Gantt charts are useful for visualizing a project’s timeline and activity flow. In this article, learn how to create an interactive project gantt chart with drill-down capability using Excel. Here is a demo of the gantt chart we will be creating.
Download the Drill-down Gantt Chart Template
Please click here to download the gantt chart template. Just change the input data and click on “Refresh” button from Data ribbon to update the gantt chart.
If you want more project management templates, please click here.
Step by Step Tutorial - Gantt Chart with Drill-down
Please watch below short tutorial to learn how to create an interactive multi-level project gantt chart in Excel. Alternatively, just read on to get the instructions.
If you want to create a similar gantt chart from your data, Please follow below steps.
Step 1: Get your data
You need at least these four columns of data.
Step 2: Make a pivot table from the data
Insert a pivot table from this data. Set it up as shown below. You need,
- Slicer on “module”
- Activity on row labels
- Start date min on values
- End date max on values
Step 3: Create a gantt chart empty outline
In a new worksheet, set up gantt chart outline like below.
You need,
- 4 columns to display activity, start date, end date and duration
- another 90 narrow columns to show the project plan. Feel free to adjust the number of columns based on your needs.
Step 4: Making the left side of gantt chart
The left side portion of our project plan is rather simple to make. We just need to refer to Pivot Table values to get first three columns (Activity, Start and Finish).
We can then calculate the duration using =NETWORKDAYS(start, finish)
After the duration is calculated, add conditional formatting > data bars to it, so that we can easily spot activities that take too long to complete.
Step 5: Gantt chart grid (right side portion)
Now that our gantt chart is ready on the left, let’s complete the grid.
Start by calculating the earliest project start date using min formula =MIN(plan[Start date])
Place this formula in the grid top left cell, as shown below.
Calculate remaining 89 dates by adding +1 working day. Use =WORKDAY(previous date, 1) formula for this.
This will give us a bunch of dates.
Use the next two rows to show month & day portion of this date by referring to the date calculation row. As the cells are too small, merge 2 or 3 of them and show the values.
Now that all the dates are ready, let’s figure out the logic for making gantt chart view.
As shown above, we need a rule to highlight any cell if the date in top row falls between start and finish dates for the corresponding project activity.
To do this, select the entire grid of 100 rows x 90 columns and apply a new conditional formatting rule.
Use “formula” type rule and apply this formula.
=MEDIAN($C6, $D6, M$3) = M$3
Adjust cell references based on your gantt chart setup.
Related: Using MEDIAN formula to check between condition in Excel
Apply necessary formatting and your gantt chart will be ready.
Step 6: Move the slicer to the gantt chart worksheet
This is the last and easiest step.
Just cut and paste the slicer near the gantt chart. Your interactive chart is ready.
Bells & whistles:
- You can add a conditional formatting rule to highlight current date
- Another rule to highlight alternative rows (zebra-shading)
- Adjust the conditional formatting rule to show completed activities in a different color.
How to update the Gantt Chart?
When ever you have new data, simply update the input data worksheet. Then refresh pivot tables (shortcut: Alt+Ctrl+F5). Your Gantt chart will be updated too.
Download the Drill-down Gantt Chart Template
Please click here to download the gantt chart template. Just change the input data and click on “Refresh” button from Data ribbon to update the gantt chart.
If you want more project management templates, please click here.
Questions or Suggestions?
Got some questions or issues when using this template? Have a suggestion for this Gantt Chart? Please post them in the comments section.
Also check out:
14 Responses to “Group Smaller Slices in Pie Charts to Improve Readability”
I think the virtue of pie charts is precisely that they are difficult to decode. In many contexts, you have to release information but you don't want the relationship between values to jump at your reader. That's when pie charts are most useful.
[...] link Leave a Reply [...]
Chandoo,
millions of ants cannot be mistaken.....There should be a reason why everybody continues using Pie charts, despite what gurus like you or Jon and others say.
one reason could be because we are just used to, so that's what we need to change, the "comfort zone"...
i absolutely agree, since I've been "converted", I just find out that bar charts are clearer, and nicer to the view...
Regards,
Martin
[...] says we can Group Smaller Slices in Pie Charts to Improve Readability. Such a pie has too many labels to fit into a tight space, so you need ro move the labels around [...]
Chandoo -
You ask "Can I use an alternative to pie chart?"
I answer in You Say “Pie”, I Say “Bar”.
This visualization was created because it was easy to print before computers. In this day and age, it should not exist.
I think the 100% Bar Chart is just as useless/unreadable as Pies - we should rename them something like Mama's Strudel Charts - how big a slice would you like, Dear?
My money's with Jon on this topic.
The primary function of any pie chart with more than 2 or 3 data points is to obfuscate. But maybe that is the main purpose, as @Jerome suggests...
@Jerome.. Good point. Also sometimes, there is just no relationship at all.
@Martin... Organized religion is finding it tough to get converts even after 2000+ years of struggle. Jon, Stephen, countless others (and me) are a small army, it would take atleast 5000 more years before pie charts vanish... patience and good to have you here 🙂
@Jon .. very well done sir, very well done.
good points every one...
I've got to throw my vote into Jon's camp (which is also Stephen Few's camp) -- bars just tend to work better. One observation about when we say "what people are used to." There are two distinct groups here (depending on the situation, a person can fall in either one): the person who *creates* the chart and the person who *consumes* the chart. Granted, the consumers are "used to" pie charts. But, it's not like a bar chart is something they would struggle to understand or that would require explanation (like sparklines and bullet graphs). Chart consumers are "used to" consuming whatever is put in front of them. Chart creators, on the other hand, may be "used to" creating pie charts, but that isn't an excuse for them to continue to do so -- many people are used to driving without a seatbelt, leaving lights on in their house needlessly, and forwarding not-all-that-funny anecdotes via email. That doesn't mean the practice shouldn't be discouraged!
[...] example that Chandoo used recently is counting uses of words. Clearly, there are other meanings of “bar” (take bar mitzvah or bar none, for [...]
[…] Grouping smaller slices in pie chart […]
Good article. Is it possible to do that with line charts?
Hi,
Is this available in excel 2013?