How to Create a Work Breakdown Structure That You can Use For Every Project
A work breakdown structure or WBS is a key project deliverable that organizes the team’s work into manageable sections. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) defines the work breakdown structure as a “deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team.” Basically the project is divided into low-level subtask units of work that will be scheduled, executed and controlled.
To be able to estimate the effort, schedule that is required to completing the project. The work breakdown structure is created using the WBS guidelines.
The work items are documented in a work breakdown structure that provides for efficient planning and tracking. Identify and describe the work elements in the project plan, any dependencies between them, and approximate level of effort of each.
The WBS should include the effort, schedule and cost for all the key process areas that contribute to the project as a whole. This is created as a part of Project Planning.
Guideline for a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
- The top level represents the final deliverable or project
- Sub-deliverables contain work packages (Lowest level of item in a WBS) that are assigned to team members.
- All elements of the work breakdown structure don’t need to be defined to the same level
- The work package defines the work, duration, and costs for the tasks required to produce the sub-deliverable
- Work packages should not exceed 10 days of duration
- Work packages should be independent of other work packages in the work breakdown structure
- Work packages are unique and should not be duplicated across the work breakdown structure
Below is the approach towards creating/developing a Work Breakdown Structure.
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What To Do |
How to do it |
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Determine strategy for developing a work breakdown structure |
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Identify the highest level components of work to be accomplished |
Example of highest-level or first level components that logically group work.
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Break work process into small components |
Under each high-level component, break the work into small components until each component is defined to a level of detail that allows accurate estimating for the time and cost required for its completion. Note: Create the work breakdown structure to the level of project detail that can be understood. If the project spans a long period of time, it is difficult to identify the detailed tasks for work a year or more in the future. In this case keep the tasks at a high level for the entire project and create a detailed work breakdown for work for the next phase or period of time |
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Make sure work has been broken down to the lowest level desired |
Apply the following guidelines to ensure work has been broken down to its lowest level:
Each task is well enough defined and small enough so estimates of duration are credible |
Based on the above guidelines you can create the perfect Work Breakdown Structure Template that you can use forever.
