For example, each activity should relate to one Work Package. Each hour spent should be tracked against an element in WBS. You need to understand how you will use the WBS. What information will you enter? Moreover, you want to have an easy way to query any related information. It can be a spreadsheet, dedicated application or an integral part of project management solution. In any case, I do not suggest you invent the wheel. Use a suitable product that supports WBS creation.
You should be able to attach documents and images. You need to have enough flexibility to add several text descriptions, tags, and links. For example, some deliverables may be described in a Project Charter. They might not be very instructive or clear.
Nevertheless, you need to use the names in your Project Scope Statement. You can use it as a description of the final result. But you need also decompose it into manageable pieces of work.
Stakeholders should clearly see how you divided the big whole into smaller deliverables. From time to time they use terms and words they understand. That is OK to adopt them. It is tempting to rephrase some of them to have consistency.
However, keep in mind that WBS is also a tool for communication. You can always get into technical details at lower levels of decomposition. So, try to preserve the names of deliverables customer provided from Project Charter. Firstly, a work package should not be larger than 80 hours of work.
Otherwise, it becomes less manageable and predictable. Following these rules will make decomposition to activities much easier and will make estimates accurate. You will be able to name the deliverables or work packages the team worked or is going to work. The same goes for the cases when you need to integrate a change or include risk response plan activities. You can set a focus for the team the same way.
It is a matrix that will help you to determine roles and responsibilities in regards to different deliverables. Part of the risks will be avoided or mitigated by performing some particular work — Risk Response Plan. These pieces of work should go into the WBS. This way you will have better overall control of the risks and efficiency of your response plans.
Otherwise, there will be defects or change requests. There are many ways more you can leverage the WBS. Though they depend on the organization, you work in. Nevertheless, I strongly suggest you to try using Work Breakdown Structure on your project to the full extent. Project Management Leadership Career Development.
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You can also subscribe without commenting. Here is one more simple Work Breakdown Structure example:. According to the hierarchical nature of a breakdown procedure, there are specific levels that must be applied to make your projects easier to manage. A real breakdown system should contain each of the following components or elements :. These components may have different names, depending on the company. To achieve the project purposes properly, you need to follow a specific way of executing a breakdown system.
Start with the project vision and statement at the top of the hierarchy. Outline all necessary tasks that will comprise the deliverables. However, every person is responsible for the specific execution of every task. It can be just a sentence or paragraph that will describe the project vision and functions in the final stage.
This breakdown structure phase is the basement of any project and it is usually developed by the whole team. Maybe, you will have to divide the scope into multiple phases depending on the nature of your project. Usually, it depends on the project requirements, budget opportunities, and time frames.
Outline all deliverables that must be completed within every phase. Your phases should have end-results. You need to achieve them before moving on to the next phase. Each deliverable should also have its statement describing goals and functions. The tasks of the project should be designed as sections. One team member or a small team will be able to easily manage them.
The assignment of each manageable part is the last stage of the hierarchy. A required team member will be responsible for a specific task. They will be involved in each section of work that will lead to the corresponding results. With the tool, you will easily determine project statement, divide the scope, outline deliverables with manageable tasks that can be assigned in no time. Working with WBS, you will find many essential advantages. The important point is that a project budget can be allocated to the top stages of the breakdown system.
You can develop a budget and schedule by allocating costs and time estimation to specific sections of the Work Breakdown Structure.
WBS has become popular and widely used in software development because of its benefits which project managers can apply. It does not matter whether your project has an internal or external direction. A Work Breakdown Structure includes communication acts on every step. It sounds like a stereotype but people think that software development is only an analytical area. You have wide opportunities to develop your creative skills. While defining the project vision, the team members may use WBS to offer creative steps for project development.
WBS helps to keep all team members focused on the end-goal. It minimizes the chance that unnecessary work is performed because the scope has been clearly defined. Every detail is carefully accounted, that is why nothing gets lost in the project.
When the project is ready, some extra problems can occur. A Work Breakdown Structure helps to cut them by taking into consideration all the details of the tasks before execution. Managers use the structure for brainstorming to find useful ideas and solutions. A virtual whiteboard that helps you and your team collaborate to bring the best ideas to light.
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As a project manager, proper planning is crucial to setting clear expectations and keeping your team on task in order to complete your project on time and on budget.
An organized work breakdown structure WBS can break down your large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks, allowing you, your executives, and your team to focus on concrete deliverables and measurable milestones.
With our WBS creator, you can create the work breakdown structure you need in a matter of minutes. Once your information has been entered, use our extensive formatting features to differentiate tasks and subtasks or define task ownership. Make your WBS chart easily accessible to your entire team with our easy-to-use presenting, publishing, and sharing options.
With a clean, professional presentation mode, you can present your work instantly without ever leaving the Lucidchart editor. Leverage our powerful integrations with popular apps like G Suite, Microsoft Office, Slack, and more to share your work using the platforms your team already uses every day.
Real-time collaboration, mention commenting, and in-editor chat allows you to update and share information instantly. Coming up with the WBS is not entirely left to the project manager. Its successful development calls for the efforts of the project manager, teams and all the stakeholders. It is necessary to stir dialogue and state responsibilities when coming up with such important project management tools.
Therefore, this document or graphical illustration ensures that everybody responsible for the successful execution of the project understands what they are supposed to do. Having a WBS ensures that everyone is at par with the project scope and the expected deliverables at different levels. We must look at where the work breakdown structure fits when it comes to the project management framework. It normally emanates from the project charter, and in ideal situations, it is expected that the high-level deliverables match the goals and deliverables in the project scope statement.
It is also one of the first documents that project managers and teams are expected to come up with as the project progresses.
In fact, it is normally drafted before the Gantt chart or the project plan. It is accurate to say that this is usually the first deliverable for the project. In project management, its key benefit kicks in in the creation of the project schedule.
Therefore, teams are expected first to create the list of deliverables, form a map or relationship from these before coming up with the project schedule. The map of deliverables in the WBS can also be used to identify the resources required to achieve the specific deliverables in a document known as the Resource Breakdown Structure. This is normally made up of all the materials and human resources needed to complete the deliverables. The WBS looks simple to the outside eye but is normally challenging to create.
To help you create one, let us look at a simple process that all project team members need to adhere to. You can never create a work breakdown structure if you do not understand the scope of the project.
Remember, this is an essential document normally created by the end of the planning phase, which calls for a clear understanding of the project scope and objectives. Here, you will need the project scope statement to give you a detailed understanding of the project scope and the project scope management plan, which will equip you with ways to deal with changes to the project scope that may affect your deliverables.
You can come up with these two documents by referring to the project charter. The second step to coming up with an effective WBS is to determine the major deliverables.
Once you understand the project scope, this is possible and is usually the first activity in the WBS development process. Each of these deliverables should also be assigned to independent teams, meaning that the team responsible for one of them cannot be the same one mandated to do the other.
The work package is the lowest component of the work breakdown structure but should not be confused with the activities. If your work breakdown structure is made up of 3 levels, the work package will be the second step just under the major deliverables.
Unlike the first two steps, this calls for more care and requires lots of input.
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