Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures - Third Edition

Project Management Institute

• Publisher: Project Management Institute
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781628256208
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Project Management
• Index: Business

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) serves as a guide for defining work as it relates to a specific project's objectives. This book supplies project managers and team members with direction for the preliminary development and the implementation of the WBS. Consistent with A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)-Sixth Edition, the WBS Practice Standard presents a standard application of the WBS as a project management tool. Throughout the book, the reader will learn what characteristics constitute a high-quality WBS and discover the substantial benefits of using the WBS in every-day, real-life situations.

1

INTRODUCTION TO THE PRACTICE STANDARD FOR WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURES

1.1 PURPOSE OF THIS PRACTICE STANDARD

A standard is a document established by consensus and approved by a recognized body that provides rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their results. Standards aim to achieve the optimum degree of order in a given context through common and repeated use. Developing a standard follows a process based on the concepts of consensus, openness, due process, and applicability. PMI standards provide guidelines for achieving specific portfolio, program, and project management results, which apply to most projects, in most organizations, most of the time.

The purpose of a standard is to convey the what, not the how.

A practice standard differs from a standard by providing more explanations, specifications, and in-depth experience-based knowledge about a topic and its implementation. More importantly a practice standard is descriptive, not prescriptive. A practice standard conveys both the what and recommended how. It is important to note that the how aims to be a guideline for most projects, in most organizations, most of the time.

Objectives of the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures – Third Edition are to:

• Provide a common ground for understanding the concepts and principles of the work breakdown structure (WBS);
• Present guidelines and recommended practices for the creation and use of the WBS; and
• Render standard application of the WBS as an essential mechanism to ensure integrated program and/or project schedule, cost, risk, resource, technical, and contractual control.

This practice standard promotes consistent application of the WBS, thus maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of program or project planning and control efforts.

This practice standard also sets out to demonstrate what a quality WBS looks like, providing numerous examples throughout. In addition to the WBS examples, quality work breakdown structures are annotated in later sections, outlining the application of key principles. Appendix X3 of this practice standard comprises various industry-specific WBS examples. The examples demonstrate how to create and use work breakdown structures in different types of programs and projects. Some of these examples also illustrate the application of quality concepts on industry-related work breakdown structures.

The Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures – Third Edition elaborates on WBS-related guidance presented in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) [1],¹ The Standard for Program Management [2], and the Agile Practice Guide [3], based on literature, research, and practical application of work breakdown structures in industry today. Other PMI standards and practice standards also reference content found in this practice standard.

When referring to the processes of WBS creation and update, unless otherwise noted, the WBS applies to program and project interchangeably. Other sections of this practice standard discuss specific aspects pertaining to the content and application of the program WBS.

The Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures – Third Edition provides the framework to build, decompose, organize, utilize, and regularly update the WBS. This practice standard contains five main sections:

• Section 1 Introduction—This section provides the background and overview of a WBS, its objectives, uses, and business value.
• Section 2 Concepts and Principles—This section presents the core concepts and principles of using the WBS; discusses its implementation in different project life cycles; and describes methods and instructions on how the WBS applies, all of which are accompanied by numerous examples.
• Section 3 Relationships, Integration, and Context—This section provides the project-wide context of the WBS by describing its integration with other standards and other project management processes. Cross-process examples for the four main project life cycles demonstrate the project-wide context.
• Section 4 WBS Quality—This section presents specific quality guidelines and checklists that serve as a framework for ensuring the completeness and correctness of the WBS. It also explains the usage of a quality WBS in programs and projects.
• Section 5 WBS Application and Usage—This section provides the necessary guidelines required for the actual application of the WBS, from WBS creation throughout the entire project life cycle. This section also covers the application of work breakdown structures for programs.
• The Appendixes of the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures – Third Edition comprise numerous examples of work breakdown structures for a multitude of project types, industries, market segments, and project life cycles, to provide the reader with as comprehensive an understanding as possible of the applicability of the WBS.

1.2 OVERVIEW

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. This very often involves a significant amount of uncertainty. A project, in its entirety, is an endeavor that has not been carried out before, hence it carries with it a certain degree of risk.

Successful project management, regardless of the project's life cycle approach, depends on a thorough and complete planning process, which in its essence is multidisciplined and involves technical and subject-matter aspects. The differing viewpoints on scope, schedule, cost, and risk are crucial during the planning stage. Planning begins by defining the project goals and objectives with sufficiently detailed information and specifying the precise deliverables the project typically creates. The project's scope of work derives from these definitions and specifications, whereas the WBS establishes the framework for planning, controlling, executing, and managing the project's work to its completion and successfully handing over its deliverables.

1.2.1 WHAT IS A WBS?

A WBS is a hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables. Whereas the project scope statement describes the project scope and its major deliverables, assumptions, and constraints, the WBS elaborates on this description by defining, and hierarchically organizing, the total scope of the project. The WBS represents the entirety of the work specified in the current approved project scope.

1.2.2 WHY IS A WBS REQUIRED?

The WBS is a practical tool assisting the project planning team in overcoming large uncertainties. The WBS aids in converting an uncertain challenge into a series of challenges with lesser uncertainties. In simpler terms, the WBS helps in converting the entire project scope, not carried out before as a whole, into a series of smaller components called work packages. These work packages may have been dealt with in the past, which makes them more easily assessed, measured, managed, and communicated.

WBS components carry a fundamental role in many aspects of project management, planning, and control. They assist in defining and understanding the relationships between scope, time, and cost and thus play an essential role in successful project planning. Launching a project based on a complete, logical, and accurate hierarchical scope description facilitates all aspects of project management throughout the project's life cycle.

1.2.3 WHEN IS A WBS CREATED? WHEN IS A WBS UPDATED?

The PMBOK^® Guide's Create WBS process identifies the WBS as an important and influential output. From the project life cycle's perspective, the Create WBS process occurs in the very early stages of the project. Following Scope Management planning, collection and documentation of requirements and preparation of the scope statement take place. Subsequently, the creation of the WBS, based on available scope information, commences.

Updates to the WBS arise through the formal Perform Integrated Change Control process as additional scope information surfaces, coupled with information revealed from project planning (or, in adaptive life cycles, iteration or release planning), project execution, and monitoring and control. This recurring process is known as progressive elaboration.

The WBS provides the framework and serves as the basis for various other planning processes, such as the Define Activities process in the Project Schedule Management Knowledge Area, the Estimate Costs process in the Project Cost Management Knowledge Area, the Estimate Activity Resources process in the Project Resource Management Knowledge Area, and the Identify Risks process in the Project Risk Management Knowledge Area.

Monitoring and control of the WBS happen throughout the project life cycle, as part of the Control Scope process in the Project Scope Management Knowledge Area. Modifications and updates to the WBS occur throughout the project life cycle, as derived from the project's change control process. Outputs from the change control process often yield approved change requests to the project's scope.

1.2.4 WHAT TYPES OF PROJECTS HAVE A WBS?

Creating a WBS is an essential part of the planning process of every type of project, whether externally facing or internally focused. A WBS is crucial, regardless of the industry or the discipline in which the project takes place. Applying a WBS is critical, irrespective of the type of project deliverables or the type of project life cycle.

This practice standard elaborates on the implementation of work breakdown structures in predictive, iterative, incremental, and agile project life cycles. It also provides a hands-on approach to the use of work breakdown structures in these varying life cycles.

1.3 PURPOSE OF A WBS

1.3.1 WHAT IS A WBS GOOD PRACTICE?

The WBS provides the foundation for a visual representation of the scope of work. The WBS relates to the project objectives and deliverables. The WBS assists in verifying consistency and completeness of scope and avoiding duplication. Additionally, the WBS provides the foundation for clear responsibility and cost assignment in later stages of the planning process.

The WBS is an important communication mechanism that assists in understanding and communicating the scope of work and addresses what is in and out of scope. The WBS creates a common language among all project stakeholders, including project management and subject-matter aspects.

The WBS provides the project management team and project stakeholders with a visual framework for project planning and control. The WBS is the basis for the project's scope, schedule, budget, risk, and performance tracking. It serves as a cross-discipline mechanism for reporting project status and progress in a unified and standard manner. It also serves as a mechanism that balances management's need for control of the work through representation of various levels of detail. It allows specification of planning and control data in the most detailed manner in the lower levels of the WBS, or aggregation to several higher WBS levels, so that it suits the information needs for varying management levels.

1.3.2 WHY IS A WBS ESSENTIAL?

Project planning processes that are not based on a well-designed hierarchical structure of the project's scope—fully accepted and commonly used by all project functions and stakeholders—are likely to be inaccurate, inconsistent, and result in poor planning deliverables. These deliverables, in turn, will not allow for effective and efficient control processes, possibly resulting in poor decision mak...