WBS Hierarchal or Written ?

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.

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.

Best Regards,

Dear Team,
I still have the same question which I couldn't solve.
I couldn't put man-hour embedded in each activity, so I put a separate work package in the WBS for the man-hour, and estimate budget for this work package.

if I try to embed man-hour in every and each activity, how can I control it ? lets say I have design coming from engineering department, how can I control the man-hour for each drawing ?

so I estimated the man-hour for the engineering all-over the whole project, not for every and each activity.

it'll be very difficult to assign for every activity, did you manage it before ?


Thanks for your help, really I need it.