Digital Corps

Timeline Template

Quick Tip!

Successful projects have clear timelines. Be sure to get a head start on your timeline for timely project completion!

Helpful Staff for this Topic

• 

Introduction to Timelines

Timelines are essential for any project. They keep the entire team on track and informed, while setting a clear goal for the project. Establishing a clear timeline at the start of a project leads to a confident team and a streamlined process!

The PM team has prepared a specific template for all timelines. Here we detail how to use it.

Understanding this Template

This template has three sheets associated with it. The “Add Tasks,” “Gantt View,” and “Data” sheets. In addition, there are two versions of the template; one with milestone specifications, and one without.

Add Tasks: On this sheet, you will add tasks by team. Simply use the dropdown menu in the Team column to select a team. Next, specify the task for that team in the Task column. For example, a Video Team task may be “Fix VO,” while a Design Team task could be “Animate Assets.” After you’ve added specific tasks, assign dates to the tasks in the following columns: “Start Date,” “End Date,” and “Milestone Dates.” Start Date is the date that the task starts and End Date is the date the task ends. Milestone Dates are check-ins, or tasks within the overarching assignment that need to be finished in order for the timely completion of the main task. Keep in mind when deleting tasks, you cannot delete the whole cell if you want to change a task. You have to manually delete each letter!

Once you’ve successfully entered all of your tasks into the “Add Tasks” sheet, turn your attention to the next sheet: “Gantt View.”

Gantt View: The specific timeline template that the PM team has prepared is known as a Gantt chart. Gantt charts are read horizontally, rather than a typical calendar view. With a Gantt chart, you get a visual representation of tasks in progress, when they began, and when they end. This timeline template automatically takes all of the tasks you’ve entered into the “Add Tasks” sheet, and translates them into a Gantt view. Here’s a breakdown of what the colors represent: 

Finally, let’s look at the “Data” Sheet.

Data Sheet: The last and final sheet is the “Data” sheet. Don’t worry about anything here – it’s simply data that the Excel spreadsheet uses to populate the “Add Tasks” sheet.

It’s important to note that there are two versions of the template. Both versions contain the three sheets, however, one has specific milestone qualifications. These are explained below:

• Rough: This is when the rough, or draft, of a product is due in review.
• Revisions: This is the time allotted for revisions of the rough.
• Final/Internal Approval: This is when the final version of the product is approved internally, within the Corps.
• Send to Client: This is when the final product is sent to the client.

Editing the Template

Before the beginning of each new semester, this template needs to be edited to reflect the upcoming months. There are three versions of the template, a Fall, Spring, and Summer version. Here are the steps to remember when changing the template.

1. To begin, you must unlock the “Gantt View” sheet. This is done by selecting the sheet, going to the “Review” tab, and then selecting “Unprotect Sheet”. This will give you access to edit the sheet.
2. After you have unprotected the “Gantt View” sheet, you will need to change the months on the timeline template for the respective semester.
3. Next, on the “Gantt View”, go to the first month. Select the first day. At the top of the screen, in the function box, enter the respective year. Since there are templates for each semester, you should only need to change the year.
4. After this, select the box. A green square will appear around it. Hover over the bottom right corner of this square. A cross will appear. Click the cross, and drag this across all of the days of the month. This will automatically change each of the numbers of the days, and the days of the week will remain correct. Please be sure that you are dragging in row 10.
5. Once you have done this, you may need to adjust some columns and delete/add based upon the number of days in the month. The chart does not automatically add/remove entire columns based on if there are 30 or 31 days in the month.
6. Once you are satisfied with the months and dates on the timeline template, you need to re-lock the “Gantt View” sheet. Simply repeat Step 1.

IMPORTANT

• If you accidentally added a task that needs to be removed, simply use the delete key on your keyboard to remove the contents of that cell – or type over it with a new task. Do not use the “Delete row” command in Excel.
• If you forgot a task and want items to appear in date order or team order, just add a new task to the end and use the headers to sort. Do not use the “Insert row” command in Excel.

Any manipulation (insert or delete) of the rows in the “Add Tasks” sheet will break the data validation and conditional formatting on the “Gantt chart” sheet.

These are the basic steps for using this timeline template. With this, your timelines will be organized and your projects will be on track for completion. Below, the templates are attached for all of your timeline needs.