Gantt Chart with Dependencies

Gantt charts offer a timeline view of your work to make tracking tasks in Smartsheet even easier.

They show the relationship between tasks and milestones in a project sheet.

You can create a Gantt chart in Smartsheet with a blank sheet, an existing sheet, or a pre-built template, as long as you have two date columns: a start date and an end date.

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Gantt charts with dependencies show the relationship between tasks in your project sheet and help you track and manage work.

They can also show the critical path of your project, so you can quickly spot tasks that’ll make or break your finish date.

Let's look at how you can create a Gantt chart with dependencies in Smartsheet.

First, add dependencies to the timeline for an upcoming product launch.

Click on the gear icon in the top right corner of your gantt chart to edit the Project Settings, and check the box to enable dependencies.

Smartsheet automatically creates duration and predecessor columns for you.

You can change task durations by dragging the Gantt bar or by changing the value in the duration column.

To set a milestone, make task duration 0.

To link tasks and create predecessors, simply drag and drop them in the order you'd like them completed.

You can also link tasks by entering the row number of the preceding task in the predecessor column.

The dependent task's start date is set to begin one work day after the predecessors finish date.

This is a finish-to-start dependency.

To edit predecessors, click on the small pencil icon.

In the predecessor settings you can change the amount of lag time between tasks, and also change dependency types.

For example, you can create a Start-to-Start dependency by modifying a dependent task to start at the same time as its predecessor.

Subtasks help you structure projects and summarize progress.

To create a subtask, click on the indent button on the toolbar.

Smartsheet automatically uses the start and end dates of your subtasks to calculate the start and end date of your parent row.

To see how your project is progressing, add a percent complete column to your project sheet, and add it to your timeline display using the project settings.

Smartsheet automatically calculates percent complete of the parent task.

To see the critical path of your project, or the tasks that are essential to completing the project on time, click the critical path button next to the zoom buttons on the toolbar.

By right clicking on any bar in your Gantt chart, you can choose to see the driving path, which outlines the tasks that affect a row’s start date.

You can also see the summary path, which outlines the tasks that affect the parent task.

As you add dependencies and highlight paths, relationships between tasks will become easier to see, making your work easier to manage.

And that's how to set up a Gantt chart with dependencies in Smartsheet.