Tag Archive for: #projectpointers

I took a look at GanttPro, an online project management tool that isn’t covered in my LinkedIn Learning course. It’s a medium-level PM tool at a competitive price. It offers quite a few features without bombarding you with a suite of applications like some other products. While it lacks some things most PMs would want, they have links on their website asking for suggestion. Here’s a quick overview of what it can do.

Note: I spent about a day experimenting, so I might have missed a few things. I found their help videos and knowledge base quite good when I needed them.

• Setup. Getting started is super simple. Create an account and it asks you if you want to create a project. You can start from scratch or use one of their templates (categories like consulting, construction, software development, product launch, web design and more). Use “By methodology” to choose either an agile or waterfall template. And when you click the Create new project button, you’ll see the Gantt chart.
• Create project Gantt charts. It’s called GanttPro, so of course it has a Gantt chart feature. It’s easy to add tasks, subtasks, and milestones. You can indent and outdent to build your task outline. And you can drag tasks around to reorder the list. Or import tasks from an Excel file or Microsoft Project. 
• Create task dependencies. With GanttPro, you can drag from task bar to task bar to create dependencies, or you can add the Predecessor field to the Gantt table to specify them with task IDs. GanttPro supports all four types of dependencies (FS, SS, FF, SF). Clicking a dependency in the chart opens a dialog box for adding lag or lead. When you change task dates, GanttPro recalculates the schedule.
• Add other task info. The Gantt chart table starts with basic fields like task name and assigned resources. GanttPro has other fields like priority, duration, start and end date, budget, actual cost, status and more. Custom fields come in all the usual data types, although they are simplistic and sadly (at least for me) without formulas. If you need to make the same type of changes to multiple tasks, click the Checkmark icon just above the Gantt chart table. GanttPro tracks the history of your past actions so you can undo previous steps. (Click the clock face icon at the very top right of the window. Then, you can select an action to see the project before that action was performed.)
• Manage resources. You can send emails to invite your team to your GanttPro environment. There are also virtual resources to represent roles, skills, materials, costs. You can assign cost rates to resources, a project calendar, or a personal calendar for specific resources. It indicates resource overallocations with a red person icon in the Gantt table as well as in the Workload view.
• Track time. There’s a time tracker for logging time spent on assignments. People can run a timer as they work, or they can enter hours after the fact.

• Display scheduling features. You can save baselines and then display the current schedule compared to the baseline, as shown below. You can also click buttons at the top to display the critical path, show overdue tasks, or expand or collapse the list. Say you have people who want to see status, but you don’t want them to see all the dirty laundry. In GanttPro, a filtered view shows what you want to show your client. Then, you can create a shared private link to that filtered view, so anyone with the link has view-only access to it.
• More views. Like other software, it has Board, List, Calendar, Workload, and Dashboard views. As you navigate through the tool, you’ll sometimes see a “Missing a feature?” link, so you can cast your vote for new functionality.

• View status with reports and a dashboard. There isn’t a lot of reporting: it boils down to filtering tasks with different criteria. When you open the Reports screen and click Reports under development, you can tell GanttPro what types of reports you want. The Dashboard has widgets that you can turn on or off and reorganize, but you can’t create your own.
• Manage budgets and portfolios. With estimates and actual costs, you can track income and expenses in projects. Like other tools, this cost management might not satisfy accounting nerds, but it’s a start. GanttPro doesn’t have any integration with other financial apps either. You can add projects to different portfolios and then review them with a portfolio Gantt chart, List, Workload, and Dashboard view. 

• Communicate with the team. People involved with projects, whether internal or external to your organization, can collaborate by commenting, mentioning people, and attaching files. Click a task to open the side panel and then leave a comment or click Attach files. @mentioning works the usual way. You can also create a link to the task when you want someone to review it.
• Integrate with other software. GanttPro integrates with a few major players, including Slack, OneDrive, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, and Jira Cloud. But it’s not the long list of integrations offered by other tools. 
• Help and support.  When you point at icons above the Gantt chart, a popup box describes the feature. Click Learn more to jump into a new browser tab with the GanttPro knowledge base. There are dozens of videos that show you how or you can search the knowledge base for articles.

To sum up, GanttPro could be a good fit for small businesses working on small to medium-sized projects without big demands for customization. It would also be a good Gantt chart add-on if you already have other PM software that doesn’t offer a Gantt chart feature.

If this sounds interesting, here’s info on pricing as of March 2025. The core plan doesn’t offer a lot, so the Advanced plan is a good place to start at $10 per user per month (paid annually). If you need resource management or portfolio management, you’ll want the Business plan ($17 per user per month paid annually). There’s also an Enterprise plan, which I didn’t look at. Their 14-day free trial gives you time to see which level works for you.

For more about other online project management tools, check out my Project Management: Choosing the Right Online Tool course.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 88,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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No matter how well you already listen, you can increase your success by listening even better. Here are exercises to strengthen your and your team’s listening skills. (And you’ll learn other important things at the same time.)

• Before a discussion, draft the questions you want to get answered. Take a formal approach to getting the information you want from a discussion. Before a stakeholder meeting, meet with your team to identify what you need to know and understand. Write down the questions you will ask to get that information. If necessary, ask those questions at the stakeholder meeting. After the meeting, follow up with your team members so everyone can share their perspectives. Focus on areas where your perspectives differ. (Someone else might have picked up on something you missed.) Sure, this approach takes a bit more time, but it improves listening skills and builds understanding about stakeholders you don’t know well.
• Make predictions and track surprises. Write down your prediction of what will be shared during a meeting. After the meeting, document your results. Were your predictions accurate? How were they shared? Were there any surprises, that is, things you didn’t expect to come up? Capture what you learned and what you need to explore further regarding those surprises. To improve, identify questions you could ask to avoid surprises in future meetings with the same stakeholder. This prep and analysis helps you learn your stakeholders’ styles and approaches so you can work with them in a way that’s comfortable for them.
• Summarize presentations or podcasts. In a business world that relies on multi-tasking, we can’t always be where we want to be. Formally assign a team member to summarize a meeting and share it with others who couldn’t attend. To enhance your team’s knowledge, create a rotation where a team member listens to a podcast and then shares the lessons learned with the team at your weekly team meeting. This exercise provides listening practice and increases the team’s knowledge. Bonus approach: Ask two team members to listen and then compare notes before presenting their summary. This can help them understand items they might not have picked up, which helps improve their listening abilities.
• Improve notes from an AI note-taking tool. AI note-taking tools are great efficiency enhancers, but they present a risk: We might depend on them rather than honing our listening skills. Take the time to listen to a meeting discussion. Focus on aspects that AI tools can overlook, like subtle emotions from tone or body language. This improves listening skills and gives you perspectives you can share regarding the strengths and weaknesses of your note-taking tool.

For more about listening skills, check out Dorie Clark’s course Improve Your Listening Skills or Tatiana Kolovou and Brenda Bailey-Hughes’ course Effective Listening.

My course Project Management Foundations was #2 in LinkedIn Learning’s Most Popular courses of 2024. Watch it for free with this link!

Coming Up

Great project managers and salespeople have a lot in common – the most important being the goal of satisfying the customers’ needs. Join Dean Karrel and I for Office Hours on Friday, March 14, 2025 at 11am MT/1pm ET, we’ll discuss what project managers and salespeople both need to do in their jobs. We’ll also explore how the skills you might consider “pure sales” can help you be a better project manager. As an added bonus, Dean will share some tips on using technology and AI to handle sales activities more effectively. Click here to join!

My updated version of Agile Project Management with Microsoft Project has been published! Click here to watch.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 87,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Project managers often fall short with planning risk responses, because the risk responses aren’t realistic or can’t be acted on. Here’s a checklist to ensure risk responses are realistic and will help the project succeed. 

• Do key stakeholders understand the risk response? Risk responses must be written using vocabulary familiar to a broad set of stakeholders. Avoid jargon or terms familiar only to technical teams. Schedule open meetings about risks and planned responses, allowing stakeholders to ask questions and provide input. This will both improve understanding and increase buy-in.
• Do responses Include clear and agreed-upon execution conditions? A realistic risk response must have a well-defined trigger point or conditions for activation. This ensures that the response is implemented in circumstances agreed to by relevant stakeholders. For example, if a risk involves potential supply chain disruptions, the response might be triggered when lead times exceed a certain threshold. With clearly defined execution points, the project team can act proactively and decisively. 
• Is the funding source identified? Risk responses must include details on where the funding is coming from, such as a contingency budget, a specific risk management fund, or an agreement to reallocate resources from other project areas. There needs to be a pre-defined process for releasing those funds as well. 
• Does the response align with the project goal and scope?  If a risk response significantly alters the project’s direction, it isn’t realistic. Responses need to align with and support the project goal. For example, if a project to develop a new software product has an objective to build in-house expertise, a risk response to outsource core development work is detrimental.
• Do responses include measurable outcomes and targets? Measurable outcomes with a defined target help the project team assess the effectiveness of the response and adjust if needed. Examples of measurable outcomes might include a reduced probability of risk occurrence, decreased potential impact, or improved project KPIs. 
• Do complex risk responses have a mini-implementation plan? This plan outlines the steps required to execute the response, assign responsibilities, and set timelines. Think of it as a project within a project. For instance, if a risk response involves switching to an alternative supplier, the mini plan might include steps for vendor evaluation, contract negotiation, and transition of operations. This level of detail ensures that complex responses are actionable.

Of course, you need other information about risk responses: who owns the risk, how it impacts the project, and so on. Try creating a risk response template that includes basic 411 about the response along with these checklist items.

For more about risk responses, check out Bob McGannon’s Project Management Foundations: Risk course.

My course Project Management Foundations was #2 in LinkedIn Learning’s Most Popular courses of 2024. Watch it for free with this link!

Coming Up

Many people believe you need to be an extrovert to be successful as a project manager. But introverts bring valuable strengths like strategic thinking, deep listening, thoughtful communication, and more. Bonnie Biafore and Anna Lung’aho Anderson both get questions from people who are scared of project management because they’re introverts. Join us for Office Hours on Friday, February 28, 2025 at 11am MT/12pm CT, we’ll talk about how introverted project managers can leverage their strengths, overcome their challenges, and at the same time develop confidence in leadership, stakeholder engagement, and other people skills. Click here to join!

My updated version of Agile Project Management with Microsoft Project has been published! Click here to watch.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 86,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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The critical path is the longest sequence of tasks in a project. Delays on the critical path will also delay project completion. To keep your project schedule on track, it’s important to keep an eye on near-critical paths and other path changes (and communicate them to stakeholders).

• Near-critical paths. Let’s say a project’s critical path is 42 days. But the duration of another path is 44 days. With only 2 days of leeway (that is, slack) on this second path, even a short delay could change which path is critical. That’s why the second path is considered a near-critical path. Managing near-critical paths is important because they can become the critical path with a minor delay. Tell management about any near-critical paths, because scope, priority, or other changes that they might want to make could impact the project more than they realize.
• Path changes due to risk responses. Risk plans identify risks and the actions to take to respond if a risk comes to fruition. These actions could affect pathways through the schedule, changing the critical path duration, switching to a new critical path, or creating a new near-critical path. Communicating these potential changes to management demonstrates your control of the project and attention regarding the project’s deadlines. For example, if a product purchased from a vendor could be delayed, the risk mitigation actions might be negotiating and purchasing a product from an alternate vendor. Negotiating, procuring, receiving, and testing the alternate product could add tasks to your plan that could result in a new critical path or near-critical paths. Those tasks could also eat into schedule contingency, which should also be communicated to management.
• Path changes from unexpected resource changes. Losing project resources is a common risk. Significant changes will occur if the project has to absorb resource changes beyond what’s addressed in the risk plan. Resource changes can affect the schedule in many ways. You need to analyze potential changes to critical and near-critical paths in enough detail so that management can make informed decisions about the resource changes and their impact. The schedule needs detail, including who is assigned to each task, task work and duration estimates, and the work and duration changes that would occur if a less-skilled person takes over a task.
• Path changes from changes to scope, business direction, or strategy. Changes to the project scope, business direction, or strategies can seem straightforward, but they can complicate project management. A colleague was managing a project that had to accommodate two new business processes considered crucial to the growth of the sponsoring business. On the surface, validating the new processes in the project’s new computer system deliverables seemed straightforward. In reality, the validation effort required additional technical and business skills, which added 3 weeks to the critical path and created two new near-critical paths. These changes meant project management expanded to scrutinizing three times as many tasks (counting the critical and near-critical path tasks) as before.

Take a moment now to check whether your current project schedule has near-critical paths. If so, which additional tasks do you need to watch and what steps do you need to take?

For more about project schedules, check out my Project Management Foundations: Schedules course.

My course Project Management Foundations was #2 in LinkedIn Learning’s Most Popular courses of 2024. Watch it for free with this link!

Coming Up

My updated version of Agile Project Management with Microsoft Project has been published! Click here to watch.

_______________________________________

This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 85,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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