Explain how the tool works. Why does it interest you? Explain how this tool has, or could have, been useful in a project you were involved with. How can the tool be useful in future projects? Explain.

Gantt chart, as designed by Henry L. Gantt is essentially a horizontal bar chart that   allows the graphical illustration of the manner in which the schedule of a project (Ong et al., 2016). This  illustration,  on the other hand,  facilitates  the process  of planning  the entire  project, managing  the resources associated   with it and  ensuring co-ordination among them,  as  conducted by the  managerial  authorities associated with the  projects (Srivastava,  2014).  The capability of the tool in suggesting reschedule of plans in accordance to the availability   of resources (Gantt charts are capable of identifying over-allocation of resources) is the most  interesting feature  of the tool that I  have identified.

It is a well known fact, that Gantt charts provide the several scheduling and resource allocation facilities to project managers: the following were utilized in the project that I was associated with-

1. The Gantt chart provided information regarding all the activities associated with the project
2. The exact start and end date of each of the project activities were easily estimated using the bar graphs available from the Gantt charts.
3. An assessment of the length of time for which each activity continued was available from the Gantt chart.
4. An assessment of the overlaps that existed among the project activities was also available.

In the future, this very tool can be utilized to revise the project schedule in case the inclusion of changes in the project plan becomes necessary (Ong et al., 2016).  Revision of the entire schedule can be conducted easily by changing  the time periods  allocated  to the activities and including new activities (or  excluding  old ones) into the schedule: the calculations required  for estimating the start and end  dates  of the project would be  automated  by the Gantt chart tool (Srivastava,  2014).

References

Ong, H. Y., Wang, C., & Zainon, N. (2016). Integrated Earned Value Gantt Chart (EV-Gantt) Tool for Project Portfolio Planning and Monitoring Optimization. Engineering Management Journal, 28(1), 39-53.

Srivastava, A. (2014). A Survey of Software Project Management Tool Analysis. Advances in Computer Science and Information Technology (ACSIT), 57.