Time line/management on Excel

I am trying to organize key project dates for multiple accounts, roll outs, style out, show dates, etc on Excel. I want to show an 18 mos timeline to other departments and my own. Our old process was to look at the project(s) directly in front of us, maybe 3 mos out with no timeline.

Anyone have some good formats to share? Excel is the only tool I have for this.

Thanks!

I do this for timelines per project, though internally not for multiple projects (I just use iCal for that). Below is a sample of what I normally provide to clients (Gantt Chart format) and as well usually do a compressed 1 page version that shows the key milestones with comments (ie. Development - need to have supplier in place 2 months prior).

R

You’ve got to turn to Microsoft Project. Like most MS software it’s quirky, unintuitive and tries to do way more than you need, but it’s the best at getting Gantt charts together (and updating them later on).

If you’ve never tried it before, give the demos an hour or two at home and you’ll get what you need. Skip over the items not related to the Gantt charts, the few functions you need are quite simple.