How to show feedback and revision rounds on a Gantt chart
A Gantt chart has no loops, so a review round is a task. Size feedback and revision rounds for typical rework, decide how many to draw, mark the lock after which changes cost, and show who waits on whom.
Feedback and revision is a loop, and a Gantt chart cannot draw a loop. This guide shows how to plan review rounds as tasks with honest lengths, where to lock the work, and how to make the waiting visible.
The short version
- A Gantt chart has no loops: draw each review round as a task whose length allows for typical rework.
- Decide how many rounds to draw, and write that number into the task names or notes.
- Make the person being waited for visible by giving their turn its own task.
- Put a milestone at the lock, the point after which a change costs a repeat of earlier work.
- Use the flowchart for the loop itself and the Gantt chart for what the loop costs in time.
Planning a loop on a chart that only moves forward
Anyone who has made a book, a film or a brand campaign knows that feedback does not arrive once. The draft goes out, comments come back, changes are made, the draft goes out again. A flowchart draws that comfortably as an arrow back to an earlier step. A Gantt chart cannot: every dependency points forward in time, and a link that closes a loop is drawn dashed and not used for scheduling.
The practical answer is to stop trying to draw the loop and plan its cost. A review round becomes a task with a length in working days, sized for what usually happens: the time the reviewer takes, plus the time to make the changes, plus a share of the time a second pass tends to need. You choose how many rounds to draw, and you say so in the task names or notes. Two rounds drawn means two rounds planned for. A third is not hidden anywhere in the chart.
Two things make the rounds readable. First, the person who is being waited for should be visible. If the author revises the manuscript, that is a task of its own, so the plan shows the book waiting for the author. Second, there should be a point after which changes are expensive. In publishing that is the approval of the print files. Before it a rewrite costs a re-typeset; after it, a new proof. Draw that point as a milestone and tell the reviewers its date.
The example below builds the book publishing template in stages. The numbers are illustrative; replace them with the time your editors and authors actually take. For the lead-time side of the same plan, see /guides/release-date-lead-times-gantt-chart, and for the production plan as a whole see /guides/creative-production-gantt-chart. A timeline schedules the work. It does not clear permissions for quoted text or images, or make a contract valid.
Review rounds in a book publishing plan, built in stages
Twenty-two tasks in five groups. Durations are illustrative; set your own. Open the spreadsheet panel to see the rows behind each stage.
The first round, with the author's turn
"Developmental edit" takes 15 working days and "Author revises the manuscript" 10 more. The author's turn is its own task, so the plan shows the book waiting for the author. The milestone "Revised manuscript accepted" lands on day 25.
A second, smaller round
"Copyedit" (8) is followed by "Author answers copyedit queries" (4). The queries round is shorter than the first because the text is already settled. After it the plan reaches day 37.
The cover waits for the pages
"Review cover concepts with the author" (3) leads to the milestone "Cover approved". "Finish the cover with spine width" (3) waits for "Typeset the interior" (10), because the page count is only real once the pages are set.
The lock
"Proofread and correct the first pages" (8) is followed by "Print files approved", which also waits for the finished cover and "Compile the index". It is the lock: before it a late rewrite costs a re-typeset, after it a new proof. In these numbers it lands on day 55.
What a late round would move
"Print and check the proof copy" (5), "Run the print job" (10) and "Deliver books to the warehouse" (4) follow the lock. Lengthen "Author revises the manuscript" by 5 days and every task that follows it in the text chain, "Publication day" included, moves by the same 5.
The loop a Gantt chart cannot draw
A customer reviews samples, asks for alternatives and reviews again. This flowchart draws the loop; the Gantt chart below plans what it costs.
Make the samples and send them
"Pull or produce the requested samples" and "Ship samples to the customer with reference numbers" follow "Customer requests fabric, finish or material samples". This is the first pass, which a Gantt chart draws as one task.
The customer decides
"Customer reviews samples against their expectations" leads to the decision "Customer approves the samples as presented?". The answer sets how many more rounds the plan needs.
The arrow back
On No, "Customer requests alternative samples or a custom match?" leads to "Pull or produce alternative samples", and that step goes back to "Ship samples to the customer with reference numbers". That arrow back is the loop. A Gantt chart can only show it as extra time.
Approval or a closed request
"Document the decline and close the sample request" ends a request the customer drops. On Yes, "Log the approved sample reference against the order" and "Retain a physical or digital reference sample for production matching" follow, with "Obtain the customer's signed sample approval" only when the order needs one.
How it works
List the rounds and who owns each turn
Write down every point at which the work leaves one person and comes back: author, editor, client, approver. Give each turn its own task, so the chart shows the person being waited for.
Size each round for typical rework
Estimate the time the reviewer takes and the time to make the changes, then add an allowance for a second pass. Enter it as whole working days. If your rounds usually take longer than first estimated, use the longer number.
Decide how many rounds to draw
Draw the number of rounds you expect, and put it in the task name, such as Review round 1 and Review round 2. A third round is a decision to add a task, which moves the dates and is visible to everyone.
Add a milestone for the lock
Add a milestone of length 0 for the point after which a change costs earlier work to be repeated, such as approving print files or signing off a final cut. Make the next stage wait for it.
Run what can run beside the rounds
Use a start-to-start link, for example 5SS+2, only for work that safely starts on a draft. If the next round can change what it uses, make it wait for the round to finish.
Share the chart and keep the loop in a flowchart
Share the chart as a link with the reviewers so they see the lock date. If the team needs the loop itself, with its decisions, draw it as a flowchart and keep the Gantt chart for the time.
Mistakes to avoid
Drawing one round and planning for three
A single review task of a few days looks tidy and rarely survives contact with the reviewers. Size it for what usually happens, or draw the second round as its own task.
Hiding the author in the editor's task
If the author's turn is part of the editing task, the plan cannot show where the work waits. Give the author's, client's or approver's turn a task of its own.
Having no lock
Without a milestone after which changes cost, every comment looks equally cheap. Draw the lock and tell reviewers what it is and when it lands.
Expecting progress to move the dates
Setting a review task to 50 percent complete does not shorten it or move what follows. If a round is taking longer, change its length and the dates after it will move.
Open the book publishing Gantt chart
Open the book publishing template, change the review rounds to your own lengths and see the lock and the publication date move.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Can a Gantt chart show a feedback loop?
No. A dependency that closes a loop is detected and drawn dashed, and it is not used for scheduling. Plan the loop as one or more review tasks whose length allows for rework, and draw the loop itself in a flowchart.
How many review rounds should I draw?
As many as you expect to happen, and no more. Name them in order, such as round 1 and round 2, so a reader can see how many the plan assumes. Adding a round later moves the dates, which is the point.
How long should a review round be?
Long enough for the reviewer, the changes and a share of the second pass. The numbers in the example are illustrative. Use your own past rounds, and if they ran over, use the longer figure.
Where does a flowchart fit in?
The flowchart draws the decisions and the arrow back, as in /templates/customer-sample-approval-process. The Gantt chart draws the time those rounds take. You can duplicate a Gantt chart as a flowchart, and a flowchart's arrows become dependencies.
Does the chart track who has approved?
The task shows who is responsible if you fill in People, and you can set progress, but the chart does not record or enforce approvals. Comments, approvals and version history work on the chart as on any other.