Agile methodologies are sets of practices that aim to deliver fast. There are high-quality products or services and that promote a project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation. It includes Kanban and Gantt Chart.

However, some managers manage to solve extremely complex problems through prioritization and division of tasks, but a situation like this, in a project, is extremely rare. That’s why they need tools such as Kanban and Gantt Charts.

However, Kanban and Gantt Charts have different ways of usage and sometimes you might need to choose between one of them.

In this article, we will discuss how you can opt for Kanban or Gantt Chart in a project and which one best fits your team.

What is the Gantt chart?

The Gantt chart is a visual tool used to control and manage the schedule of activities for a project.

With it, it is possible to list everything that needs to be done to put the project into practice, divide them into activities and estimate the time needed to execute them.

Like any chart, the Gantt chart is divided into two axes, the vertical and the horizontal. The vertical contains the activities that need to be done, and the horizontal shows the start and finish time for each activity.

Relating the two axes we can see how soon the project will be delivered and even which activities must be done first.

Advantages of Gantt Charts

Overview and Progress of a project

Gantt chart shows assignments with start and end dates. Also, it is very simple to stay on track with a chart and be sure that plans go in the right direction.

Priorities to manage with the team members

Prioritizing is one of the core features of a Gantt chart that allow managers to take a closer look at those tasks that matter the most.

Deadline management

As long as a deadline is set, it will stay on a timeline.

Dependencies among tasks

In project management, there are four kinds of dependencies: finish to start, start to start, finish to finish, start to finish.

Critical path

Tasks directly impact the duration of a project and its accomplishment and show the shortest chain of tasks to do it.

Baseline

It allows seeing how the current plan compares to the initial one.

Resource management

Team members know how many tasks they need to work on when they access resource management.

Are these advantages fair enough for you? So, take a closer look at how Gantt Charts can do for your team.

How to Build a Gantt Chart

1. list the activities

The first step in putting together a Gantt chart is to make a list of all the activities involved in the project. As we talked about earlier, generic activities should be broken down into smaller activities to make it easier to follow up on each one.

2. Identify the relationships between them (vertical axis)

Now that you have all the activities in hand, identify which ones don’t depend on any other to get them done — these should be grouped and, if possible, done at the same time, to minimize the final lead time.

Then, put the remaining activities in order, respecting the sequence of execution of each one. They should be placed on the vertical axis of your Gantt chart, one below the other. As we explained, certain activities require the fulfillment of others to be put into practice.

3. Determine the deadline and those responsible (horizontal axis)

With the activities and order defined, you can put a deadline for each one. Take into account the effort that each activity requires and how many resources (people) are available to perform it.

If the effort required for an activity is 16 hours (2 days) and you have 2 people who work 8 hours a day to do it, the deadline can be divided between them, and the execution time of the activity will drop from 16 hours for only 8 hours, that is, 1 working day instead of 2.

4. Choose a place to keep your Gantt chart

There are several solutions for building and hosting your Gantt chart. From analog options to project management software made especially for this. Get to know GitScrum Gantt Chart to build up your team’s activities

What is Kanban?

Kanban is a term in Japanese that means card or signboard and was known for being a visual management methodology, with information cards that record the actions of the industry.

The Kanban system can be applied through cardboard cards or with visual stocks, such as supermarket shelves. The important thing is to contain information such as code, part name, supplier, storage location, consumption, etc.

Advantages of Kanban

Simple application

It is not only easy to present your project as a board with cards but it also can be applied to the already implemented system. Thus, it gives more opportunities to estimate a project and realize how it is developing.

Easy going way to work

Kanban probably is one of the easiest ways to break down projects into tasks even without specialized software.

Environment for changes

Kanban is a good choice when tasks and priorities are subject to changes.

Awareness

You need to be conscious on the work in progress (just-in-time delivery) that allows team members to see what they are doing now.

These are very important advantages to using Kanban. You can check more about our Kanban Board!

How to Implement Kanban

To implement the Kanban system in a factory, the ideal is to follow some basic steps:

1. Map the processes

The first step in applying the system is to map the processes where you use it in your production.

In other words, you need to identify the process tasks and how best to position your Kanban columns.

Depending on the type of kanban your company will implement, these steps can vary greatly.

2. Prioritize and standardize steps

In this step, it is necessary to define what will be the color patterns, names, and priority of the items that will enter the Kanban.

Here will be defined how to identify items with more priority, who is responsible for each task etc.

3. Train employees

With the method defined, it is necessary to present the kanban and train the employees who will use the tool.

This step is important to eliminate doubts and objections that can hinder the implementation of the system.

Make sure they are all aligned and in agreement with using Kanban.

4. Continuous improvement

To close, observe the application of kanban in your processes and apply the concept of continuous improvement to keep the process always optimized.

The beginning of the application is precisely the period when there will probably be more opportunities for improvement. So pay attention to how you use the tool and correct any problems as soon as possible. Take your team to the next level using GitScrum Kanban Board!

So, what to choose?

Both Kanban and Gantt Charts are great tools for specific projects. They don’t underrate forms to work, but they have specific functions for your needs.

If you are looking for improvement, you might get Kanban entirely. Otherwise, if you seek to find immediate results, you should choose Gantt Charts.

Companies should use Kanban if they want a simple, visual overview of a workflow process in real-time and want to get the latest status of tasks.

You can use Gantt Charts when you want to see tasks projects on a timeline.  And get a defined overview of the project, with deadlines and priorities outlined.

Therefore, you don’t need to eliminate one of them and never use it again. It will depend on what way your business is up to and what are your goals.

GitScrum supports your team to a better organization!