Project management is a crucial element of a business strategy across various industries. However, this is especially true for the construction sector because of the unique characteristics and complexities of construction projects. But thanks to the advancement of web technologies, building companies can greatly facilitate some aspects by investing in construction management apps. Such tools are commonly complemented with special functionalities that facilitate the way projects are planned, executed, and monitored. One of the most popular is a Gantt chart.
In this article, we will consider the benefits of integrating a Gantt chart into a web project on the example of our JavaScript Gantt component.
Prerequisites for Using PM Apps in Construction Projects
Nowadays, it is common for construction firms to spend money not only on equipment and machinery that are directly involved in construction operations but also on cutting-edge technologies to deal with challenges at the management level.
The rise of generative AI makes things even more interesting, becoming a potential answer to many disturbing issues in the construction industry. But despite the huge interest in AI technologies, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the future of AI. In a recent Deloitte survey, 55% of chief operating officers indicated that the main barrier to creating business value with artificial intelligence was identifying the right use cases. Additionally, AI tools still arouse mistrust, cyber risk concerns, and uncertainty in data security.
Therefore, it can be reasonable to take the tried-and-true route of investing in the development of a custom project management app enriched with advanced functionalities like a Gantt chart.
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First, let us go through some areas of construction management, where the use of a Gantt chart can make things much easier.
Centralized Project Information
In the construction field, it is a must to have a centralized source of information on project progress that can be easily reviewed and analyzed by all interested parties at any time. Access to up-to-date project data is crucial for managing staff when it comes to making far-reaching project decisions. Providing the source of relevant information on the current state of events also facilitates better transparency, accountability, communication, and collaboration between members of the project team. With a software solution that keeps everyone on the same page, it is much easier to avoid unnecessary risks caused by miscommunication and information deprivation.
Complex Project Planning and Scheduling
Construction projects commonly include several project stages with multiple tasks and subtasks that should be carefully planned and scheduled. Moreover, many project activities often turn out to be dependent on one another, meaning that certain tasks cannot start until others are completed. These facts make it hard to plan and schedule a project correctly without any helper program.
Real-Time Project Tracking and Monitoring
And lastly, it is important to remember the dynamic nature of construction projects. In other words, it is entirely possible to face changes of any scale, from insignificant time shifts in some tasks to major work scope increases. Managers should be timely informed about any changes that take place within the project and make sure that these changes do not affect the project deadlines, or otherwise take necessary measures.
Documentation Management and Reporting
Construction projects commonly come with the necessity to generate extensive documentation and reports. Such materials can be needed for processes within the construction company as well as for various legal and compliance requirements (audits, insurance claims, etc.). Special project management tools usually store relevant information on the project workflow and can facilitate the creation of various project documents.
Managing Construction Projects with DHTMLX Gantt
For years, DHTMLX Gantt has been used by many dev teams around the world as a key element of project management software for various industries, including construction projects. Moreover, it plays a crucial role in managing insurance agency software projects.
Now we go through our demo app to give you a clear understanding of how our Gantt helps in dealing with the main challenges in construction.
First of all, DHTMLX Gantt offers an intuitive UI, where even not the most experienced users can get the necessary information about project progress (tasks, milestones, deadlines, etc). In the grid area, you can see the whole hierarchy of projects with tasks and other task-related information. The Gantt timeline allows visualizing the project workflow along different time scales (hours, days, weeks, months, quarters, years) and conveniently navigating through all tasks using a horizontal scrollbar. Thus, all members of the project team and other stakeholders (contractors, investors, advisors, etc.) can stay up to date with what’s going on in the project.
With our Gantt library, it is not a problem to plan and schedule one or several projects at once. High performance characteristics of our library allow construction project managers to create complex projects with thousands of tasks and seamlessly manage them. Our library also supports 4 different types of dependencies between tasks: start-to-start, start-to-finish, finish-to-start, and finish-to-finish. Using this feature, you can specify the sequence of tasks and the relations between them, making sure that tasks are completed in the right order and without delays.
Sometimes changes in one project task can trigger the need to reschedule the rest of the project. Seems like a lot of work, but no worries, our Gantt comes with the auto-scheduling feature that instantly recalculates start dates for all affected tasks. There is one more popular Gantt feature called “critical path”. It enables you to highlight the sequence of critical tasks that must be completed in time to meet the project deadline.
DHTMLX Gantt can be used to cover the needs of project managers in documentation maintenance and reporting. For such cases, our Gantt component supports the export of Gantt data into popular formats such as PDF, PNG, Excel, iCal, MS Project, or Oracle’s Primavera P6. Often, construction project managers need project data on their hands, for instance, when visiting the building site or holding a meeting with stakeholders. To export Gantt charts (even large ones), you can use our free online service or a special export module. Files with Gantt data can also be used for more in-depth analysis and integration with other tools.
Being incorporated into a project management app, DHTMLX Gantt can play a crucial role in improving efficiency, collaboration, resource usage, and decision-making throughout the construction lifecycle.
The demo app highlighted in this article shows by no means all the functional capabilities of our Gantt component. Here is a complete list of features that can also be helpful in a construction management software.
In this blog post, you can find an interview with one of our customers, who shares his experience in using our Gantt library in real construction projects.
Conclusion
As you can see, the use of software applications based on a Gantt chart empowers construction project managers to improve various aspects that are essential for the project’s success. DHTMLX Gantt is a suitable choice for delivering a feature-packed Gantt chart in such solutions. If you need such functionality in your web project, we invite you to download a free 30-day trial version of our JavaScript Gantt component and estimate if it meets your requirements. Also, you can use the demo app reviewed in this article as an example of implementing an advanced Gantt chart in a web project.