Mark SchwartzProject Manager| Certified Construction Consultants LLCRoyal Palm Beach, Fl, United States
It's me again my friends...How many project managers actually use a work breakdown structure (WBS)? I have been a project manager on very large healthcare construction projects and have never seen another project manager use it. Saving Changes...
Deepesh RammoorthyICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood ServiceTarneit, Vic, Australia
I found it extremely useful . I do IT projects therefore there are tremendous benefits gained because my project schedule is eventually determined from the WBS. Saving Changes...
Sure, every project. Give me sticky notes or a white board. It can be easily developed and shared if needed. Saving Changes...
Wade HarshmanScrum Master| GDITIndianapolis, In, United States
Yes, I've used them, and they're normally useful. MS Word actually does a pretty nice job for creating this document, and it helps average stakeholders review the scope of the project. My project management professors would probably cringe at the way I combine the "Create WBS" (scope management) and "Define Activities" (time management) processes, but I find it difficult to do one without also doing the other.
However, the method of defining required activities, networking them, and estimating them as distinct processes is quite useful. I haven't found many project teams that respond well when I try to create the entire project plan simultaneously in MS Project. Saving Changes...
Tim FowlkesGlobal Release & Systems Integration Manager| CitigroupRiverview, Fl, United States
Hi Wade,
I found your comment in a post regarding using MS Word to assist in creating a Work Breakdown Structure to be interesting. Is there a pre-exiting template for this purpose or have you created something custom yourself that you use.
I have been managing projects for years but not in a "FORMAL" fashion. I now find myself in an organization requiring more governance and structure and I figured it was time to learn the REAL way to properly manage projects.
Any source of information regarding tools for the creation of Work Breakdown Structures or benefits gained would be appreciated. Do you find a graphical presentation of the project in this format to be advantageous over the Project Plan if it is properly structured and indented accordingly ?
Thanks,
Tim Saving Changes...
Fernando RoqueMr.| Quantic Statistics(www.metricst.info)Guatemala
Hi:
I have read your interesting answers and would like to share my knowledge in WBS. For me, as engineer, and Earned Value Professional, 90% of the success of process improvement is statistics and metrics of the project. WBS is a critical point to get the Costs and Advance of the project.
I wrote a course and filmed on videos about "E-Learning: "Budgets-Costs-Advances of Projects with Microsoft Excel". The INDEX is below. As part of my contribution to the community I can give you a free coupon of the course hosted in UDEMY.
The project control has three indicators:
a) Budget
b) Expenses
c) Advance
Measure of a graphic that shows the expenses under budget and
the advance justifies the money invested and warranties the
project sucess.
Index:
a) Project SCOPE and Work Breakdown Structure
b) Gantt Chart to see Activities Time, Duration
and Dates, Dependency and Critical Path.
b.1) What activities can be executed at the same time.
b.2) What delays affect all the project delivery date.
c) Resources and Costs for every Activity to have a budget
for each one and total amount for the project.
c.1) Cash Flow needs for every phase.
d) Human Resources Communication to show every person
how many hours and when he/she will work.
e) Escenarios of cost change for resources.
f) Risk Analysis of Activities to get the cost of RISK.
g) Execution and Change Control to see if the project is
under the planned budget and will represent a
revenue for the company.
h) Procurement to identify the best providers.
i) Lesson learned for continuous improvement of business
proposals of projects to increase revenue.
Includes:
-PDF presentation
-Excel Worksheet with data to do practical exercises
explained on the video course.
Don EllisSr. Partner| Ellis & AdamsAustin, Tx, United States
10 years as PMP and I have never done a formal WBS. I do something of a WBS, but it is less structured and more of a phasing decomposition of the work. As we move into Agile management, I don't even use a gantt Saving Changes...
I use it. I also will be using the same as RBS- Risk Break down structure ( assigning priority to each work package like 1, 2, 3, etc).
That said, I completelt agree with Mark Schwartz's Comments "Usually, a schedule is created from the information contained in the WBS, but as I understand, every project manager has his/her own style and if it works" Saving Changes...
Dileep SankarProject Engineer| Mechon Trading and ContractingDoha, Qatar
I've been in the construction for some time and since the past 7-8 years, all the projects we did utilized WBS, which made the management quite easy compared to the earlier ones. Saving Changes...
This is really an interesting discussion. I believe all PMs work with WBS approach. Some do it with intention and in a professional structured way, some do it without even realizing it. Naturally you slice the complexity of your scope in pieces ("it is hard to eat a pizza in one go") and by doing it you create such kind of structure. Saving Changes...
Philippe SchulerSenior Instructor/Lecturer in Project/Program/Account PMO Management| Independant ConsultantLes Choux, France
Despite WBS could appear as a waste of time on small projects (PMs often prefer to jump directly into the Scheduling tool!), it MUST be considered as a management tool. On large projects I never accept to review a Schedule before an acceptable WBS is released. WBS is also defining the cost structure for our projects and it is mandatory to provide the Project Financial Team with a WBS showing the costs to be tracked all along the project life. We use Earned Value Analysis to monitor the project performance and costs and for that the use of an approved WBS is mandatory. Again WBS is mandatory to split the project complexity in more manageable parts, to manage the project performance and to keep track of every evnts and changes that may occur. Saving Changes...
