Introduction

Work breakdown structure is a very critical tool in project management. It is a project management technique that deconstructs a mega project with an objective of identifying deliverables required for the project completion. Project management requires the tool in the initial stage of project planning to enable them define the scope, costs estimation and the planned time for the completion of the project. The technique is also important in enabling delegation of duties in project accomplishment. The breakdown of a complex project into small manageable chunks also helps in resource allocation, monitoring and control of the project thus enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in the project. It is, however, noteworthy to the project management team to understand that the breakdown is not in too little deliverables. This can lead to large tasks that may make the management of the project difficult.

The Importance of the Work Breakdown Structure

Project managers must understand that work breakdown structure is a critical component in the planning process of a project. Some of the managers may view it as time wasted in writing and drawing tables and charts for the structure instead of going directly to the project. It is, however, imperative for the project managers to understand that ignoring the tool would be detrimental to the overall effectiveness and success of the project. The structure is an integral part of the projects lifecycle and timeline thus providing a road map for the project implementation.

For instance, the work breakdown structure is an essential tool that enables the project team to consider all pieces of a project carefully. Project managers must understand it is very difficult to manage a large project effectively individually. The breakdown of the large project into small manageable chunk will enable the project team to have effective management on the projects.  Failure to deconstruct the project and consider all the work components is a clear indication of lack of due diligence to ensure that all work has been identified.

Another importance of work breakdown structure is ensuring timely completion of the project. It is essential to understand that the structure provides an outline on when the project will commence, the phases involve, and the sequence in which the mini-projects will be fulfilled. Project managers must understand that skipping the work breakdown structure would lead to devastating results. For instance, lack of WBS would result in unnecessary delays, confused tasking by the team members and in extreme cases may result in project overruns. It is there note worth for the project managers to understand that the tool is essential in defining the specifics of the project outlined in the project scope. This is an important step since it ensures that all these specifics are timely and effectively accomplished.

Work breakdown structure is also important for effective budgetary allocations. Project managers must be aware that human and capital resources are limited and must be appropriated effectively. Work breakdown structure lays the groundwork for developing an effective schedule and good budgetary plans.  The tool ensures that it enables the managers to allocate resources effectively to the project specifics. Human resources are also effectively allocated to the project specifics especially depending on the specialization levels. It is also important to note that work breakdown structure helps in generating a meaningful schedule as well as making reliable budget calculations.

Work breakdown structure is also responsible for increased accountability in a project accomplishment. It is imperative to understand that the technique assigns specific tasks to certain individuals, thus making it easier to hold them accountable for completion of their respective tasks. The technique ensures that the team players cannot hide under the cover of broadness. The breakdown ensures that all the players in the project have their roles wells set. It, therefore, plays a pivotal role in increasing responsibility among the participants.

The creation of work breakdown structure is also important in cultivating cohesion among the different players in the project. WBS offers a platform where the managers, team members and customers can elaborate on ensuring effective service and product deliveries. The process encourages dialog that is essential in ambiguities clarifications and where critical issues regarding the project can be raised for discussion.  It is also essential to note that the exercise help increase commitment by all the team players.

Why do we need to create a Work Breakdown Structure for our projects?

The question of why work breakdown structure is important for project implementation has been a topic of discussion for a long time. Some people consider it as a time wasting exercise while to others it is a critical tool for effective project completion. It is, however, important to understand that this is a critical tool in any successful project. Work breakdown structure serves a great role in project management.  The project managers must plan effectively for the costs, schedule and delegation of duties for effective execution of the project. For us to have a proper understanding of why we need the work breakdown structure for our projects, it is important that we understand the purpose of the tool.

For instance, the work breakdown structure main purpose is the deconstruction of a complex project into smaller manageable tasks. The breakdown helps the project manager in performing his supervisory role effectively and efficiently. Work breakdown structure is critical to ensuring that the collection of tasks is measurable and independent of each other thus making the monitoring and control measures more effective. The breakdown must ensure that all the project work is included and that there is no room for error or skipping of important steps during the project time. It is also important to understand that the WBS is critical in ensuring that all non-project work is not included thus helping in time-saving and increased concentration in the project work.

Another reason we cannot afford to miss work breakdown structures in our projects is to ensure effectiveness in our budgets and costs. It is important that all project managers understand that costs and budgeting are important for an effective project accomplishment. Work breakdown structure ensures that project specifics are measurable. This is a very important aspect since it makes it easy for the project manager to assign specific costs to each project specific. The planning tool enables the managers to distribute the total budget allocation for the whole project to the mini tasks. This enables the management to ensure that the tasks costs do not exceed the total project cost. The issue of managing costs is a critical one since underfunding may result in incomplete projects. On the other hand, it is the obligation of the management to ensure that the organization’s finances are effectively utilized, and thus there is no misuse of such funds.

It is also important to understand that the project management team must have the capability of monitoring the progress made in project completion. Work breakdown structure becomes very important in ensuring monitoring and control exercise in project completion. The management provides a schedule with definite timelines on when certain tasks are expected to be complete.  All the tasks provided by the work breakdown structure have clearly defined limits and thus tracking the progress of the completed tasks becomes easy. It is also possible for the management of a project to determine the percentage of the completed tasks since each task is measurable. Such evaluation and controls are essential since the management can plan accordingly if the timelines provided are not met.

Work breakdown structure also defines the scope of the project. The management of any project has the responsibility of defining the scope of the project. Project scope definition is essential since it ensures completion of the stipulated tasks without carrying out unnecessary extra work. It is paramount to understand that the work breakdown structure plays a vital role in defining the scope of the project. All the individual tasks that make up the whole project are clearly listed in the WBS. This enables the team players to complete all the listed tasks without engaging themselves in additional work.

Work breakdown structure is also an important aspect that ensures increased responsibility in project completion exercise. The project managers have the responsibility of assigning the different tasks making the main project to qualified individuals. The delegation of duties enables the project managers to assess the effectiveness of his team members. It also leads to increased accountability since all the team members must strive to ensure that they fulfill their responsibility in a timely manner.

Another important aspect that makes work breakdown structure a vital tool in a project completion is function definition. Every project will only be classified as a complete if it fulfills its intended purpose. The work breakdown structure enables the project defines the different purposes fulfilled by the different tasks making up the main project. The completion of the partial functions by the smaller tasks will result in overall completion of the main project. In essence, work breakdown structure is essential in defining the overall purpose of the project that is made possible by the completion of the partial function by the tasks.

Work Breakdown Structure Concepts

Every project manager aims at ensuring effective completion of the project and achieving the desired results. It is important to note that work breakdown structure has been instrumental in ensuring successful project completion. Through division of complex projects into smaller manageable tasks has enabled swift and effective execution of projects. It is, however, imperative for the project managers to understand the essential concepts involved the construction of the work breakdown structure. For instance, identifying of the main deliverables of project forms the foundation for an effective WBS.

After identifying the deliverables, the next step involves breaking down of the high-level tasks into smaller tasks. The smaller tasks can be further split into smaller sub-tasks depending on the complexity of the task. There are no definite rules on the level of breakdown, but it is determined by the project type and the management style in the organization. The deconstruction of the main project is a continuous process carried out at different levels at a level where planning and control of the work are achieved. The lowest level in the decomposition process is referred to as the work package and offers the management an opportunity to fulfill the purpose of the project.

The work package must define the work, duration and budget estimates for the task required to produce the sub deliverable. It is important for the project managers to understand that the work packages should not exceed ten days of duration and should be independent of other work packages in the breakdown structure. The team must also ensure that there is no duplication of the work packages across the structure to ensure that all the tasks are completed according to plan.

The breakdown structure can either be displayed by use of tree structure or flow charts while others may use lists and tables.  The project scope may also be represented graphically. The entire project is represented by the top box while the tasks and the sub-tasks are represented by other boxes below the top box.  Most work breakdown structure diagrams are based on deliveries. However, it is also important to note that some WBS is created based on project phases. Gantt charts are also a common concept in the work breakdown structure and it enables tracking the progression of the tasks derived from the work breakdown structure.

How to make these Concepts to Work

The work breakdown structure must be workable if the desired results of the project are to be realized. To start with, it is imperative to understand that project effectiveness highly depends on teamwork between the different players. To make the concept of the work breakdown structure workable, it is essential to have a brainstorming session.  The various stakeholders in the project must be given an opportunity to express their views and concerns during the planning process. The project team can opt for less sophisticated tools like note cards, white board or sticky note pads in identifying the major deliverables, sub deliverables, and the specific work packages. These cards can be helpful to the team while discussing the major deliverables and work packages involved in a project.

The less sophisticated approach is important since it is easy for the team members to implement. Nevertheless, the project managers must be wary of the fact that the low-technology may not work well with distributed teams or translate easily into an electronic format. It is, therefore, noteworthy that there are other effective tools for brainstorming, mind mapping and work breakdown structures. To make the concept of work breakdown structures workable, it is essential to adopt modern technology such as the Match Ware Mind View which is an easy to use mind mapping software package and the Gantt charts which makes the concepts easy to use.

The work breakdown structure will not have the desired results if it is not used properly. It is important for the team manager to ensure that all the players in the organization are conversant with the provisions of the work breakdown structure. It is also imperative to understand that it may be necessary to break the guidelines in anticipation of better results. All the concerns and views of the team members should be treated with a lot of seriousness.  This is because the creation of breakdown structure is a team game and thus ignoring the views of the members would jeopardize the intended WBS purpose.

Explain Work Breakdown Structure in Hierarchical Outline Form

Work breakdown structure involves decomposition of a complex project into smaller manageable tasks. It is an essential aspect of project management and forms the foundation of planning and control in project management. The disintegration of these tasks can be represented in different phases, levels, and activities.  The components of work breakdown structure can be represented in a hierarchal format with the main project being at the top of the outline while the tasks and sub-tasks follow below the ladder. The number of the different levels is dependent on the size of the project and its nature as well.

The hierarchal WBS outline must have a dictionary that provides further details regarding the activities of each element in the work breakdown structure.  The dictionary gives detailed information about the work to be done, milestones, activities, resources requirements and costs for every element in the structure. In essence, the major role of the dictionary is removing any ambiguity regarding the scope of the projects work.

Another important aspect in WBS hierarchal outline is the structure’s code numbers. This represents a unique number that identifies the different components of the hierarchy. The numbers should be easily expanded to allow for any future revisions to the work breakdown structure if need arise.

The work breakdown structure can be represented in a number of ways. The choice of visual representation varies from project to project and organizational setup. The most common types of visual representation include:

Tabular view: this is a type of representation the hierarchal work breakdown structure is represented with the help of columns and tables.

Outline view: this is a kind of visual representation where work breakdown structure is depicted using different levels of indentation. The indentations are accompanied by their respective work breakdown structure’s code number.

Work Breakdown Structure Outline

Tree structure view: this is the most common format of the visual representation. It is where a tree structure is used to represent the main project, tasks, and sub-tasks by connecting them with the use of lines. The top most box represents the main projects while the rest depicts the tasks and sub tasks.

The hierarchical representation also has different structure elements. The lowest component of the work breakdown structure represents the workable tasks where control and monitoring are achieved. This level is referred to as the work package and includes the schedule activities and milestones to be accomplished. Managers must ensure that they have the right size of the work package for effective results.

Conclusion

In conclusion, work breakdown structure is an essential project management tool that must be embraced for the realization of successful project completion. It is, however, important to understand that successful project completion will highly depend on the efficiency of the WBS and more specifically the size of the work package. Work breakdown structure provides the basis for all project management work. The tool plays a vital role in planning, cost estimation, scheduling and resource allocation in the project completion exercise. It is, therefore, important for all project managers to ensure that they take the creation of WBS as an essential step in project management.

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