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Project Management Orientation

When Is the WBS Created?

The WBS is generated after the team understands the work products to be developed.  Development begins when deliverables are identified and agreed to by the sponsor.  From this point in project planning, the project scope can be described in measurable and discrete work efforts. 


The Levels of the WBS  

The WBS has as many levels as are required to define the activities to the level of detail needed to successfully plan, monitor, and manage the work effort.
  
An activity is an element of work at a particular level.  Each activity results in a work product that is distinct and has verifiable completion criteria.  Work products that are given to the sponsor are called deliverables (for example, a software program with the functionality requested).  Not all work products are given to the customer (for example, those that are necessary to manage and control the project, such as software that generates monthly project status reports, are not given to the customer but do require work effort to develop).  The elements of the WBS often have common work activities for similar projects.  These common elements are called work patterns.

The lowest level of the WBS is the work package.  A work package is a group of work items assigned to a single person or small group to be done over a short period of time.  An example is a software application that is being developed in-house while the hardware is being developed by an external supplier.  The WBS for the software might be decomposed into two-week activities, which results in work packages at the sixth, eighth, and tenth levels of the WBS.  Alternatively, the hardware might be decomposed to the subcontract level of 50 weeks of activity at the third level in the WBS.  The subcontractor needs to decompose the hardware work into smaller activities to enable effective planning and scheduling.

When creating the WBS, the project manager must examine each level of the structure to ensure that the project is effectively planned, executed, controlled, and closed.  Each level must be examined for dependencies among components, acceptance criteria, risks, ownership, milestone schedule, progress reporting, and relationship to the solution architecture.  As a project manager, you must consider each of these aspects.  You must also look at alternative decompositions to reduce dependencies, tie acceptance criteria more closely to the contract, avoid or reduce risks, permit measurable milestones, allow clear progress reporting, and maintain a relationship to the target solution.

1: Getting Started
2: Define the Project Team
3: Team Management
4: Identify and Validate Requirements
5: Create Decomposition Structures
6: Risk Management
7: Project Estimates
8: Project Schedules
9: Change Management
10: Project Control and Execution
Defining the Project
11: Project Management Review
12: Project Closeout
13: Project Management Tool Suite
14: Self-Assessment and Final Exam
Fast Points
Concepts
Seven Keys
Case Study
WWPMM
Mentor
Check Point
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