Henry Gantt

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History
Audio-Datei
Henry Gantt
FÜR
INGENIEURE
Januar 2012
HISTORY AUDIO-DATEI
Henry Gantt
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Simple yet powerful ideas are reassuring, especially in a world that seems defined by complexity. It’s much like the joke about a patient
and his doctor. “Doctor,” says the patient, “it
hurts when I do this.” The doctor responds,
“Well then don’t do that.” Sometimes the answer’s painlessly simple.
Henry Gantt is best known for a management tool that bears his name, the Gantt chart.
Gantt lived at the turn of the twentieth century, a time when giant corporations were just
emerging. Their size led to new management
challenges. Gantt rose to the occasion by immersing
himself in a growing movement called scientific
management, also known as Taylorism. As the
name suggests, the movement sought to treat
management as a science.
Gantt recognized that large projects, say the
construction of a building, were made up of
many smaller tasks. Some tasks depended on
the completion of others. Walls can’t be put up
until the foundation is poured. Other tasks were
independent. Electricians needn’t worry when
the plumbers get their job done, and vice versa.
It’s a pretty simple observation. But when a
project gets large enough, keeping track of all
the dependencies can be difficult. Project managers have to keep them straight. They can’t
have painters arriving before the wall board’s
up. Nor do they want the painters showing up
months after the walls have been finished – the
goal’s to get the job done as quickly as possible.
Gantt charts display these dependencies
pictorially. Each task is represented by a horizontal bar whose length corresponds to the time
required to complete the task. Then the bars are
laid out on a time line. Each bar is laid down
as early as possible, but after all the tasks that
must precede it.
The idea’s so simple we’re left to ask why it
bears anyone’s name. In part it’s because Gantt
was instrumental in bringing it to life. But more
importantly, Gantt charts have proven to be
really useful. They’re studied in college and
used by project managers around the world.
Gantt charts have spawned more refined ways of
managing large projects, but the original charts
are still holding their own. Buy project manage-
www.engine-magazin.de
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ment software and you can bet it works with
Gantt charts.
Gantt’s contributions to scientific management went far beyond a simple chart. He cared
about worker incentives, proposing a means of
pay he believed was fair to both labour and
business. He also believed business had inherent
obligations to society, not just to shareholders. The
American Society of Mechanical Engineers’
Gantt Medal is awarded for “distinguished
achievement in management and for service to
the community.” But to generations of engineering students, Gantt’s name is synonymous with
a chart – a modest chart that makes complex
projects just a little less complex. n
Andy Boyd, University of Houston
achievement
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ENGLISCH
Jeder, der große Projekte leitet, kennt das
Gantt-Diagramm. Es ermöglicht die Unterteilung in Unteraufgaben unter Berücksichtigung ihrer Abhängigkeiten. Doch Henry
Gantt hat weit mehr geleistet, als nur ein
einfaches Diagramm zu erfinden.
Dieser Text wird hier mit
freundlicher Genehmigung des
Autors und der Radiostation
KUHF wiedergegeben.
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