This has not been written by me but learners working on project management will find this useful.
Introduction to the WBS
The Work Planning process is divided into three phases, viz. Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS) Development, Time and Cost estimation, and Schedule development.
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical description of all the work that
must be done to meet the needs of the customer. While the three activities, viz. WBS
development, time and cost estimation, and schedule development are listed in a certain
order in the framework, a Project Manager who has gained some experience in the
process may actually perform the three activities in a different order.
No particular software or tool is recommended for a project work plan. The Project
Manager could use MS Project, MS Excel, or even a whiteboard (reserved for the project
through the project life cycle).
Work Plan- Work Breakdown Structure—Activity Definition
Purpose:
The objective of this activity is to identify and organize the project into activities, sub-
tasks, and work packages needed to achieve goals. This establishes the base for the
Project Manager to estimate the duration of the project, determine the required resources
and schedule the work. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical
The Essay on Project Management Organizational Structures
A series of related jobs that are focused toward a major solution is a project. Projects take time, money, people, and other resources to perform successfully. Project management usually controls these resources as well as planning the project and allocating resources where needed. Before a project is started, management decides which organizational structure will be used to run the project. There ...
description of all the work that must be done to meet the needs of the customer.
Participants:
The Project Manager develops the Work Breakdown Structure in consultation with the
core project team.
Inputs:
Project Request Approval Form [1], Project Overview Statement [1], Quality Strategy
[1], Project Approach [2], Business Case [4]
Process:
1. Two approaches can be used to identify project activities.
2. The first is the top-down approach.
a. Be clear about the goal in the Project Overview Statement.
b. Break down the goal into deliverables.
c. Identify activities that must be performed from the beginning to the
completion of the project.
d. Break down the deliverables into activities.
e. Successively decompose work into smaller, more manageable components
until you are satisfied that the work is defined at a sufficient level of detail to
allow you to estimate time, cost and resource requirements. The purpose is to
provide better management control.
3. Another approach to identify project activities is the bottom-up approach.
a. The entire planning team agrees to the first-level breakdown.
b. The team is divided into as many groups as there are first-level activities.
c. Each group then makes a list of the activities that need to be completed in
order to complete the first-level activities.
d. Someone in the group identifies an activity and tells it to the group. If the
group agrees, then the activity is written on a slip of paper and put in the
middle of the table. The process repeats itself until no new ideas are
forthcoming.
e. The group then sorts the slips into activities that seem to be related to one
another. This helps the planning team add missing activities or remove
The Essay on Career Plan Building Activity, Work Culture
I am grateful surprise with the results of my Career Plan Building Activity; Work Culture Activity Based on my Work Culture Preferences results I am: Ethical Emphasis on fairness, promoting equal rights and justice, the chance to make a positive contribution to the society, emphasis and social and environmental responsibility. Expert Control your own work schedule and organization, high engagement ...
redundant ones.
f. Once the team is satisfied it has completed the activity list for the first-level
breakdown, the members are finished. Each group then reports to the entire
planning team the results of its work. Final critiques are given, missing
activities added, redundant activities removed.
4. Define for each task how the work will actually be organized and accomplished.
5. Check that all deliverables have been accounted for.
6. Account for reviewing tasks and documentation.
7. Verify to see if the lower-level items are both necessary and sufficient for completion
of the decomposed items.
8. Verify to see if each item is clearly and completely defined.
Outputs:
Work Breakdown Structure
1. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is used to develop and confirm a common
understanding of the scope of the project.
2. Each descending level represents an increasingly detailed description of the
project deliverables.
3. Breaking down work into a hierarchy of activities, tasks, sub-tasks, and work
packages is called decomposition. Decomposition involves subdividing the major
project deliverables or sub-deliverables into smaller, more manageable
components until the deliverables are defined in sufficient detail to support
development of project activities.
4. The items at the lowest level of a branch may be referred to as work packages.
5. The top-down approach begins at the goal level and successively partitions work
down to lower levels of definition until the participants are satisfied that the work
has been sufficiently defined.
6. The bottom-up approach is more like a brainstorming session than an organized
approach to building the WBS.
7. Check to see that all deliverables have been accounted for.
8. Ensure that testing and training is accounted for.
9. Ensure that documentation and review activities are planned. Ensure that
The Essay on Work-Related Project Analysis 2
Note: Usethe same project addressed in the Work-Related Project Analysis, Part II. Consider this as a follow-up, incorporating the transition from design to implementation for selected business system at the department or division level. Write a 1,400- to 2,100-wordpaper describing the development and implementation stages for the situation specified in previous weeks.Include the following: · A ...
product/service launch and implementation activities are planned. Ensure that
delivery approval cycles are accounted for.
10. Include Project Management deliverables on the project as well e.g. delivery of
the specifications document or preparation of test cases. Include any deliverables
that must be met or delivered by the customer. Review the Communications
document and the Project Approach for any deliverables that need to be included
in the WBS.
11. A top-down approach or a bottom-up approach can be used in order to develop a
Work Breakdown Structure. The top-down approach is recommended though.
12. The six criteria to test for completeness are:
a. Status/completion is measurable. If someone asks about the status of the
task, and the task is defined properly, the question should be easily
answered.
b. Start/end events are clearly defined. Once the start event has occurred,
work can begin on the task and the deliverable is most likely the end
event.
c. The activity has a deliverable. The deliverable is a visible sign that the
task is complete.
d. Time/cost is easily estimated. This allows you to aggregate to higher
levels and estimate the total project cost and the completion date.
e. Activity duration is within acceptable limits. There is no fixed rule for the
duration of an activity.
f. Work assignments are independent. Once work has begun on the task, it
can continue without interruption and without the need of additional input
or information until the task is complete. You can however choose to
schedule it in parts because of resource availability.
13. The WBS activities at the lowest levels of granularity must always be expressed
in verb form.
14. There are 3 general structures to the WBS:
a. Deliverables-based structures: The components of the WBS are the
deliverables.
b. Task-based structures: This defines the deliverables in terms of the actions
that must be done to produce the deliverable.
c. Organizational structures: This defines the deliverable of the project work
The Essay on Project Poultry
... of the main tools used in these projects is the work break down structure (WBS). This tool allows the team to know ... given moment. A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the team’s work into manageable sections. The Project Management Body of ... may accomplish a lot of documented tasks that there are billable. But as the project manager, you orchestrate but rarely ...
in terms of the organizational units that will work on the project.
15. WBS templates of similar projects can be used effectively.
Work Plan—Work Breakdown Structure
