Chapter 5
Project Definition:
Creating and Using the
Work Breakdown
Structure
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Learning Objectives
When you have mastered the material in this chapter,
you should be able to:
•
Transform a project charter into a plan for action.
•
Work with a project team to develop a work breakdown structure
using mind mapping, top-down outlining and bottom-up aggregation.
•
Refine an initial work breakdown structure to meet structure and
content guidelines.
•
Identify task ownership and create a responsibility matrix for a
project.
•
Estimate working and calendar times for project tasks, applying
concepts related to parametrics, learning curves, and PERT.
•
Identify a comprehensive set of key performance indicators for
project deliverables and tasks.
•
Determine project resource requirements.
•
Develop a project budget.
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Project Definition: Creating and Using
the Work Breakdown Structure
“If you cry ‘forward’ you must make
plain in what direction to go.”
Anton Chekov
5-3
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• A tool that helps turn a large seemingly overwhelming
piece of work into a set of tasks that are doable,
manageable, and measureable.
• A deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the
work to be executed by the project team, to accomplish
the project objectives and create the required
deliverables.
• A means for organizing and defining the total scope of the
project.
• The planned work contained within the lowest-level WBS
components, which are called work packages, can be
scheduled, cost estimated, monitored, and controlled.
• The WBS is project manager’s best insurance against the
risk of omitting important work.
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Exhibit 5.1
WBS at the Center of the Project
The WBS is the core of any project and almost every aspect of a
project manager’s job relates in one way or another to the WBS
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Exhibit 5.3
Levels of Detail in a WBS for an
Accounting Systems Upgrade Project
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WBS Formats
• Outline Approach
• Mind Map
• Organization Chart Approach
5-7
Exhibit 5.4
Three WBS Formats for a Fuel Tank
Removal Project
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Exhibit 5.4
Three WBS Formats for a Fuel Tank
Removal Project
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Exhibit 5.4
Three WBS Formats for a Fuel Tank
Removal Project
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Why Involve the Team in Creating the WBS
• Team members are the content experts.
•
They are best equipped to know what is actually
involved in generating each deliverable and how to
break tasks down into doable work packages.
• When team members are involved in WBS
development, they will have a systems view of the
total project and the interrelationships among
project elements.
• Participation builds commitment to the project.
•
People are far more likely to support what they have
helped to create.
• Collaboratively creating the WBS brings conflicting
views and unresolved questions to the surface
when it is not too late to address them.
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Options for Involving the Team in
Creating the WBS
• Mind Mapping for WBS Development
• Top-Down Outlining Approach for
WBS Development
• Bottom-Up Aggregation Approach to
WBS Development
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Exhibit 5.5
Getting a Start on the WBS Mind Map: Central
Node with Project Name and Symbol
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Exhibit 5.6
Charity Run Mind Map with Major
Branches for High-Level Deliverables
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Exhibit 5.7
A Project Team Developing a WBS
Mind Map
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Exhibit 5.8
Charity Run: Detailed WBS Elements
for Promotion Deliverable
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Exhibit 5.9
Tips for Mind Mapping the WBS
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Team Mind Mapping for WBS Development
• Advantages:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Stimulates creative thinking about the project’s activities
Engages the team and helps generate enthusiasm and
commitment to the project
Gives the power of the pen (and thus the power of
contribution) to all team members (including those who
are less vocal)
Is fast
The nonlinear nature brings out many ideas
Because mind mapping does not involve sequencing or
priorities, it steers people away from potential
disagreements about what or who is most important
• Disadvantages:
•
•
Less familiar
Some team members may be uncomfortable with mind
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mapping’s nonlinear approach
First-Time Mind Mapping User
To be honest, I was surprised by how useful the mind map
turned out to be. We started our project plan by drawing a
mind map on the whiteboard. This simple tool enabled us to
take inventory of everything we needed to accomplish and
helped us draw connections between closely related
activities. Eventually, we distilled the results of this visual
brainstorming session into our schedule. The mind map
presents an easy and fun way to get a major project started;
it’s not intimidating and it allows participants to comprehend
the project in its entirety.
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Text Box 5.2
Virtual Mind Mapping for an IT Staff
The leader of an IT group for a large recreational equipment retailer
wanted to use mind mapping for WBS development, but his teams were
geographically dispersed and it was difficult to get them together in the
same room. He posted a blank mind map on a shared Web site, with the
project name in the center of the page, and invited team members and
selected stakeholders to add deliverables, activities, and work packages
asynchronously over several days. People added ideas, edited ideas, and
restructured the map as they saw patterns emerge. In the end, team
members enjoyed the satisfaction that comes from taking part in the
design of their project, and the project was off to a good start. Although
they agreed that a face-to-face meeting would have been helpful, the
virtual approach was effective.
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Exhibit 5.10
Outline for the Promotion Deliverable
of the Charity Run Project
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Exhibit 5.11A
WBS Mind Map Created with
MindManager Software
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Exhibit 5.11B
MindManager WBS Outline Generated from Mind Map
continued
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Exhibit 5.11B
MindManager WBS Outline Generated from Mind Map
continued
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Exhibit 5.11B
MindManager WBS Outline Generated from Mind Map
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Top Down Outlining
• Advantage: Most people have developed outlines,
so the top-down approach is familiar.
• Disadvantages:
 Can be time consuming if team develops detail for
one deliverable at a time
 Participants might tune out if they are not interested
in the deliverable under discussion
 May be awkward to capture ideas that might emerge
spontaneously about a deliverable already discussed
 Team members are sometimes reluctant to add ideas
if the group is on a new topic, or if there isn’t any
room left on a flip-chart page.
 Less vocal team members are at likely to contribute
less than their more effusive teammates
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Exhibit 5.12
The Affinity Diagram Process for
Bottom-Up WBS Development
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Bottom-Up Aggregation Approach to WBS
Development
• Advantages:
 Participatory
 Fast
 Team members may find it easier to think at
the detailed level about work packages
because this is the work they do every day
 People also appreciate having the time to
work alone before conferring with the group
• Disadvantages:
 Does not provide an a priori frame of
reference or structure for the WBS and, as a
consequence, the team might see the
individual trees but miss the forest
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The WBS Document – Making it Useful
• Document the WBS in an appropriate level of detail
– if it is useful for planning, accountability or control
purposes to break tasks into smaller component
parts, then do so.
• Incorporate project management tasks in the WBS.
• Conduct a sum of the parts check.
• All lower level tasks should sum to their
higher-level parent tasks.
• Ask: If we complete all of the work packages
noted here, will we have completed the parent
deliverable?
• Ask for stakeholder input.
• Number the final WBS elements.
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Box 5.3
Details Derail Dockworkers
When a large shipyard reengineered its project management system,
they implemented an improved monitoring and control system. The new
system exposed underlying problems with the shipyard’s estimating
standards and practices. Nearly all tasks took longer than expected.
There were two predominating root causes. First, estimating standards
had not been updated in decades. Consequently, they did not account for
recent changes in technology , space available for people to work, and
so on. Second, shipyard officials soon discovered that some of the
inaccuracy stemmed from making estimates at an insufficient level of
detail. In response, they revamped the entire estimating system.
This appeared to be a good solution, until they discovered a dramatic increase in accidents on the
shipyard’s docks. When they investigated, they found that the time supervisors spent on the docks
had decreased significantly; they were too busy filling out progress forms on detailed tasks to
engage in management by wandering around or to pay attention to safety practices. To address the
problems associated with improper focus and micromanagement of progress reporting, shipyard
managers reformatted the tracking system to focus on aggregated tasks. However, they continued
to plan and estimate at the detailed level to reap the benefits of accuracy. Bottom line: plan in fine
detail; manage at a more aggregate level.
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Assigning Responsibility
• Conduct a global review of tasks assignments to
assure each task has an owner.
• Create a responsibility matrix that documents the
specific contributions (i.e., provide input to,
participate in, be responsible for) team members
make to project tasks.
• Where helpful, create a project organization
structure to document deliverables and owners.
• Where resources are involved in multiple projects,
create a project involvement matrix to document the
percent of time each resource devotes to each
project.
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Text Box 5.4
Virtual Mind Mapping for an IT Staff
One of the attractive features of mind mapping is that it can
aid in task responsibility assignment. If each team member
uses a different color marker when creating the mind map,
you may easily be able to discern areas of interest. If a
branch on the mind map is dominated by a particular color,
the team member who worked with that pen color may be a
good candidate to assume responsibility for tasks related to
the deliverable in question. For example: “Harriet, you seem
to have been very active in generating ideas for the
intellectual property deliverable. Would you be willing to take
responsibility?” Numerous managers have told us they are
amazed at how well this works.
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Exhibit 5.13
Responsibility Matrix for Details within the
Promotion Deliverable of the 10K charity Run
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Exhibit 5.14
Organization Chart for Charity Run
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Exhibit 5.15
Project Involvement Matrix
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Tips for Time Estimates
•
Consider the purpose:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Time estimates for scheduling purposes should reflect elapsed
time for task completion.
Time estimates for billing and accounting should reflect actual
working time for tasks.
Seek more detail: The more detailed the WBS, the easier it is to
develop accurate time estimates.
Ask those who will do the work: They are often in the best
position to accurately estimate time required for a given task.
Get a range of times, instead of a single point estimate.
Use three-point (PERT) estimates.
Ask about and document assumptions.
Consult historical information.
Recognize outsourcing & subcontracting take time and
resources.
Consider parametric estimating.
Incorporate anticipated improvement in efficiency with learning
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curves.
Exhibit 5.16
Learning Curve Illustration
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Exhibit 5.17
Learning Curve Tables with Unit and Cumulative Value for
Rates of 60%, 75%, and 95%
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Exhibit 5.18
Resource
Requirements for
Promotion
Component of the
10K Charity Run
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Estimating Project Costs
•
If the organization has conducted a formal business case
analysis, as described in Chapter 3, the core project team will
have an initial idea of what the project should cost.
 This ballpark or order of magnitude estimate served
as the basis for the project selection decision.
•
Once the project has been sanctioned, and especially for
projects involving long duration, large scope or high
complexity, the team may develop a second budgetary
estimate.
 This number will reflect expectations regarding what
financial resources, in aggregate, will be needed to
support project work over its planned duration.
•
With a description of the labor, time, and other resources
required for each individual work package, the team is in a
good position to estimate the cost for each project task or
deliverable.
 Combining lower-level cost estimates will provide a total
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estimated cost for the project as a whole.
Exhibit 5.19
Charity Run Budget for the Promotion
Deliverable
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Exhibit 5.20
Underlying Accounting for Project
Budget Displayed in Exhibit 5.19
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Exhibit 5.22
Examples of Key Performance Indicators for 10K
Run Promotion Deliverable
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Chapter Summary
• The work breakdown structure is the heart of the
project.
• The WBS is the project manager’s best insurance
against the risk of omitting important work from the
project plan and establishes the boundaries of project
scope.
• Almost every aspect of a project manager’s job
relates in one way or another to the WBS.
• Mind mapping is a powerful and visual team-based
tool for WBS development,
• The detailed task list the WBS produces is the
starting point for assigning task responsibility,
estimating task durations, determining required
resources, and estimating detailed project costs.5-44