Work Breakdown Structure – WBS
What is Work Breakdown Structure and how it is used in Project Management?
These are hierarchical decomposition of the work needs to be performed to complete a project. During WBS process, the whole project is break down into small deliverables.
The smaller deliverables will be further decomposed into smaller manageable tasks. The project plan will have many small deliverables as milestones. Project Manager will group together the activities associated with the deliverables and manage the progress of the project.
WBS is used to create project schedules, estimate costs and plan the project. It’s easy to manage risk with smaller deliverables.
The Gantt Chart will give a visual picture of the project plan with deliverables and tasks associated with it.
Work Packages
The large deliverables are breakdown into manageable small deliverables. The smallest deliverable is the Work Package. These Work Packages are easily manageable and budgetable also.
Work packages are the tasks that need to be completed by a single person of the team. They produce a single unit of work. Combining all the single unit of work packages, a deliverable is produced. This is the easy way of managing and completing a project.
The work packages have a person/team assigned to it and they have projected cost to produce. The budget of the whole project can be identified by adding the cost of all work packages.
Graphical representation of Work Breakdown Structure
WBS is a key project deliverable. It’s presented to the project team and organized into manageable small deliverables. The visual picture of the WBS makes it easy to understand and complete.
It is similar to the map of the project deliverable. At the top, it starts with the high level deliverable. Then it is broken down into smaller deliverables until the task becomes a manageable task.
It is a deliverable oriented structure. In addition, it is hierarchically decomposed into smaller tasks until it becomes a manageable task. Each task will be assigned to a resource pool and managed by the Project Manager.
This helps to manage the tasks efficiently and effectively. When the deliverable is smaller in size, the resource and budget can be reliably estimated and managed easily.
WBS will give a graphical picture what are the pieces that needs to be completed to successfully finish the project. They are represented in a hierarchical manner to give the team members the big picture. The team understands the dependency clearly and focus on priority work.
All the requirements in the Scope should be covered by the Work Breakdown Structure and signature should be obtained from the relevant stakeholders and sponsors.
What are the uses of WBS
- Kicks the project off the ground
- It gives a visual picture of the project deliverables.
- The deliverable are manageable chunks
- If there are any redundant deliverables identified, it can be effectively managed.
- The time and cost can be estimated with smaller deliverables more realistically.
- The Scope of the project will have all the deliverables listed in WBS
- If there are any changes in scope, it can be monitored quickly and scope creep can be avoided.
- The Work Breakdown Structure can be arranged and shown by Phases
- WBS can be shown by Components from top down
- Progress of the project is gauged easily with Work Breakdown Structure
- Overlap and gaps are avoided in WBS
- Responsibility for each WBS is identified more accurately
- Scope of work is strictly adhered
- Critical deliverables are monitored more closely with WBS
Benefits of WBS
- Increased productivity
- Less chances of missing any deliverables
- Reduced dependency
- Easy to determine the critical path
- Enhanced Responsibility Distribution
- Meaningful organization of deliverables
- Visual representation of WBS helps the team
The process to create WBS
- Start with the Project Goal
- Decompose the big project goal into smaller deliverables – Level 1
- The smaller deliverables are further decomposed to simpler deliverables – Level 2
- The process continues until it cannot be break down anymore – Level n
- They are represented in a hierarchical manner to present a clear picture
‘
| Project Goal | ||
| 1. Deliverable1 | 2. Deliverable 2 | 3. Deliverable 3 |
| 1.1 Task A | 2.1 Task X | 3.1 Task 1 |
| 1.2 Task B | 2.2 Task Y | 3.2 Task 3 |
| 1.3 Task C | 2.3 Task Z | 3.3 Task 3 |
| 1.4 Task D | 2.4 Task Q | 3.4 Task 4 |
- The IDs are given to each Deliverables and the tasks associated with it. The unique IDs for deliverables and tasks are easy to monitor and manage.
- Work breakdown structures are coded as shown above. If the WBS code is 1.1, then it represents 2nd level of the task item. First number represents the first level and second number represents the second level of hierarchy.
Best Practices for creating WBS
- Gather the team for the WBS brainstorming session
- Team will come out with the project statement
- Ask the team to brainstorm on the major deliverables
- Split the team into number of deliverables
- Let each team decompose their deliverable into small work packages until it cannot be further decomposed
- Use sticky notes on a white board to write down the smaller pieces
- After each team finishes the work, ask the all team members to review and adjust if anything needs to be added or removed
- Consider bringing all the possible stakeholders for review to capture any missing points
Risk Identification Tool
WBS is a great tool to identify risks. When the project is decomposed into small work packages, it’s easy to identify potential risk. The risk can be tracked in a Risk Register. The dependencies also are identified during this process.
Conclusion
The WBS is a very useful tool for the project manager and the project team to complete the project successfully. They give a high level view of what is happening and where is happening. It helps to identify the dependencies and risks.
