How to develop a work breakdown structure exercise. A wbs dictionary document template is available for download below. A work breakdown structure wbs is a decomposition of all the work necessary to complete a project. A work breakdown structure, commonly abbreviated wbs, is a key project deliverable that is utilized to organize a project teams work and responsibilities into compact sections that are more manageable. Among them, it can appear in the form of a flow chart, an outline or a quasilist.
Work breakdown structure a project work breakdown structure wbs is a deliverable or product oriented grouping of project work elements shown in graph ical display to organize and subdivide the total work scope of a project. It is intended to provide a consistent approach based on best practices to support the development of an effective project wbs. Work breakdown structures give you a highlevel understanding of the project and its progress. A coding scheme also helps wbs elements to be recognized in any written context. Mar 15, 2018 the wbs dictionary is a document that outlines the definition and scope of each element contained in the wbs. You might have noticed that work breakdown structure has bare minimum information such as work package id and the work package name in it some organizations attach some more information in the wbs, such as cost andor duration of the work package to deliver. Nasa work breakdown structure wbs handbook page ix preface p. The wbs should be accompanied by a wbs dictionary, which lists and defines wbs elements. To better understand the nature of the work required to. The wbs is a useful resource for project management and should be consulted for relevant information on each component of the wbs.
The wbs is critical because it is the primary source for development of a cbs. The wbs is decomposed down to the work package level. The wbs is a view into the project that illustrates the work the project encompasses. A wbs dictionary contains more detailed information about elements within a work breakdown structure wbs. Element level wbs title description 1 6500m hov a4500 2 project management 3. While there are many different ways of documenting a wbs, my preferred method is using excel or ms project. The pm will sign the documents and issue to records management as cfc. The wbs and wbs dictionary should not be static documents. Work breakdown structure element dictionary final design procedures are subject to change without notice. This handbook is not a requirements document and should not be construed as a requirement. The template includes instructions to the author, boilerplate text, and fields that should be replaced with the values specific to the project. This is an example of a work breakdown structure wbs for a.
This is a free work breakdown structure wbs template in excel and pdf. The wbs dictionary describes each component of the wbs with milestones, deliverables, activities, scope, and sometimes dates, resources, costs, quality. Wbs construction is subject to project management progressive elaboration, and as new information becomes known, the wbs should be revised to reflect that information. To develop and maintain a wbs, you must have a clear understanding of the projects. Work breakdown structure or wbs is a method used to decompose a project or large piece of work into smaller manageable chunks of work. The work is broken down into tasks, each of which has a manager, a. Wbs dictionary template in word and pdf formats toggle navigation. It is widely used in the area of project management to breakdown a project into. Likewise, without a good wbs, project success may be negligible. A work breakdown structure, commonly abbreviated wbs, is a key project deliverable that is utilized to organize a project teams work and responsibilities into compact sections that.
This document is a template of a work breakdown structure dictionary document for a project. These angle brackets appear in both the body of the document and in headers and footers. Work breakdown structure element dictionary construction. The goals of developing a wbs and wbs dictionary are 1 for the project team to proactively and logically plan out the project to completion, 2 to collect the information about work that needs to be done for a project, and 3 to organize activities into. Budget details costs of each phase of the project, broken down by wbs areas. Project management work breakdown structure example pdf. The pmbok defines wbs as a deliverableoriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team. The contents of the template are shown below and hints and tips are includes in the template. There are many ways you can present the wbs for your project. How to develop work breakdown structures michael d. If youre interested in viewing industryspecific examples of wbs templates. Public distribution of this document is only permitted. Heres an example of a more simplified wbs dictionary with element id, name, and description. In your project you may want to develop them further.
The wbs dictionary is a project management document that provides detailed information about each component in the work breakdown structure wbs. This work package includes all work required to generate. The wbs is a useful resource for project management, and should be consulted for relevant information on each component of the wbs. It is a tool which helps to easily communicate the work and processes involved to execute the project. The template is fully editable with excel and can be converted or changed to suit specific project requirements. Its an important part of the scope management plan which is a subsidiary of the project management plan. The wbs dictionary contains all the details of the work breakdown structure which are necessary to successfully complete the project. Check the capital project delivery website to ensure this is the current version. It becomes a project kaleidoscope that allows you to look at your project data in an infinite.
This summary wbs cell covers ped for the new research support building. Most importantly it contains a definition of each work package which can be thought of as a mini scope statement. Jun 01, 2005 nasa work breakdown structure wbs handbook page viii preface p. This is an example of a work breakdown structure wbs for a traditional waterfall approach to software development. The hierarchy structure is suitable for visualization, but i personally find the table approach more useful. It also is the basis for establishing all stepstasks, effort, costs and. Wbs dictionary 1 wbs dictionary project name date project number document number project manager project ownerclient for additional project management templates. To better understand the nature of the work required to satisfy each element, a complete wbs dictionary is needed. Resources give details of labor and material rates. Document the work breakdown structure you can either use a template or software tool to document the wbs tasks captured. Pmp certification singapore, pmp exam singapore, pmp training singapore, pmp templates, project management templates, pmp course singapore, project managemen professional, pmp exam tips, project templates, human resource plan, hr plan, lessons learned template, project. Wbs dictionary is one of the project documents and it is the output of the create wbs process. Wbs dictionary template in word and pdf formats page 2 of 2 toggle navigation. Guidelines for creating and maintaining a wbs dictionary.
The wbs dictionary provides additional information which is not provided by the task name itself. Construction project management introduces you develop a work breakdown structure wbs for a project. Oct 04, 2019 creating and maintaining a wbs dictionary by simplilearn last updated on oct 4, 2019 52612 in the project scope management knowledge area, the scope baseline is said to be a combination of the project scope statement, the work breakdown structure wbs, and the work breakdown structure dictionary wbs dictionary. Like the work breakdown structure, the wbs dictionary should be generated with considerable input from the project team members. A wbs can be organized are functionally, or by phase as indicated in the example below. The new research support building is a conventionally office building of approximate 53,000 to 58,000 gross square feet and is built on a site of requiring demolition of smaller existing structures as part ot. Hany ismael is the founder and ceo of planning engineer est. The work is broken down into tasks, each of which has a manager, a responsible institution, costs and schedule, technical. It is a supporting document meant to help incoming project teams understand each work package better. When using this template for your project document, it is recommended that you follow these steps.
Appendix b work breakdown structure wbs b2 february 2015 one of the first tasks that must be performed by the cost estimator when developing a new cost estimate is to either obtain or develop the wbs step 2 in nasa s 12 step cost estimating process. Notes to the author this document is a template of a work breakdown structure document for a project. This type of dictionary is often recommended as a reference resource material for taskoriented projects comprising several work phases. He has started his career back in 2003 as a site engineer, technical office engineer, planning engineer, planning manager, and finally planning department manager where he has been involved in several mega construction projects in egypt and saudi arabia. Additionally available for download is a wbs spreadsheet that can be used to compile the wbs dictionary card information. Technology and engineering development facility jefferson science associates, llc work breakdown structure dictionary. What is wbs work breakdown structure in project management. The work breakdown structure wbs can be compared to a buildings foundation. Wbs dictionary guidelines and examples the wbs dictionary is the detailed description of each wbs item. Applying the work breakdown structure to the project. It leads into several other documents and processes. After the creation of wbs, each work package is associated with a wbs dictionary to describe what will be done in the scope of regarding work package.
Wbs is intended for work activities by tjnaf personnel to support design accomplished by ae. Learn how to create compelling work breakdown structure wbs documents in this beginnerfriendly guide. Wbs dictionary gives a little more detail than the wbs itself. Contains a table of contents, and instructions for how to organize the document, and update the table of. For example, if you are going to be editing the wbs dictionary for the level 2 task forward tracker straw detector, access the word btevwbsdict1.
Used correctly, the wbs dictionary becomes much more than a document that describes the work. This template of a work breakdown structure wbs dictionary enables you to identify the complete project requirements and their details for each. The project manager and project team use the wbs to develop the project schedule, resource requirements, and costs. The wbs dictionary defines, details, and clarifies the various elements of the wbs. In order to save space in this template we only developed the wbs examples down to the third level. The progression of wbs and wbs dictionary development is as follows. The wbs defines a projects work in terms of deliverables and the process phases appropriate to the organizationproject. Work breakdown structure relativistic heavy ion collider. Wbs dictionary contains all the details of each of the work packages in the project. May be simply stated or have short descriptions if needed.
Jun 01, 2005 nasa work breakdown structure wbs handbook page ix preface p. Work breakdown structure rev e, june 2003 work breakdown structure a project work breakdown structure wbs is a deliverable or product oriented grouping of project work elements shown in graph ical display to organize and subdivide the total work scope of a project. Without a good foundation, a building may collapse. The wbs dictionary is created by the project manager. Figure 1 wbs construction example the above wbs is from pmis practice standard for work breakdown structures. The tool can be as detailed as the it project manager wants it to be to help manage the project. It apps implementation releases which conflict with implementation wbs dictionary table format example.
The wbs dictionary is usually a spreadsheet that lists the wbs, the wbs element name, a description of the work in that element at a minimum. Sep 29, 2014 the wbs dictionary, in addition to expanding on the simple one line description of the wbs elements, connects the wbs to the statement of work sow. Information is provided as is and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice. One of the pillars of any project is the work breakdown structure wbs and the accompanying wbs dictionary.
The work breakdown structure wbs records task names, for example, build fence. A wbs dictionary is merely a supporting document, which provides the definitions for each component contained in the work breakdown structure. The template below uses an outline or list type of presentation. A work package is the lowest level in the wbs, and is the point at which the cost and schedule for the work can be reliably estimated. If the wbs element names are ambiguous, a wbs dictionary can help clarify the distinctions between wbs elements how far down. How to create a work breakdown structure wbs pm documents. The highlevel elements in the wbs should match, wordforword, the nouns. A complete document template for publishing the entire work breakdown structure of a project in an organized manner. Free project management templates last modified by. A wbs is arranged in a hierarchy and constructed to allow for clear and logical groupings, either by activities or deliverables. Quotes are not sourced from all markets and may be delayed up to 20 minutes. Another example of a project wbs using the 100% method is. Level 2 task under the bullet initial word wbs dictionary files. The benefit of a wbs dictionary is to ensure that we do the work right the first time by providing the team with the information they need to produce quality deliverables that meet project requirements and organization standards.
This project wbs template is free for you to copy and use on your project. The template includes instructions to the author, boilerplate text, and fields that should be. Work breakdown structure element dictionary construction procedures are subject to change without notice. And most task names are pretty selfexplanatory in their work to be accomplished, however a task name does not convey much information all by itself. The wbs dictionary template provided below is a somewhat comprehensive one. Wbs is self explanatory and gives structure of project over 2 pages. Free work breakdown structure templates smartsheet. This is an example of a work breakdown structure wbs for. It is a product oriented structure, not an organizational structure. Wbs dictionary template in word and pdf formats page 2 of 2.
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