Work breakdown structure example

Work breakdown structure example : A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a decomposition of all the work necessary to complete a project. A WBS can be broken down into sub-phases or projects, each with its own headings and tasks.


A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a decomposition of all the work necessary to complete a project.

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a decomposition of all the work necessary to complete a project. It’s a hierarchical list of all the work required to complete a project, organized into categories and subcategories. A WBS can be used to track progress on your project, so you know who has what responsibility for each piece of work.

The WBS also helps ensure that everyone working on the same project has an overview of exactly what they are responsible for doing, which is useful when it comes time for planning meetings or presentations about where your team stands with respect to completion dates and budgets.

A heading for each deliverable and major project milestone.

You should have a heading for each deliverable and major project milestone.

Each deliverable should be a separate section, which you can use as follows:

  • The heading should include a short name for the deliverable and its number of tasks(e.g., "Deliverables 1").
  • Each task within the deliverable is listed below it in bold text so that it’s easy to see what has been completed and what needs to be done next.
  • Tasks are numbered according to their order of completion; if there is more than one task in an item then they are ordered by priority rather than chronology (e.g., Task 1 – Task 2).

Tasks that need to be completed to deliver each project deliverable.

The tasks that need to be completed to deliver each project deliverable.

The list should include:

  • The task/s that have been assigned to a person. This is an essential part of the process, as it helps ensure that everyone knows who is responsible for what and when they need to do it.
  • The due date for each task (this may change depending on which stage you're in).
  • An estimate for time spent working on each task (how long will it take me? how long does this usually take?).
  • An estimate for cost associated with completing this work item - will I need materials or equipment? Will I be using my own laptop or computer? Is there any software required such as Adobe Flash Player 10+).

Dependencies between tasks which impact scheduling.

Dependencies between tasks.

  • A task must be completed before it can be started on another task.
  • If a task is delayed or stopped, this can delay work on other tasks in the project plan because they need to be completed by a certain date or time period.
  • This can also cause problems if there is not enough time to complete all tasks in the project plan before they are due (for example: if you don't finish an early release before your deadline).

Use WBS to break down your projects and make them more manageable.

WBS is a way to break down your projects and make them more manageable. The WBS format has been used by many project managers and organizations, including the US Navy. It helps you to identify the work that needs to be done, resources required, dependencies among tasks, budget information and schedule.

The first step in creating a WBS is deciding what type of breakdown will work best for your project. You can use a waterfall model where each phase or task is broken down into its own sub-tasks (e.g., task A ->B), or you may prefer something like an integrated approach where all phases are grouped together into one section (e.g., phase 1). This decision depends on how complex your task list is going to be; if it's easy enough for people at any level within your organization then using separate sections might make sense since there won't be much overlap between them from an organizational perspective anyway! If however there are lots of overlapping tasks across multiple areas then grouping everything together could help reduce confusion during planning sessions later on down line when discussing future resource allocations etc...

Benefits of using the WBS template available in Anywhere

While you can use the WBS template in Excel & it will still help you manage your projects better, using the ready-to-use Anywhere WBS template comes with several benefits.

  • Start with the in-built ready-to-use WBS template. You can find it under Templates/ Project Management category.
  • Customize the template further to suit your needs.
  • Easily automate task assignments & follow ups.
  • Set up automation to send a daily to-do list in email to each team members.
  • Send a weekly status update report to the stakeholders automatically.
  • Quickly see the health & progress of overall project using the inbuilt Project Dashboard.
  • Give it a try here.

Conclusion

A WBS can be a great tool to keep your project on track and on budget. It allows you to focus on what needs to be done and reduces the number of conflicting tasks that make it harder to stay organized and complete multiple parts of the project at once. A great way for beginners and experts alike!

Register for a free Anywhere trial & use the in-built WBS template for free =>

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