A work breakdown structure is your map through more complicated projects. What is a work breakdown structure in project management. The work breakdown structure visually defines the scope into manageable chunks that a project team can understand, as each level of the work breakdown structure provides further definition and detail. Work breakdown structure examples and overview brighthub. A work breakdown structure or wbs is a common term in project management. One project may include several phases, or also smaller subprojects.
A4500 hov project2 work breakdown structure and dictionary 2. Dd form 27341, contract performance report format 1. Free work breakdown structure templates smartsheet. Have you encountered work breakdown structures and wondered how they can help in your project management efforts. The efficiency of a work breakdown structure can determine the success of a project. The obs breaks down to engineering which breaks down to design which breaks down to interface design. A wbs starts with a dynamic vision of the project, perhaps in the form of a drawing, diagram, or computer representation. Festival editable work breakdown structure template on creately. Sep 30, 2012 create a work breakdown structure wbs outline in excel.
It helps in obtaining awareness about manageable sections for developing a precise. Manage the project in the form of smaller pieces which are known as work packages. The purpose of a wbs is to help the project manager in managing the project, with its accounting aspects aimed at aiding the project manager in applying earned value measures of. Pdf many people have mistaken wbs as a list of tasks, a schedule or an organization chart. Among them, it can appear in the form of a flow chart, an outline or a quasilist. This is a free work breakdown structure wbs template in excel and pdf. Creately diagrams can be exported and added to word, ppt powerpoint, excel, visio or any other document. The wbs provides the foundation for all project management work, including, planning, cost and effort estimation, resource allocation, and scheduling.
Festival editable work breakdown structure template on. Company owners and project managers use the work breakdown structure wbs to make complex projects more manageable. Work breakdown structures a work breakdown structure is a deliverableoriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables. Are you a project manager and need to create a table version of a work breakdown. 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. A work breakdown structure example can be found online. Now that weve talked about how to use a work breakdown structure to estimate your projects and manage project scope, lets look at some simple work breakdown structure examples to jumpstart your ideas. A work breakdown structure wbs is a chart in which the critical work elements, called tasks, of a project are illustrated to portray their relationships to each other and to the project as a whole. Work breakdown structure template in word and pdf formats page 8 of 9 toggle navigation.
Figure 1below depicts a sample work breakdown structure with three levels defined. Work breakdown structure is a powerful and valuable tool in project management. A work breakdown structure wbs is a fundamental project management technique for defining and organizing the total scope of a project, using a hierarchical tree structure. Formtemplate offers you hundreds of resume templates that you can choose the one that suits your work experience and sense of design. Level 3 shows the major deliverables and level 4 is the. Save time by deconstructing projects and tackling them one element at a time. The lowest levels of wbs shows the project deliverables. You can also make a new resume with our online resume builder which is free and easy to use.
Work breakdown structure wbs is used by the project manager to. The project schedule is the tool that communicates what work needs to be performed, which resources of the organization will perform the work and the timeframes in which that work needs to be performed. Create a work breakdown structure wbs outline in excel. Tasks and activities will be grouped under these lowest levels. Mar 15, 2018 a work breakdown structure wbs is a hierarchical structure of things that the project will make or outcomes that it will deliver this one is far better. Work breakdown structure wbs process helps the project manager in simplifying the project into manageable smaller pieces. In the tree structure of a wbs, project deliverables and activities are broken down into manageable parts, making it easier to estimate required resources and costs, create a realistic schedule, and control each stage of a. Set boundaries for a time, so that there is no delay. Applying work breakdown structure to project lifecycle. According to the project management body of knowledge pmbok, a work breakdown structure wbs is a hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables. The template below uses an outline or list type of presentation. A work breakdown structure wbs in project management 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 project.
Work breakdown structure wbs is a method of breaking down a project into a hierarchy with the tasks broken down into several levels. Think of the wbs as a visual model of the project that identifies each piece of the scope of. Download work breakdown structure template for free. A work breakdown structure wbs is a graphical chart which shows all the parts a project has to deliver in order to meet the project goal. Whether you prefer big chunks or minute details, youll benefit from creating a wbs with the help of our killer guide and free work breakdown structure template. A work breakdown structure defines all the things a project needs to accomplish, organized into multiple levels, and displayed graphically. A deliverable basically is the end result or product of a task. The following discussion will examine the current trends and practice regarding work breakdown structures. This is an example of a work breakdown structure wbs for a traditional w aterfall approach to. Free work breakdown structure template to download. The project schedule should reflect all of the work associated with delivering the project on time. The work breakdown structure provides a common framework for the natural development of the overall planning and control of a contract and is the basis for dividing work into definable increments from which the statement of work can be developed and technical, schedule, cost, and labor hour reporting can be established a work breakdown structure permits summing of subordinate costs for tasks. T he wbs dictionary is a project management document that provides detailed information about each component in the work breakdown structure wbs.
The development of work breakdown structure involves subdividing the major project activities or subactivities into smaller, more manageable activities until the activities are defined in sufficient detail to support the management and development of project works. Applying the work breakdown structure to the project. This tutorial covers the basic principles of developing a work breakdown structure wbs. The graphical nature of the wbs can help a project manager predict outcomes based on various scenarios, which can ensure that optimum decisions are made about whether or not to adopt suggested. One work breakdown structure example that will make it clear. Are you a project manager and need to create a table version of a work breakdown structure wbs.
Its an important part of the scope management plan which is a subsidiary of the project management plan. This document is a template of a work breakdown structure dictionary document for a project. Sep 25, 2017 a work breakdown structure or wbs is a common term in project management. Work breakdown structure wbs in project management teamgantt. Work breakdown structure wbs is the process of decomposing the project scope into manageable pieces of work. Work breakdown structure a work breakdown structure wbs is a decomposition of all the work necessary to complete a project. During the process of developing a visual work breakdown structure, youll identify and fill in your project planning blind spots. Work breakdown structure examples and overview of wbs. But to confront the challenges of working in todays volatile economic environment, project managers are increasingly using. A work breakdown structure, commonly abbreviated wbs, is a key project deliverable that is utilized to organize a project teams work and responsibilities into compact sections that are more manageable. In simple terms, creating wbs is the process of breaking down the complete project into smaller pieces of manageable work units called as work packages. Heres an example of a work breakdown structure in flowchart form.
The purpose of a work breakdown structure is as follows. A work breakdown structure template is a crucial document which helps to break down your work into small pieces for easily determining its procedure of completion. This matrix is an example from a software development program. A work breakdown structure can be constructed in several formats. This work breakdown structure example shows that all the elements are listed under wbs levels. The work breakdown structure provides a common framework for the natural development of the overall planning and control of a contract and is the basis for dividing work into definable increments from which the statement of work can be developed and technical, schedule, cost, and labor hour reporting can be established. Unfortunately, the business pressures driving projects have often prevented project managers from developing a comprehensive wbs. Creating a work breakdown structure wbs helps you be both comprehensive and specific when managing a project. This is where a wbs, work breakdown schedule or work breakdown structure comes into play. For more forms or templates, please view work breakdown structure template on. A wbs is the cornerstone of effective project planning, execution, controlling, monitoring, and reporting. A work breakdown structure wbs is a visual tool for defining and tracking a project deliverable and all the small components needed to create it.
Work breakdown structure template in word and pdf formats. Aug 21, 2018 why work breakdown structure is important in project management. A subsea field development project can be organized and comprehended in a visual manner by breaking the tasks into progressively smaller pieces until they are a collection of defined tasks, as shown in figure 69. It helps to make your task measurable and conveniently accomplish able by define its limitations and projections. The template includes instructions to the author, boilerplate text, and fields that should be replaced with the values specific to the project. Nevertheless, i strongly suggest you to try using work breakdown structure on your project to the full extent. Work breakdown structure wbs in project management. Define workshop purpose and participants tangible deliverables. In so doing, you gain clarity into the details needed to accomplish every aspect of your project. 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. Project scope statement was created together with wbs and wbs dictionary in one application. Separating the task list and work breakdown structure can be appropriate for larger projects. With a work breakdown structure, you can stay focused on what you need to accomplish.
Work breakdown structure an overview sciencedirect topics. Creating the work breakdown structure by kim colenso, managing principal, artemis management systems the work breakdown structure wbs is the foundation for project planning and control. Example of a work breakdown structure in word and pdf formats. The concept is used each time a new project is designed and is created before entering any data into a microsoft project file. If you fail to identify a major part of your projects work, you wont have the chance to detail it. A wbs is arranged in a hierarchy and constructed to allow for clear and logical groupings, either by activities or deliverables. Even subprojects can be broken down into smaller bits.
A work breakdown structure wbs is a hierarchical structure of things that the project will make or outcomes that it will deliver this one is far better. The terms work breakdown structure and task list are, in my experience, often used interchangeably. The work breakdown structure wbs has long served as a valuable tool in helping project managers plan deliverables and detail project scope. Dd form 27341, contract performance report format 1 work. At present, it is often referred to as a project management flowchart. A work breakdown structure wbs is a deliverableoriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables. The contents of the template are shown below and hints and tips are includes in the template. The wbs is designed to help break down a project into manageable chunks that can be effectively estimated and supervised. A4500 hov project1 work breakdown structure and dictionary 1. Separating the task list and work breakdown structure.
A work breakdown structure is a beneficial tool which helps to define the total work scope of any project and also help to reduce complicated activities. All about work breakdown structures wbs smartsheet. The importance of the wbs experienced project managers know there are many things that can go wrong in projects. Use pdf export for high quality prints and svg export for large. As you can see from this work breakdown structure example, it required not that much of an effort. I believe there is nothing wrong with this practice, as there only needs to be one official breakdown of the project work. The template is fully editable with excel and can be converted or changed to suit specific project requirements. The wbs dictionary template provided below is a somewhat comprehensive one. A work breakdown structure, commonly abbreviated wbs, is a key project deliverable that is utilized to organize a project teams work and responsibilities into compact sections that. You can edit this work breakdown structure using creately diagramming tool and include in your reportpresentationwebsite. An example would be the finished design model for a ship. The work breakdown structure wbs is a graphic family tree that captures all of the work of a project in an organized way. It is used to identify all project deliverables and necessary activities.
Therefore, one should take creating wbs as a critical step in the process of project management. A work breakdown structure element may be a product, data, a service, or any combination. Thinking in detail is critical when planning your project, but you also need to consider the big picture. The responsibility assignment matrix ram shows the intersection of the organizational breakdown structure obs and the work breakdown structure wbs. 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.