Gantt Chart

A horizontal bar chart that lays tasks out against a timeline, showing start dates, durations, and dependencies. The standard view for waterfall-style schedules.

When you'd see it: Project plans in construction, manufacturing, and any fixed-scope effort. Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, and the timeline views in Asana and monday.com all render Gantt charts.

Why it matters: A Gantt chart makes dependencies and the critical path visible at a glance. It can also create false confidence, since a tidy chart says nothing about whether the estimates behind it are real.

Related Waterfall, Critical Path