Ahmed SanadProject Director| Siemens EnergyDubai, United Arab Emirates
Hello everyone.
Hope everything is fine,
I'd like to ask you as per your experience in project management field. is it better for us to use WBS in a hierarchal format ? or in a text format just with identification codes ?
The question with another wording, is it a must to have a hierarchal WBS ?
Ahmed SanadProject Director| Siemens EnergyDubai, United Arab Emirates
sure i know how WBS dictionary looks like, but didn't know i can develop it using software from the WBS itself. Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
What Praveen is suggesting, Ahmed, is that you can use user-defined fields in Prmavera or Project to capture the textual attributes that you find in a WBS dictionary.
Here are sample attributes that you would consider capturing in your WBS dictionary.
WBS Owner
WBS Description
WBS Assumptions and Constraints
WBS Level of Estimate (LOE)
...
1 reply by Ahmed Sanad
May 04, 2016 4:30 PM
Ahmed Sanad
...
Thanks Stephane,
it seems that i need to enhance my Primavera skills in order to be familiar with your suggestion.
Many thanks for your reply.
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Hi Ahmed, Your company/organisation should already have a standard for the tools to use and how to present the WBS. Selecting an appropriate tool is a project in itself. Saving Changes...
Mahammad IbrahimScheduling Engineer | Samsung EngineeringGudivada, Andhra Pradesh, India
Graphical format is better, cause it provide quick and easy understanding. Saving Changes...
Patrick DiceyManager, Customer Project Management| CentralSquare TechnologiesOrlando, Fl, United States
Apr 23, 2016 5:40 AM
Replying to Ahmed Sanad
...
I mean , is it sufficient for me to have the WBS just in text format in an excel sheet ? Can be sufficient ?
Or a minimum requirement is to have WBS in a tree format ? Will tree format give more info that an excel sheet can't tell ?
I hope my question is more clear now.
Hello Ahmed,
Yes a text based WBS in excel is probably the most common format. Personally, I wouldn't bother with a 'graphical' version unless I was doing some sort of presentation where I wanted to convey the information in a more fancy method. My WBS' are not pretty, but get the job done.
Cheers,
Patrick Saving Changes...
Patrick DiceyManager, Customer Project Management| CentralSquare TechnologiesOrlando, Fl, United States
Apr 23, 2016 5:42 AM
Replying to Ahmed Sanad
...
Exactly this is my question, as text won't give me sane data.
As I participated in a debate with a project manager who finds it sufficient to use excel WBS in text , which "from my point of view" can lead to misunderstanding , specially while allocating cost on work packages or activities.
You may both be right, as you may both have different needs for your WBS (communication needs). I don't think there is a right or wrong answer on this one.
Cheers,
Patrick
...
1 reply by Ahmed Sanad
May 04, 2016 4:30 PM
Ahmed Sanad
...
Yes, there's no wrong or right answer
it's all about how to tailor the WBS on your project.
Saving Changes...
Ahmed SanadProject Director| Siemens EnergyDubai, United Arab Emirates
May 02, 2016 4:53 PM
Replying to Stéphane Parent
...
What Praveen is suggesting, Ahmed, is that you can use user-defined fields in Prmavera or Project to capture the textual attributes that you find in a WBS dictionary.
Here are sample attributes that you would consider capturing in your WBS dictionary.
WBS Owner
WBS Description
WBS Assumptions and Constraints
WBS Level of Estimate (LOE)
Thanks Stephane,
it seems that i need to enhance my Primavera skills in order to be familiar with your suggestion.
Many thanks for your reply. Saving Changes...
Ahmed SanadProject Director| Siemens EnergyDubai, United Arab Emirates
May 04, 2016 4:18 PM
Replying to Patrick Dicey
...
You may both be right, as you may both have different needs for your WBS (communication needs). I don't think there is a right or wrong answer on this one.
Cheers,
Patrick
Yes, there's no wrong or right answer
it's all about how to tailor the WBS on your project. Saving Changes...
Ahmed SanadProject Director| Siemens EnergyDubai, United Arab Emirates
a question for all of you.
do you prefer WBS that's based on Process groups ? i mean to break down the project into the 5 Process Groups (Initiation, Planing, ....etc)
or to create the WBS based on major deliverable in your project ? and then decompose this deliverable more & more ?
what's your best practice ?
Thanks in advance. Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
I've tried both, Ahmed, over the last twenty years. I usually tend to a deliverable-based WBS under each process group.
This can be tricky in software development projects. I wind up with deliverable names such as "developed solution", "tested solution", and "accepted solution". I know I'm playing a bit on SDLC phases: development, functional testing, and acceptance testing.
I try to encapsulate all work products under a deliverable. For example, infrastructure components required get portioned under each appropriate deliverable: "test environment" is a work product under "tested solution".
It makes it easier to price the deliverables for a client project.
...
1 reply by Ahmed Sanad
May 05, 2016 3:47 AM
Ahmed Sanad
...
I prefer the deliverable based WBS as well.
I find it easier to estimate costs for each item.
But if you have a man-hour on each deliverable, on which level do you put this man-hour ? do you put it in the same level of another cost item ? like a small deliverable ? or it should be in a level which only contains man-hour for consistency purpose ?
Hope you get what I mean.
"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."
