Q) (5) What is work breakdown structure (WBS)?

The WBS is a method for getting a complex, multi-step project done. It's a way to divide
and conquer large projects so you can get things done faster and more efficiently. Work
breakdown structure (or WBS) is a hierarchical tree structure that outlines your project
and breaks it down into smaller, more manageable portions.

PURPOSES OF WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURES

 Improves productivity

 Helps project managers predict results based on various scenarios

 Helps with project organization

 Assists in describing the project scope to stakeholders

 Helps to distribute responsibilities

 Allows correct estimation of costs, risks, and time

 Increases communication

 Enables more creativity and brainstorming

 Focuses on end goals

 Organizes details

 Potentially prevents problems

 Addresses scheduling issues

 Helps manage risks

 Allocates tasks

 Gives teams flexibility

 Eliminates confusion

 Gives every team member clear task descriptions

  Helps write and support the statement of work

 Provides foundation for clear status report on project, since each work package is a measurable
unit

 KEY COMPONENTS OF A WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE:

A reliable, useful work breakdown structure or dictionary should gather the critical elements
of a project, along with its timeline, cost, and resources. The most helpful WBS plans contain
these components:

 Identification of which organization, department, or individual is responsible for each specific

work piece

 The scheduled start and end dates

 Required resources

 Estimated cost of the project

 Charge numbers

 Contract details, requirements, and milestones

 Protocol for quality control, requirements, and standards

 Technical information and resources needed to achieve desired results

USES OF WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURES?

Business project managers use work breakdown structures to ensure an organized, visible
view of their projects and their components. These teams can also benefit from using work
breakdown structures:

 Client-Facing Groups: Account directors rely on work breakdown structures to

demonstrate progress (or roadblocks) to their clients. A WBS creates a “north star” for a project’s
deliverables and milestones, which in turn becomes a useful tool to show clients how things are
going.
 Creative Groups: Everyone knows that designers, writers, content strategists, and other
creatives need help in focusing their creativity. A work breakdown structure creates helpful
guardrails to keep the ideas flowing in relevant, project-centric ways.
 Remote and Internal Projects Groups: The visibility of a WBS helps everyone involved,
even tangentially, in understanding who’s doing what and when.
 Technical Groups: Technical teams can use a WBS as a roadmap for their development
tasks. These teams often already are operating with visual “swimlane” or other architectural types
of project management milestones.
 commercial Project Planners: A WBS can capture all the moving pieces of a large
commercial project — not just the main company’s projects and team members’ tasks, but
those of vendors and subcontractors. It can also capture dependencies for getting necessary
permits, tracking progress with governmental approvals, and more.
 Event Planners: A WBS breaks down a complex event into tasks and subtasks, and
assigning them helps keeps multiple teams moving forward on tight deadlines.
 Residential and Construction Project Managers: In addition to the tasks and team
members involved in a regular commercial project, construction project managers can use a
WBS to track stages in utility work, zoning approvals, environmental approvals, and more.
 Scope Planning Managers: When an agency takes on a new client, the resource planners
and directors need to have at least a rough view of the project timeline and resources needed
before assigning a budget and scope to the project.
 Software Developers: Software developers often already break down their projects into
phases or stages. A WBS that includes other organizational members helps developers stay on
top of the most important deliverables first, while giving visibility to the rest of the team.
 System Engineers: System engineers are charged with owning the big picture of their
setups and keeping them running and updated for optimal performance. A WBS gives them an
organic document that captures the smallest details that map to bigger systems operations.
Knowing they have that information at their fingertips can ease their minds by letting them
focus on the larger operational questions.