what is a work breakdown structure?

Managing a project can be daunting.

With so many variables, it's easy to get overwhelmed.

Where do I begin?

When building a house you start with the foundation.

A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the foundation of a project plan.  1

1.2

1.1.1 1.2.1

1.1 1.3

1.2.1.1

1.2.2

1.3.1

1.3.2 1.1.2

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

"A deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables."

As defined by the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge

What benefits does it provide?

2. Facilitates delegation by creating…

…small chunks of work.  

3. Simplifies cost estimation, scheduling and risk analysis.

How do I get started?

you need to gather all relevant information.   This includes a statement of work, task analysis, schedule of deliverables, milestones, project scope statement, problem analysis, design documentation or other relevant documentation.

First  

We will take you through the process of developing a Work Breakdown Structure for a new program in Dog Whispering that we are creating this year.

Welcome to Practicum University

 The team at PU has gathered all of their documentation and the leadership team is now ready to start working on a plan to develop the program.

There are many tools you can use to create the WBS like mind-mapping tools, Powerpoint or Word. We will use the industry standard diagramming software, Microsoft Visio with the WBS Modeler Add-in.

Start with the first level that represents the whole project.  This should be numbered 1.0.

The second level will vary depending on whether the WBS is Product-based or  Process-based.

A Product-based WBS is broken down into a series of deliverables in the second level.  These deliverables should capture 100% of the project scope.

A Process-based WBS is broken down into a series of phases in the second level.  Each phase may or may not have a deliverable, but all major project phases should be included.

An example of a process-based WBS might be to use the stages of ADDIE as the 5 major phases of the second level.

For the purposes of our example we will use a product-based WBS.  Development of the new program can be broken down into these stages: Needs Analysis, Curriculum Proposal, Course Development Plan, Accreditation Package, Implementation, and Evaluation Plan.

At this point we enter a stage of the process called decomposition to further break the work down in to smaller and more manageable chunks of work, called Work Packages.

How small and specific should Work Packages be?

A general rule that you might want to use is called the 8/80 rule.  No work package should be less than 8 hours of work, or more than 80 hours of work.

80

8

The process of decomposition can be done by an individual, or by the whole team.  It all depends on what makes sense for your project. Still, two minds are usually better than one!

But you don't necessarily need to reinvent the wheel!

If you've already completed a similar project, you may already have a template you can follow for decomposition.  Perhaps PU has already followed this process for other programs.

It is critical that you and your team try to account for every task that is necessary to complete the project.  Mistakes here will only cost the project more time and perhaps more money later.

Once  the  WBS  has  been  completed  it  might  be  necessary  to  build  a  WBS  Dic:onary.    The  WBS  Dic:onary  is  a  document  that  describes  each  work  package  in  detail.

Here is the completed WBS for PU's Dog Whispering program.

Now that you've broken the project down into manageable chunks of work, you can more easily estimate time, cost and staffing for the project. By estimating the amount of time each work package "should" take, as well as the role assigned to that task, you can estimate the cost of that task.

You can develop a table that shows each of these fields in sequence, but there's another way to visualize this information. The Gantt Chart.

The power of the Gantt Chart is that it is a simple and clear way to not only show the length of time of each task, but also visualize task dependencies.

Task  #1  

Task  #2  

Task  #3  

A  Task  Dependency  is  the  rela:onship  in  which  a  task  relies  on  the  comple:on  (or  par:al  comple:on)  of  another  task  or  tasks  before  it  can  begin.

Task  #1  

Task  #2  

Task  #3  

Total Time

Task dependencies determine the total length of time for each stage in the project, and thus the overall timeline of the project.  Therefore, the Gantt Chart is a tool that can help us determine the overall timeline for a project.

There are many different programs that can help you create a Gantt Chart including one of the most widely used tools for project planning and management, Microsoft Project.

Here is a Gantt Chart produced in Microsoft Project for the Dog Whisperer program at PU.

To  build  a  project  you  must  start  with  the  founda:on.

The foundation of a project is the Work Breakdown Structure.

1

1.2

1.1.1 1.2.1

1.1 1.3

1.2.1.1

1.2.2

1.3.1

1.3.2 1.1.2

The Work Breakdown Structure will help you to define the project's scope, estimate time, cost and staffing, make delegation of tasks simpler and identify risks.

The  process  starts  by  gathering  all  the  necessary  informa:on  and  your  key  team  members.    The  more  heads,  the  beHer!

The first two levels of a WBS must encompass 100% of the project process.

Use the process of decomposition to break the project down to manageable chunks using the 8/80 rule.

80

8

Clarify each work package by creating a WBS Dictionary.

Organize  the  tasks  into  a  GanH  Chart  to  highlight  dependencies  and  determine  the  overall  :meline.

Credits Slide  2  -­‐  Scream  by  Edvard  Munch.    Retrieved  from:  hHp://1.bp.blog  spot.com/-­‐JFyqLFg67hU/TaxbHC02ngI/AAAAAAAAADs/  0mIK8c8NJm0/s1600/thescream.jpg  

Slide  4  -­‐  Retrieved  from:  hHp://www.flickr.com/photos  /pgoyeHe/2280685630/  

Slide  12  -­‐  Retrieved  from:  hHp://office.microsof.com/en-­‐us/images/  results.aspx?ex=2&qu=start#ai:MP900422560%7Cmt:0%7C  

Slide  27  -­‐  Retrieved  from:  hHp://i.images.cdn.fotopedia.com/  flickr-­‐3784879602-­‐hd/Tokyo_and_Vicinity/Further_Afield/Edogawa-­‐ku/  Kasai_Rinkai_Park/Diamond_and_Flower_Ferris_Wheel/Ferris_wheel_  and_sunset_croulds_at_Kasai_Rinkai_Park.jpg  

Slide  32  –  Hourglass  Retrieved  from:  hHp://images.wikia.com/witcher/  images/3/3a/Hourglass_2.png  Dollar  -­‐  hHp://www.sparkthemagazine.com/wp-­‐content/uploads/2011/  09/dollar-­‐sign.png