I studied work breakdown structures in detail – that’s what I learned

I studied work breakdown structures in detail – that’s what I learned

Here’s a quick truth. Before writing this article, I stumbled upon this Akin’s Lawssummarize the project structure plans accurately. The funny “law” is: It’s called a work breakdown structure because unless you force structuring, the remaining work will grow until it becomes a work breakdown structure. This law is clear and true!

All joking aside, while I was getting my project management degree, I found an instructive note in the PMBOK guide. The guidea resource for project managers, warns that “no project should be without WBS.”

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Without a work breakdown structure (WBS), there is a high chance that your projects will exceed their deadlines and budgets and fail to meet stakeholder expectations. They don’t want any of it.

So in this guide, I’ll draw on my experience as a project management professional to share what I’ve learned about work breakdown structures. You’ll also receive insights from industry experts to help you learn more about WBS.

Table of contents

Accordingly Jeffrey PintoAuthor and professor, the WBS is a planning mechanism for knowing the interrelationship of various activities in a project. In its simplest form, the WBS looks like the following Template below:

Example of a work breakdown structure

source

Elements of the work breakdown structure

Based on what I learned from Pinto, each HOS has at least four levels Project management.

However, if your project is complex, you will have to provide more partial services and your work package will become larger and larger.

Here are the four levels of a WBS for a simple project.

level

WBS term

Description

Top level/Level 1

project

The overall project is under development

Stage 2

Available

The most important project components

Stage 3

Under-deliverable

Supportive services

Stage 4 (Activity)

Work package

Individual project activities

To illustrate, I will explain these levels using the WBS for a marketing conference.

Top level/Level 1

The top level of the WBS covers the entire project scope. It is also the final result that outlines what I want to achieve. In this project, the top level is a “Marketing Conference Plan.”

I studied work breakdown structures in detail - that's what I learned

Stage 2

The second level of the WBS describes the most important project components. Additionally, the project scope is reduced into units that serve as deliverables.

Deliverables include features for products or phases for tasks. My project consists of a series of eight tasks. You’ll notice that I’ve numbered all of the results at this level (and lower levels).

This is a deliberate element missing from some PSPs I’ve seen.

I studied work breakdown structures in detail - that's what I learned

Pro tip: Numbering a work breakdown structure helps with clarity, organization, and tracking. Numbering gives me a logical and visual way to see the relationship between deliverables, sub-deliverables and work packages. This makes it easier to locate a work item, especially on a large project.

Stage 3

The third level of the WBS is underdelivery. Each sub-service is a component of the main service you provide to your stakeholders.

When considering an item as a subdeliverable, what matters is how easy it is to manage. The subordinate service “Researching potential venues” (2.1), for example, fits this bill.

Why? It’s manageable. I can plan a few hours for this. The costs are minimal.


I studied work breakdown structures in detail - that's what I learned

If you are creating your own WBS, be sure to use a Template to make it easier for you to get started.

Activities

The final level of WBS is activities. Think of activities like atoms. They are the smallest elements within a sub-delivery or delivery item.

For example, to deliver event planning and strategy, I need to complete the following activities:

  • 1.1 Define goals and objectives
  • 1.1.1 Conduct a kickoff meeting with stakeholders
  • 1.1.2 Create a list of measurable goals
  • 1.1.3 Finalize goals in a project charter
  • 1.2 Identify the target audience
  • 1.2.1 Conduct market research
  • 1.2.2 Create target group personas
  • 1.2.3 Validate personas with stakeholders
  • 1.3 Develop an event theme and branding
  • 1.3.1 Brainstorm topic ideas
  • 1.3.2 Design logo and brand materials
  • 1.3.3 Approve theme and branding with stakeholders
  • 1.4 Set a budget and allocate resources
  • 1.4.1 Identify major expense categories
  • 1.4.2 Create an initial budget plan
  • 1.4.3 Obtain budget approval from stakeholders
  • 1.5 Create a project schedule and milestones
  • 1.5.1 Create a detailed project schedule
  • 1.5.2 Identify key milestones
  • 1.5.3 Share the timeline with the team

Advantages of using WBS in project management

When I learned about the WBS, some of my colleagues seemed unconvinced. Some argued that it was great on paper but not applicable in real-world situations. For others, the benefits outweigh the misconception of not having one.

How does a WBS actually help?

A HOS prevents scope creep.

When there is a WBS, all stakeholders are on the same page.

Without one, stakeholders can expand the project until it can no longer be managed. Once this happens, you need to rethink your timelines, milestones, budget estimates, risks, etc. I don’t want something like this to happen, especially when you’re handling multiple projects.

In the waterfall environment, characterized by a sequential approach to project execution, the benefits of a WBS in preventing scope creep are undeniable.

However, some experts argue that in agile environments without fully defined end products, stakeholders will change their minds about what they want, when and why.

While this negates the value of a PSP, an expert argues that agile teams should not use the excuse of agility to not plan and risk scope expansion.

“While I understand that a full waterfall-style WBS would be required on a construction project, they (agile teams) cannot estimate on projects with inter-team dependencies, multiple fiscal quarter delivery dates, and more than five team members.”

“At a minimum, all end product requirements should be documented, a roadmap of all key deliverables should be communicated, and they should create some sort of WBS for the next two workweeks and ideally by the end of the next milestone and a high-level overview of how everything else will fit together “, they add.

A WBS supports the estimation of the project budget.

A work breakdown structure is not just a planning tool – it also helps with budgeting. By breaking my project down into detailed activities, the WBS makes it easier to allocate budgets.

Budget overruns remain a pervasive problem in project management. In one BCG survey Of 403 respondents, 49% reported that over 30% of their organization’s technology development projects exceeded their budget. Tech projects use Agile because of the flexibility and iterative progress it offers.

While I understand that a pre-determined budget goes against the agile mindset, incorporating a WBS into sprint planning helps. Allocating budgets at the sprint level allows teams to remain adaptable while maintaining financial discipline.

A WBS records all work packages.

I’ve found that creating a WBS forces me to think critically about every aspect of a project. From important milestones to detailed deliverables, every work package is taken into account. Not only does this help visualize the scope of the project, but it also ensures nothing is missed.

But before each package is written down, it’s important to talk to those involved. Failure to do this is one of the reasons for the recent and monumental failure of High Speed ​​Rail 2 in the UK.

Accordingly Tejvan Pettingerone economist, “(High-Speed ​​Rail 2) risks being a £50bn white elephant and a monument to poor planning.”

Pettinger did not suggest that the HS2 team did not have a comprehensive WBS – but he is on record as saying that the scope of the project is constantly changing.

And as we discovered, in this case the project falters on almost all fronts and the team has to go back to the drawing board.

Types of WBS in project management

There are two types of WBS:

  1. Performance-based work breakdown structure.
  2. Phase-based work breakdown structure.

Types of WBS in project management

Delivery based PSP

A delivery performance-based WBS provides tangible results (deliverables) for stakeholders.

What I like about this WBS is the focus on “what to do” rather than “how” to complete a task. Therefore, this WBS is easy to modify, facilitates cost estimation and provides a complete overview of the entire scope of work.

The delivery-based WBS has applications in the following scenarios:

  • Projects with clear results such as organizing an event or constructing a building.
  • Customer-focused projects such as specific marketing campaigns or design projects.
  • Projects that require detailed scope management, such as: B. the introduction of a new product.

Phase-based WBS

A phase-based WBS organizes work according to the successive phases of the project life cycle (initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, closure). This WBS requires me to detail the process for achieving specific results.

One of the easiest ways to explain a phase-based WBS is to consider an academic writing project. Without an ethics review, I cannot interview the participants to gain insights for the preparation of my final report.

What I like about the phase-oriented WBS is the clear insight into elements that hinder project progress. This WBS is also great for providing a roadmap of “when to do” tasks to ensure that each phase logically builds on the previous one.

The phase-based WBS is suitable for:

  • Process-driven projects such as implementing a business system or conducting research and development.
  • Standardized lifecycle projects such as those that follow the Waterfall methodology.
  • Long-term projects with sequential development, such as multi-year infrastructure builds or strategic planning initiatives.

How to use a WBS to manage projects

A WBS is ideal for breaking complex projects down into the smallest parts. But beyond its core function of visualizing project scope, here’s how to use a WBS:

1. Assign responsibilities.

The WBS makes it easier to assign services or tasks to team members. This allows everyone to know what they are responsible for and prevents things from being duplicated.

2. Value time and resources.

I use the WBS to figure out how long each task will take and what resources will be needed. This makes it easier to create a realistic schedule and budget.

3. Make communication easier.

The WBS is a great way to keep everyone on the same page. It helps align team members and stakeholders on the scope, responsibilities, and timelines of the project.

4. Manage risks.

I look for potential risks in each WBS element and create plans to address them before they disrupt the project.

5. Integration with project management tools.

I’m a fan of tools like Trello and Asana. By inputting all of my WBS into these tools, it’s easier to keep track of tasks, manage resources, and create reports.

Final thoughts

The work breakdown structure is a cornerstone that creates clarity about projects.

While I learned about WBS during my studies and applied it in my professional life, delving into its nuances and thinking about its use in real-world scenarios gave me a new perspective.

The WBS is crucial not only for planning and organizing a project, but also for identifying risks and controlling scope and budgeting.

A useful insight for me was the debate about the relevance of WBS in Agile. A Product Backlog in Agile projects is like a WBS, where epics or features are managed in sprints.

Without thinking about the work items, be it in Agile or Waterfall, the project flounders.

Conclusion: Successful projects start with a well-thought-out plan, and that plan starts with a work breakdown structure.

I’m not sure if you’d rather embed a table or just use a screenshot, so I gave you both options for these three instances (namely because the third instance is LARGE).

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