Scribd
Upload
24 views

Unit2 Wbs

The document defines a work breakdown structure (WBS) and how it can be used to plan and monitor projects. A WBS breaks a project down into smaller deliverables organized in a hierarchy. It provides clarity on tasks and their relationships. A WBS can be displayed as a tree, outline, table, or other format. It helps teams stay focused on short-term goals and identifies how deliverables depend on each other. While a useful planning tool, a WBS needs to be used along with other tools to provide additional details.

Uploaded by

Sawan Raj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
24 views

Unit2 Wbs

The document defines a work breakdown structure (WBS) and how it can be used to plan and monitor projects. A WBS breaks a project down into smaller deliverables organized in a hierarchy. It provides clarity on tasks and their relationships. A WBS can be displayed as a tree, outline, table, or other format. It helps teams stay focused on short-term goals and identifies how deliverables depend on each other. While a useful planning tool, a WBS needs to be used along with other tools to provide additional details.

Uploaded by

Sawan Raj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

What is a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)?

Projects are made up of milestones, deliverables, and tasks brought together to


accomplish goals and objectives. To effectively plan and monitor timely project
completions, you’ll need clarity on the factors that contribute to its success. One of
the ways you can stay on top of these is by creating a work breakdown structure
(WBS).

What is a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)?


A work breakdown structure is a list of a project’s deliverables broken down into
smaller ones.

Work breakdown structure levels


You can make your work breakdown structure as detailed as you want:

• Level 0: Project title or final deliverable


• Level 1: Major deliverables
• Level 2: Deliverables that can still be broken down
• Level 3: Can be assigned to the team to complete the third level deliverables

Here’s an example that illustrates this:

Work breakdown structure formats


The format of your WBS will depend on your team’s or stakeholders’ preferences.

Tree
The illustration we showed previously is an example of a WBS formatted as a tree. It’s
the most commonly used, and it uses rectangles and line connectors to illustrate how
the elements relate to one another.

Outline
The outline is the simplest you can do. It’s text-based, and it represents deliverable
hierarchies through indents and numbering.

If your level 2 deliverable is numbered as 1, then the level 3 deliverables under it will
be labeled as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc. Here’s an example:

Tabular
A tabular WBS uses tables to display the hierarchy among tasks. The leftmost column
will contain the major deliverables. The succeeding columns after that will house the
next deliverable levels.

Here’s how we can illustrate that with the Halloween Party example:
Hierarchical
The hierarchical WBS is also shown in a tabular form. The difference would be how the
information is organized.

In this format, the leftmost column would contain the Level, the second would be the
WBS Code, and the last would be the Deliverable.

Work breakdown structure types


The information on its second level primarily determines the type of WBS. The ones
illustrated above are delivery-based WBS, in which the second level represents the key
deliverables for the project.

Another type, phase-based WBS, uses the project phases as the elements for level 2.

Here’s a trimmed example of the Halloween Party WBS turned into a phase-based
WBS:
Your industry and project type will dictate the WBS you should use.

Go more in-depth with WBS Types (Work Breakdown Structure)

How to Make a Work Breakdown Structure


A work breakdown structure can be made by taking the following steps:

1. Collect Information on Project Goals and Deliverables: Before creating your


work breakdown structure, go over your project’s goals and final deliverable.
Study your scope and limitations to identify the steps you need to take to make
progress.
2. Gather Key Stakeholders and Team Members: Once you have the information
you need, share them with your team and stakeholders, so you can check and
balance what you know.
3. Define Elements: With your team, start filling in your WBS with a breakdown of
your deliverables.
4. Add Additional Details: You can opt to add additional details, such as the
person assigned and your budget for each deliverable.

Advantages of a Work Breakdown Structure


Some of the advantages of a work breakdown structure include:

• Identifying Deliverable Allows for Thorough Project Planning: Creating a


work breakdown structure will require you and your team to identify your
deliverables and break them down into the actionable ones you will need to
work on daily and weekly.
• Facilitates Focus for Team Members: Seeing what the team has to accomplish
in days and weeks makes it easier to focus on day-to-day work. While long-term
goals are important, short-term goals give teams actionable aims.
• Establishes Relationships Between Deliverables: Because dependencies are on
full display with a work breakdown structure, it’s easy to spot which major
deliverables are affected when smaller activities are neglected.

Limitations of a Work Breakdown Structure


Needs to be supported by other tools for maximum effectivity
While a work breakdown structure can display a lot of information, it doesn’t display
how challenging the tasks are. Aside from the budget, you also won’t find the
resources your team will need to accomplish them. To effectively use the WBS, use
them with other tools.

Could encourage micromanagement


It can be tempting for project managers to micromanage teams when their respective
deliverables are easily visible.

How should your WBS differ for an IT project? Read Work Breakdown Structure for IT
Projects (WBS)

Complementing Project Plans with a Work


Breakdown Structure
A work breakdown structure offers a great way to increase the visibility of a project’s
deliverables. It can be displayed in the form of a tree, outline, table, or hierarchy.
You can also make it as detailed as you want it to be.

While there are a few limitations, using a WBS to complement your project’s processes
can enable you to better manage your team’s focus and improve your project
estimates.

What is a project milestone?

• Can be conceptual or tangible


• Signals the reaching of a key stage in the project
• An important sign for the team
• A point for project management to check project goal alignment
What is a project deliverable?

• Must be tangible (i.e. a product or service)


• Signals the completion of a project phase
• An important sign for the client
• A point for the client to sign-off on project status
Milestone vs. deliverable: What’s the same and what’s different?
As you can see from the above characteristics, there IS considerable
overlap between project deliverables and project milestones. For example,
a particular deliverable may coincide with a certain milestone or vice-versa.
But ultimately, deliverables and milestones represent two distinct – if often
parallel – tracks along which projects are measured and carried out.

Let’s dive a little deeper into the distinctions.

Tangible vs. intangible

One of the major differences between milestones vs. deliverables is that a


deliverable must represent something tangible – a concrete product or
service, such as a piece of software or a marketing video – whereas a
milestone can simply be a conceptual change or moment.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy