The Work Breakdown Structure Essay Example

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a planning tool that project managers and teams use to progressively divide projects into smaller, manageable units of work, called work packages. The WBS provides teams with a complete outline of work packages/deliverables required to complete the project. It combines all project job objectives with resources and activities in a logical framework; Scope, Schedule, and Estimate for the work package. (Burghate, M.(2018)). The WBS system encompasses a range of visually manageable parts that the project team can understand to provide additional explanation and detail at each level of the work breakdown. PMBOK® Guide- Third Edition defines the WBS as a " deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create required deliverables".  The WBS is a vital foundation for adequate project preparation, implementation, monitoring, and reporting. It ensures all parts of the project are considered and as a basis for other planning- such as schedule, budget, risk and quality. 

Importance of the WBS in a project

The primary purpose of WBS is to help define and organise the scope of the total project more explicitly and accurately. WBS demonstrates each descending level through a hierarchical tree arrangement, breaking down the project deliverables into more measurable sections. By dividing the entire project into its components, the WBS assigns responsibilities, allows for resource allocation, monitors the project, controls orders, tracks costs, time, and technical performance at all stages of the project's life cycle (Mukul Burghate, 2018).

The WBS does not discuss the procedures used to complete the project nor address the timeline that determines how or where the deliverables will be made. It is strictly limited to defining and outlining the project's outcomes to ensure all the deliverables specific to stakeholders are not missing or overlapping.  In this way, Scope Creep and unnecessary work or anything not directly related to the project's scope is identified and eliminated. 

Experienced project managers understand that no matter how well they prepare and execute their work, projects may not go according to plan. A well constructed WBS helps project managers identify project risks by identifying and reducing uncertainty areas, for example, missing key deliverables, unclear work assignments, budget overrun, absence coverage factors due to poor communication. (T.Rajani Devi, V.Shobha Reddy 2012). To remedy this, good communication and understanding of the project between team members, leaders/project managers, clients, and stakeholders must occur. 

How do you develop a WBS? + core characteristics of an effective WBS 

Before Project managers begin developing the WBS, project teams must develop an extensive understanding of the project scope, statement and management plan. Determining the essential deliverables required for the project and recognising work packages from these deliverables while creating a WBS dictionary to understand which approach is suitable for representing the project is vital.  Without the correct expertise and experience within project management processes and methods, this can result in unclear Work Packages. Neglecting these measures is equivalent to failing to plan, essentially planning to fail (Petros Rigas, 2016). 

What are the different ways of organising a WBS and what are the pros and cons of those? 

Delieveerable

Guidlines

etc

There are various approaches to developing a WBS, including the analogy approach, the use of guidelines, the top-down approach, the bottom-up approach, and the mind mapping approach (Mukund, 2013).  A top-down technique is frequently associated within the Construction Industry, starting from the project outputs, activities, and specific tasks. Using a top-down approach produces a complete and more accurate WBS,  as defining a solution to a problem first and then dividing the solution into the steps required to implement it is only rational.  An initial brainstorm is conducted for information to be categorised into tasks and activities. While activities and tasks are not included in the WBS, they aid in planning work packages until allocation. Identifying the first line of outputs can be complex; hence, utilising a mind map or sticky notes can organise the project activities in order.  Work packages are the lowest level of the WBS; consequently, project managers need to ensure they are not too broad, general and improbable for project managers to manage as a whole. Establishing a set of rules and decomposing the overall project into sub-projects is crucial. Decomposition is defined as the act of breaking down deliverables into successively smaller chunks of work until the work units reach a level where they can be accurately defined and estimated. (Makarfi Ibrahim, Y., Kaka, A., Aouad, G. and Kagioglou, M. 2009). This level of breakdown and detail is the work package that is specifically delegated to a single individual or team to complete. Although how specific and small does a chunk of work, need to be considered a work package? These rules vary by the project's uniqueness, team and industry; however, Project managers usually measure the project applies an 8/80 Rule. No work package should be less than 8 hours or greater than 80 hours. 

Ideally, project managers should create a WBS in the planning stage after collecting all the requirements for the particular project- including stakeholder requirements; however, WBS  can also be created when producing an output that needs clarification. However, this will be further developed and refined during the planning process. WBSs may be generated in various ways, including listing, sorting, and sequencing outputs—the activities and project tasks needed to complete the task. This step must be repeated for every WBS entry to develop a complete and cohesive work package. Once a bottom-up validation has is complete, it is now appropriate to re-evaluate the entire WBS by comparing the currently defined WBS deliverables to the project's initially defined objectives. Once this is successfully achieved, a solid constructed WBS can be expected.  

What are the pros and cons of those? 

Benefits of Using WBS:

Building a good WBS is the foundation of effective project management. Producing a comprehensive and accurate WBS will reduce risks by minimising the likelihood that significant tasks are missed.