Graphic Chart Template

A graphic chart makes it easier for project managers to convey project information, and for their audiences to interpret it. Organizing data in a visual way which is more readily understood, graphic charts are a great aid to important project presentations and communications.

Since many graphic charts display information in different ways, it is important to know the various types of charts so you can choose the right fit for your purposes. To help you in this respect, this page offers you a series of key points about graphic charts, along with a free template that you can easily customize into your own professional project chart.

What is a graphic chart used for?

A graphic chart is a type of diagram, timeline or table that is used to illustrate large amounts of data in a way that is easy to understand and remember.

In project management, professionals often resort to a graphic chart to represent and track a sequence of planned events and activities and to make predictions based on which future actions are taken.

What are different types of a graphic chart?

Here are some of the most common graphic chart types:

• Flowchart – it helps organize the steps and actions in a process from start to finish. Often including more than one shape to illustrate separate parts of a process, a flowchart displays the different path you can take in that process.
• Timeline chart – it depicts project schedules. Its horizontal axis represents the timeframe for the project (in years, months, weeks or days), while the vertical axis displays the tasks required to complete the project. Project managers use this type of graphic chart to monitor the progress and status of each task.
  You can make a timeline chart using a timeline template like the one provided on this page, or with the help of various office tools.
• Waterfall chart – it reflects variance over time, demonstrating how different factors can positively or negatively impact an initial value, such as an opening balance. For instance, you can use a waterfall chart to highlight an allotted budget versus the actual amount spent.
• Pie chart – looking like a circle divided into several pieces, it shows the different parts of a whole. The size of the constituent pieces within a pie chart varies based on how much of the whole each of them represents. Professionals can use a pie chart to define population segments, budget allocations or market research responses.

Using and updating the Graphic Chart Template

Building a timeline chart from scratch in PowerPoint requires effort and a lot of patience. This free graphic chart template was created as an easier and time-saving solution to make timelines for clients and executives. It was designed to be simple to understand, and easy to present in an impressive and visual manner.

As every project manager knows, project planning and management software usually produces complicated timeline charts made from lists of tasks. This type of detailed output is suitable for project teams; however, it is difficult to present to audiences who need a high-level timeline that is visual and intuitive.

Customers and executives expect to see visual timeline charts in a way that is familiar to them. They also expect to be able to edit the timeline graphs or include them in their own scorecards and presentations. Taking these expectations into account, we created this free graphic chart as a timeline template that anyone can edit, use and share with peers, customers, partners or upper management.

Once downloaded, the timeline chart template can be edited with Microsoft PowerPoint. This means that any colleagues and other team members using the presentation platform can contribute to updating the template, or even create new timeline graphs from it. Any of PowerPoint’s native controls can be used to manually change all the objects on the graphic chart.

The timeline chart was created with Office Timeline, a free timeline maker that plugs natively into PowerPoint. You can use Office Timeline’s automation to quickly update the template’s placeholders with your own data. You can also instantly change any dates, objects, shapes and styles with a few clicks from the Office Timeline ribbon inside PowerPoint.

If you use other project planning applications, Office Timeline Pro+ Edition integrates with tools like Microsoft Project or Microsoft Excel. Thus, the timeline graph maker will import your data and transform it into an impressive PowerPoint timeline chart within a few seconds and with just a few clicks. So you spend less time creating graphics and charts and more time managing your project.