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Project Burndown Charts for Better Project Management

07 November 2016

Project managers want to know two things above all else; if the project is on budget and if the project is on time.
And since there is a limited supply of eective crystal balls on the market, weve been forced to turn to other
measures.

Burndown charts

are accessible crystal balls for project management.

Below we explore the application of burndown charts in more detail. We also provide you with a three-step guide
on how you can create your own graphs to ensure youre always meeting those important deadlines.

What is a Burndown Chart?

Burndown charts are graphs that show the volume of work left to complete and how much time you have to do
it. Burndown charts include two lines, showing you the ideal work amount of work remaining at certain points, as
well as the actual amount of work remaining. They help teams work towards specic goals to get the entire job
completed on time and on budget.
How do you create an eective burndown chart?

Step 1: Make Excel Your Friend

Weve all had dierent relationships with Microsoft Excel over the years. Whatever your history, its time to put the
past behind you, because its going to be an invaluable friend throughout this process. Open your Excel sheet and
add the headers for your story (eort), tasks (projects) and sprint (time).
Pay close attention to this set up process. Say you have a sprint of 10 days until the project needs to be completed,

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Project Burndown Charts for Better Project Management - Complianc...

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http://www.compliancecouncil.com.au/project-burndown-charts-for-bet...

considering there are two team members each working eight hours a day. You can use the actual dates over this
period, or you can choose to start at Day 10 and work your way down to D-Day. Its up to you, but the latter option
often sparks the kind of energy you need at the back end of projects.

Step 2: Use Formulas

Youll nd your renewed friendship with Excel will yield many benets, such as the program doing all the tricky and
cumbersome calculations for you with ease.
Excel can estimate how long this project will take to complete. It does this by calculating the ideal amount of eort
required for each worker over each day. And this is lled out by you each day as well. As more work is done, daily
required eort burns down to zero. This means that your burndown chart is displaying both the ideal lines and
the actual lines. And this can help you adjust your processes to maximise productivity and eciency.

Step 3: Select the Data

Now youre up to the easier part. Create a template and select the data.
There should be a clear graph displaying the ideal remaining eort and the actual remaining eort in two rows.
Select a chart which you prefer, but we suggest you use a line chart because its the easiest to visualise the data.
Add titles for your axes and the lines and youre good to go.
Each project has a number of dierent tasks which need to be completed before work can proceed. Further,
unnished work costs money and upsets clients, especially when deadlines arent met. Burndown charts ensure
youre on top of your projects. They give you an insight into the future and allow you to change your practices,
making sure youre always getting the most out of your team.

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