Project Management -- resource chart

Question

I have looked and have yet to find a simple Resource-Gantt chart tool. Can anyone recommend a tool that would allow for finite resource scheduling?

In a typical Gantt chart tasks are on the left and resources are assigned to tasks, but I would prefer to put resources on the left and assign tasks to people.

Some low-tech software companies have done this by breaking down all tasks into roughly the same effort level (e.g. all tasks take approximately 1 week). You then list all your employees on a white-board and put stickies up on the board next to people.

When you are done you can see when a task is being worked on (where is the sticky) and who is working on it (which row is it). You can also see what won't be done in the next X weeks -- if you have Post-It that is not on the board in the first 4 columns it will not be done in the next 4 weeks.

I would like to find a program that will let me do exaclty this, but have yet to find anything.

I have tried MS Project, but don't particularly care for the tool. I also have done this type of thing in Excel, but this becomes a pain when you want to try several different scenarios.

Does anyone know of a program that has this capability?

Answer 1

What about Mr. Project?

Answer 2

I don't see a clear question in your question, so I am going to presume that you are lookng for tips on project management and tools and that's what I'm going to answer :-)

Microsoft Project does what you are looking for. I'm stopping short of recommending it because it tends to start off being helpful and very quickly sucks up half your life keeping it up to date. It is very useful to gather tasks and estimates and to set the dependencies. Beyond that don't be fooled into believing its predicted end dates at all.

Don't discount Excel, you can do some things that a project management tool will never let you, such as your own forecasts. It is also very flexible in terms of its layout. There are even free templates that will layout Excel as a GANTT if you really want one.

Given the evolving nature of most software projects that deserve something like a GANTT chart I would recommend you take a look at the project management methodologies that go under the banner of Agile, e.g. Scrum and Extreme. You may obviate the need for GANTT charts completely by thinking about your project in a slightly different way.

Best of luck. Keep checking your estimates...

Answer 3

In addition to Mark Nold's answer, you also have a couple of options on the Reports menu in MS Project that can get you a more concise representation of who is doing what than what you see with the Resource Usage view.

The disadvantage of the report method, however, is that it is view-only.

Outside of MSProject, you could look at Fogbugz's scheduling system. It does not tick the "Gantt" requirement, but you can see a per person breakdown of activities over time.

Just as an aside, I tend to use MSProject for capacity planning - a nice big broad brush of who could do what over a period, at a level of abstraction that makes it easy to rejig plans. For day to day tracking of the real work, we use Fogbugz. I think of it as MSProject/Gantty stuff for the strategic planning, and Fogbugz for the tactical management and planning.

Answer 4

Hortitude,

Sorry for the belated response. Best-of-breed scheduling tools offer exactly what you were looking for. For example, take a look at the scheduling tool, Schedlyzer at www.optisol.biz . It displays the list of scheduled tasks for each resource in chronological order, in both numerical and graphical forms.

PV