{"id":32373,"date":"2025-01-17T03:01:01","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T03:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/marketing\/i-dove-deep-into-work-breakdown-structures-heres-what-ive-learned\/"},"modified":"2025-01-17T03:01:01","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T03:01:01","slug":"i-dove-deep-into-work-breakdown-structures-heres-what-ive-learned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=32373","title":{"rendered":"I Dove Deep Into Work Breakdown Structures \u2014 Here\u2018s What I\u2019ve Learned"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Here\u2019s a quick truth. Before writing this article, I stumbled on Akin\u2019s laws<\/a>, which aptly summarize work breakdown structures. The fun \u201claw\u201d reads: It’s called a Work Breakdown Structure because the Work remaining will grow until you have a Breakdown, unless you enforce some Structure on it. <\/em>This law is clear and true!<\/p>\n

\"work<\/div>\n

Jokes aside, while studying to acquire my project management degree, I found an instructive note in the PMBOK guide. The guide<\/a>, which is a go-to source for project managers, warns that \u201cno project should be without a WBS.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Download<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Without a work breakdown structure (WBS), your projects have a high chance of exceeding their deadlines and budgets, and not meeting stakeholder expectations. You want none of these.<\/p>\n

So, in this guide, I\u2019ll lean on my experience as a project management professional to share what I\u2019ve learned about work breakdown structures. You\u2019ll also get insights from industry experts who will help you learn about WBS.<\/p>\n

Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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What is a work breakdown structure?<\/h2>\n
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A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a visual outline of the distinct steps in a project. These steps organize everything about your project hierarchically. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

According to Jeffrey Pinto<\/a>, an author and professor, the WBS is a planning mechanism for knowing the interrelationship of various activities in a project. In its simplest form, the WBS looks like you see in the template<\/a> below:<\/p>\n

\"example<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Elements of Work Breakdown Structure<\/h2>\n

Based on what I learned from Pinto, every WBS has at least four levels in project management<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, if your project is complex, you\u2019ll have more sub-deliverables, and your work package will continue increasing.<\/p>\n

Here are the four levels of a WBS for a simple project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Level<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

WBS Term<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Description<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Top-Level\/Level 1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Project<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

The overall project under \u00addevelopment<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Level 2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Deliverable<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

The major project components<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Level 3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Sub-deliverable<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Supporting deliverables<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Level 4 (Activity)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Work package<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Individual project activities<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

To illustrate, I will explain these levels with the WBS for a marketing conference.<\/p>\n

Top-Level\/Level 1<\/h3>\n

The top level of the WBS covers the entire project scope. It\u2019s also the final deliverable, which outlines what I want to accomplish. For this project, the top level is a \u201cmarketing conference plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Level 2<\/h3>\n

The second level of the WBS outlines the major project components. It also reduces the project scope into units that serve as deliverables.<\/p>\n

Deliverables include features for products or phases for tasks. My project is a series of eight tasks. You\u2019ll notice I numbered each deliverable at this level (and for the lower levels).<\/p>\n

This is a deliberate element, which is absent from some WBS I\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pro tip: <\/strong>Numbering a work breakdown structure helps with clarity, organization, and tracking. With numbering, I have a logical and visual way to know the relationship between deliverables, sub-deliverables, and work packages. This makes it easy to find a work element, especially for a large project.<\/p>\n

Level 3<\/h3>\n

The third level of the WBS is the sub-deliverable. Each sub-deliverable is a component of the main deliverable you will provide to your stakeholders.<\/p>\n

When considering an item as a sub-deliverable, a consideration is the ease of managing it. For instance, the sub-deliverable, researching potential venues (2.1), fits this bill.<\/p>\n

Why? It is manageable. I can assign some hours to it. The cost is minimal.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re making your own WBS, definitely use a template<\/a> to get you started.<\/p>\n

Activities<\/h3>\n

The last level of the WBS is activities. Think of activities like atoms. They are the smallest elements within a sub-deliverable or deliverable.<\/p>\n

For instance, to deliver the event planning and strategy, I will need to execute the following activities:<\/p>\n