The work breakdown structure in software project management robert c. The work breakdown structure is a deliverableoriented, hierarchical decomposition of the work to be completed by the project team. The work break down structure wbs was developed during 1960s by the u. Nov 26, 2019 a work breakdown structure is your map through more complicated projects. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Work breakdown structure template free premium templates. Improving work breakdown structure wbs guidance for. Figures 1 and 2 provide examples of a wbs for the building of a table. Work breakdown structure rev e, june 2003 work breakdown structure a project work breakdown structure wbs is a deliverable or product oriented grouping of project work elements shown in graph ical display to organize and subdivide the total work scope of a project.
Work breakdown structure template excel online business software. It should be noted that at the lowest level in the wbs, an individual should be identified and held accountable for the result. Outstanding book if you want to learn about the work breakdown structures. It is a hierarchical structure which is normally represented in. The work breakdown structure wbs organizes and defines 100% of the. What is wbs work breakdown structure in project management. Creating the work breakdown structure the wbs can be structured in either of two ways. Integration of cost and work breakdown structures in the. Chapter 1 introduction to the work breakdown structure. It is an im portant planning tool which links objectives with re sources and activities in a logical framework. Read online and download ebook practice standard for work breakdown structures.
Haugan, now retired, has a long history in project management starting with dod projects in 1960. The work breakdown structure wbs provides a view of your project based on activities. Doe office of management, budget and evaluation work breakdown structure project management practices guide, revision e dated june 2003. The work breakdown structure wbs organizes and defines 100% of the scope of project work to be accomplished and displays it in a way that relates work elements to each other and to the projects goals.
Consistent with a guide to the project management body of knowledge pmbok guidethird edition, the wbs practice standard presents a standard. The placement of an activity on the wbs is maintained directly on the activity record. The best way to understand how work breakdown structures work is by looking at different wbs examples. A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the teams work into manageable sections. Seeing how complex projects are actually broken down can help you do the same in your projects. Work breakdown structure a work breakdown structure wbs is a decomposition of all the work necessary to complete a project. Framework based on building information modelling for information. The importance of the wbs experienced project managers know there are many things that can go wrong in projects. From the time the first edition of the practice standard for work breakdown structures was being developed a little more than five years ago, there has been a vast expansion in rapid electronic access to information through the internet, cdroms. Software engineering department, tshwane university of. Work breakdown structure wbs in project management apppm. A work breakdown structure wbs provides a consistent and visible framework for defense materiel items and contracts within.
Request pdf flexible work breakdown structure for integrated cost and schedule control integration of cost and schedule control systems. In so doing, you gain clarity into the details needed to accomplish every aspect of your project. Approaches to develop work breakdown structures product component approach structure the work based on the work products examples. It is a product oriented structure, not an organizational structure. The work breakdown structure in software project management. A work breakdown structure wbs, as the name says, is the process or technique of dividing complex and difficult projects into smaller units. The first approach structures the wbs primarily from a deliverables perspective, in that the highest level level 1 entries represent the major deliverables that the project is committed to create. Tausworthe jet propllsiotl lrrhoultop the work breakdown structure wbs is a vehicle for breaking an engineering project down into subproject, tasks, subtasks, work packages, and so on.
Work package a deliverable or project work component at the lowest level of each branch of the work. The term wbs describes the procedure of subdivision of the project deliverables. Another reason is the commonly held view that the wbs is formed by the intersection of a product breakdown structure and a process breakdown structure. A term for work whose meaning and placement within a structured plan for project work varies by the application area, industry, and brand of project manage ment software. To develop and maintain a wbs, you must have a clear understanding of the projects. The following discussion will examine the current trends and practice regarding work breakdown structures.
Even subprojects can be broken down into smaller bits. Edit this wbs template online using our tool and easily visualize your project work. Think of the wbs as a visual model of the project that identifies each piece of the scope of work and how its delivered to the customer. Work breakdown structures objectoriented software engineering.
New milstd881c work breakdown structures for defense. This lack of information can also result in disruptive work sequences and ineffective resource usage. The work breakdown structure is the tool used to divide the project work content among individ uals and organizations so that ef ciency and effectiveness will be achieved while ensuring the inte gration of work efforts to produce the projectrequired deliverables. Work breakdown structure relativistic heavy ion collider. Chapter 1 introduction to the work breakdown structure 1. Collaboration features to do the breakdown as a team. Preliminary design phase, critical design phase must ensure that phases are clearly separated by a deliverable e. View work breakdown structure research papers on academia. The wbs 1 is a hierarchal decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project. The work breakdown structure visually defines the scope into manageable. Mar 15, 2018 the best way to understand how work breakdown structures work is by looking at different wbs examples.
It is a book you must have in your shelf for 2 reasons. Work breakdown structures engineering systems science. A wbs work breakdown structure is a project management tool that is planned to capture project activities in an illustrative diagram. At last the first comprehensive and practical guide to the work breakdown structure wbs in 45 years. Cdc unified process practices guide work breakdown structure up version. Improving work breakdown structure wbs guidance for weapons. The detail design engineering is broken down into disciplines engineering.
The work breakdown structure visually defines the scope into manageable chunks that a project team can. Flexible work breakdown structure for integrated cost and. The relevance of the topic and the way gregory haugan wrote it. Each level of the wbs represents an increasingly detailed description of the project work by activity. Throughout this standard, you will learn what characterizes a highquality wbs and discover the substantial benefits of using the wbs in everyday, reallife situations. Aug 01, 20 the practice standard for work breakdown structuressecond edition supplies project managers and team members with direction for the preliminary development and the implementation of the wbs.
Work breakdown structure templates editable online or. Introduction delivering projects on time, within budget and to the required quality standard is probably the most difficult and challenging task facing project managers. Defining effective work breakdown structures in the detail above we have briefly discussed a few common approaches to wbs construction and suggest a number of factors that have contributed to the confusion related to the development of effective work breakdown structures. A work breakdown structure is your map through more complicated projects. Applying the work breakdown structure to the project. Work breakdown structures that subdivide work by project phases e. Specifically, the planning process group begins with three essential steps scope planning 3. In particular, the lack of helpful information about the processes used to apply deliverableoriented work breakdown structures to project scheduling is seen as the primary obstacle project managers face when attempting to use deliverableoriented work breakdown structures as a basis for scope management and schedule development. The work breakdown structure wbs is used for defining work packages and developing and tracking the cost and schedule for the project. The difficulty they encounter making the logical association and transition from wbs to project schedule, drives their reluctance to adopt the practice. A work breakdown structure wbs is a fundamental project management technique for defining and organizing the total scope of a project, using a hierarchical. Understanding work breakdown structures the wbs of a project is represented by a hierarchical grid that shows project activities and their relationships.
This chart can indicate either product hierarchy or process hierarchy. Once the elements of the wbs have been defined, resource requirements are determined for each element. Work breakdown structures 1 au this work is licensed under a creative commons attribution 3. A wbs is developed by first identifying the system or project end item to be structured, and then successively subdividing it into increasingly detailed and manageable subsidiary work products or elements. In 1987, this approach of wbs was documented from the project. What is a work breakdown structure wbs example included. The wbs was initially employed by the defense department of us, which directed its application on their projects. It is a tree diagram in which the project is broken down into deliverables and subdeliverables needed to. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while. It becomes an important status monitor during the actual imple. Wbs is a hierarchical model of all the work required to produce the projects outputs.
A construction project involves of a series of processes, from design to planning. Approaches to develop work breakdown structures resultoriented approach structure the work based on the work products activityoriented approach structure the work based on development activities and project functions geographical area approach structure the work based on geographical location organizational approach. Defining a work breakdown structure a work breakdown structure wbs is defined as a hierarchy of tasks that are representative of the real work flow of a construction project. Pdf integration of cost and work breakdown structures in the. One project may include several phases, or also smaller subprojects.
This book offers vital new perspectives on how to apply the wbs to todays different types of projects that produce products, services or results. Practice standard for work breakdown structures download. As construction projects become more complex, the need for effective project control becomes equally pressing. Construction phase work breakdown structure construction initiation addenda construction operations construction completion asbuilt plans bids advertisement communications project briefing meeting minutes public outreach meeting minutes construction bidx posting of addenda contractor addenda acknowledgement advertising. It is a hierarchical chart that accounts for the individual parts of a system. A work breakdown structure wbs is defined as a hierarchy of tasks that are representative of the real work flow of a construction project. Developing and elaborating effective work breakdown structures. Creating effective work breakdown structures or how to. While work breakdown structures are technically supposed to focus on deliverables, not activities i. Owing to ineffective management of construction information, the construction industry is. Task a term for work whose meaning and placement within a structured plan for project work varies by the application area, industry, and brand of project management software. A wbs is arranged in a hierarchy and constructed to allow for clear and logical groupings, either by activities or deliverables.
Wbs template market research work breakdown structure template. This smaller unit can be a data, product, service or any combination. The project management institute pmi project management body of knowledge pmbok defines a. Not so good for displaying work breakdown structures to audiences who are not familiar with the project. Work breakdown structure practice standard projectwbs vs. Work breakdown structure from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia a work breakdown structure wbs in project management and systems engineering, is a tool used to define and group a projects discrete work elements or tasks in a way that helps organize and define the total work scope of the project1. The 4 principles of an effective work breakdown structure a. Automation, project control, work breakdown structure 1.
The work breakdown structure wbs is a vehicle for breaking an engineering project down into subproject, tasks, subtasks, work packages, and so on. The aggregation of all the work to be performed in a project. The project management body of knowledge defines the work breakdown structure as a deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team. An entry in the work breakdown structure that can be at any level. The lowest level describes a package of work that can be. Practice standard for work breakdown structures kindle edition by project management institute. Design documents, manuals, the delivered system, functional approach structure the work based on development activities and project functions examples.