Kanban or Gantt: when to use each

Kanban and Gantt are often compared as if they were rivals, but they answer different questions. Kanban answers "what state is each thing in and what do I do now?"; Gantt answers "how is the work spread over time and will we make the date?". Most projects need both answers, at different moments.

What each one is

A Kanban board organises work into columns that represent statuses (for example pending, in progress, in review, done). Each task is a card that moves from one column to the next. It shows at a glance what is under way, what is waiting and what is finished, and it reveals bottlenecks: a column that keeps filling up is a signal.

A Gantt chart draws the work on a calendar: each phase or task is a bar with its start and end. It shows the order, the duration, the overlaps and the progress of each bar. It is useful to check whether the calendar is realistic and to communicate the plan to people who are not in the day-to-day.

Differences in a table

When to choose each

• Choose Kanban if work arrives continuously or unpredictably (support, maintenance, issues), if the team is small and wants to see its load, or if what matters is flow rather than a fixed date.
• Choose Gantt if the project has phases with dates committed to a client, clear dependencies between blocks of work (you cannot test what has not been developed yet) or you need to show the calendar to management.
• Use both if the project has a plan by phases but the team works day to day on tasks: Gantt for the plan, Kanban to carry it out. This is the case for most implementation, development or consulting projects.

The most frequent mistake: duplicating the data

The problem with using both in separate tools is that the plan and the board drift out of sync: someone moves a card and the chart does not find out, or a date changes in the plan and the board stays the same. If each view is maintained by hand, one of them ends up lying. The sensible approach is for both to come from the same tasks and dates.

How it is done in PjMan

In PjMan the Gantt and the boards are views of the same data, so there is nothing to synchronise:

1. Create the phases and tasks, with their start and end dates. Phases accept sub-phases. (Phases and sub-phases, Tasks)
2. Open the Planning tab of the project: the Gantt chart draws itself from those dates, with progress inside each bar. It is a read-only view: to change a date, edit it in the phase or in the task. (Planning and Gantt)
3. Switch to Kanban with the project's List | Kanban switch: each column is a status and moving cards is dragging. Moving a card is the same change as editing the status in the task form. (Kanban boards)

An honest caveat: PjMan's Gantt does not draw dependency arrows between tasks and does not let you drag the bars. If you are looking for a plan editor with those features, that is not the tool's strong point; if what you want is to see the plan you already record and work on the same tasks, it is.

More on the two views on the Kanban and Gantt page. Create your account or explore the demo.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use Kanban on a project with fixed dates? Yes: the board organises the daily work and the phase plan sets the dates. They complement each other.

Is a Gantt chart useful for small projects? If the project has few phases and few deadlines, a list and a board may be enough. A Gantt adds more the more phases and committed dates there are.

How often should I review the Gantt? When planning, and then at each follow-up review, to check the plan is still realistic.