Attitude is more powerful than Gantt chart in Business Management

By: Prof. Samuel Lartey

sammylaatey@yahoo.com
Everything in the world around us was finished in the mind of its creator before it was
started. The houses we live in, the cars we drive, our clothing, and our furnishings - all of
these things began with an idea. Each idea was then studied, refined and perfected, either
mentally or on paper, before the first nail was driven or the first piece of cloth was cut. Long
before the idea was converted into a physical reality, the mind had clearly envisioned the
finished product. The human being designs his or her own future through much the same
process. We begin with an idea about how the future will be. Over a period of time we refine
and perfect the vision. Before long, our every thought, feeling, decision and activity are all
working in harmony to bring into existence what we have mentally concluded about the
future.
There is no gain saying that businesses and business decisions follow the same life pattern.
They are well executed when broken down into measurable pieces often called projects
looking into the future, considering the present and not forgetting the past. In contemporary
business and science a project is a collaborative enterprise, involving research or design that is
carefully planned to achieve a particular aim. Project can also be defined as a set of interrelated
tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations. Projects
can be further defined as temporary rather than permanent social systems or work systems
that are constituted by teams within or across organizations to accomplish particular tasks
under time constraints. Projects are usually are usually different from your day-to-day work
tasks and have a set start and end date. Some projects can be incredibly complex, so to stay on
top of every aspect you need an easy way to see what needs to be done and when. Many
people use the classic project schedule Gantt chart, but is there anything better out there?

The Gantt chart was developed by Henry Gantt as a way to visually see a projects schedule.
Since 1910, these bar charts have been an integral part of managing projects. Gantt charts
allow us to visualize a projects start and end date along with each element or task that needs
to be completed. Because many project tasks are dependent on previous tasks, these charts
also allow us to see these dependencies and schedule around them.
In order to construct a chart, you first need to list all of the required tasks in a project, along
with the projected time each task should take. While you can create the chart by hand, its
usually better to use project management software, largely because many projects can get
complicated and there will inevitably be changes.
Here are some of the advantages to using this type of chart for scheduling.
Gantt chart advantages
1. Allows for efficient organization In order for a Gantt chart to be successful, you first
need to identify project elements or tasks. If you are using this type of chart you are
essentially forced to focus on what truly needs to be done, thus making you somewhat
more organized and encouraging a potentially higher chance of success.
2. Helps establish timeframes Because many project elements often depend on other
tasks, it can be tough to deduce how long one task should take and when to start and
finish it by. Gantt charts use bars to indicate how long a task should take and what this
does is give you a better perspective of the total project, and timeframe as a whole. Just
be sure to consider time factors outside of the project such as holidays.
3. Highly visual Gantt charts are visual, and give you an excellent way to instantly see
and comprehend all of the different elements in once place, thus bringing thoughts and
ideas together. Beyond that the visuals provide users with an easy to see chart of what
needs to be done next.
Gantt chart disadvantages
Because of the relative complexity of this method, some managers question whether Gantt
charts are really the best solution for businesses. Some argue that over reliance on the Gantt
chart turns to eliminate the soft and social skills required to prosecute business projects and
work cultures. Some of the advantages to using this type of chart for scheduling are as follows:
1. Potentially overly complex If youve ever worked on a complex project, and looked at
the Gantt chart, you know that these charts can be large and hard to read. For big
projects businesses may need to hire specific managers to look after the details of the
project, something which could be costly for small businesses that dont have an in
house project manager.
2. Need to be updated Gantt charts are developed early in the planning stages of a
project, there is a good chance that the project will change, thus the chart will need to
be updated. Also, as tasks are completed or reviewed the chart will need to be updated
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to reflect these changes too. Any amendments take time, especially if there are
dependent tasks that need to also be revised. It is a pretty sure thing that most people
involved in the project probably dont have the time to do this
3. Dont show the whole picture Gantt charts show what tasks need to be done and the
time they should take. They dont show how much work each task will involve or how
many people/resources each task will require. This can give some people an incomplete
picture or the wrong idea about an individual task, which can cause issues as the project
gets underway.
Should I use Gantt charts?
If you are about to start a project in your organization, it is be a good idea to consider whether
or not a Gantt chart is suitable. If the project is short, with few elements, then a Gantt chart
might be ideal. If you have a longer project with a high number of elements, tasks, and human
resources to manage, it might be a good idea to look into your work culture and employ the
right attitude that will engage the right feeling and behaviors to sustain the project and
prosecute it more efficiently.
This is why having the right attitude about the past, present and future circumstances are so
important for the sustainability of our businesses and projects. When we have a healthy
attitude about the past and constructive feelings about ourselves and our teams, we
subconsciously guide ourselves toward the achievement of our dreams. However when we
are predicated on best practices and lessons learnt or filled with formulas, processes, and
Gantt charts, we turn to look more at our regrets which subconsciously lead us toward a
future that is very much like the past we have just left behind.
The thoughts and feelings we allow ourselves to have today are crucial, for they are
contributing to our future. What that future holds will simply be a mirror image of our
current philosophy and attitude about life. It is our business attitude that determines both
the quantity and the quality of our level of activity. That activity produces a final and
proportionate result, and the result provides the lifestyle that we live in the organization.
The results we achieve and the lifestyle we portray are the effects but it is our business
philosophy, attitude and activity which are the ultimate cause of the effect. Our corporate
and business philosophy establishes our business attitude.
Just as we are affected by what we know, we are also affected by how we feel. While
philosophy deals essentially with the logical side of projects -information and thinking
habits, our work attitude focuses primarily on the emotional issues that affect our existence.
What we know determines our philosophy. How we feel about what we know determines our
attitude. It is our emotional nature that governs most of our daily conduct in our personal
and business worlds. It is the emotional aspect of our experiences that determines our
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behavior. How we each feel about business events is a powerful force that can either freeze
us in our tracks or inspire us to take immediate action on any given day.
Like thoughts, emotions have the capacity to propel us toward future fortune or future
disaster. The feelings we carry within us about people, our work, our homes, our finances,
and about the world around us collectively form our attitude. With the right attitude human
beings can move mountains. With the wrong attitude no matter how well the Gantt chart is
constructed - they can be crushed by the smallest grain of sand.
Showing the right attitude towards our works, projects businesses and teams - is an
essential prerequisite for success and happiness in the business environment. The right
attitude is one of the fundamentals of the good work life. That is why we must constantly
examine our feelings about our role in the world of work and about the possibilities for
achieving our goals. The feelings that we have affect our prevailing attitude, and it is our
prevailing attitude that ultimately determines the quality of our projects. Attitude is a major
determining factor in how our projects and businesses turn out. Since everything in life
affects everything else, we must make a careful study of everything and everyone that might
be having the wrong effect on our current attitude. We must encourage the right attitude
and not to let our team members feel just average on our projects.