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NEES Project Management Workshop

June 16June 18

Segment 3

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The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

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How do you eat an Elephant?

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How do you eat an Elephant?

ANSWER: A Bite at a time!

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We have been talking about Scope

• Scope - in the Planning Phase– Proceeds of collecting requirements– Do we have all of them?..... Scope Grope

• Scope – in the Execution Phase – Controlling the Scope• Scope Creep• Scope Leap

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Project Scope Management Processes

• Collecting requirements: defining and documenting the features and functions of the products produced during the project as well as the processes used for creating them

• Defining scope: reviewing the project charter, requirements documents, and organizational process assets to create a scope statement and the SOW

• Creating the WBS: subdividing the major project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components

• Verifying scope: formalizing acceptance of the project deliverables

• Controlling scope: controlling changes to project scope throughout the life of the project

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• A WBS is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the work involved in a project that defines the total scope of the project

• WBS is a foundation document that provides the basis for planning and managing project schedules, costs, resources, and changes

• Decomposition is subdividing project deliverables into smaller pieces

• A Work Package is a task at the lowest level of the WBS

What is a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

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Process of creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

A process that sets, organizes and delineates a project’s scope by breaking down its overall mission into a cohesive set of synchronous, increasingly specific tasks

What does WBS accomplish?Echoes project objectivesOffers a logical structure – by product, by phaseEstablishes a method of controlCommunicates project statusImproves communicationDemonstrates control structure

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Two Common approaches to define/illustrate the WBS

• An Organizational Chart format• An Outline format – sub tasks are indented

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Work Breakdown Structure and Codes – Organizational chart format (preferred)

Work Packages are individual project activities

1.0

1.2 1.3 1.4

1.2.1

1.2.2

1.2.3

1.3.1

1.3.2

1.2.3.1

1.2.3.2

Deliverables are major project components

Subdeliverables are supporting deliverables

The project is the overall project under development

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Work Breakdown Structure and Codes – Outline format

1.0 The Project1.1 AAA1.2 BBB

1.2.1 bbb11.2.2 bbb21.2.3 bbb3

1.2.3.1 bbb3a1.2.3.2 bbb3b

1.3 CCC1.3.1 ccc11.3.2 ccc2

1.4 DDD

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• Using guidelines: some organizations, like the DOD, provide guidelines for preparing WBSs

• The analogy approach: review WBSs of similar projects and tailor to your project

• The top-down approach: start with the largest items of the project and break them down

• The bottom-up approach: start with the specific tasks and roll them up

More on the Approaches to Developing a WBS

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Choice to be made

• Breakdown by Product• Breakdown by Phase

Exercise: Building a house

Choices?By Systems – HVAC, Plumbing, ElectricalBy Physical RoomsBy Phase – site prep, foundation, rough framing, etc.

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• A unit of work should appear at only one place in the WBS

• A WBS item is the responsibility of only one individual, even though many people may be working on it

• The WBS must be consistent with the way in which work is actually going to be performed; it should serve the project team first and other purposes only if practical

Advice/Rules for Creating a WBS

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• Project team members should be involved in developing the WBS to ensure consistency and buy-in

• On large Projects, each WBS item should be documented in a WBS dictionary to ensure accurate understanding of the scope of work included and not included in that item

• The WBS must be a flexible tool to accommodate inevitable changes while properly maintaining control of the work content in the project according to the scope statement

Advice for Creating a WBS (continued)

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• Scope verification involves formal acceptance of the completed project scope by the stakeholders

• Acceptance is often achieved by a customer inspection and then sign-off on key deliverables

Verifying Scope

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• Scope control involves controlling changes to the project scope (i.e. Scope Creep, Scope Leap)

• Goals of scope control are to:– Assure changes are processed according to

procedures developed as part of integrated change control

– Manage changes when they occur• Variance is the difference between planned and

actual performance

Controlling Scope

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1. Keep the scope realistic…. Don’t make projects so large that they can’t be completed…. Break large projects down into a series of smaller ones

2. Involve users in project scope management…. Assign key users to the project team and give them ownership of requirements definition and scope verification

Best Practices for Avoiding Scope & WBS Problems

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• Spreadsheets help to perform financial calculations and weighted scoring models and to develop charts and graphs

• Project management software helps in creating a WBS, the basis for tasks on a Gantt chart

• Specialized software is available to assist in project scope management

• REMEMBER: PEOPLE MANAGE & CONTROL PROJECTS NOT SOFTWARE OR GRAPHS!!!

Using Software to Assist in Project Scope Management and Creation of a WBS