Creating the WBS III

Along with the WBS you'll create a companion document called the WBS Dictionary. The WBS Dictionary is a document that defines all of the details for each of work packages. It defines what the work package is, the owner of the work, contract information (if warranted), technical references, and cost information for each work package. The project scope statement, the WBS, and the WBS dictionary all serve as the project's scope baseline.

The approach that I've outlined here is the most common – deliverables are decomposed into smaller deliverables down to the work packages. There is, however, another approach which is just as acceptable – to decompose the phases of the projects into the work packages. For example, an IT project may have identified phases such as requirements gathering, development, testing, training, and roll-out. A project team could elect to decompose the project by these phases rather than by the major deliverables of the project. In either method the project manager will be using the WBS throughout the project. The WBS is needed in order to do five key project management activities:

• Cost estimating – the prediction of how much the project will cost
• Cost budgeting – the actual allotment of monies to create the project deliverables
• Resource planning – the determination of what materials and labor will be needed to create the project deliverables
• Risk management planning – the identification of project risks and how the risks will be managed
• Activity definition – the activity list is created as a result of the WBS

Comments

[twitter.com/pmstudent]

Here I have to differ slightly. True, phases are used to organize the WBS at the high-level in many projects, but I think they should not be. It diverts focus off the unique deliverable(s) being produced and in my experience can lead to missed details of scope and risk. For me it's always better to focus solely on the product and deliverables, and get to the temporal aspects later when scheduling comes into play.

Josh Nankivel
WBS training instructor
http://WBSCoach.com/7-mistakes