2024-2

Project Management Context

Planning a project prior to completing the build out of tasks in the Gantt will pay dividends throughout the full duration of the project. Planning is a team sport, and gaining input and understanding from the larger project team will be invaluable and avoid the pitfalls present when a project manager tries to complete this crucial process piece on their own.

The final set of Gantt tasks should be a combination of high-level stages or summary tasks that are broken down into smaller child work items with their own start and finish dates, with team members assigned to the work. As the project execution progresses, you'll be able to track any gaps between the originally planned task dates and their actual dates and make adjustments along the way as necessary.

Create a New Gantt Task

1. Click the Gantt tab within a project.
2. You can add a new task in a few different ways:
   1. In the Gantt menu click + Add.
      Or,
   2. Right-click near an existing task and click + Add and choose from the available options.
      Or,
   3. Use the Quick Add feature at the bottom of the Gantt Grid (not available if the Gantt is sorted or filtered). Type in individual Gantt tasks or paste multiple tasks copied from a column of text created elsewhere (you will be given the option to create the entry as separate tasks or as a single task). Newly added tasks will appear on the bottom of the Gantt and will copy the start date of the prior last task.
      

      If you pasted in content and then canceled the option to create the entry as separate tasks, the entry will remain in the Quick Add field. If you then hit Enter, the entry will be added as a single task.

3. Fill in the task details as explained in Gantt Sections below. 

Edit a Gantt Task

To edit an existing task either single-click next to the task name and then click Edit in the menu bar, or double-click in the row of the task in the Gantt section of the window. If the Gantt is not displaying updates you made to underlying data, click the Refresh button in the Gantt ribbon.

You can also make inline grid edits for certain fields by dragging the Gantt divider line to the right to expose additional grid columns, and then double-clicking an existing value. 

Additionally, with a right-click on an existing task you can access task-related options.

Multiple tasks in the Gantt can be selected for deletion by holding down the Ctrl key and selecting the relevant tasks. Multi-delete of tasks will not be allowed if the tasks are sorted, filtered, or searched.

To clearly see which tasks are completed and which are not, strikethrough is applied for tasks on the grid and on the Gantt when % Complete is 100; the strikethrough is removed when % Complete is less than 100.

Gantt Sections

General

• Task Name: The given name of the task.
• Duration: The number of days between the Current Start and Current Finish dates. When dates are updated in the Task record, the Duration will be automatically calculated upon saving the task. When Duration is updated in the Task record, the Finish Date will be automatically calculated upon saving the task. The Duration value cannot be less than 0.13 of a Day as the Gantt does not support durations of less than 1 hour.
 The duration of individual tasks often correlates to a project's overall duration, with long projects having longer tasks than those found in relatively short projects. For example, if you have a project that lasts more than a year, the task durations would typically not be less than a day, making it more practical to track them.
• Current Start and Current Finish: The Start and Finish dates entered at the time of task edit, or that were automatically set through a dependency. Task dates can be changed by dragging the left, center, or right part of the date bar and dragging. Task dates cannot fall on a weekend.
  
• Target Start and Target Finish: The target dates entered manually, or automatically entered when the project was last baselined. See section Baseline the Schedule below.
• Percent Complete: Add an estimated Percent Complete - this will be part of the algorithm used to automatically calculate the task's parent (summary task) overall percent complete. The Percent Complete value can also be set in the left-side grid portion of the Gantt, as well as in the Gantt Chart section by dragging the Percent Complete bar (it cannot be set from within work reports).
• ID: The ID field is a system generated value (not editable) that makes it easier to identify tasks. This field is especially useful to view when creating dependencies between tasks. As a task is moved up or down the ID value will automatically update accordingly.

Dependency

Add a task dependency (aka Predecessor) from the dropdown Name list, and set the dependency Type and any necessary Offset days.

Dependency Types:

• Finish-Start: The predecessor task must be completed before the successor task can start.
• Start-Start: The successor task cannot begin until the predecessor task begins. 
• Finish-Finish: The successor task cannot be completed until the predecessor task is completed.
• Start-Finish: The successor task cannot be completed until the predecessor task begins.

Resources

Name

Choose one or more resources to be assigned to the task.

Unit

• Gantt Task Unit percentage values can be set by Team Members and Project Managers to something other than 100% so that project managers can more realistically track resource utilization. This is the percentage of 8 hours a day the resource will be working on the task.
  
• The task Duration value is affected by the resource Unit value, e.g., a Duration of 5 days will automatically be changed to 10 days if the assigned resource's Unit value is changed from 100 to 50.
• When viewing the Resource Utilization Power BI reports, the Task Unit % for a resource that was entered in the Gantt or Assignment will be applied to the reports, which account for the variation of % utilization. For example, a Monday to Friday task (equal to 40 hours of work), with a Task Unit % of 50 for a resource, will show up as 4 hours per day for 5 days duration for the resource.

Task Details

• Task Type: Choose the relevant Task Type from the drop-down:
  • Task: The lowest level piece of work that needs to be completed.
  • Stage: Configures the task as a Stage which will automatically get added to the Stages tab of the project. Use the Stage designation when creating a parent task for indented child tasks. It is recommended to match the Gantt stage names with the stages of the project's Business Process Flow.
    Documents can be added directly to a stage by clicking into the Stages tab, clicking on the stage name, clicking on the Related tab, and then clicking Documents.
    
  • Deliverable: If a task is set to the Deliverable task type, documents can be attached to the task by clicking into its parent stage in the Stages tab, clicking on the task name in the Deliverables section on the displayed Project Stage form, and then choosing to create a new document or upload an existing document. Deliverable documents are stored within a library in your organization's BrightWork 365 SharePoint site.

• ID: The ID field is a system generated value (not editable) that makes it easier to identify tasks. This field is especially useful to view when creating dependencies between tasks. As a task is moved up or down the ID value will automatically update accordingly.
• Description: Add notes to the task.

Indent a Task (Child Task) or Outdent a Task (Parent Task)

To indent or outdent a task, choose the related tool at the top of the Gantt, or right-click on the task. Indenting a task will automatically set the task above it as a parent task.

Move Tasks

To move a task, mouse click to grab the handle on the left side of the task and then drag and drop the task to a new location. 

Change the Date Focus in the Gantt Chart

Prev Time and Next Time will display the previous or next day, week, month, or year, depending on the Zoom level chosen for the Gantt.

The following zoom options are available in the Gantt toolbar:

• Zoom In - To perform zoom in action on Gantt timeline.
• Zoom Out - To perform zoom out action on Gantt timeline.
• Zoom To Fit - To show all tasks with timeline fit into the available chart width.

Reset Target Dates in all Project Tasks (Baseline the Schedule)

Project Management Context

More often than not, a project's best laid plans do not hold true to plan throughout its execution, regardless of how professional and talented the team may be, or well thought out the plan originally was. Scope change requests come in, costs unexpectedly rise, and humans have human circumstances arise. When any of these mostly unforeseen items occur, there could be an impact to the project's schedule creating an obvious discrepancy between planned and actual schedule finish dates. At some point the impact will be too great to be left unaddressed, and the schedule will need to be updated, usually to the effect of pushing task completion dates further out. After a transparent and full disclosure of all things relevant to this schedule change is made to stakeholders, and with their agreement, the project manager can proceed to reset the target dates of tasks thus eliminating the discrepancy between the planned and actual schedule finish dates.

To baseline the task schedule, click into Project Settings and choose Reset Target Dates in all Project Tasks.

You can verify the successful completion of the baseline reset by checking that the task date bar and the colored baseline bar below it are in alignment with one another.

Display the Critical Path of a Project

The critical path of a project is the series of linked tasks that have a direct impact on a project's finish date. When the final task in this chain is complete, the entire project is complete. When any task on the critical path is late, the entire project will complete past the planned finish date. 

To display the critical path for the tasks entered into the Gantt:

1. Click the project's Gantt tab.
2. Click Critical Path in the toolbar. 
   
3. The critical path for the project will be highlighted in red.

Gantt Grid

The Gantt Grid is on the left side of the Gantt tab screen. The Gantt Grid surfaces important task information without clicking into individual tasks and allows for inline editing of task information.

• ID: The ID column makes it easier to identify individual tasks, especially when creating dependencies.
• Mark Complete Action: This functionality provides single click interaction to mark a task as Complete, or to click the icon again to mark the task as Not Started. If there are multiple assignees, a confirmation dialogue will display prior to marking the task complete.

• Assigned To Column: Easily view and search for task assignees and for tasks that still require an assignment.
• Sort Gantt Tasks:You can sort Gantt tasks in ascending or descending order.
  1. Expand the Grid window if necessary, by dragging the Gantt divider line to the right.
  2. Click on the Task Name column heading to cycle through sorting ascending, sorting descending, and no sorting.
     
• Filter Gantt Tasks:The columns on the grid side of the Gantt can be filtered to limit the tasks displayed.

  

• Search Gantt Tasks: You can run a search query against the following Gantt Grid columns:
  • Task Name
  • Assignee
  • Dates (Current Start, Current Finish, Target Start, Target Finish)

Gantt Chart Keyboard Navigation

The below table lists Gantt keyboard navigation shortcuts. For best results, click on the timeline side of the screen (right-side) prior to using the navigation shortcuts. Certain keys will not work in older versions of BrightWork 365.

Virtual Scroll

When enabled, this mode will enable faster Gantt task editing for projects with very large Gantt task lists. This option needs to first be enabled in Admin Area > Global Settings > Gantt. Once enabled for the solution, the project's actual project manager can toggle it on and off at the project level by clicking Schedule Settings > Project Settings > Enable Virtual Scroll.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Expand All tasks at all times. Do not expand or collapse tasks unless necessary.
• Do not use Zoom in or out, only use Zoom to fit.
• When zooming in you may not see the Timeline Gantt and may not be able to scroll horizontally to find tasks.
• To get the most screen space, close 'Copilot' side bar if open and minimize 'Site Map' with the hamburger menu on the top left.
• Do not open dev tools (F12) unless it is undocked.
• Avoid using F11 for full screen. 
• It is okay to use the browser zoom if you prefer smaller font to maximize the number of visible tasks; 67% zoom is a good option.
• Reposition the window splitter between the Grid and the Gantt to view more columns in the left side as Grid cells can be edited.

TROUBLESHOOTING

• Some keyboard functions may stop working after scrolling including ‘tab’, arrow up and arrow down. Refresh the Gantt.
• Critical Path action does not work as expected at this time.
• Converting a milestone to a task using context menu does not work at this time.
• Deleting the last task may create a console error. Refresh the Gantt and proceed with delete.
• Console error after sorting. Refresh the Gantt and navigate as normal.
• If item scrolling is not working:
  • Refresh or full Ctrl-F5 refresh if necessary - this will bring you back to the Charter page and will also refresh the Gantt.
  • Ensure zoom to fit is the zoom setting.
• Page may scroll up or down after adding a task. Refresh the Gantt and proceed to the added task manually.
• Delete may fail after editing a task. Refresh the Gantt and delete as normal.
• Selection issues after scrolling. Refresh the Gantt and navigate as normal.

2024-03

Project Management Context

Planning a project prior to completing the build out of tasks in the Gantt will pay dividends throughout the full duration of the project. Planning is a team sport, and gaining input and understanding from the larger project team will be invaluable and avoid the pitfalls present when a project manager tries to complete this crucial process piece on their own.

The final set of Gantt tasks should be a combination of high-level stages or summary tasks that are broken down into smaller child work items with their own start and finish dates, with team members assigned to the work. As the project execution progresses, you'll be able to track any gaps between the originally planned task dates and their actual dates and make adjustments along the way as necessary.

Create a New Gantt Task

1. Click the Gantt tab within a project.
2. You can add a new task in a few different ways:
   1. In the Gantt menu click + Add.
      Or,
   2. Right-click near an existing task and click + Add and choose from the available options.
      Or,
   3. Use the Quick Add feature at the bottom of the Gantt Grid (not available if the Gantt is sorted or filtered). Type in individual Gantt tasks or paste multiple tasks copied from a column of text created elsewhere (you will be given the option to create the entry as separate tasks or as a single task). Newly added tasks will appear on the bottom of the Gantt and will copy the start date of the prior last task.
      

      If you pasted in content and then canceled the option to create the entry as separate tasks, the entry will remain in the Quick Add field. If you then hit Enter, the entry will be added as a single task.

3. Fill in the task details as explained in Gantt Sections below. 

Edit a Gantt Task

To edit an existing task either single-click next to the task name and then click Edit in the menu bar, or double-click in the row of the task in the Gantt section of the window. If the Gantt is not displaying updates you made to underlying data, click the Refresh button in the Gantt ribbon.

You can also make inline grid edits for certain fields by dragging the Gantt divider line to the right to expose additional grid columns, and then double-clicking an existing value. 

Additionally, with a right-click on an existing task you can access task-related options.

Multiple tasks in the Gantt can be selected for deletion by holding down the Ctrl key and selecting the relevant tasks. Multi-delete of tasks will not be allowed if the tasks are sorted, filtered, or searched.

To clearly see which tasks are completed and which are not, strikethrough is applied for tasks on the grid and on the Gantt when % Complete is 100; the strikethrough is removed when % Complete is less than 100.

Gantt Sections

General

• Task Name: The given name of the task.
• Duration: The number of days between the Current Start and Current Finish dates. When dates are updated in the Task record, the Duration will be automatically calculated upon saving the task. When Duration is updated in the Task record, the Finish Date will be automatically calculated upon saving the task. The Duration value cannot be less than 0.13 of a Day as the Gantt does not support durations of less than 1 hour.
 The duration of individual tasks often correlates to a project's overall duration, with long projects having longer tasks than those found in relatively short projects. For example, if you have a project that lasts more than a year, the task durations would typically not be less than a day, making it more practical to track them.
• Current Start and Current Finish: The Start and Finish dates entered at the time of task edit, or that were automatically set through a dependency. Task dates can be changed by dragging the left, center, or right part of the date bar and dragging. Task dates cannot fall on a weekend.
  
• Target Start and Target Finish: The target dates entered manually, or automatically entered when the project was last baselined. See section Baseline the Schedule below.
• Percent Complete: Add an estimated Percent Complete - this will be part of the algorithm used to automatically calculate the task's parent (summary task) overall percent complete. The Percent Complete value can also be set in the left-side grid portion of the Gantt, as well as in the Gantt Chart section by dragging the Percent Complete bar (it cannot be set from within work reports).
• ID: The ID field is a system generated value (not editable) that makes it easier to identify tasks. This field is especially useful to view when creating dependencies between tasks. As a task is moved up or down the ID value will automatically update accordingly.

Dependency

Add a task dependency (aka Predecessor) from the dropdown Name list, and set the dependency Type and any necessary Offset days.

Dependency Types:

• Finish-Start: The predecessor task must be completed before the successor task can start.
• Start-Start: The successor task cannot begin until the predecessor task begins. 
• Finish-Finish: The successor task cannot be completed until the predecessor task is completed.
• Start-Finish: The successor task cannot be completed until the predecessor task begins.

Resources

Name

Choose one or more resources to be assigned to the task.

Unit

• Gantt Task Unit percentage values can be set by Team Members and Project Managers to something other than 100% so that project managers can more realistically track resource utilization. This is the percentage of 8 hours a day the resource will be working on the task.
  
• The task Duration value is affected by the resource Unit value, e.g., a Duration of 5 days will automatically be changed to 10 days if the assigned resource's Unit value is changed from 100 to 50.
• When viewing the Resource Utilization Power BI reports, the Task Unit % for a resource that was entered in the Gantt or Assignment will be applied to the reports, which account for the variation of % utilization. For example, a Monday to Friday task (equal to 40 hours of work), with a Task Unit % of 50 for a resource, will show up as 4 hours per day for 5 days duration for the resource.

Task Details

• Task Type: Choose the relevant Task Type from the drop-down:
  • Task: The lowest level piece of work that needs to be completed.
  • Stage: Configures the task as a Stage which will automatically get added to the Stages tab of the project. Use the Stage designation when creating a parent task for indented child tasks. It is recommended to match the Gantt stage names with the stages of the project's Business Process Flow.
    Documents can be added directly to a stage by clicking into the Stages tab, clicking on the stage name, clicking on the Related tab, and then clicking Documents.
    
  • Deliverable: If a task is set to the Deliverable task type, documents can be attached to the task by clicking into its parent stage in the Stages tab, clicking on the task name in the Deliverables section on the displayed Project Stage form, and then choosing to create a new document or upload an existing document. Deliverable documents are stored within a library in your organization's BrightWork 365 SharePoint site.

• ID: The ID field is a system generated value (not editable) that makes it easier to identify tasks. This field is especially useful to view when creating dependencies between tasks. As a task is moved up or down the ID value will automatically update accordingly.
• Description: Add notes to the task.

Indent a Task (Child Task) or Outdent a Task (Parent Task)

To indent or outdent a task, choose the related tool at the top of the Gantt, or right-click on the task. Indenting a task will automatically set the task above it as a parent task.

Move Tasks

To move a task, mouse click to grab the handle on the left side of the task and then drag and drop the task to a new location. 

Change the Date Focus in the Gantt Chart

Prev Time and Next Time will display the previous or next day, week, month, or year, depending on the Zoom level chosen for the Gantt.

The following zoom options are available in the Gantt toolbar:

• Zoom In - To perform zoom in action on Gantt timeline.
• Zoom Out - To perform zoom out action on Gantt timeline.
• Zoom To Fit - To show all tasks with timeline fit into the available chart width.

Reset Target Dates in all Project Tasks (Baseline the Schedule)

Project Management Context

More often than not, a project's best laid plans do not hold true to plan throughout its execution, regardless of how professional and talented the team may be, or well thought out the plan originally was. Scope change requests come in, costs unexpectedly rise, and humans have human circumstances arise. When any of these mostly unforeseen items occur, there could be an impact to the project's schedule creating an obvious discrepancy between planned and actual schedule finish dates. At some point the impact will be too great to be left unaddressed, and the schedule will need to be updated, usually to the effect of pushing task completion dates further out. After a transparent and full disclosure of all things relevant to this schedule change is made to stakeholders, and with their agreement, the project manager can proceed to reset the target dates of tasks thus eliminating the discrepancy between the planned and actual schedule finish dates.

To baseline the task schedule, click into Project Settings and choose Reset Target Dates in all Project Tasks.

You can verify the successful completion of the baseline reset by checking that the task date bar and the colored baseline bar below it are in alignment with one another.

Display the Critical Path of a Project

The critical path of a project is the series of linked tasks that have a direct impact on a project's finish date. When the final task in this chain is complete, the entire project is complete. When any task on the critical path is late, the entire project will complete past the planned finish date. 

To display the critical path for the tasks entered into the Gantt:

1. Click the project's Gantt tab.
2. Click Critical Path in the toolbar. 
   
3. The critical path for the project will be highlighted in red.

Gantt Grid

The Gantt Grid is on the left side of the Gantt tab screen. The Gantt Grid surfaces important task information without clicking into individual tasks and allows for inline editing of task information.

• ID: The ID column makes it easier to identify individual tasks, especially when creating dependencies.
• Mark Complete Action: This functionality provides single click interaction to mark a task as Complete, or to click the icon again to mark the task as Not Started. If there are multiple assignees, a confirmation dialogue will display prior to marking the task complete.

• Assigned To Column: Easily view and search for task assignees and for tasks that still require an assignment.
• Sort Gantt Tasks:You can sort Gantt tasks in ascending or descending order.
  1. Expand the Grid window if necessary, by dragging the Gantt divider line to the right.
  2. Click on the Task Name column heading to cycle through sorting ascending, sorting descending, and no sorting.
     
• Filter Gantt Tasks:The columns on the grid side of the Gantt can be filtered to limit the tasks displayed.

  

• Search Gantt Tasks: You can run a search query against the following Gantt Grid columns:
  • Task Name
  • Assignee
  • Dates (Current Start, Current Finish, Target Start, Target Finish)

Gantt Chart Keyboard Navigation

The below table lists Gantt keyboard navigation shortcuts. For best results, click on the timeline side of the screen (right-side) prior to using the navigation shortcuts. Certain keys will not work in older versions of BrightWork 365.

2023-09

Project Management Context

Planning a project prior to completing the build out of tasks in the Gantt will pay dividends throughout the full duration of the project. Planning is a team sport, and gaining input and understanding from the larger project team will be invaluable and avoid the pitfalls present when a project manager tries to complete this crucial process piece on their own. The final set of Gantt tasks should be a combination of high-level stages or summary tasks that are broken down into smaller child work items with their own start and finish dates.

Create a New Gantt Task

1. Click into the Gantt tab within a project.
2. You can add a new task in a couple of ways:
   1. In the Gantt menu click + Add.
      Or,
   2. Right-click near an existing task and click + Add and choose from the available options.
      
3. Fill in the task details as explained in Gantt Sections below. 

Edit a Gantt Task

To edit an existing task either single-click next to the task name and then click Edit in the menu bar, or double-click in the row of the task in the Gantt section of the window. If the Gantt is not displaying updates you made to underlying data, click the Refresh button in the Gantt ribbon.

You can also make inline grid edits by dragging the Gantt divider line to the right to expose additional grid columns, and then double-clicking an existing value. 

Additionally, with a right-click on an existing task you can access task-related options.

Multiple tasks in the Gantt can be selected for deletion by holding down the Ctrl key and selecting the relevant tasks. Multi-delete of tasks will not be allowed if the tasks are sorted, filtered, or searched.

To clearly see which tasks are completed and which are not, strikethrough is applied for tasks on the grid and on the Gantt when % Complete is 100; the strikethrough is removed when % Complete is less than 100.

Gantt Sections

General

• Task Name: The given name of the task.
• Duration: The number of days between the Current Start and Current Finish dates. When dates are updated in the Task record, the Duration will be automatically calculated upon saving the task. When Duration is updated in the Task record, the Finish Date will be automatically calculated upon saving the task. The Duration value cannot be less than 0.13 of a Day as the Gantt does not support durations of less than 1 hour.
• Current Start and Current Finish: The Start and Finish dates entered at the time of task edit, or that were automatically set through a dependency. Task dates can be changed by dragging the left, center, or right part of the date bar and dragging. Task dates cannot fall on a weekend.
  
• Target Start and Target Finish: The target dates entered manually, or automatically entered when the project was last baselined. See section Baseline the Schedule below.
• Percent Complete: Add an estimated Percent Complete - this will be part of the algorithm used to automatically calculate the task's parent (summary task) overall percent complete. The Percent Complete value can also be set in the left-side grid portion of the Gantt, as well as in the Gantt Chart section by dragging the Percent Complete bar (it cannot be set from within work reports).
• ID: System generated value, not editable.

Dependency

Add a task dependency (aka Predecessor) from the dropdown Name list, and set the dependency Type and any necessary Offset days.

Dependency Types:

• Finish-Start: The predecessor task must be completed before the successor task can start.
• Start-Start: The successor task cannot begin until the predecessor task begins. 
• Finish-Finish: The successor task cannot be completed until the predecessor task is completed.
• Start-Finish: The successor task cannot be completed until the predecessor task begins.

Resources

Name

Choose one or more resources to be assigned to the task. 

The Resources list of users is limited to users given the BrightWork Team Member security role.

Unit

• Gantt Task Unit percentage values can be set by Team Members and Project Managers to something other than 100% so that project managers can more realistically track resource utilization. This is the percentage of 8 hours a day the resource will be working on the task. The Unit value can be changed either in an Assignments view, or within the Gantt Task Information dialog.
  
• The task Duration value is affected by the resource Unit value, e.g., a Duration of 5 days will automatically be changed to 10 days if the assigned resource's Unit value is changed from 100 to 50.
• When viewing the Resource Utilization Power BI reports, the Task Unit % for a resource that was entered in the Gantt or Assignment will be applied to the reports, which account for the variation of % utilization. For example, a Monday to Friday task (equal to 40 hours of work), with a Task Unit % of 50 for a resource, will show up as 4 hours per day for 5 days duration for the resource.

Task Details

• Task Type:Choose the relevant Task Type from the drop-down:
  • Task: The lowest level piece of work that needs to be completed.
  • Stage: Configures the task as a Stage which will automatically get added to the Stages tab of the project. Use the Stage designation when creating a parent task for indented child tasks. It is recommended to match the Gantt stage names with the stages of the project's Business Process Flow.
    Documents can be added directly to a stage by clicking into the Stages tab, clicking on the stage name, clicking on the Related tab, and then clicking Documents.
    
  • Deliverable: If a task is set to the Deliverable task type, documents can be attached to the task by clicking into its parent stage in the Stages tab, clicking on the task name in the Deliverables section on the displayed Project Stage form, and then choosing to create a new document or upload an existing document. Deliverable documents are stored within a library in your organization's BrightWork 365 SharePoint site.

• ID: System generated value, not editable.
• Description: Add notes to the task.

Indent a Task (Child Task) or Outdent a Task (Parent Task)

To indent or outdent a task, choose the related tool at the top of the Gantt, or right-click on the task. Indenting a task will automatically set the task above it as a parent task.

Move Tasks

To move a task, mouse click to grab the handle on the left side of the task and drag and drop it to the new location. 

Change the Date Focus in the Gantt Chart

Prev Time and Next Time will display the previous or next day, week, month, or year, depending on the Zoom level chosen for the Gantt.

The following zoom options are available in the Gantt toolbar:

• Zoom In - To perform zoom in action on Gantt timeline.
• Zoom Out - To perform zoom out action on Gantt timeline.
• Zoom To Fit - To show all tasks with timeline fit into the available chart width.

Reset Target Dates in all Project Tasks (Baseline the Schedule)

To baseline the task schedule, click into Project Settings and choose Reset Target Dates in all Project Tasks.

You can verify the successful completion of the baseline reset by checking that the task date bar and the colored baseline bar below it are in alignment with one another.

Display the Critical Path of a Project

The critical path of a project is the series of linked tasks that have a direct impact on a project's finish date. When the final task in this chain is complete, the entire project is complete. When any task on the critical path is late, the entire project will complete past the planned finish date. 

To display the critical path for the tasks entered into the Gantt:

1. Click the project's Gantt tab.
2. Click Critical Path in the toolbar. 
   
3. The critical path for the project will be highlighted in red.

Gantt Grid

The Gantt Grid is on the left side of the Gantt tab screen. The Gantt grid surfaces important task information without clicking into individual tasks and allows for inline editing of task information.

• Assigned To Column: Easily view and search for task assignees and for tasks that still require an assignment.
• Sort Gantt Tasks:You can sort Gantt tasks in ascending or descending order.
  1. Expand the Grid window if necessary, by dragging the Gantt divider line to the right.
  2. Click on the Task Name column heading to cycle through sorting ascending, sorting descending, and no sorting.
     
• Filter Gantt Tasks:The columns on the grid side of the Gantt can be filtered to limit the tasks displayed.

  

• Search Gantt Tasks: You can run a search query against the following Gantt Grid columns:
  • Task Name
  • Assignee
  • Dates (Current Start, Current Finish, Target Start, Target Finish)

Gantt Chart Keyboard Navigation

The below table lists Gantt keyboard navigation shortcuts. For best results, click on the timeline side of the screen (right-side) prior to using the navigation shortcuts. Certain keys will not work in older versions of BrightWork 365.

2023-06

Project Management Context

Planning a project prior to completing the build out of tasks in the Gantt will pay dividends throughout the full duration of the project. Planning is a team sport, and gaining input and understanding from the larger project team will be invaluable and avoid the pitfalls present when a project manager tries to complete this crucial process piece on their own. The final set of Gantt tasks should be a combination of high-level stages or summary tasks that are broken down into smaller child work items with their own start and finish dates.

Create a New Gantt Task

1. Click into the Gantt tab within a project.
2. You can add a new task in a couple of ways:
   1. In the Gantt menu click + Add.
      Or,
   2. Right-click near an existing task and click + Add and choose from the available options.
      
3. Fill in the task details as explained in Gantt Sections below. 

Edit a Gantt Task

To edit an existing task either single-click next to the task name and then click Edit in the menu bar, or double-click in the row of the task in the Gantt section of the window. If the Gantt is not displaying updates you made to underlying data, click the Refresh button in the Gantt ribbon.

You can also make inline grid edits by dragging the Gantt divider line to the right to expose additional grid columns, and then double-clicking an existing value. 

Additionally, with a right-click on an existing task you can access task-related options.

Gantt Sections

General

• Task Name: The given name of the task.
• Duration: The number of days between the Current Start and Current Finish dates. When dates are updated in the Task record, the Duration will be automatically calculated upon saving the task. When Duration is updated in the Task record, the Finish Date will be automatically calculated upon saving the task. The Duration value cannot be less than 0.13 of a Day as the Gantt does not support durations of less than 1 hour.
• Current Start and Current Finish: The Start and Finish dates entered at the time of task edit, or that were automatically set through a dependency. Task dates can be changed by dragging the left, center, or right part of the date bar and dragging. Task dates cannot fall on a weekend.
  
• Target Start and Target Finish: The target dates entered manually, or automatically entered when the project was last baselined. See section Baseline the Schedule below.
• Percent Complete: Add an estimated Percent Complete - this will be part of the algorithm used to automatically calculate the task's parent (summary task) overall percent complete. The Percent Complete value can also be set in the left-side grid portion of the Gantt, as well as in the Gantt Chart section by dragging the Percent Complete bar (it cannot be set from within work reports).
• ID: System generated value, not editable.

Dependency

Add a task dependency (aka Predecessor) from the dropdown Name list, and set the dependency Type and any necessary Offset days.

Dependency Types:

• Finish-Start: The predecessor task must be completed before the successor task can start.
• Start-Start: The successor task cannot begin until the predecessor task begins. 
• Finish-Finish: The successor task cannot be completed until the predecessor task is completed.
• Start-Finish: The successor task cannot be completed until the predecessor task begins.

Resources

Name

Choose one or more resources to be assigned to the task. 

The Resources list of users is limited to users given the BrightWork Team Member security role.

Task Details

• Task Type:Choose the relevant Task Type from the drop-down:
  • Task: The lowest level piece of work that needs to be completed.
  • Stage: Configures the task as a Stage which will automatically get added to the Stages tab of the project. Use the Stage designation when creating a parent task for indented child tasks. It is recommended to match the Gantt stage names with the stages of the project's Business Process Flow.
    Documents can be added directly to a stage by clicking into the Stages tab, clicking on the stage name, clicking on the Related tab, and then clicking Documents.
    
  • Deliverable: If a task is set to the Deliverable task type, documents can be attached to the task by clicking into its parent stage in the Stages tab, clicking on the task name in the Deliverables section on the displayed Project Stage form, and then choosing to create a new document or upload an existing document. Deliverable documents are stored within a library in your organization's BrightWork 365 SharePoint site.

• ID: System generated value, not editable.
• Description: Add notes to the task.

Indent a Task (Child Task) or Outdent a Task (Parent Task)

To indent or outdent a task, choose the related tool at the top of the Gantt, or right-click on the task. Indenting a task will automatically set the task above it as a parent task.

Move Tasks

To move a task simply click to grab the handle on the left side of the task and move the task up or down. 

Change the Date Focus in the Gantt Chart

Prev Time and Next Time will display the previous or next day, week, month, or year, depending on the Zoom level chosen for the Gantt.

The following zoom options are available in the Gantt toolbar:

• Zoom In - To perform zoom in action on Gantt timeline.
• Zoom Out - To perform zoom out action on Gantt timeline.
• Zoom To Fit - To show all tasks with timeline fit into the available chart width.

Reset Target Dates in all Project Tasks (Baseline the Schedule)

To baseline the task schedule, click into Project Settings and choose Reset Target Dates in all Project Tasks.

You can verify the successful completion of the baseline reset by checking that the task date bar and the colored baseline bar below it are in alignment with one another.

Gantt Grid

The Gantt Grid is on the left side of the Gantt tab screen. The Gantt grid surfaces important task information without clicking into individual tasks and allows for inline editing of task information.

• Assigned To Column: Easily view and search for task assignees and for tasks that still require an assignment.
• Sort Gantt Tasks:You can sort Gantt tasks in ascending or descending order.
  1. Expand the Grid window if necessary, by dragging the Gantt divider line to the right.
  2. Click on the Task Name column heading to cycle through sorting ascending, sorting descending, and no sorting.
     
• Filter Gantt Tasks:The columns on the grid side of the Gantt can be filtered to limit the tasks displayed.

  

• Search Gantt Tasks: You can run a search query against the following Gantt Grid columns:
  • Task Name
  • Assignee
  • Dates (Current Start, Current Finish, Target Start, Target Finish)

Gantt Chart Keyboard Navigation

The below table lists Gantt keyboard navigation shortcuts. For best results, click on the timeline side of the screen (right-side) prior to using the navigation shortcuts. Certain keys will not work in older versions of BrightWork 365.