chart is only part of the larger project plan. This free project plan template for Word allows managers to scope the work and break it down into manageable components. Then, schedule and assign the tasks needed to deliver the project.

Project Budget Template

A Gantt chart also captures the resources and associated costs, which goes a long way to estimating how much funding the project will require to be completed. This free project budget template for Excel helps identify all those costs to better forecast the cost of the project.

Use ProjectManager to Deliver Successful Projects

As noted above, templates aren’t the ideal way to manage a project. This is especially true of a Gantt chart, which loses much of its appeal when formatted in PowerPoint, Excel, Word or whatever. This tool is meant to live digitally where its functionality is improved exponentially and seamlessly integrates with other project management tools. We’ve already shown the superiority of ProjectManager’s Gantt charts, which link all four types of task dependencies, do critical path analysis and track progress, cost and resources in real time. We’ve also mentioned how our Gantt charts connect with other tools to deliver projects more efficiently and effectively. Let’s explain why.

Manage Resources to Boost Productivity

Resources can be planned on our Gantt chart, not on a PowerPoint Gantt chart template. But that’s only the start. When onboarding team members, managers can set their availability, including PTO, vacation and global holidays, as well as identify their skill sets, which helps with assigning tasks. Then, managers can visit the team page or the color-coded workload chart to view resource utilization and quickly see who is overallocated or underutilized. From that same page, managers can balance the workload to keep teams working at capacity without threatening burnout.

Monitor Progress, Costs and More in Real Time

While Gantt charts can monitor progress by tracking milestones or seeing what percentage of the task bar is shaded, there are other, more detailed means in our software. For a high-level overview toggle over to the real-time project or portfolio dashboard. It’s collecting live data and displaying it in easy-to-read graphs and charts that show time, cost, workload and more. To get deeper into the details, use customizable status and portfolio reports or reports on variance, timesheets, workload and more. They can get into the weeds or be filtered for a more general view of progress to keep stakeholders informed. Secure timesheets can also be used to track labor costs to keep on budget.