So far we've covered the differences between projects and operations as well as those between projects, programmes and portfolios, the DARCI model for stakeholder engagement followed by how to run an effective project kick-off meeting and lastly, how to create a project charter.
Now, we'll look at another crucial piece of project management and probably my favourite one as I love looking at the details and planning the execution - the work breakdown structure or WBS.
A work breakdown structure (WBS) is basically the breakdown of all deliverables into smaller components. The goal of the WBS is to organise the project team so they can work in manageable sections.
The Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) by the Project Management Institute (PMI)defines the WBS as a “deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team.”
The WBS starts with the end objectives and then divides them into smaller components (called work packages) again and again in terms of size, duration and responsibilities until they can't be broken down any more and until they allow to complete all the steps necessary to achieve the objectives.
In essence, the WBS demonstrates the relationship between the project deliverables or phases such as products, services or results and the scope which is the work to be executed.
I think the best way to get an idea of what a WBS is is to look at a visual example:
As you can see, in this WBS there are 3 levels that you can break the work into:
Note, the numbering is quite important as it'll allow you to track more easily and you don't need to know own all words but can always refer back to the drawing for the details.
And that's it - these are the basics you need to know about in order to create your first WBS.
There are also tools that can help you with this like Lucidchart for example.
When you lead a project, I always recommend building the WBS together with your project team. Ideally, you should do that during a workshop where everyone can participate. Sticky notes work very well in this scenario as people can add up components for each deliverable and then everybody feels like part of the planning and execution so they'll be more motivated to do the work later as they've been the ones to define it.
If you think about it, you can even use a WBS in your own projects - for example, moving to a new house or fixing up the garden.
Every project should have a WBS in whatever form you see fit but it's crucial that you have such a breakdown so you don't miss critical pieces of work and so that you can better organise your project team.
Once the WBS is done, then you can start thinking about timelines and who does what which we will cover in upcoming posts.
Have you ever created a WBS? How did it help you?