Work Breakdown Structures

Fifteen Project Management Job

Functions*

Define scope of project

Identify stakeholders,

decision-makers, and

escalation procedures
Develop detailed task list
(work breakdown
structures)

Estimate time requirements

Develop initial project

management flow chart

Identify required resources

and budget

Evaluate project
requirements

Identify and evaluate risks

Prepare contingency plan
Identify interdependencies
Identify and track critical
milestones
Participate in project phase
review
Secure needed resources
Manage the change control
process
Report project status

Overlap of Process Groups in a Phase

(PMBOK Guide, 2000)

Relationships Among Process Groups and

Knowledge Areas (PMBOK Guide 2000, p. 38)

Relationships Among Process Groups and

Knowledge Areas (PMBOK Guide)

Project Planning

The main purpose of project planning is to guide

execution
Every knowledge area includes planning
information
Key outputs include:

A team contract
A scope statement/project charter
A work breakdown structure (WBS)
A project schedule, in the form of a Gantt chart with all
dependencies and resources entered
A list of prioritized risks

PMI Process Project Gantt Chart

Scope Planning and the

Scope Statement

A scope statement is a document used to

develop and confirm a common
understanding of the project scope. It
should include

a project justification
a brief description of the projects products
a summary of all project deliverables
a statement of what determines project
success

Scope Planning and the Work

Breakdown Structure

After completing scope planning, the next

step is to further define the work by
breaking it into manageable pieces
Good scope definition
helps improve the accuracy of time,
cost, and resource estimates
defines a baseline for performance
measurement and project control
aids in communicating clear work
responsibilities

List of Prioritized Risks

The Work Breakdown Structure

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is

a deliverable-oriented grouping of the
work involved in a project that defines
the total scope of the project
It is a foundation document in project
management because it provides the
basis for planning and managing
project schedules, costs, and changes

Approaches to Developing WBSs

Using guidelines: Some organizations, like the DoD,

provide guidelines for preparing WBSs
The analogy approach: Review WBSs of similar
projects and tailor to your project
The top-down approach: Start with the largest items
of the project and break them down
The bottom-up approach: Start with the detailed
tasks and roll them up
Mind-mapping approach: Write down tasks in a nonlinear format and then create the WBS structure

Basic Principles for Creating WBSs*

1. A unit of work should appear at only one place in the WBS.
2. The work content of a WBS item is the sum of the WBS
items below it.
3. A WBS item is the responsibility of only one individual, even
though many people may be working on it.
4. The WBS must be consistent with the way in which work is
actually going to be performed; it should serve the project
team first and other purposes only if practical.
5. Project team members should be involved in developing the
WBS to ensure consistency and buy-in.
6. Each WBS item must be documented to ensure accurate
understanding of the scope of work included and not
included in that item.
7. The WBS must be a flexible tool to accommodate inevitable
changes while properly maintaining control of the work
content in the project according to the scope statement.

Sample Intranet WBS

Organized by Product

Sample Intranet
Organized by Phase

Intranet WBS in Tabular Form

1.0 Concept
1.1 Evaluate current systems
1.2 Define Requirements
1.2.1 Define user requirements
1.2.2 Define content requirements
1.2.3 Define system requirements
1.2.4 Define server owner requirements
1.3 Define specific functionality
1.4 Define risks and risk management approach
1.5 Develop project plan
1.6 Brief Web development team
2.0 Web Site Design
3.0 Web Site Development
4.0 Roll Out
5.0 Support

Intranet Project with Gantt Chart

Intranet WBS and Gantt Chart Organized by Project Management

Process Groups

Sample Mind-Mapping Approach

Sample Gantt Chart

The WBS is on the left, and each tasks start and finish
date are shown on the right using a calendar timescale.
Early Gantt Charts, first used in 1917, were drawn by
hand.

Sample Network Diagram

Each box is a project task from the WBS. Arrows show dependencies
between tasks. The bolded tasks are on the critical path. If any tasks on the
critical path take longer than planned, the whole project will slip
unless something is done. Network diagrams were first used in 1958 on the
Navy Polaris project, before project management software was available.

Sample Enterprise Project

Management Tool

In recent years, organizations have been taking advantage of software

to help manage their projects throughout the enterprise.

Project Time Management

Processes

Project time management involves

the processes required to ensure
timely completion of a project.
Processes include:
Activity definition
Activity sequencing
Activity duration estimating
Schedule development
Schedule control

Activity Definition

Project schedules grow out of the basic

document that initiate a project
Project charter includes start and end
dates and budget information
Scope statement and WBS help define
what will be done
Activity definition involves developing a
more detailed WBS and supporting
explanations to understand all the work to
be done so you can develop realistic
duration estimates

Activity Sequencing

Involves reviewing activities and

determining dependencies
Mandatory

dependencies: inherent in the

nature of the work; hard logic
Discretionary dependencies: defined by
the project team; soft logic
External dependencies: involve
relationships between project and nonproject activities

You must determine dependencies in

order to use critical path analysis

Project Network Diagrams

Project network diagrams are the

preferred technique for showing
activity sequencing
A project network diagram is a
schematic display of the logical
relationships among, or sequencing
of, project activities

Sample Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) Network

Diagram for Project X

Precedence Diagramming Method

(PDM)

Activities are represented by boxes

Arrows show relationships between
activities
Better at showing different types of
dependencies

Task Dependency Types

Sample PDM Network Diagram

Activity Duration Estimating

After defining activities and determining

their sequence, the next step in time
management is duration estimating
Duration includes the actual amount of time
worked on an activity plus elapsed time
Effort is the number of workdays or work
hours required to complete a task. Effort
does not equal duration
People doing the work should help create
estimates, and an expert should review
them

Schedule Development

Schedule development uses results of the

other time management processes to
determine the start and end date of the
project and its activities
Ultimate goal is to create a realistic project
schedule that provides a basis for monitoring
project progress for the time dimension of
the project
Important tools and techniques include Gantt
charts, PERT analysis, critical path analysis,
and critical chain scheduling

Gantt Charts

Gantt charts provide a standard format for

displaying project schedule information by
listing project activities and their corresponding
start and finish dates in a calendar format
Symbols include:
A black diamond: milestones or significant
events on a project with zero duration
Thick black bars: summary tasks
Lighter horizontal bars: tasks
Arrows: dependencies between tasks

Gantt Chart for Project X

Gantt Chart for Software Launch Project

Milestones

Milestones are significant events on a

project that normally have zero duration
You can follow the SMART criteria in
developing milestones that are:

Specific
Measurable
Assignable
Realistic
Time-framed

Sample Tracking Gantt Chart

Critical Path Method (CPM)

CPM is a project network analysis

technique used to predict total project
duration
A critical path for a project is the
series of activities that determines
the earliest time by which the project
can be completed
The critical path is the longest path
through the network diagram and has
the least amount of slack or float

Finding the Critical Path

First develop a good project

network diagram
Add the durations for all activities
on each path through the project
network diagram
The longest path is the critical path

Simple Example of Determining

the Critical Path

start

Consider the following project network

diagram. Assume all times are in days.
1

A=2

B=5

C=2

E=1

6
D=7

F=2

a. How many paths are on this network diagram?

b. How long is each path?
c. Which is the critical path?
d. What is the shortest amount of time needed to
complete this project?

finish

Determining the Critical Path for

Project X

More on the Critical Path

If one or more activities on the critical

path takes longer than planned, the
whole project schedule will slip unless
corrective action is taken
Misconceptions:
The

critical path is not the one with all the

critical activities; it only accounts for time.
There can be more than one critical path if
the lengths of two or more paths are the
same
The critical path can change as the project
progresses

Using Critical Path Analysis to

Make Schedule Trade-offs

Knowing the critical path helps you make

schedule trade-offs
Free slack or free float is the amount of time
an activity can be delayed without delaying
the early start of any immediately following
activities
Total slack or total float is the amount of time
an activity may be delayed from its early start
without delaying the planned project finish
date
A forward pass through the network diagram
determines the early start and finish dates
A backward pass determines the late start and
finish dates

Calculating Early and Late Start

and Finish Dates

Project Schedule Table View Showing

Free and Total Slack