Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
While there are tools out there, some even free, that focus solely on developing WBS, I usually use Excel or Project. Excel can do in a pinch and for small project. If you need to manipulate the work breakdown a lot, you will quickly grow tired of Excel. MS Project handles group collapsing and movement much better. Saving Changes...
MAEN QADDOURAHProject Director| AJ SAUDIJeddah, Saudi Arabia
why to use special forms .USE YOUR OWN.THIS WILL BE STRONGER Saving Changes...
Markus KopkoAI Enabler for Project & Program Mgmt | Founder PMotion.ai / The PM
AI Coach| PMotion.aiHamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Hello,
i love MindManager (any other MM-Tool will be good also i guess) for creating the WBS.
Since developing the WBS is mostly done within a team and during brainstorming or any other group technique a MM which could be edited in a rush does a great job.
I have created my own WBS-Template in MindManager as a starting point.
You can export your WBS in many other formats like MS WOrd, POwerpoint and even MS Project and build up your detailed project plan from your WBS as a basis (just like it should be, right?).
Regards,
Markus Saving Changes...
Pashori LalTransformation Director, Author, International Speaker| Balmoral Change ConsultingCoventry, West Midlands, United Kingdom
The WBS finished output can be in the form of a bar chart, indented list, mind map or similar. So which you use will be influenced by which software package you are most comfortable in using.
At the end of the day the WBS is a breakdown of the final deliverable into major deliverables, lower level deliverables, control accounts, then the work packages/planning packages. It will also show the breakdown with a coding system.
so stick with what you know unless you feel adventurous and want to try something new. MS Project is a good all round tool and the open source version is Workbench. Another one that is free is the Planner part of the projectinabox.org Community edition. That one maps the PMI PMP and PRINCE2 processes.
Thanks for these informative and interactive discussions. As you know the definition of the WBS according to PMI PMBOK “deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverable, which each descending level of the WBS representing an increasingly detailed definition of the project work”. In addition: “the WBS organizes and defines the total scope of the project, and represents the work specified in the current approved project scope statement!”
So WBS should not shows the timeline. My question was about getting the WBS in its hierarchical representation in some format is applicable in PMIS, and it seems there are more than solution for this like customized reports and integrating with Visio and it's awesome add-in( WBS Modeler) which easily can import the data from the project file to generate the WBS without any transitions ( please note that it is only working fine with MS project 2010)
Please share your doubts and ideas.
Yours,
Mohamed AlEmam.
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1 reply by Sandilyan Ramadoss
Dec 18, 2015 4:12 PM
Sandilyan Ramadoss
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WBS could actually fit in your schedule as a summary milestone / task at high level and shows start and end of the milestone and further down below the set of activities and associated tasks. May be you might be using different approach.
If we have this incorporated as said above, we should be in a position to track easily the completion / expected date for each deliverables. We define the structure of the same WBS and progressively elaborate it when the requirements are know. Using this MS project, as you would already know we would then sequence it accordingly.
Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
That is correct, Mohammed. Of course, the WBS is an input for your schedule. That is why it is not unusual to build WBS in MS Project. Just pretend your work packages are "tasks" and put only the name in. (You could use some of the user-defined fields to help with your WBS dictionary.)
I just don't put in activities until I am ready to expand my WBS into a schedule.
For example, I could have the following as my WBS
1. Product 1.1 Application 1.2 Documentation 1.3 Training Material
Then I would "expand" it into my schedule.
1. Product 1.1 Application Develop application Test application Rework application 1.2 Documentation Complete documentation Review documentation Rework documentation 1.3 Training Material Develop training material Pilot training material Rework training material Saving Changes...
Thanks for these informative and interactive discussions. As you know the definition of the WBS according to PMI PMBOK “deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverable, which each descending level of the WBS representing an increasingly detailed definition of the project work”. In addition: “the WBS organizes and defines the total scope of the project, and represents the work specified in the current approved project scope statement!”
So WBS should not shows the timeline. My question was about getting the WBS in its hierarchical representation in some format is applicable in PMIS, and it seems there are more than solution for this like customized reports and integrating with Visio and it's awesome add-in( WBS Modeler) which easily can import the data from the project file to generate the WBS without any transitions ( please note that it is only working fine with MS project 2010)
Please share your doubts and ideas.
Yours,
Mohamed AlEmam.
WBS could actually fit in your schedule as a summary milestone / task at high level and shows start and end of the milestone and further down below the set of activities and associated tasks. May be you might be using different approach.
If we have this incorporated as said above, we should be in a position to track easily the completion / expected date for each deliverables. We define the structure of the same WBS and progressively elaborate it when the requirements are know. Using this MS project, as you would already know we would then sequence it accordingly. Saving Changes...
Paul LovettProject Manager| VIULangley, British Columbia, Canada
Currently using Office 2013 & Visio 2013. I downloaded the WBS modeler x86 (x64 won't install), and installed it successfully. It does not work as the manual portrays. The ribbon doesn't show WBS modeler, and there are no shapes. :/ Saving Changes...
The best tool is to ask the different stakeholders who want as a result of the project. Before Using software tools. I must first be clear about the procedure to achieve break the range. It is of paramount importance to use the technique of the voice of the customer. Saving Changes...
