WHAT DOES WBS MEAN?? AN EXAMPLE

Hi everyone, today I will talk about WBS = Work Breakdown Structure. It identifies each task for completing a Project. It is an important instrument to organize and to have the view of each task that you needs to complete the PJ.

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK 5) defines the work breakdown structure as a "A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables."

It gives a possibility to analize your project deeply for planning and control.

It has an hierarchical deconstruction, like a tree. You start with a task that then branching into levels and sub levels.

I use it for each Project. You need to have experience, or people that have it, in the field of the project to understand which task will be involved in. 

It identifies work package.

Each work package is a set of basic actions to create it. In other hands only organisational unit is responsible for each implementation.

An example brought by Wikipedia:

Imagine that you can create a WBS determining each task as a product that you want, like the example above.

For example if the task is 1.1 Wheel System, the following task could be:

1.1.1 Hubs.

1.1.2 Rims and sposkes.

Remember that WBS has levels, 1.1 means the level after the goal.

It is common for work breakdown structure elements to be numbered sequentially to reveal the hierarchical structure.  For example, 1.1.2 Rims and sposkes (in the example above) identifies this item as a Level 3 WBS element, since there are three numbers separated by a decimal point. A coding scheme also helps WBS elements to be recognized in any written context and allows for mapping to the WBS Dictionary.

Alternatevely to PRODUCT break down structure, a WBS can be based on the different PHASES of the project, independently from the level of decomposition of the final output, such as in my following example:

Each element will be identified with a unique label for a better  management report of costs and resources.

A well done WBS should:

1. Establishing all necessary work.
2. Break the project down into smaller units. Easily to demonstrate progress of each one.
3. Defining clear tasks.
4. Defining clear responsabilities at both an individual and organisational level.
5. Ensuring Stakeholders understand and agree with the project's scope and see how their activities or support contribute to its achievement.
6. Identification of risks of each activities.

Emanuele Battista