Project Manager type, can I ask you about Gantt charts please

[Melondramatic]

Riveting, I know.

I think it is a Gantt chart I am after. I want to plot everyone in the team against time. Assigning blocks of time to different projects. To assess what work is realistic

What tool can I use to do this, without using specialist software? I think someone once told me that you can do it in power point?? But I want one that goes on and on...not just for a few weeks/months

TIA for even reading my boring question

Excel though unless you are good with Excel I'm not sure you're going to get what you need out of it.

You can do a shit job of it in Excel, but a real project management tool will allow you to move stuff around when things change, and not need you to completely redo the whole bloody plan manually.

Microsoft Project is truly horrible to use though. I'm lucky enough to be Mac based at work (as well as home) so for those rare occasions I use OmniPlan which is far far better. But still pretty bad.

I hear that www.openproject.org/ isn't awful, which in the world of project management software is equivalent a rave positive review.

Excel will give you the basics (dates, tasks, subtasks) and once you set it up you can use it again. BUT - its a beast to move stuff around and you can't show interdependencies.

Project is better for this and helps plots resource availability, % done etc, however the biggest issues I find is a) its pricey so most ppl don't have a license so you end up having to format and send in pdf or similar so they can read it, and it never resizes properly b) its difficult to over write its rules - it bases tasks and deliverables off a perfect world scenario (which it isn't) and sometimes it can be difficult to rejig start dates against stuff that hasn't finished yet

I used to use Excel for in-depth task list tracking with the project team, and Project for an overall view and when I had to show to stakeholders

Avoid powerpoint AT ALL COSTS unless its a 6 line plan. It'll drive you over the edge

Excel is probably best for your purpose, dates along the top, names or projects down the left, colour in the relevant blocks. Just be prepared that it will need a lot of fiddling around if the project dates or staff members change frequently.

Or you could go old school and stick post its on a wall chart.

You could also try smart sheet - online collaboration tool which does similar and is detailed enough without being a pain in the arse like MS project. Also allows you to directly email team members with reminders etc from the plan - however not sure what the deal is with licensing these days

We use (and pay) for wrike at work

DH manages fairly massive projects and says...

Try Smartsheet.

If not, use MS Project but be ready to spend some time swearing and learning how to use it.

Definitely not Excel.

And yes to Gantt charts.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I won't be using excel. I have established already that would be awful!

Smartsheet appears to be the popular suggestion. I will have a look at that today. And open project