OM480
Defining the Project
Parameters – Work
Breakdown Schedule
(WBS)
(With Material from the Text Authors)
Overview
•
•
•
•
•
Scheduling
Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)
Precedence Relationships
PERT/CPM
Activity Networks
Scheduling
• Project = Problem scheduled for solution
• Requires:
–
–
–
–
–
Planning
Organizing
Coordinating
Directing
Controlling
• gninnalP drawkcaB
• Forward organizing, coordinating, directing, and
controlling
Project Management Trade-Offs
Performance
Quality
Cost
Time
Project Priority Matrix
Time
Performance
Cost
Constrain
Enhance
Accept
©
Hierarchical Breakdown of the WBS
Level
Hierarchical breakdown
1
Project
2
Deliverable
3
4
5
Subdeliverable
Lowest subdeliverable
Description
Complete project
Major deliverables
Supporting deliverables
Lowest management
responsibility level
Cost account*
Grouping of work packages
for monitoring progress and
responsibility
Work package
Identifiable work activities
*This breakdown groups work packages by type of work within a deliverable and allows assignment of
responsibility to an organizational unit. This extra step facilities a system for monitoring project progress
WBS – Key Terms
• Objectives: Logical division of project
– “How much by when”
– Tied to specifications
• Tasks: Specific outcomes related to Objective
• Activities: Individual actions within a Task
– A desired result
Input(s)
Transformation
Output
WBS - Process
• Break down Objectives to Tasks to
Activities
• Strive for single input yielding single output
• Measurable by hours to days
• Present in hierarchical methods (trees)
• Rely on “doers” over “experts”
WBS - Precedence
• Sequencing of activities based on
relationship(s)
• Categories
– Technical Requirements
• Physical movements
– Safety and Efficiency
• Separate from technical requirements
– Policy/Preference Decisions
• Aesthetics, approvals, other considerations
– Resource Constraints
• $, equipment, skills, time
Work Breakdown Structure
Personal computer
prototype
Level
1
2
Vendor,
software,
applications
~
3
Mouse,
keyboard,
voice
~
Floppy
~
Microprocessor
unit
Disk
storage
units
Optical
Hard
5
Internal
memory
unit
~
4
Lowest manageable
subdeliverables
More
items
Motor
Circuit
board
Chassis
frame
WP-1M
WP-1 CB
WP-2 CB
WP-3 CB
WP-4 CB
WP-5 CB
WP-6 CB
WP-7 CB
WP-1 CF
WP-2 CF
WP-3 CF
BIOS (basic
input/output
system)
ROM
RAM
I/O
File
~
~
~
~
Utilities
Read/write
head
WP-1 RWH
WP-2 RWH
WP-3 RWH
WP-4 RWH
WP-5 RWH
Work packages
~
Integration of WBS and OBS
Personal computer
prototype
Level
1
More
items
1.0
1.3
1.2
2
Vendor,
software,
applications
1.1
Mouse,
keyboard,
voice
3
Floppy
~
Microprocessor
unit
Disk
storage
units
~ 1.1.1
~
1.4
1.1.2
Optical
1.4.1
1.1.3
Internal
memory
unit
Hard
~
1.4.1.1
4
5
Lowest manageable
subdeliverables
1.1.3.1
Motor
Production
Test
Purchasing
Software
Circuit
board
Cost
account
Cost
account
Cost
account
Design
Manufacturing
Organization
1.1.3.2
Cost
account
Cost
account
BIOS (basic
input/output
system)
1.4.1.2
1.4.2.1
1.4.2.2
ROM
RAM
I/O
File
~
~
~
~
1.1.3.3
Chassis
frame
1.4.2
1.4.2.3
Utilities
~
1.1.3.4
Read/write
head
1.1.3.4.1
Cost
account
Cost
account
Cost account
number
Work packages
WP1.1.3.4.2.1
WP1.1.3.4.2.2
WP1.1.3.4.2.3
Budget by
period
Time
WBS/Work Packages to Network
Lowest
element
O
r
g
a
n
i
z
a
t
i
o
U
n
i
t
s
Circuit
board
Design
cost
account
Production
cost
account
Test
cost
account
Software
cost
account
B
P-10-1
Design
WP D-1-1 Specifications
WP D-1-2 Documentation
A
D-1-1
D-1-2
D
P-10-2
F
S-22-2
K
T-13-1
C
S-22-1
Production
WP P-10-1 Proto 1
WP P-10-2 Final Proto 2
B
Proto 1
5
Test systems
WP T-13-1 Test
Software
WP S-22-1 Software preliminary
WP S-22-1 Software final version
D
Final
proto 2
4
A
Specifications
and documentation
2
C
Preliminary
software
3
F
Final
software
2
K
Test
3
Duration and Activities
• Effort is not duration
– Time spent in actual “work”
• Duration lasts longer
– Elapsed time from activity start to finish
– Imagine “NFL two-minute warning”
• More on specific techniques in Chs 6-8
• Realities of Duration Planning
– Deliveries
– Breakdowns/Repairs
– Approvals
PBS for Software Development Project
Responsibility Matrix
Example Responsibility Matrix:
Conveyor Belt Project