Effective Work Breakdown Structures

Preface

This book is intended to fill a long-standing need for a comprehensive, cohesive, and practical description of the work breakdown structure (WBS) concept and its application. It is designed for the project manager or project planner to help improve the structuring of the project as an important step toward getting the project started effectively and to use the WBS throughout the life of the project as a key tool for planning, control, and communication.

The book represents many years of experience in the development of work breakdown structures and in the scoping and planning of new projects. The book presents the generally accepted concepts of the use and application of the WBS, although many of the more detailed concepts are mine. Many examples are provided.

The WBS is not a new concept in project management, but it is often misunderstood and not used as it should be for maximum effectiveness. The use of the WBS requires discipline and thought, like any planning. It always seems easier to just start doing the work rather than to plan the work you are going to do.

This book is organized into six chapters:

Chapter 1 serves as the Introduction, defining the subject, presenting a brief history of the WBS concept, defining terms, and identifying the role of the WBS concept in the project management process.

Chapter 2, Work Breakdown Structure Fundamentals, discusses various aspects of and considerations in the development of an effective WBS.

Chapter 3, Lifecycle Planning: Programs and Phases, presents the concept that each lifecycle phase is a project with its own WBS.

Chapter 4, The WBS in Project Operations, presents the relationship to and use of the WBS in each of the nine PMBOK®Guide areas.¹

Chapter 5, WBS Examples and Descriptions, includes examples of the WBS for several different types of projects and how the fundamentals presented in Chapter 2 apply universally.

Chapter 6, WBS Principles, Steps, and Checklist, includes a summary of WBS principles and a list of specific, pragmatic steps recommended for the project manager to develop the project WBS.

This book is a product of my 40 years of project management experience, including participating as the Martin Company (currently Lockheed Martin) representative to a government-industry task force in the 1960s when many of the project management tools now in daily use throughout the world were first developed. As a project manager, a consultant to project managers, and a trainer and course developer, I have been involved in the development of hundreds of WBSs, and much of this experience is reflected in this book.

Thanks goes to Cathy Kreyche of Management Concepts, Inc., and my business partner, Dr. Ginger Levin, who encouraged me in this endeavor and provided many useful editorial and substantive comments.

Gregory T. Haugan

¹PMBOK® Guide is a trademark of the Project Management Institute, Inc. which is registered in the United States and other nations.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to the Work Breakdown Structure

This introductory chapter provides information on the work breakdown structure (WBS), the background of the concept, and its place in the project management process.

THE PROJECT PROBLEM AND SOLUTION

Starting a new project is like starting to write a book—you have an idea of what you want to do, but are not sure how to start. Many writers, like many project planners and managers, find that outlining is frequently the most effective way to start writing.¹

An outline is both a method for organizing material and a plan for the book itself. There are many ways to outline a book, especially one based on research. In general, it is necessary to plan the research or data gathering, and decide what will be discussed in each chapter and the appendices. In addition, it is necessary to take into account drafting chapters, getting critical reviews from other experts, and the actual steps involved in reviewing proofs and publishing the document. A sample outline is included in the form of a WBS in Chapter 5.

A frequently used analogy is the old question: How do you eat an elephant? The answer, of course, is: One bite at a time. So the first step in preparing an outline is to start defining and categorizing the bites. The bites are important because that is where the useful work is accomplished. For a project, brainstorming can help define the bites or activities from the bottom up or a process of decomposition can be used starting from the top, and subdividing the project (or the entire elephant) into major sections and working down as shown in Figure 1-1. In either approach, the objective is to develop a structure of the work that needs to be done for the project.

It is obvious that the parts of the elephant can be broken down (or subdivided) further. For example, the head is made up of a face, ears, tusks, and trunk; the four legs can be individually identified; body parts identified, and the tail and tuft separated. A WBS for a project follows the same concept. The WBS is an outline of the work; it is not the work itself. The work is the sum of many activities that make up the project.

FIGURE 1-1 Elephant Breakdown Structure

A WBS may start either as an informal list of activities or in a very structured way, depending on the project and the constraints, and it can end wherever the planner wants it to. The goal is to have a useful framework to help define and organize the work and then to get started doing it.

In developing an outline for a book, for example, some things happen almost automatically, growing out of the discipline of the process. First, boundaries need to be imposed on the book’s contents. Preparing an outline forces the author to define the topics, parts, sections, and chapters. The same thing happens when the project’s WBS is developed. Assumptions and constraints are often considered without focusing on them directly.

Developing the WBS is a four-step process:

1. Specifying the project objectives and focusing on the products, services, or results to be provided to the customer

2. Identifying specifically the products, services, or results (deliverables or end items) to be provided to the customer

3. Identifying other work areas in the project to make sure that 100 percent of the work is covered and to identify areas that cut across the deliverables, represent intermediate outputs, or complement the deliverables.

4. Subdividing each of the items in steps 2 and 3 into successive, logical subcategories until the complexity and dollar value of the elements become manageable units for planning and control purposes (work packages).

KEY DEFINITIONS

Most of the project management terms used frequently in this book are in common usage in the project management field. The following definitions are included in the Glossary of the Project Management Institute’s A Guide to the Project Management Book of Knowledge, known as the PMBOK® Guide.²

Activity: An element of work performed during the course of a project that includes a verb in its descriptor signifying action. An activity normally has an expected duration, expected cost, and expected resource requirements. Activities are often subdivided into tasks.³

Deliverable: Any measurable, tangible, verifiable outcome, result, or item that must be produced to complete a project or part of a project. Often used more narrowly in reference to an external deliverable, which is a deliverable that is subject to approval by the project sponsor or customer.

End Item: A general term that represents the hardware, services, equipment, facilities, data, etc., that are deliverable to the customer or that constitute a commitment on the part of the project manager to the customer.

Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS): A depiction of the project organization arranged so as to relate work packages to organizational units.

Program: A group of related projects managed in a coordinated way. Programs