Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in Project Management

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

• A WBS is a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be accomplished by the project team to meet project objectives.
• It is a task-oriented decomposition of work that identifies tasks and the resources required to accomplish the task.

Characteristics of WBS

• It is a detailed project plan that includes effort and resource dates.
• It does not show the dependencies between tasks.
• A detailed project schedule can be created only after creating the WBS.

Decomposition of WBS

• Decompose until the WBS element cannot be logically decomposed further.
• Decompose until the WBS element can be estimated accurately.
• Decompose until the WBS element has a meaningful conclusion.

Importance of Validate Scope Process

• It must be completed in a project to ensure that the scope is complete and accurate.
• Lack of a good WBS may miss critical work.

Levels of WBS

Level 1

• The first and top level of WBS is the project title.

Level 2

• The second level of WBS is Control Accounts.
• Control accounts are a project's major parts, systems, phases, or deliverables.
• PMI numbering system is allotted from here.

Level 3

• The third level of WBS is Work Packages.
• Work packages come together to constitute Control Accounts.
• It is a point where it can be reliably scheduled, cost-estimated, monitored, and controlled.

Level 4

• The last level of WBS is Activities.
• Activities are the tasks assigned to project team members to complete the work package.

Final Step

• After breaking down the scope into tasks, a project manager should identify staff working on the project tasks, their roles and responsibilities, and the tasks' due dates.

Test your knowledge on the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in project management with this practice question. Understand the concept of decomposing work into tasks and resources required for project completion.