Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) provides a structural view into the project. It is an essential tool for planning and executing the project. Use the WBS to define the work for the project and to develop the project's schedule. You should use the additional fields in MS Project to provide more detailed information on each component of the WBS - then export the WBS dictionary directly from Project. This Work Breakdown Structure Template provides a good set of WBS examples. Whether you are new to project management and working on your PMP certification, or been doing project management for many years, you're sure to find our templates helpful in your projects. If you like this Stakeholder Management Strategy Template be sure to let your friends know. We like to be Liked. WORK BREAKDOWN STRUTURE (WBS) TEMPLATE Introduction The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a view into the project which shows what work the project encompasses. It is a tool which helps to easily communicate the work and processes involved to execute the project. This is a FREE Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) template in Excel and PDF. Each template comes with: Microsoft Project plan tried and tested on real projects. Templates Support Buy Office. Create WBS codes. Outline numbers are the simplest type of WBS coding. Microsoft Office Project automatically calculates an. The Project Manager and project team use the WBS to develop the project schedule, resource requirements and costs. There are many ways you can present the WBS for your project; this template provides many of the most popular layouts from which you can choose. Depending on where in the Project Plan you're putting the WBS a different layout may be more suitable for you. For instance many Project Managers include a high level WBS within the project plan, then a detailed version as an appendix to the plan. You may find that you prefer one layout for a high level WBS and a different one for a detailed WBS. In order to save space in this work breakdown structure template we only developed the WBS examples down to the third level. In your project you will want to develop them down to a much more detailed level using the 8 to 80 rule (where the WBS is broken down to where a work package contains between 8 and 80 hours of work to complete). The Work Breakdown Structure presented here represents all the work required to complete this project. Outline View The outline view presents an easy to view and understand layout for the WBS. It is also a good layout to use when developing the WBS because you can easily make changes, especially since the Microsoft Word auto numbering feature updates the WBS Code automatically. It’s your first dive into the world of project management and everyone around you seems to be speaking Chinese. Worse than anything, your co-workers hurl acronyms left and right, and there’s not enough time for you to look one up before a new one is casually tossed onto the field—QCD, PMBOK, ACWP, QFD, RBS, SOW, SWOT, FPIF, and WBS. Mercifully, the deluge stops. But now you are left to ponder over your list. You start at the bottom and think to yourself, “What does WBS stand for? World Business Satellite? West By South? White Buffalo Society? Whole Body Scan? War Between the States? Write Back Soon?” (Well, that one co-worker was rather charming, but don’t get ahead of yourself.) In project management, WBS stands for work breakdown structure. This is a foundational tool that will help you to plan, manage, and evaluate large projects, so let’s learn a little bit more. What is a work breakdown structure? The name is rather self-explanatory. A work breakdown structure starts with a large project or objective and breaks it down into smaller, more manageable pieces that you can reasonably evaluate and assign to teams. Rather than focusing on individual actions that must be taken to accomplish a project, a WBS generally focuses on deliverables or concrete, measureable milestones. These deliverables may also be called work packages, tasks, sub-tasks, or terminal elements. A work breakdown structure looks something like this: Why use a WBS in project management? There are a number of reasons why breaking down a large project is beneficial. It helps you to: • Estimate the cost of a project. • • • Write a statement of work (or SOW, one of your other acronyms). • Assign responsibilities and clarify roles. • Track the progress of a project. • Identify risk. All of these benefits essentially arise from working with chunks of a project that you can accurately visualize rather than trying to digest and interpret a mysterious and overwhelming task in one fell swoop. How to create a work breakdown structure To start, record the overarching objective you are trying to accomplish. This objective could be anything from developing a new software feature to building a missile. Next, divide the overarching project into smaller and smaller pieces, but stop before you get to the point of listing out every action that must be taken. Remember to focus on concrete deliverables rather than actions. Depending on the nature of your project, you may start dividing by project phases, specific large deliverables, or sub-tasks. As you make a work breakdown structure, use the following rules for best results: • The 100% rule. The work represented by your WBS must include 100% of the work necessary to complete the overarching goal without including any extraneous or unrelated work. Also, child tasks on any level must account for all of the work necessary to complete the parent task. • Mutually exclusive. Do not include a sub-task twice or account for any amount of work twice. Doing so would violate the 100% rule and will result in miscalculations as you try to determine the resources necessary to complete a project. • Outcomes, not actions. Remember to focus on deliverables and outcomes rather than actions. For example, if you were building a bike, a deliverable might be “the braking system” while actions would include “calibrate the brake pads.” • The 8/80 rule. There are several ways to decide when a work package is small enough without being too small. This rule is one of the most common suggestions—a work package should take no less than eight hours of effort, but no more than 80. Other rules suggest no more than ten days (which is the same as 80 hours if you work full time) or no more than a standard reporting period. In other words, if you report on your work every month, a work package should take no more than a month to complete. When in doubt, apply the “if it makes sense” rule and use your best judgment. • Three levels. Generally speaking, a WBS should include about three levels of detail. Some branches of the WBS will be more subdivided than others, but if most branches have about three levels, the scope of your project and the level of detail in your WBS are about right. • Make assignments. Every work package should be assigned to a specific team or individual. If you have made your WBS well, there will be no work overlap so responsibilities will be clear. Work breakdown structure example As you are thinking about how to make a work breakdown structure, let’s look at an example. This is a work breakdown structure for building a house. Notice how the rules of building a WBS are applied in this example. First, the house building project is subdivided into three large sections that seem to make sense: foundation, exterior, interior. Those sections are further subdivided to one or two more levels for a maximum of three levels. The effort needed to build a house has been allocated across all of the work packages for a total of 100% effort. There is no duplication of work represented in this diagram. To further enhance this diagram, it would be possible to add the budget for each work package and assign a team. Work breakdown structure formats You can choose from several different format options when creating a work breakdown structure. The example above uses a tree format, which is the most visual option. It structures the WBS like an org chart and shows the hierarchy of tasks in addition to providing space for additional information about each work package. Outline structure A text outline is the simplest WBS format. It is easy to put together and shows the hierarchy of tasks. However, it is difficult to add additional information about budget, duration, and assignment using this format. Build a House 1 Foundation 1.1 Excavate 1.1.1 Dig 1.1.2 Level 1.2 Frame 1.3 Concrete 1.3.1 Pour 1.3.2 Cure 2 Exterior 3 Interior Hierarchical structure This format is less visually intuitive but shows the hierarchy of tasks. Because it is a table, this format fits easily onto a page. Tabular view A tabular view is a more visually intuitive way to show hierarchy using a table. WBS dictionary What is a WBS dictionary? A WBS dictionary is formatted like the hierarchical structure, but it includes a brief description of each work package. When documenting a project, a WBS dictionary is often included in addition to a visualization of the WBS. It helps to clarify the scope of each task so that all team members understand their responsibilities. Work breakdown structure templates To get you started, here are a number of work breakdown structure templates you can use. Simply click to open the template, and then customize the information, layout, and design. Work breakdown structure chart Work breakdown structure dictionary template How to make a work breakdown structure in Microsoft Office Work breakdown structures and WBS dictionaries are often included as part of a larger set of documentation or data analysis made using Microsoft Office. The best way to put a WBS into Word or Excel is to use Lucidchart and its free integrations with MS Office. Build your diagram in a software optimized for diagrams, and leave the words and data crunching to Microsoft. Just follow the steps below: 1.Register for a free account with Lucidchart.
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