Work breakdown structure (WBS)

MANAGEMENT OF ENGINEERING PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Terms and Definitions

Project Charter A document authorizing the project manager to

initiate and lead the project.

Project Creep The tendency for the project scope to expand

over time due to changing requirements, specifications, and priorities.

Establishing Project Priorities

Causes of Project Trade-offs Shifts in the relative importance of criterions

related to cost, time, and performance parameters. Also, called triple constraint

Budget– Cost Schedule– Time Performance– Scope

Project Management Trade-offs

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The WBS picture a project subdivided into hierarchical units of tasks, subtasks, work packages, etc.

The outcome of this hierarchical process is called the work breakdown structure (WBS).

The WBS is a map of the project.

Creating the WBS

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Defines the relationship of the final

deliverable (the project) to its subdeliverables, and in turn, their relationships to work packages.

Basically, the WBS is an outline of the project with different levels of detail.

Hierarchical Breakdown of the WBS

subdeliverable is further divided into work packages. Because the lowest subdeliverable usually includes several work packages.

the work packages are grouped by type of work—for example, hardware, programming, testing.

These groupings within a sub deliverable are called cost accounts. This grouping facilitates a system for monitoring project progress by work, cost, and responsibility.

The Work Breakdown Structure

The WBS is an important document and can be tailored for use in a number of different ways

It may illustrate how each piece of the project contributes to the whole in terms of performance, responsibility, schedule, and budget

It may list the vendors or subcontractors associated with specific tasks

The Work Breakdown Structure

It may serve as the basis for making cost estimates or estimates of task duration

It may be used to document that all parties have signed off on their various commitments to the project

Deliverables

There are many deliverables in a project. Well defined deliverables eliminate scope

creep.

Deliverables

Deliverables are the results produced by tasks.

For example, in house constructions deliverables could be the house foundation, walls, roof, and electrical work, etc.

WBS of PC simplified WBS for development of a new

personal computer project. See page 112

Work Breakdown Structure

Integrating WBS with the organization Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)

Depicts how the firm is organized to discharge its work responsibility for a project.

Identifies organization units responsible for work packages.

Ties the organizational units to cost control accounts.

Integration of WBS and OBS

Coding the WBS for the Information System WBS Coding System

Defines: Levels and elements of the WBS Organization elements Work packages Budget and cost information

Allows reports to be consolidated at any level in the organization structure

The most commonly used scheme in practice is numeric indention.

WBS Coding

WBS badly designed Possible reasons

WBSA badly designed WBS can result in: Incomplete project definition. Missed deadlines on deliverables or timeline slippage. Budget cost overruns. Frequently changing scope Unusable product Failure to deliver on some aspects of project scope

New electric car

Electric car –WBS - coding

Electric car –WBS

Electric car –OBS -Coding

Electric car –

Develop a WBS for a project in which you are going to build a bicycle. Try to identify all of the major components and provide three levels of detail.

(Exercise- Page -122)

In class exercise Few more exercises in tutorial