WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

Quite often, people handle a project without approaching it in a manageable, logical way. Instead, they jump in only to find that the effort was much greater than they had anticipated. They could have avoided the shock if they had developed a work breakdown structure.

A work breakdown structure is a top-down listing of tasks, moving from broad to specific, in a manner similar to an outline. Each task, for example, is expanded into subtasks; each subtask can then be expanded into greater detail, such as steps.

You can unfold a work breakdown structure into many different layers, and the more detailed the work breakdown structure, the better. The more detail, the easier it is to track progress.

A detailed work breakdown structure offers several advantages. It engenders accountability on a project because you can assign specific tasks to individuals supporting you in the work breakdown structure. It also serves as the basis for developing realistic time estimates and schedules, and it lessens the chance of duplicate effort because everyone knows exactly what to do. Finally, it forces thinking about what you’ll do prior to beginning your project.

for Developing a Work Breakdown Structure

• On a sheet of paper or using computer software, write the overall product to develop or service to provide.
• Just below the overall product or service, list the components.
  • Note: Use only one or two words.
• Under each component, list the tasks to build it.
  • Note: Use an action verb and object in the description.
• Use a numbering scheme to uniquely identify each element in the work breakdown structure, which will also indicate the relationships among elements.