Gantt Chart

Updated on 24 Jul 2024

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Aspire provides Gantt charts to represent an overview of work performed on work orders. Gantt charts are available at two levels:

Opportunity: Displays the opportunity, work tickets, milestones, and all activities. After winning an opportunity, select Gantt Chart from the top navigation bar to view the chart.
Work Ticket: Displays the work tickets, milestones, and all activities. Access the Work Ticket Gantt chart by selecting the View Gantt Chart option from the Work Ticket screen header menu.

Screen capture of the Aspire Gantt Chart Opportunity Gantt Chart. Opportunity Gantt Chart

Work Ticket Gantt Chart The Gantt chart is structured into two primary sections: labels on the left and bars and elements that illustrate the timing and characteristics of project components on the right.

Aspire's Gantt chart features (located in the top right navigation bar):

Week View: Switch between month and week views.
Export: Download your Gantt Chart as a PDF or CSV file.
Print: Print your Gantt Chart directly from Aspire.
New: Create a new activity for your Opportunity that will automatically appear on the Gantt chart by selecting an option from the list:
- New Appointment: Schedule and assign appointments.
- New Task: Create, assign, and track tasks.
- New Issue: Log and prioritize project-related issues.
- New Milestone: Set and visualize project milestones.

Keep in mind:

If you're on the Opportunity Gantt chart, the new activity defaults to the opportunity.
If you're on the Work Ticket screen, the new activity defaults to the work ticket.
On the Opportunity Gantt, you can also right-click on the work ticket rows to create a new activity that defaults to the work ticket in the relevant field.

Select an item title from the left-hand section on the main Gantt chart screen to directly access additional details. The items in the Gantt chart on the left-hand side can represent several types of elements, identified in the table below.

Element Type	Title	Start Time	End Time
Opportunity	The title is comprised of the opportunity number followed by the opportunity name.	Opportunity start date.	Completion date if the opportunity has been completed. Otherwise, the opportunity end date.
Work Ticket	The title is comprised of the work ticket number followed by the opportunity service display name from the estimate.	Date of the first visit, if a visit is scheduled. Otherwise, the work ticket’s scheduled start date.	Completion date if the work ticket has been completed. Otherwise, the date of the last scheduled visit.
Activity – Milestone	The title shows the subject specified for the milestone activity.	Date specified on the milestone.	Same as Start Time.
Activity – Task	The title shows the subject specified for the task activity.	Start Date.	Completion date if the task is completed. Otherwise, the due date.
Activity – Appointment	The title shows the subject specified for the appointment activity	Start Date/Time.	End Date/Time.
Activity – Issue	The title shows the subject specified for the issue activity.	Date that the issue was created.	Completion date if the issue is completed. Otherwise, the due date.
Activity – Email	Emails are not represented on the Gantt Chart.

Right-click anywhere within an item row to access more options for managing the Gantt chart.

Screen capture of the Gantt Chart Right-Click menu.

Gantt Chart Menu Options on right-click

The following tables describe the various menu options available for activities.

Work ticket rows

Menu Option	Description
Create Appointment	Schedule appointments and allocate resources.
Create Task	Create and assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress.
Create Issue	Log project-related issues, assign priority levels, and responsible team members.
Create Milestone	Mark project milestones, set dates, and communicate key achievements.
View Visits (work ticket rows only)	Select this option to open the Work Ticket Visit module and view visits scheduled for the work ticket. Select a visit to drill into the Visit details and update the workflow, if necessary. Select Save to return to the Gantt chart.

Task, issue, and milestone rows

Menu Option

Description

Complete

If applicable to the activity type, mark it Complete. Once marked complete, Aspire will insert date information next to the activity.

Note:

Completed tasks will turn from light blue to dark blue.

Reopen

Reopen a completed activity.

Screen capture of the hover action over a Gantt Chart element. Hover over a Gantt Chart element to display the tooltip.

When hovering your cursor over an element on the right-hand section of the Gantt chart, a tooltip displays, offering additional insights into the element's progress. The tooltip provides:

Work ticket number and title: Displays the unique identifier and title of the work ticket associated with the element.
Percent complete: Indicates the percentage complete for the task or activity represented by the element.
Work/Est hours: Reflects the ratio between actual work hours and estimated hours for the task. If the crew has worked beyond the scheduled hours for the work ticket, the percentage might exceed 100%.
Billed to date total: Displays the total amount billed for the task up to the current date.
Actual Start: Shows the date and time when work on the task commenced.
Actual End: Indicates the date and time when work on the task was completed.
Status: Provides information on the current status or progress of the task, such as In Progress, Complete, or On Hold.

The following information is displayed in the status box for each element.

Information Element	Available for Element Type?
Information Element	Opportunity	Work Ticket	Activity – Milestone	Activity – Task	Activity – Appointment	Activity – Issue
Element Name	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Percentage Complete
Work Hours / Estimated Hours (%)	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO
Start Date	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Start Time	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
End Date	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
End Time	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Status Opportunity – Reflects Job Status Work Ticket – Reflects Work Ticket Status Activity – Reflects Activity Status (In Progress or Complete)	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES
Billed to Date Total	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO

The legend below explains the visual elements on the Gantt chart. Refer to the accompanying table for detailed descriptions of each option.Gantt Chart elements legend

Tip:

Baselines enable users to view the deviation between planned dates and actual dates.

Below are some best practices for using Gantt charts after an opportunity is won:

Make sure to specify start and end dates for your opportunity when creating it. If the end date is not defined, it will default to one month from the start date. Removing the end date will turn the opportunity bar into a diamond icon.
Create tasks for each work ticket to represent the parts of the work to be done. The work ticket bar will stretch to represent all tasks for the ticket, while the baseline will show the actual visit dates.
Create milestones as needed, but avoid creating a single milestone for a work ticket, as this will cause the work ticket bar to turn into a diamond.
Add appointments if necessary.
Schedule visits for the work tickets, which the baseline will reflect on the Gantt chart. Work tickets will be ordered by their scheduled visit dates.
Note that a work ticket with only one visit or activity under 24 hours will appear as a diamond.
If start and end dates are the same for both the bar and the baseline, only one tooltip will show, representing the "actual" date for work tickets.
Inform Gantt chart users to keep the opportunity start date updated to avoid export issues. However, it's important to note that this date cannot be changed after visits are scheduled or a change order is created.

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