How to Convert a Project Plan to Excel
Project plans contain details about tasks necessary to complete in order to deliver a product or service. Converting a Project Plan, created typically as a table using Microsoft Word, involves creating a chart in Excel and modifying the formatting options. Creating a Gantt chart, a bar chart that depicts a project schedule by showing start and finish dates, helps you manage your project effectively.
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Instructions
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Create a table of your project tasks in a Word table. For example, your table headings could be "Task," "Start Day" and "Duration." You might have a task labeled "Define project" which begins on Day 1 and lasts 3 days. Then, you might have a task "Design deliverable" that starts on Day 3 and lasts 5 days. Finally, you might have a task" Develop product" which starts on Day 5 and takes 6 days to complete.
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Open a new Excel file.
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Type your project tasks into cells A1 through C4 or copy and paste it from your Word file. To create a bar chart, select your data. From the "Insert" tab, select the "Bar" button and then select the "Stacked Bar" option. Click the "OK" button.
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Your embedded chart displays. Next, convert this stacked bar graph to a Gantt chart by reversing the way the data is plotted.
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Select the Y axis data and right-mouse click the area. Click the "Categories in reverse order" check box. From the "Axis Labels" menu, choose the "None" option. Click the "Close" button.
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Select the first data series (in blue) by right-mouse clicking the top block and selecting the "Add Data Labels" option. Right-mouse click and select the "Format Data Labels" button. Deselect the "Value" check box and click the "Category" check box. Click the "Close" button.
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Change the first data series (in blue) by right-mouse clicking the top block again (not the label) and choosing the "Format Data Series..." option. Click the "Fill" link and then click the "No Fill" toggle button. Click the Close button.
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Select the legend. Click the "Start Day" text block and press the "Delete" key.
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Save your file.
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References
- Photo Credit project plan image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
