3 Types of Work Breakdown Structure

January 27, 2023 Sahil

We all recognize the complexity of a project. Throughout the entire project lifetime, there are just so many intricate duties and deliverables that it might be a little intimidating.

A survey found that 80% of organizations squander at least 50% of their time on project rework. It doesn’t have to be that way, though.

You can manage all the difficult tasks more effectively and smoothly if you make a hierarchical breakdown of all the work necessary to finish your project. For thorough understanding of WBS structure join PMP bootcamp of EDUHUBSPOT.

The “work breakdown structure,” a hierarchical organization, offers a strong framework for your project. Let’s quickly go through each type of a work breakdown structure now.

The WBS essentially spells out the project’s “what” — specifically, what must be done to achieve the specified goals, how much it would cost overall, and what resources are needed.

Every level of a work breakdown structure has a designated level of importance because it is a hierarchical diagram.

A WBS’s fundamental layers consist of:

The Top Level

The team’s desired result is represented by this deliverable. The project’s eventual purpose is, to put it simply, this. It might even be the project’s name if you like!

Controls Account

It contains all of the significant tasks and deliverables and is just below the top level. Additionally, it might cover the more substantial components of the undertaking, including machinery.

Work Packages

The tasks that you must finish to move closer to the “control account” are often included in this stage, which is located beneath the “control account.”

Activities

The WBS places this stage towards the end since these are the project’s smallest tasks. However, when a project begins, a team would focus on these as their first tasks.

Three Different Work-Benefit Structures

1. Phase-Based Structure

How well you manage each stage of a project determines its success. A mistake made in one stage could prevent success in another! In the end, the enterprise as a whole might be upset. You clearly outline all the project activities through a project management phase-based structure, which promotes a more efficient execution!

2. Deliverable-Based Structures

You can divide and arrange your project tasks in a deliverable-based framework by the agreed-upon deliverables. After all, your client is unlikely to trust you again if you don’t produce the deliverables you promised. The expansion of your company would be slowed down by this.

3. Responsibility-Based Structure

With a structure based on responsibilities, all project activities are defined by the responsibilities held by each project executive. The likelihood of the project succeeding drastically increases when everyone is aware of who is responsible for which duties and what must be accomplished within the allotted time.

Six justifications for developing a work breakdown structure

1. The Project’s Foundation

The work breakdown structure serves as the basis for the planning stage since it provides an overview of a project and its deliverables. The WBS can be used for everything, including cost estimation, resource estimation, time estimation, and schedule planning.

2. Facilitates Staff, Time, and Cost Estimation

It might be challenging to estimate the number of employees needed, the cost, and the duration of the complete project. The likelihood of departures from the expected findings is larger! However, you may estimate more quickly and precisely if you break the job up into smaller components.

3. Nothing Will Fall Through The Cracks Anymore

A WBS directs your entire team on what needs to be done and how it needs to be done by outlining the project tasks and deliverables that need to be finished. By doing so, all the extra labor is removed, allowing the team to concentrate on the aspects of the project that matter.

4. Offers a More Comprehensive Understanding of Roles

The WBS aids the project team in comprehending how their work will affect the project as a whole and how their actions or deliverables will contribute to meeting the project’s objectives. Simply said, the WBS helps team members better grasp how their contributions fit into the broader project plan.

5. Aids in Preventing Change

When the project scope is unclear, changes to the project frequently occur. The project scope is broken down much more clearly in a WBS, which aids in preventing changes. A WBS will ease the transition even if you need to make a few adjustments as the project progresses.

6. Encourages Collaboration & Communication

A work breakdown structure identifies who is accountable for what task, making it simpler for all project participants to work together to execute the project’s activities. The outcomes? Improved communication reduces disagreements and increases the likelihood that the project will be successful.

How Do You Make a Work Breakdown Structure? (Step-By-Step)

Step 1: List Every Major Deliverable

The finished products you need to finish the project successfully are your main deliverables. Your project scope should have previously included details about these deliverables!

For instance, a targeted inbound marketing campaign’s main outputs may include emails, social media, ebooks, newsletters, blogs, downloadable materials, and more.

Before beginning the task breakdown structure, be careful to clarify any questions you may have concerning the project deliverables. Future conflicts will be greatly reduced by doing this.

Step 2: Break Each Deliverable Into Smaller Work Components

Let’s use an illustration to clarify this phase. Let’s say your product is “social media.” You might further divide it up into several professional components, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin.

You can separate these labor tasks further if necessary. For instance, the sub-components of the work component “Instagram” could be copywriting, video editing, and graphic design.

You are not required to have a certain number of work components, nor is there a cap. It all relies on the size, scope, and deliverables of your project.

Step 3: Divide each task into work packages

The last and most comprehensive level in your work breakdown structure is this one. In essence, it is a list of discrete jobs that may be finished by a single person.

Think of each work package as a mini-project with its milestones, budget, schedule, and resources. The most important thing to remember is to avoid repetition and make each work page distinctive.

Step 4: Identify The Dependencies

After listing every activity, you must determine which chores must be accomplished before moving on to the next one. For instance, blogs cannot be published unless the editor approves them.

Knowing the sequence in which the tasks must be completed will help you make a strong schedule, better manage your time, and foresee any obstacles.

Step 5: Time to Prioritize and Assign

This completes the process of developing a job breakdown structure. Using the list you made in the previous stage, you are required to arrange all the jobs in this phase according to priority.

As soon as your WBS is in logical order, start allocating work packages to the team members. Create a schedule based on the work packages and significant deliverables you identified earlier.

You can list the title of the department in charge of each task, the start, and completion dates, and the expected cost of the project/work components to preserve organization and transparency.

Conclusion

The procedure of reaching the ambitious project goals? That is even more intricate. You can break down those substantial, important project components into more manageable jobs by using a work breakdown framework.

The concepts you’ve acquired in this EDUHUBSPOT blog post will benefit you not only in project management but in any subsequent difficult task that you take on.

FAQs

Q1 How many levels should a WBS have?

The ideal work breakdown structure would include three levels. However, it is not required because the number of levels also depends on the scale of projects.

Q2 What is the WBS estimate method?

It goes without saying that WBS estimation technique. The following three critical factors are estimated using a work breakdown structure:

how many project managers are needed to finish tasks on schedule?
the potential length of time for each job bundle.
the price of perfectly finishing each duty.

Q3 What are the two distinct methods for producing a WBS?

For project management, there are two techniques to create a WBS:

Pictorial method

Outline method