PROJECT

MANAGEMENT

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 2020

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5.0 CREATING AND USING THE WORK BREAKDOWN

STRUCTURE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
 THE WORK BREAKDOWN
STRUCTURE (WBS)
• A tool that helps turn a large seemingly overwhelming piece of
work into a set of tasks that are doable, manageable, and
measureable.

• A means for organizing and defining the total scope of the

project.

• The WBS is project manager’s best insurance against the

risk of omitting important work.

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WBS AT THE CENTER OF
THE PROJECT

The WBS is the core of any project and almost every aspect of
a project manager’s job relates in one way or another to the
WBS
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 WBS DICTIONARY
• It is a document that accompanies the WBS describing
each component of the WBS. For each of the WBS
elements, the WBS dictionary details a statement of work
( which gives a detailed description of the WBS elements,
its associated activities and a list of milestones).

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 DEVELOPING THE WBS
• Divide the total work of the project at hand into major
groups

• Sub-divide the major groups into tasks

• Divide the tasks into sub-tasks (to be small enough to permit

adequate control and visibility

But avoid excess

bureaucracy!

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LEVELS OF DETAIL IN A WBS FOR
AN ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS
UPGRADE PROJECT

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 CLASS QUIZ

Using a practical example, explain the WBS, the WBS

dictionary and prepare a mini budget for the same.
 WBS FORMATS
• OutlineApproach

• Mind Map

• Organization Chart Approach

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THREE WBS FORMATS FOR A FUEL
TANK REMOVAL PROJECT

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THREE WBS FORMATS FOR A FUEL
TANK REMOVAL PROJECT

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THREE WBS FORMATS FOR A FUEL
TANK REMOVAL PROJECT

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 WHY INVOLVE THE TEAM IN
CREATING THE WBS
• Team members are the content experts.

• When team members are involved in WBS development,

they will have a systems view of the total project and the
interrelationships among project elements.
• Participation builds commitment to the project.
• People are far more likely to support what they have helped to create.

• Collaboratively creating the WBS brings conflicting views

and unresolved questions to the surface when it is not too late
to address them.

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 GETTING A START ON THE WBS
MIND MAP: CENTRAL NODE WITH
PROJECT NAME AND SYMBOL

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CHARITY RUN MIND MAP WITH
MAJOR BRANCHES FOR HIGH-
LEVEL DELIVERABLES

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THE WBS DOCUMENT – MAKING IT
USEFUL
• Document the WBS in an appropriate level of detail – if it is
useful for planning, accountability or control purposes to
break tasks into smaller component parts, then do so.
• Incorporate project management tasks in the WBS.
• Conduct a sum of the parts check.
•All lower level tasks should sum to their higher-level
parent tasks.
• Ask: If we complete all of the work packages noted
here, will we have completed the parent deliverable?
• Ask for stakeholder input.
• Number the final WBS elements.

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 ASSIGNING RESPONSIBILITY
•Conduct a global review of tasks assignments to assure
each task has an owner.
• Create a responsibility matrix that documents the
specific contributions (i.e., provide input to, participate
in, be responsible for) team members make to project
tasks.
• Where helpful, create a project organization structure
to document deliverables and owners.
• Where resources are involved in multiple projects, create a
project involvement matrix to document the percent of
time each resource devotes to each project.

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 TIPS FOR TIME ESTIMATES
•Consider the purpose:
•Seek more detail: The more detailed the WBS, the easier it is to
develop accurate time estimates.
• Ask those who will do the work: They are often in the best
positionto accurately estimate time required for a given task.
•Get a range of times, instead of a single point estimate.
•Use three-point (PERT) estimates.
•Ask about and document assumptions.
•Consult historical information.
•Recognize outsourcing & subcontracting take time and resources.
•Consider parametric estimating.
•Incorporate anticipated improvement in efficiency with learning curves.

Reading Assignment; WBS AND LEARNING

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 ESTIMATING PROJECT COSTS
• If the organization has conducted a formal business case analysis,
the core project team will have an initial idea of what the project
should cost.
• Once the project has been sanctioned, and especially for projects
involving long duration, large scope or high complexity, the team
may develop a second budgetary estimate.
 This number will reflect expectations regarding what financial
resources, in aggregate, will be needed to support project work
over its planned duration.
• With a description of the labor, time, and other resources required
for each individual work package, the team is in a good position to
estimate the cost for each project task or deliverable.
 Combining lower-level cost estimates will provide a total
estimated cost for the project as a whole.

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CHARITY RUN BUDGET

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UNDERLYING ACCOUNTING FOR
PROJECT BUDGET

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END
QUESTIONS ANDANSWERS