Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Synopsis

Organize your team's tasks and deliverables with a clear Work Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). As one of the most important project management tools, WBS helps to engineer and visualize the Who's and the What's with easy-to-follow tiers and hierarchies. WBS help project managers identify key activities and resources to make successful deliverables.

Questions and answers

Can you name a project that could benefit from a Work Breakdown Structure and explain how?

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A construction project could greatly benefit from a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The WBS would help in breaking down the project into manageable chunks, such as design, procurement, construction, and inspection. Each of these chunks can be further broken down into tasks. For example, the construction chunk could be broken down into foundation, framing, roofing, etc. This helps in better resource allocation, risk identification, and project tracking.

How does a WBS contribute to successful deliverables in a project?

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A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) contributes to successful deliverables in a project by providing a clear and organized structure of tasks and deliverables. It helps in visualizing the tasks, identifying key activities, and allocating resources effectively. This ensures that all tasks are accounted for and that they are completed in a systematic and efficient manner, leading to successful deliverables.

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Slide highlights

The traditional phase-based WBS applies a hierarchical approach to project activities to help you prioritize tasks.

Elaborate on key activities with a mini progress tracker to hone in on additional details across tasks.

A deliverable-based WBS zooms in on what resources are needed for each deliverable across work sections and activities.

Outcome

The first step in the development of a project schedule defines the work to be completed and in what order to achieve the goals of the project. A good Work Breakdown Structure can also work the other way around. It allows a project manager to work backward and identify the exact steps and components needed if they already have a goal for final deliverables.

Questions and answers

How does a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) assist in organizing a team's tasks and deliverables?

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A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) assists in organizing a team's tasks and deliverables by breaking down the project into manageable sections. It helps in defining the work to be completed and the order in which it should be done to achieve the project goals. It also allows a project manager to work backward and identify the exact steps and components needed if they already have a goal for final deliverables. This way, it provides a clear visualization of the project's structure, making it easier for the team to understand their roles and responsibilities.

What are the benefits of visualizing tasks and deliverables with a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)?

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Visualizing tasks and deliverables with a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) has several benefits. Firstly, it helps in defining and organizing the scope of the project by breaking down its major components into smaller, more manageable parts. This makes it easier to understand and manage. Secondly, it provides a clear and detailed overview of the project's tasks and deliverables, making it easier to allocate resources and responsibilities. Thirdly, it helps in identifying potential risks and issues early in the project, allowing for proactive risk management. Lastly, it serves as a foundation for project planning, scheduling, budgeting, and cost control.

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A well-constructed WBS can help the entire project management process, extending to project-related decisions like cost-benefit analysis, how to allocate resources, and project risk assessment.

Application

High-level breakdown

We begin with a High-Level Work Breakdown of typical project phases. In this example, the phases are planning, analysis, design, build, test, and go live. Every project team operates differently, so plug in your own key activities across each phase. What does planning look like to your team? What about analyzing? Etc. (Slide 2)

Questions and answers

What are the typical project phases in a High-Level Work Breakdown Structure?

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The typical project phases in a High-Level Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) usually include: planning, analysis, design, build, test, and go live. However, these phases can vary depending on the specific project and the team's operations. Each phase involves key activities that are unique to that phase.

How can a Work Breakdown Structure be customized for different project teams?

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A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) can be customized for different project teams by identifying the unique tasks and deliverables of each team. This involves understanding the specific roles, responsibilities, and processes of each team. The WBS should then be structured in a way that reflects these unique characteristics. This could involve different tiers and hierarchies, depending on the complexity and nature of the team's tasks. It's also important to involve team members in the creation of the WBS to ensure it accurately represents their work and is useful for them.

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Types of WBS

There are two types of WBS diagrams: Phase-based and deliverable-based. The typical Work Breakdown Structure chart is phase-based and resembles a tree diagram. The top-level is the project title, final deliverable, or even a new feature. The second level is the controls account. The next row is the work packages section, where the groups of tasks that lead to your controls account as listed. Finally, there's the key activities section where tasks needed to complete the work package are listed and grouped (Slide 3-4)

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Alternate layout

A table layout of WBS allows room for more detailed activities that correspond to each phase. This table WBS includes quantitative measurables like the duration of time and resources needed to complete each task. This can easily be substituted for qualitative inputs if more description is needed. (Slide 5)

For even finer detail, a more descriptive WBS task table is useful. Break down work by task category, descriptions, deliverables, deadline, and team member responsible for each task. (Slide 6)

On the other hand, a more simplified WBS approach can be useful for a top-level overview. This helps to align bulleted lists of tasks across main phases with room to assign the task and team member responsible (Slide 7)

In this combination of table and tree diagram WBS, fill in the project basics at the top, then provide a more top-level view of the controls account, work packages, and corresponding activities. (Slide 8)

In this alternative view of a left-to-right Work Breakdown chart, we list each tier of WBS at the bottom. This means that the big picture falls on the left, with more finetuned details to follow as we move to the right. (Slide 15)

Progress tracker

Since WBS diagrams can be dense and hard to fit too much information, having a way to highlight particular tasks can be helpful. Use a mini progress tracker to elaborate on project status and details. Use progress bars to highlight steps towards completion on specific features (Slide 10). Alternatively, a bar graph can also be used to showcase more data-driven details. (Slide 11)

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Deliverable-based WBS

A deliverable-based WBS is useful to define what resources each phase needs to be accomplished. Unlike the typical phase-based diagram we've seen so far, this deliverable-based WBS has a left-to-right visualization. In this example, the deliverable-based WBS helps us determine the hours and budget for each task (Slide 14)

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