WBS-the project manager's backbone

WBS-the project manager's backbone

As the single point of responsibility for a project, a project manager can have a rather heavy workload. But for a person with the right attitude, interpersonal skills, and organizational excellence, it's a challenging and fulfilling role.

The key to project management is effective organization. Luckily, this is a skill that can be developed and supported by pragmatic strategic management. One powerful organizational strategy typically employed from the very beginning of a project is the development of a work breakdown structure, or WBS.

The principle of WBS

WBS is a management concept based on the principle of management by deliverables. This principle defines all tasks in terms of tangible, achievable deliverables rather than a series of progress reports.

WBS involves reducing a project into small, discrete, and manageable parts

WBS involves reducing a project into small, discrete, and manageable parts. Just as a craftsman draws up a bill of materials needed to construct a piece of furniture, so a project manager sets out a WBS of hardware, software, and deliverables needed to complete a project.

A WBS is a graphical representation of the structure of the project. The project is presented as a hierarchy of levels. The first level is the project itself, the second level has the project partitioned into components, the third level has these components partitioned into smaller tasks, and so on.

A project manager would normally prepare a WBS from very early on in the planning process.

The role of WBS

It is difficult to overstate the importance of WBS to the job of a project manager. It acts to support some of the core tasks of project management. Project managers' styles and duties differ from project to project and from organization to organization. Nevertheless, the basic responsibilities of a project manager involve organizing the people, equipment, and budget needed to complete a job.

In the planning stages, a project manager (PM) must predict the expected cost with some degree of accuracy. As the project progresses, project management involves collecting and organizing actual costs during the lifetime of the project. It also involves controlling and measuring the performance of the resources-employees, software, and hardware-used.

By breaking the project up into smaller components, the WBS helps the PM to provide accurate cost estimates. By the same token, it provides a mechanism for collecting and organizing costs as they are incurred. It also provides a way for the PM to monitor and assess resource performance throughout the project.

Although a WBS doesn't actually specify a timeframe for a project, it is invaluable in helping to develop a schedule.

Constructing a WBS

A WBS is a visual structure, as shown in the diagram below. In the top level, or level 1, the whole project is represented by a box. Suppose the project is to set up a web site for a data mining software company, Blue Bay Software. In level 2, the project is split into its major components. These could be the front-end requirements, such as the purposes of the web site and its appearance; the back-end requirements, including technical and financial resources; and the personnel needed to set up and run the site. Level 3 sees the major components broken down into smaller tasks. Again using the software company example, level 3 would probably have the front-end requirements broken down into content, hyperlink structure, and interface design, before being further subdivided into content for company profile, profits, and products, for example.

Obviously, the larger a project is, the more levels are needed. Small projects will typically have about six levels, while large projects could have in the region of twenty levels.

Projects that embrace multiple systems break the project up into these systems in level 2, and describe the project in terms of software and hardware in level 3. In smaller, single-system projects, the project can be described in level 2.

The description level of a WBS usually contains a project service component.

The description level of a WBS usually contains a project service component. This component includes the types of activities and deliverables that are not a physical part of the final project but that are essential support items. For instance, the text for a web site article is a physical part of the completed project, whereas the house style guideline document developed to direct that piece is a project service.

As a rule of thumb, the boxes in the lowest level of a WBS should represent discrete standalone deliverables. These should be of a magnitude whereby they can be adequately controlled and realistic cost estimates can be made. They should be reasonably sized packages of work that can be managed on an individual basis and for which an individual or a team is responsible.

The real value of WBS is that it clarifies the level of cost detail that should be given to various levels of management. For example, a senior manager would probably need to know the cost details at level 2 of the WBS, but would not require a report on the cost breakdown for lower levels. A team leader overlooking a level 3 deliverable, on the other hand, would need detailed cost estimates for that deliverable.

The key concept in WBS construction is that of the deliverable. Everything listed in a WBS must be a tangible, concrete entity. In order to achieve this, it may be necessary to create deliverables out of intangible activities. For example, time spent thinking about, devising, or experimenting with a product could be documented in an investigation report that would act as a deliverable for the purposes of the WBS.

Thinking in terms of deliverables is important because it is a key factor in successful project management. Effective PMs manage by what is actually delivered, rather than relying solely on progress reports from other people.

Pitfalls

Just as a well-constructed WBS can help achieve effective project management, a badly drawn-up WBS can hinder a project manager's efforts.

Most educated, intelligent workers will become stressed and less productive under micro-management conditions

One of the most common mistakes made when developing a WBS is to create a step-by-step guide to the project rather than a clear framework. This happens when a PM lays out too many tasks by subdividing components and tasks into smaller and smaller parts, so that the WBS ends up as a shopping list of hundreds, or even thousands, of short chores. As a result, the project manager is misdirected into checking all these little tasks instead of relying on the appropriate people to take responsibility for them. Most educated, intelligent workers will become stressed and less productive under these micro-management conditions and the project could be unnecessarily jeopardized.

Furthermore, breaking a project up into such an unwieldy array of small chores makes it difficult to organize costs and monitor performance. This, of course, undermines the entire function of the WBS. It also creates extraneous administrative work for the PM.

In summary, WBS is one the most useful tools available to a project manager. It helps the PM plan and budget for a project, to organize and control costs, and to assess resource performance. The WBS aims to help manage a project in terms of tangible deliverables that various team members take responsibility for and to create a clear framework for the project.