Detailed Planning

Work Breakdown Structure

(WBS)
 Detailed Planning
 Involves the development of detailed project schedule
and budget
• Development of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• Networking activities in WBS
• Generating Detailed schedule of activities in WBS
• Developing detailed cost estimates of activities in WBS

 Detailed plan will serve as the basis for monitoring

project progress and controlling deviations from plan.

Project Management Course

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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
Detailed Planning &Monitoring
Planning/
Replanning

Tracking/Monitoring Scheduling/
& Control Rescheduling

Implementing
 Detailed Planning
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
The WBS is the breaking down of the SOW into
smaller elements that are:
 Manageable, in that specific authority and
responsibility can be assigned
 Independent, or with minimum interfacing with and
dependence on other ongoing elements
 Integratable so that the total package can be seen
 Measurable in terms of progress.

Project Management Course

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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
 Common WBS
Most common is the six-level indented
structure
Managerial Levels Level Description

1 Total Program
2 Project
3 Task

Technical Levels 4 Subtask

5 Work Package
6 Level of effort

Project Management Course

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 Common WBS
 The upper 3 levels of the WBS are normally
specified by the customer is part of an
RFP/RFQ as the summary levels for reporting
purposes

 The lower levels are generated by the

contractor for in-house control

 The summation of all elements in one level

must be the sum of all work in the next level
Project Management Course
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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
 Common WBS
 Level 1 is generally used for authorization
and release of all work
 Budgets are prepared at level 2
 Schedules are prepared at level 3
 Effort required by departments or sections
should be defined at level 4
 The level at which the work is managed is
called the package level (level 5)

Project Management Course

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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
 Common WBS
 PM normally manage at the top 3 levels of a WBS
and provide status report to management at these
levels also
 In some companies the top 3 levels are
standardized across projects. Only the lower 3
levels are project specific.
 This is only feasible for companies with great deal
of similarity among projects
 Work packages are supervised and performed by
line managers with status reporting provided to the
project manager at higher level of the WBS
Project Management Course
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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
 Example WBS
Program: New Plant Construction and Start-up 01-00-00
Project 1: Analytical Study 01-01-00
Task 1: Marketing/Production Study 01-01-01
Task 2: Cost Effectiveness Analysis 01-01-02
Project 2: Design and Layout 01-02-00
Task 1: Product Processing Sketches 01-02-01
Task 2: Product Processing Blueprints 01-02-02
Project 3: Installation 01-03-00
Task 1: Fabrication 01-03-01
Task 2: Setup 01-03-02
Task 3: Testing and Run 01-03-03
Project 4: Program Support 01-04-01
Task 1: Management 01-04-01
Task 2: Purchasing Raw Materials 01-04-02

Project Management Course

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 Example WBS for a Manufacturing Project
00089
Level 0 Toy bus
(case lot)

10003 10189 10002

Level 1 Toy bus
Case label Packing case
package

20003 20289
Level 2 Bus box Toy bus

30089 30077
Level 3 Body Wheel/axle

400337 50317 40050 40039

Level 4 Plastic dye- Plastic Axle Wheel
blue powder

50317 50702
Level 5 Plastic powder Plastic dye-
black
Project Management Course
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 Criteria for Developing a WBS

 The WBS and work description should be

easy to understand.

 All schedules should follow the WBS.

 No attempt should be made to subdivide

work arbitrarily to the lowest possible level.

Project Management Course

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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
 Criteria for Developing a WBS
 Lowest level of work should not end up
having a ridiculous cost in comparison to
other efforts.
 Maintain flexibility in the WBS because scope
of effort can change during a program.
 Most WBS elements (at the lowest control
level) range from 0.5% to 2.5% of total
project budget.

Project Management Course

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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
 Factors that Influence Level of
Detail
 Overall project duration
 Past performance of teams performing task
 Complexity of task
 Level of risk associated with task
 Dependency of task’s completion to follow-on tasks
 Level of visibility task receives
 Rules of thumb determining level of detail
• duration between 1 to 2 weeks
• decrease detail if team consistently on time
• increase detail on key tasks
• increase detail on highly cross functional tasks
 Creating a Work Breakdown
Structure
 Techniques
• Brainstorm / Storyboard
• Top-Down
• Bottom-Up
 Determine differences between template and your
project
 Use action verb followed by a subject
• Perform QFD
• Benchmark Competition
 Use notes to define task in more detail
 Creating A Work Breakdown
Structure
 Use template or previous project as a starting point whenever
possible
 Identify phases of the project
 Decompose each phase into major elements
 Decompose each major element into tasks
 Decompose each task into activities (if required)
• Level of decomposition should reflect amount of information required
to manage the project
• Data is expensive
• Don’t choke yourself with detail
 Creating A Work Breakdown
Structure
 Areas of Responsibility

 Categories of Work as Distinguished by Craft,

Equipment, or Materials Requirements

 Location of the Work Within the Project

 Contractor’s Breakdown Used for Estimating

 Owner’s Breakdown for Bidding or Payment

Project Management Course

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 WBS Provides the Basis for
 Network scheduling
 Costing
 Risk analysis
 Coordination of objectives
 Control (including contract
administration)

Project Management Course

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 WBS for a Construction Project
PROJECT IDENTIFIER*
FACILITY/AREA-MAJOR DIVISION OF WORK

SUBFACILITY/SUBAREA DESIGNATOR-FURTHER DETAIL OF FACILITY

SUBFACILITY/SUBAREA AREA-MAJOR GROUPS OR SYSTEMS

STANDARD ELEMENT OF WORK (CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS)

1000 EARTHWORK 6000 PIPING
2000 CONCRETE 7000 ELECTRICAL
3000 METALWORK 8000 MISCELLANEOUS
4000 ARCHITECTURAL 9000 INDIRECTS/CLEANINGS
5000 EQUIPMENT

WORK ELEMENT DETAIL-UNIQUE TO EACH ELEMENT OF WORK

WORK ELEMENT DETAIL DESIGNATOR

BASIC ELEMENT OF COST

0 LABOR 5 OPEN
1 BURDEN 6 ENGINEERED EQUIPMENT
2 EQUIPMENT USAGE 7 EXPENDSES
3 MATERIAL 8 EXPENSES
4 SUBCONTRACTS 9 TRANSFERS/COMMITMENTS
FURTHER DETAIL OF BASIC COST
REFERENCE
LOWEST DETAIL CODE
RESPONSIBILITY
SUBCONTRACT
SPECIFICATION
ZONES
SYSTEMS
X X X XX X XX X X X
WORD XXXXXXXXX
PROJECT/ FACILITY ELEMENTS ELEMENTS DESCRIPTION (MAX 9 DIGITS)
FUNCTION OF WORK OF COST
REFERENCES
ACCOUNT NUMBER FINANCIAL
 Cost Account Intersection
PROGRAM
LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2 TRAINING HARDWARE

LEVEL 3 ENGINEERING MANUFACTURING COMPONENTT

SUBSYSTEM SUBSYSTEM ESTING

LEVEL 4 MODULE MODULE MODULE MODULE

A B C D

FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION
TEST

ELECTRICAL COST COST COST

DESIGN ACCOUNT ACCOUNT ACCOUNT
DESIGN
ENGINEERING
COMPANY

MECHANICAL COST COST

DESIGN ACCOUNT ACCOUNT
WORK PACKAGES
MFG

VERIFICATION COST
VALIDATION ACCOUNT
Project Management Course 19
Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
Characteristics of Work Packages
 Have clearly defined start & end date that are
representative of physical accomplishment
 Represents units of work at the level where
the work is performed
 Specifies a budget in terms of dollars, man-
hours, or other measurable units.

Project Management Course

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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
 Project Planning & Control System
WORK DESCRIPTION NETWORK
&INSTRUCTIONS SCHEDULING

SPECS BOW WBS PERT;CPM MASTER/DETAILED

SCHEDULES
GOALS/OBJECTIVES

• SYSTEM LEVEL
• COMPANY LEVEL

BUDGETS
MANAGEMENT DECISION-MAKING
STATES OF NATURE
STRATEGIES

TIME
PAYOFF TABLES
TIME/COST/PERFORMANCE
SYSTEM REPORTS TRACKING
• TIME
• COST
•PERFORMANCE
•RELIABILITY
•MAINTANABILITY
•EFFECTIVENESS

Project Management Course

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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
 Summary Importance of WBS
WBS provides a common framework from which:
 The total project can be described as the summation
of subdivided elements
 Planning can be performed
 Costs and budgets can be established
 Time, cost and performance can be tracked

Project Management Course

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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
Summary Importance of WBS
 Objectives can be linked to company
resources in a logical manner
 Schedules and status reporting procedures
can be established
 Network construction and control planning
can be initiated
 The responsibility assignments for each
element can be established.
Project Management Course
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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
WBS for Control & Evaluation
Validates total risk and
Validates schedule impact of decision making

PERT Network Decision Tree

Validates management
Validates Organization Charts
coordination
Major Corporate
Objective

Interlocked Objective Operational

objective Work
networks Structure
Sub- Sectional
Objective
Tree
Feeder
Departmental
Objective

Feeder Objectives Work Breakdown Structure

Level 1
Matrix of work
Packages
Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Cost flow
Objective Network
Validates Total cost
Validates work methods &
accountability

Project Management Course

Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein
 Exercise 1
 Consider the project described in the handouts
distributed to you, which involves the
construction of a small one-story commercial
building
 Exercise 1 Statement.doc
 Develop a 2 level work breakdown structure
for this project
 Clearly indicate the criteria used for the
breakdown.
 Case Study Discussion
 Which of the project planning tools (WBS,
etc.) described so far was used in the case?
 For each of the tools used in the case,
describe how they were constructed and if
there were any modifications in form.
 How were each of the tools applied in the
case?

Project Management Course

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Prepared by Dr. Pierrette Zouein