Week 3 Discussion: Creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

* The project is building and opening up a small 24 hour coffeeshop*

The work breakdown structure can be confusing, especially fornew project managers. Despite its name, it doesn’t actually involvebreaking down work; it involves breaking downdeliverables.

This, among others, is one of several reasons why you need athorough understanding of the work breakdown structure before youcan create your own.

What is a WBS or Work Breakdown Structure?

A Work Breakdown Structure is the foundation ofthe project as seen through the project management professionalcertification training. A WBS has many benefits that will ease theproject team’s work during the project life cycle. It helps tobetter manage, estimate, coordinate and monitor the project. Buthow is this achieved?

WBS Project Management subdivides project deliverables andproject work into smaller and manageablecomponents, or levels. WBS levels are branched in ahierarchical way.

* The numbers next to each item indicate the number of hoursor resources required to complete the work. The sum of all thesemust be 100 at each level. This is the oft-quoted “100% rule” -that the sum of the work at each “child” level must be 100% of thework at the “parent” level.

WBS Levels

1. The first of the WBS Levels (Level 1) is the ProjectTitle. Why? By the end of the project, the overall projectscope will be completed, therefore, all project work anddeliverables are under the project title respectively.
   
2. The second WBS Level (Level 2) is related to ControlAccounts. Control accounts are majorparts, systems, phases or deliverables of a project. For instance,if we're building a bicycle, the major parts of the bicycle (frame,wheels, etc.) constitute its control accounts.
   
3. The third WBS Level detail the Work Packagesassociated with each control account. A work package is a group ofrelated tasks within a project. Because they look like projectsthemselves, they are often thought of as sub-projects within alarger project. Work packages are the smallest unit of work that aproject can be broken down into when creating your Work BreakdownStructure (WBS).
   
   Since work packages are the smallest parts of a WBS that aredelivered to the customer, they must be explained clearly to theproject stakeholders. To explain work packages in detail,Work Breakdown Structure Dictionary is used. Workpackages themselves only state nouns and name of the deliverable.But what needs to be delivered must be explained in detail and thatis achieved by WBS dictionary.
   
4. The last WBS level details the Activities tobe accomplished. Activities are the tasks that must be assigned toproject team members to complete the work package and are(typically) based on geographical area, engineering discipline,technology, or the time needed to accomplish them.

For This Discussion

1. Based on your course project, create a four-levelWBS consisting of two control accounts(you'll expand on the number of control accounts for yourassignment this week)
2. Create a WBS Dictionary that explains youridentified Work Packages
3. Activities are grouped into individual work packages based onany number of variables. Explain your rationale for thesegroupings.