In this article we are going to look at what many Project Managers and Project Management Professionals refer to as the "foundation" of the project, or at least the foundation of project planning.
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is defined by A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge 3rd Edition (PMBOK® Guide) as:
A deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.
Wow! That is a lot of buzz words and jargon, but do not worry. It is not nearly as daunting as it sounds. Creating a quality WBS will require a substantial amount of energy, time, and people, but in the end is not rocket science. However, before we get too deep into how to actually create a WBS let's first look at its purpose.
PURPOSE:
Why do we need to create a WBS for our projects? What purpose does it serve? Why should I waste my time writing on post-it notes and drawing charts when I could be getting my team started on the actual work of the project? Now, I know everyone reading this is a great project manager or team member, so I am sure none of you have ever said comments such as these, but I am sure you have heard them from those "other" project managers (who will remain nameless).
So to answer these questions, let's take a look at what purpose the WBS serves to our project and our project team. There are three reasons to use a WBS in your projects. The first is that is helps more accurately and specifically define and organize the scope of the total project. The most common way this is done is by using a hierarchical tree structure. Each level of this structure breaks the project deliverables or objectives down to more specific and measurable chunks. The second reason for using a WBS in your projects is to help with assigning responsibilities, resource allocation, monitoring the project, and controlling the project. The WBS makes the deliverables more precise and concrete so that the project team knows exactly what has to be accomplished within each deliverable. This also allows for better estimating of cost, risk, and time because you can work from the smaller tasks back up to the level of the entire project. Finally, it allows you double check all the deliverables' specifics with the stakeholders and make sure there is nothing missing or overlapping.
PROCESS:
Now that we have agreed that creating a WBS will be help to our project's efficiency and effectiveness, how do we go about it? First, let's look at what all we need to get started. There are several inputs you will need to get you off on the right foot:
Once we have gotten the first two levels set, it is time to launch into our decomposition. Decomposition is the act of breaking down deliverables in to successively smaller chunks of work to be completed in order to achieve a level of work that can be both realistically managed by the Project Manager and completed within a given time frame by one or more team members. This level of breakdown and detail is called the Work Package. Work packages are the lowest level of the WBS and are pieces of work that are specifically assigned to one person or one team of people to be completed. This is also the level at which the Project Manger has to monitor all project work. Now the million dollar question is how specific and small does a chunk of work need to be to still be considered a work package? Well PMBOK® does not seem to give a definitive answer on that. Most project managers concur that this varies by project, but can usually be measured using the 8/80 Rule. The 8/80 Rule says that no work package should be less than 8 hours or greater than 80 hours. Notice we said that the work package is the lowest level of the WBS. Activities and tasks are not included in the WBS. They will be planned from the work packages once they are assigned.
Now you are ready to start your team on the work of decomposition, but do not get too far ahead of yourself quite yet. As grandpa always said "There is no reason to reinvent the wheel." Occasionally, you will run into a project that is a "first of its kind," but that is not usually the case. Most of the time, you, your team, or your organization has done a project like this one in the past. That means that there should be a WBS from the previous project that you can use as a template. This will save you a lot time and effort. Even if you have not done a project like this one before, most Project Management Offices (PMOs) have basic WBS templates that can get you started. Another great technique to make your life easier is the Post-It Note Technique. I know it sounds a little cheesy, but it actually works very well. In this technique you simply write each deliverable on a post-it note and stick them at the top of a wall. Then you and your team start to break down each deliverable into components and write each component on its own post-it note. This way, as you place them on the wall and start to create your tree structure, everyone can easily see what has been accomplished and where you are headed. Also this technique allows for easy movement of components around within the WBS.
Now the conference room wall is covered in post-it notes and Sally is frantically wanting write everything down before they start to fall, but wait one more step before you put it into an official (or semi-official) document. You can use your newly created WBS to look for missing or overlapping pieces of each deliverable. This will help eliminate change requests and double work down the road. Once that is completed, put your WBS on paper and log it into your project.
Many projects will also find it necessary to create a WBS Dictionary to accompany their WBS. The WBS Dictionary is simply a document that describes each component in the WBS. This helps clarify any specifics later on when team members completing the work or stakeholders viewing the deliverables have questions. Also, when creating the WBS for very large, lengthy, or complex projects, all the deliverables' specifics might not be known up front and, therefore, it is difficult to create a full WBS. In cases such as these many people use what is called Rolling Wave Planning. This is when you plan down to the level of detail currently known and go back to plan deeper once more information is acquired. Usually rolling wave planning needs to stay as least 2-3 months ahead of the actual work being done, but of course this varies slightly by industry.
PITFALLS:
Lastly let's look at five common pitfalls to creating a WBS. If you can keep these few possible issues in mind when you are creating your WBS, you and your team will be much more successful at creating a useful and accurate Work Breakdown Structure.
The WBS should contain a list of broken down deliverables. In other words, what the customer/stakeholder will get when the project is complete. It is NOT a list of specific activities and tasks used to accomplish the deliverables. How the work is completed (tasks and activities) can vary and change throughout the project, but deliverables cannot without a change request, so you do not want to list activities and tasks in the WBS.
The WBS cannot be used as a replacement for the project plan or schedule. A WBS is not required to be created in any type of order or sequence. It is simply a visual breakdown of deliverables.
The WBS is a formal project document, and any changes to it require the use of the project change control process. Any changes to the WBS change the deliverables and, therefore, the scope of the project. This is an important point to help control scope creep.
The WBS and Organizational Hierarchy chart are never the same thing. Although often similar in appearance, these two documents are very different. The Organizational Hierarchy shows things like chain of command and lines of communication, but the WBS is restricted simply to a project and shows only the deliverables and scope of that project. We hope that this article has helped you better understand the Work Breakdown Structure's purpose, process, and common pitfalls. The WBS is an extremely valuable tool to the project management methodology. It can make or break a project. It sets the foundation for the rest of the project planning. A solid WBS helps ensure proper project baselines, estimating, resource use, scheduling, risk analysis, and procurement.
Check here for more best project management tool. Information provided by Alenu IT Business Solutions Pte LtdThe Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is defined by A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge 3rd Edition (PMBOK® Guide) as:
A deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.
Wow! That is a lot of buzz words and jargon, but do not worry. It is not nearly as daunting as it sounds. Creating a quality WBS will require a substantial amount of energy, time, and people, but in the end is not rocket science. However, before we get too deep into how to actually create a WBS let's first look at its purpose.
PURPOSE:
Why do we need to create a WBS for our projects? What purpose does it serve? Why should I waste my time writing on post-it notes and drawing charts when I could be getting my team started on the actual work of the project? Now, I know everyone reading this is a great project manager or team member, so I am sure none of you have ever said comments such as these, but I am sure you have heard them from those "other" project managers (who will remain nameless).
So to answer these questions, let's take a look at what purpose the WBS serves to our project and our project team. There are three reasons to use a WBS in your projects. The first is that is helps more accurately and specifically define and organize the scope of the total project. The most common way this is done is by using a hierarchical tree structure. Each level of this structure breaks the project deliverables or objectives down to more specific and measurable chunks. The second reason for using a WBS in your projects is to help with assigning responsibilities, resource allocation, monitoring the project, and controlling the project. The WBS makes the deliverables more precise and concrete so that the project team knows exactly what has to be accomplished within each deliverable. This also allows for better estimating of cost, risk, and time because you can work from the smaller tasks back up to the level of the entire project. Finally, it allows you double check all the deliverables' specifics with the stakeholders and make sure there is nothing missing or overlapping.
PROCESS:
Now that we have agreed that creating a WBS will be help to our project's efficiency and effectiveness, how do we go about it? First, let's look at what all we need to get started. There are several inputs you will need to get you off on the right foot:
- The Project Scope Statement
- The Project Scope Management Plan
- Organizational Process Assets
- Approved Change Requests - (PMBOK® Guide)
- Work Breakdown Structure Templates
- Decomposition - (PMBOK® Guide)
- Work Breakdown Structure
- WBS Dictionary
- Scope Baseline
- Project Scope Statement (updates)
- Project Scope Management Plan (updates)
- Requested Changes - (PMBOK® Guide)
Once we have gotten the first two levels set, it is time to launch into our decomposition. Decomposition is the act of breaking down deliverables in to successively smaller chunks of work to be completed in order to achieve a level of work that can be both realistically managed by the Project Manager and completed within a given time frame by one or more team members. This level of breakdown and detail is called the Work Package. Work packages are the lowest level of the WBS and are pieces of work that are specifically assigned to one person or one team of people to be completed. This is also the level at which the Project Manger has to monitor all project work. Now the million dollar question is how specific and small does a chunk of work need to be to still be considered a work package? Well PMBOK® does not seem to give a definitive answer on that. Most project managers concur that this varies by project, but can usually be measured using the 8/80 Rule. The 8/80 Rule says that no work package should be less than 8 hours or greater than 80 hours. Notice we said that the work package is the lowest level of the WBS. Activities and tasks are not included in the WBS. They will be planned from the work packages once they are assigned.
Now you are ready to start your team on the work of decomposition, but do not get too far ahead of yourself quite yet. As grandpa always said "There is no reason to reinvent the wheel." Occasionally, you will run into a project that is a "first of its kind," but that is not usually the case. Most of the time, you, your team, or your organization has done a project like this one in the past. That means that there should be a WBS from the previous project that you can use as a template. This will save you a lot time and effort. Even if you have not done a project like this one before, most Project Management Offices (PMOs) have basic WBS templates that can get you started. Another great technique to make your life easier is the Post-It Note Technique. I know it sounds a little cheesy, but it actually works very well. In this technique you simply write each deliverable on a post-it note and stick them at the top of a wall. Then you and your team start to break down each deliverable into components and write each component on its own post-it note. This way, as you place them on the wall and start to create your tree structure, everyone can easily see what has been accomplished and where you are headed. Also this technique allows for easy movement of components around within the WBS.
Now the conference room wall is covered in post-it notes and Sally is frantically wanting write everything down before they start to fall, but wait one more step before you put it into an official (or semi-official) document. You can use your newly created WBS to look for missing or overlapping pieces of each deliverable. This will help eliminate change requests and double work down the road. Once that is completed, put your WBS on paper and log it into your project.
Many projects will also find it necessary to create a WBS Dictionary to accompany their WBS. The WBS Dictionary is simply a document that describes each component in the WBS. This helps clarify any specifics later on when team members completing the work or stakeholders viewing the deliverables have questions. Also, when creating the WBS for very large, lengthy, or complex projects, all the deliverables' specifics might not be known up front and, therefore, it is difficult to create a full WBS. In cases such as these many people use what is called Rolling Wave Planning. This is when you plan down to the level of detail currently known and go back to plan deeper once more information is acquired. Usually rolling wave planning needs to stay as least 2-3 months ahead of the actual work being done, but of course this varies slightly by industry.
PITFALLS:
Lastly let's look at five common pitfalls to creating a WBS. If you can keep these few possible issues in mind when you are creating your WBS, you and your team will be much more successful at creating a useful and accurate Work Breakdown Structure.
- Level of Work Package Detail
When deciding how specific and detailed to make your work packages, you must be careful to not get too detailed. This will lead to the Project Manager to have to micromanage the project and eventually slow down project progress. On the other hand, work packages whose details are too broad or large become impossible for the Project Manager to manage as a whole.
- Deliverables--Not Activities or Tasks
The WBS should contain a list of broken down deliverables. In other words, what the customer/stakeholder will get when the project is complete. It is NOT a list of specific activities and tasks used to accomplish the deliverables. How the work is completed (tasks and activities) can vary and change throughout the project, but deliverables cannot without a change request, so you do not want to list activities and tasks in the WBS.
- WBS is not a Plan or Schedule
The WBS cannot be used as a replacement for the project plan or schedule. A WBS is not required to be created in any type of order or sequence. It is simply a visual breakdown of deliverables.
- WBS Updates require change control
The WBS is a formal project document, and any changes to it require the use of the project change control process. Any changes to the WBS change the deliverables and, therefore, the scope of the project. This is an important point to help control scope creep.
- WBS is not an Organizational Hierarchy
The WBS and Organizational Hierarchy chart are never the same thing. Although often similar in appearance, these two documents are very different. The Organizational Hierarchy shows things like chain of command and lines of communication, but the WBS is restricted simply to a project and shows only the deliverables and scope of that project. We hope that this article has helped you better understand the Work Breakdown Structure's purpose, process, and common pitfalls. The WBS is an extremely valuable tool to the project management methodology. It can make or break a project. It sets the foundation for the rest of the project planning. A solid WBS helps ensure proper project baselines, estimating, resource use, scheduling, risk analysis, and procurement.
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