What is Work Breakdown Structure WBS in Project Management?

The WBS is also used as the primary source of schedule and cost estimate activities. But, its biggest contributions to a project are is use as a description all of the work and as a monitoring and controlling tool. While it can be difficult to manage multiple projects that go over their allotted timeline, sometimes it’s inevitable.

The map of deliverables in the WBS can also be used to identify the resources required to achieve the specific deliverables in a document known as the Resource Breakdown Structure. This is normally made up of all the materials and human resources needed to complete https://globalcloudteam.com/ the deliverables. The Work Breakdown Structure, therefore, defines the ‘what’ of the project. These are usually captured in a single and easy to understand chart, which decomposes technical and relatively complex activities into smaller and easy to manage parts.

There’s nothing worse than wasting time looking for project information. Assigning task owners can improve team productivity as project stakeholders will be able to quickly direct questions definition of work breakdown structure to the appropriate person. While slightly more granular than level one, level two is still a high-level overview of the dependencies needed to complete the project objective.

Task budget

Get all our templates, tips, and fresh content so you can run effective, profitable, low-stress projects in your agency or team. Depending on the project and the software, the top-level project task is the main deliverable and/or project. This might seem obvious but WBS projects can be very complex with many moving pieces. So, ensuring you can build your Work Breakdown Structure with an intuitive and easy-to-use software will save you a lot of time. There are additional sub-types of WBS ; however, the vast majority fall into deliverable or phase-based types.

The best way to understand how work breakdown structures work is by looking at different WBS examples. Seeing how complex projects are actually broken down can help you do the same in your projects. The numbers next to each item indicate the number of hours or resources required to complete the work. Further, you can program the spreadsheet to manage dependencies and highlight changes as the project progresses. Given the visual nature of the Work Breakdown Structure, it only contains the skeleton outline and omits a detailed explanation of the tasks. Accordingly, the WBS must be read along with the WBS dictionary.

• Figure 1 is an example of a Deliverable-Based WBS for building a house.
• An deliverable-based WBS example showing control accounts, work packages and tasks.
• Use it to get a high-level overview of the project’s progress.
• In fact, according to a survey,80%of businesses spend at least half of their time in reworking their projects.

A WBS project management depicts the hierarchy of specific projects and outputs. It enables the project team to understand how their contributions fit into the broader project management plan, as well as the influence of individual work on the project overall. However, preventative and remedial measures must be implemented to avoid the fundamental cause of modifications in a project. Changes may occur as a result of an imprecise scope of the project or missing requirements of the project. While comprehensive web project management is essential, it should not be overly complicated. Instead, you’d be wasting your time detailing tiny details that readers can readily work out for themself.

Set WBS Levels

Monday.com is a powerful Work OS that allows WBS creation in different formats like Gantt Chart, Kanban Board, etc. It also offers a variety of WBS templates that you can customize. If you can pivot your Work Breakdown Structure into rows and columns, then spreadsheets would be an excellent format for your WBS. They offer almost infinite space, and you can incorporate details, data, and more. Resultantly, the entire team can be on the same page and use standardized terminologies so that there is no room for ambiguity. Ensures that there are no gaps or overlaps in resource allocation to finetune team performance.

Begin the process of breaking the Level 1 deliverables into unique lower Level deliverables. In Figure 1, the Level 1 Elements are summary deliverable descriptions. The Level 2 Elements in each Leg of the WBS are all the unique deliverables required to create the respective Level 1 deliverable.

Of course, the three-tiered structure of Work Breakdown Structure in project management is followed as a rule of thumb and can be expanded or elaborated upon depending on the project. WBS can be done nowadays with software packages that will get everything down in an organized way and also help Joe produce a GANTT chart, which is a great tool for getting the timing right. The steps and time frames will be all there on one page so that he can make it all happen in sequential order.

Identify Project Deliverables

A deliverable-based WBS breaks down the project based on deliverables, such as products, services, or results. The other two elements of the scope baseline are the scope statement and WBS Dictionary. Some of them are based on mind mapping and others are drawing tools. Ask the question, would any additional decomposition make the project more manageable? Figure 1 is an example of a Deliverable-Based WBS for building a house.

Therefore, we advise that you include the work package ID, name and description, and the individuals they are assigned to. You can also include the department, due date, estimated costs and the date of assignment. This is not, however, mandatory as you can choose what to include and what not to. Ensure that each work package does not extend beyond 80 hours and should not be less than eight hours.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) In Project Management

It is accurate to say that this is usually the first deliverable for the project. Coming up with the WBS is not entirely left to the project manager. Its successful development calls for the efforts of the project manager, teams and all the stakeholders. It is necessary to stir dialogue and state responsibilities when coming up with such important project management tools.

Next, create a schedule using the work packages and the major deliverables that you listed out earlier. With a responsibility-based structure, you define all the project activities according to the responsibility each project executive has. When everyone has a clear idea about who needs to work on which tasks and what they need to achieve in the stipulated time, the chances of the project being successful increase dramatically.

What Is Work Breakdown Structure?

By identifying these tasks at this stage, you’ll avoid bottlenecks during execution. Deliverables are important to define, as are the tasks that get you there—but most tasks require being broken down further in order to complete them. They’re part of a more complex task, and you want that feature in your WBS software. All of them, however, are a visual representation of the project, literally breaking down the various stages and substages needed to assemble the final project deliverable.

On that note, you can analyze the elements listed below to conduct an effective work breakdown structure. ProjectManager is an online work management software with industry-leading project management tools like Gantt charts, kanban boards, sheets and more. Plan using WBS levels in our tool, then execute with your team via easy-to-use kanban boards and task lists.

As you’ll see below, the WBS has several advantages over the project schedule. The Work Breakdown Structure is essential for getting a project off the ground. This beginner-friendly guide will help you understand the work breakdown structure and create one on your own. This example includes three levels, which is the most common setup.

All Plans

You won’t want to leave anything out if you’re intending to adequately assess the effort necessary and hence your schedule. The total of all the work required in the lower tiers of the WBS must preferably equal 100% of the required work at the highest ranks. Calendars are great tools for creating a WBS and they give you a different visual experience from the options above. To start your structure using a calendar, you can import an existing spreadsheet or start building a new project within your calendar software. This will not only help track progress but give a high-level overview of team productivity. For example, if there’s a pattern of select teams unable to complete tasks there may be an underlying issue.

Defines specific and measurable outcomes and links them directly to teams and individuals by assigning responsibility. At the same time, it can be integrated with the entire project. It is manageable with a specific authority responsible for overseeing the completion of the meaningful unit of work. It is definable and describable so that all project participants understand it. This article has covered some of the key things you need to know about the work breakdown structure.

Breaking it down into smaller parts allows multiple team members to work on it at the same time, resulting in increased team productivity and easier project management. In the third level of the WBS, break these dependencies down even further into more manageable components called sub-dependencies. At this stage—the lowest level of the project lifecycle—you’re defining the most detailed tasks.

Step 2: Break Each Deliverable Into Smaller Work Components

For example, let’s look at what tasks might be needed to launch a new website design. Let’s take a look at the three highest level dependencies within a work breakdown structure. Cassie is a deputy editor, collaborating with teams around the world while living in the beautiful hills of Kentucky. She is passionate about economic development and is on the board of two non-profit organizations seeking to revitalize her former railroad town.

Project scope management plan to understand how to deal with changes to the project’s scope . In terms of the level of detail, you can think of the project plan as the broadest, followed by the project schedule, and finally, the work breakdown structure. Project plan is an expansive document covering virtually every aspect of the project and its management. It includes details on how the project will be executed, managed, and controlled. It usually has several constituent plans governing communications, risk management, change management, etc. Another common source of confusion for beginners is the difference between the work breakdown structure, project schedule, and project plan.