Often you may hear work plan, a timeline, and a Gantt chart used interchangeably. They all sound very similar, but are they actually the same? In this article, we take a detailed look at these three elements of a proposal and explain which information they contain.
The work plan, timeline, and Gantt chart are used in very similar ways but are slightly different. They all describe the planned progress of your project over time but include different types of information. Normally, the donor does not expect you to include all of these formats. Sometimes you might be expected to include a timeline and either a work plan or a Gantt chart.
The main difference between these three is the information that is included in them. They all describe the sequence of events that will take place in your project. The work plan and the Gantt chart also include information about the responsibilities and dependencies though, while the timeline gives information about the start and end and the most important milestones along the way. In the work plan, there might even be information about the budget included.
| Work Plan | Timeline | Gantt Chart | |
| Start and end date of the project | yes | yes | yes |
| Milestones | no | yes | no |
| Responsibilities | yes | no | yes |
| Dependencies of tasks | no | no | yes |
| Budget | yes | no | no |
Information included in a work plan, timeline and Gantt chart
In general, one can say that the work plan and gantt chart include more information and are thus more work to prepare than a timeline. A timeline more or less only gives an overview of the planned succession of activities and has no further information.
If the donor does not specifically tell you which of the three you should submit, you can choose one of them. Sometimes it also makes sense to have a timeline with only limited information and either a work plan or a Gantt chart as an addition. You do not need to prepare a work plan and a Gantt chart.
The decision on which format to use depends on what you want to show with it. If you only want to give your donor a brief overview and your project is very simple and straightforward, a timeline would be enough. If you want to show specifically who is responsible for which task and which budget is allotted to each individual step, a work plan is a good way to show this. And if you want to show the complexity of your project and which tasks depend on others to be completed first, a Gantt chart is the best way to showcase this.
Of course, with these, you do not only prepare information for your donor but can also use it for your own organization. Both the work plan and the Gantt chart clearly display who in your organization is responsible for which task and which task is important at which stage of the project.
Eva is based in Germany and has worked for nearly a decade with NGOs on the grassroots level in Nepal in the field of capacity development and promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. Before that, she worked in South America and Europe with different organizations. She holds a Ph.D. in geography and her field of research was sustainability and inclusion in development projects.
Very informative and of help. Thanks.