Work Breakdown Structures

Fifteen Project Management Job Functions*

Define scope of project Identify stakeholders, decision-makers, and escalation procedures Develop detailed task list (work breakdown structures) Estimate time requirements Develop initial project management flow chart Identify required resources and budget Evaluate project requirements

Identify and evaluate risks Prepare contingency plan Identify interdependencies Identify and track critical milestones Participate in project phase review Secure needed resources Manage the change control process Report project status

Overlap of Process Groups in a Phase (PMBOK Guide, 2000)

Relationships Among Process Groups and Knowledge Areas (PMBOK Guide 2000, p. 38)

Relationships Among Process Groups and Knowledge Areas (PMBOK Guide)

Project Planning

The main purpose of project planning is to guide execution Every knowledge area includes planning information Key outputs include:

A team contract A scope statement (project charter) A work breakdown structure (WBS) A project schedule, in the form of a Gantt chart with all dependencies and resources entered A list of prioritized risks

PMI Process Project Gantt Chart

Scope Planning and the Scope Statement

A scope statement is a document used to develop and confirm a common understanding of the project scope. It should include

a project justification a brief description of the projects products a summary of all project deliverables a statement of what determines project success

Scope Planning and the Work Breakdown Structure

After completing scope planning, the next step is to further define the work by breaking it into manageable pieces Good scope definition helps improve the accuracy of time, cost, and resource estimates defines a baseline for performance measurement and project control aids in communicating clear work responsibilities

List of Prioritized Risks

The Work Breakdown Structure

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the work involved in a project that defines the total scope of the project It is a foundation document in project management because it provides the basis for planning and managing project schedules, costs, and changes

Approaches to Developing WBSs

Using guidelines: Some organizations, like the DoD, provide guidelines for preparing WBSs The analogy approach: Review WBSs of similar projects and tailor to your project The top-down approach: Start with the largest items of the project and break them down The bottom-up approach: Start with the detailed tasks and roll them up Mind-mapping approach: Write down tasks in a nonlinear format and then create the WBS structure

Basic Principles for Creating WBSs*

1. A unit of work should appear at only one place in the WBS.
2. The work content of a WBS item is the sum of the WBS items below it. 3. A WBS item is the responsibility of only one individual, even though many people may be working on it. 4. The WBS must be consistent with the way in which work is actually going to be performed; it should serve the project team first and other purposes only if practical. 5. Project team members should be involved in developing the WBS to ensure consistency and buy-in. 6. Each WBS item must be documented to ensure accurate understanding of the scope of work included and not included in that item. 7. The WBS must be a flexible tool to accommodate inevitable changes while properly maintaining control of the work content in the project according to the scope statement.

Sample Intranet WBS Organized by Product

Sample Intranet Organized by Phase

Intranet WBS in Tabular Form

1.0 Concept 1.1 Evaluate current systems 1.2 Define Requirements 1.2.1 Define user requirements 1.2.2 Define content requirements 1.2.3 Define system requirements 1.2.4 Define server owner requirements 1.3 Define specific functionality 1.4 Define risks and risk management approach 1.5 Develop project plan 1.6 Brief Web development team 2.0 Web Site Design 3.0 Web Site Development 4.0 Roll Out 5.0 Support

Intranet Project with Gantt Chart

Intranet WBS and Gantt Chart Organized by Project Management Process Groups

Sample Mind-Mapping Approach

Sample Gantt Chart

The WBS is on the left, and each tasks start and finish date are shown on the right using a calendar timescale. Early Gantt Charts, first used in 1917, were drawn by hand.

Sample Network Diagram

Each box is a project task from the WBS. Arrows show dependencies between tasks. The bolded tasks are on the critical path. If any tasks on the critical path take longer than planned, the whole project will slip unless something is done. Network diagrams were first used in 1958 on the Navy Polaris project, before project management software was available.

Sample Enterprise Project Management Tool

In recent years, organizations have been taking advantage of software to help manage their projects throughout the enterprise.

Project Time Management Processes

Project time management involves the processes required to ensure timely completion of a project. Processes include:

Activity definition Activity sequencing Activity duration estimating Schedule development Schedule control

Activity Definition

Project schedules grow out of the basic document that initiate a project Project charter includes start and end dates and budget information Scope statement and WBS help define what will be done Activity definition involves developing a more detailed WBS and supporting explanations to understand all the work to be done so you can develop realistic duration estimates

Activity Sequencing

Involves reviewing activities and determining dependencies

Mandatory dependencies: inherent in the nature of the work; hard logic Discretionary dependencies: defined by the project team; soft logic External dependencies: involve relationships between project and nonproject activities

You must determine dependencies in order to use critical path analysis

Project Network Diagrams

Project network diagrams are the preferred technique for showing activity sequencing A project network diagram is a schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities

Sample Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) Network Diagram for Project X

Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)

Activities are represented by boxes Arrows show relationships between activities Better at showing different types of dependencies

Task Dependency Types

Sample PDM Network Diagram

Activity Duration Estimating

After defining activities and determining their sequence, the next step in time management is duration estimating Duration includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity plus elapsed time Effort is the number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task. Effort does not equal duration People doing the work should help create estimates, and an expert should review them

Schedule Development

Schedule development uses results of the other time management processes to determine the start and end date of the project and its activities Ultimate goal is to create a realistic project schedule that provides a basis for monitoring project progress for the time dimension of the project Important tools and techniques include Gantt charts, PERT analysis, critical path analysis, and critical chain scheduling

Gantt Charts

Gantt charts provide a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format Symbols include: A black diamond: milestones or significant events on a project with zero duration Thick black bars: summary tasks Lighter horizontal bars: tasks Arrows: dependencies between tasks

Gantt Chart for Project X

Gantt Chart for Software Launch Project

Milestones

Milestones are significant events on a project that normally have zero duration You can follow the SMART criteria in developing milestones that are:

Specific Measurable Assignable Realistic Time-framed

Sample Tracking Gantt Chart

Critical Path Method (CPM)

CPM is a project network analysis technique used to predict total project duration A critical path for a project is the series of activities that determines the earliest time by which the project can be completed The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack or float

Finding the Critical Path

First develop a good project network diagram Add the durations for all activities on each path through the project network diagram The longest path is the critical path

Simple Example of Determining the Critical Path

Consider the following project network diagram. Assume all times are in days.
C=2

4 5

E=1

start

A=2

B=5

3
D=7 F=2

finish

a. How many paths are on this network diagram? b. How long is each path?

c. Which is the critical path?

d. What is the shortest amount of time needed to complete this project?

Determining the Critical Path for Project X

More on the Critical Path

If one or more activities on the critical path takes longer than planned, the whole project schedule will slip unless corrective action is taken Misconceptions:

The critical path is not the one with all the critical activities; it only accounts for time. There can be more than one critical path if the lengths of two or more paths are the same The critical path can change as the project progresses

Using Critical Path Analysis to Make Schedule Trade-offs

Knowing the critical path helps you make schedule trade-offs Free slack or free float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately following activities Total slack or total float is the amount of time an activity may be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date A forward pass through the network diagram determines the early start and finish dates A backward pass determines the late start and finish dates

Calculating Early and Late Start and Finish Dates

Project Schedule Table View Showing Free and Total Slack