Presentation talks about WBS used in the Project Management, what is WBS? Why is it important? How construction and manufacturing firms utilizing WBS to create value delivery. WBS is an important step in Project Management and it is critical to understand it's concepts.

1. WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE IN
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Presentation by
Kiran J Ram
1

2. Learning objectives
 Explain what the WBS is
 Be familiar with the WBS components
 Understand the processes of creating
the WBS
 Understand the relationship to and use
of the WBS
 Tools, Techniques, Output of WBS
 Types of WBS
 Case studies, examples, Importance

3. WBS
“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing”.

4. What is Work Breakdown Structures?
 Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) is a term used in project management.
 PMBOK defines WBS as-“A deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition
of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project
objectives and create the required deliverables”.
 It is a visual representation of what has already been done and what sub-
activities should still be done to conclude the project

5. Building a Project Work Breakdown
Structure Means-
 Visualizing Objectives
 Deliverables
 Activities
 Schedules

6. What is WBS and Why Is It Important?
 A work breakdown structure
WBS in project management and
systems engineering is a tool used
to define and group a project's
discrete work elements in a way
that helps organize and define the
total work scope of the project
 The WBS provides the project
manager & team with the necessary
framework of tasks going forward
to create detailed cost estimates &
to provide a major input to project
task scheduling at the most
detailed and accurate level
possible. By going through the
WBS motions, the project manager
and team will have a good idea
whether or not they have captured
all the necessary tasks, based on
the project requirements that are
going to need to happen to get the
job done.

7. Key Benefits to developing WBS
-WBS forces the team to create detailed steps>>The exercise alone encourages a dialogue
that will help clarify ambiguities, bring out assumptions, narrow the scope of the project, and
raise critical issues early on.
-WBS lays the groundwork for schedule and budget
A well-defined WBS enables resources to be allocated to specific tasks, helps in generating a
meaningful schedule, and makes calculating a reliable budget easier.
WBS creates accountability
The level of detail in a WBS makes it easier to hold people accountable for completing their
tasks. With a defined WBS, people cannot hide under the “cover of broadness.” A well-
defined task can be assigned to a specific individual, who is then responsible for its completion.
WBS creation breeds commitment
The process of developing and completing a WBS breeds excitement and commitment. Although
the project manager will often develop the high-level WBS, he will seek the participation of his
core team to flesh out the extreme detail of the WBS.

8. WHY WBS IS ESSENTIAL MANAGING PROJECTS
• Tasks are split into manageable chunks of work to track the activities and if any is
delayed then immediate action can be taken rather than waiting for days

9. The rules to follow for a correct WBS structure
 When creating a WBS, whatever the type of project, you first need to know which
objectives must be met at a preliminary stage. Without proper planning, it would be
complicated to define the individual activities to be carried out.
 The level of decomposition of the various work phases must allow us to define the
optimized “work packages” that must be clear and well defined, avoiding duplicates when
assigning tasks.
 Project decomposition should be in the logic of defining various sub-levels of
disaggregation, such as:
 In stages: the breakdown takes place based on the various phases leading to the
realization of an objective (eg: planning, procurement, construction, etc.)
 For processes: the decomposition is based on the processes that lead to the realization of
deliverables. It is generally used in high standardization works (eg. foundations, walls,
roof, etc.)
 By location: decomposition is carried out according to the place of construction (eg:
building site London, building site Paris, etc.).

10. Example of WBS
Source-Source- https://pm-alliance.com/why-your-manufacturing-project-needs-a-work-
breakdown-structure
 Why Your Manufacturing Project Needs a Work Breakdown Structure
 In many manufacturing projects, activity durations and dependencies can be highly
flexible. This could potentially lead to problems with timing if the details behind each
task aren’t compiled and shared across the team. By identifying these task connections
through the use of a work breakdown structure, the team will know which parent tasks
must be carefully monitored to avoid delays or other effects on dependent efforts. They
will also have the necessary insight to know their options for resequencing linked
activities to maintain the project’s target completion date without upsetting the overall
flow of work
 supply chain challenges upstream and downstream can unexpectedly impact the
project and there isneed to accommodate testing and quality control activities for
which wbs will give details needed to develop contingency plans

11. Guidelines for making an Effective Work Breakdown Structure
WBS and the 100% rule
A WBS must include 100% of the work defined by the project and all the
necessary – internal, external and contract aspects – to the realization
of the project, including the management of the project itself.
The rule applies to all hierarchy levels: the sum of the “child” levels
(lower node) must be equal to 100% of the work represented by their
“father” (upper node).
The rule also applies to the level of activity: the work represented by
the activities in each work package must be 100% of the work necessary
to complete the entire package.

12. Approaches to WBS
Top-Down Approach: The project is divided into sub-projects. This is done until
the task can be defined and estimated. This approach is more popular and is
known for giving an accurate WBS.
Bottom-Up Approach: In this approach, the lowest level activities are to be put
down first. This could be a tedious process and requires a lot of brainstorming.
3. Mutually Exclusive Activities
An activity shouldn’t be repeated twice in a WBS. This could lead to confusion
during execution and would also require additional resources.
4. Level of Detail
One must know when to stop breaking down an activity. Stop breaking down the
task when the estimate of the desired level of accuracy can be attained.
5. Absence of Symmetry
Not all activities have the same number of sub-activities. Thus, a Work
Breakdown Structure doesn’t have to be symmetric or have the same bottom
level.

13. Tools andTechniques of Work Breakdown
Structure
Work Breakdown Structure – Outputs
• The outputs of the work breakdown structure include
the following:
• Scope Baseline
• Project Document Updates
• Expert Judgement
• Expertise of the experts is used to analyze the
information needed to decompose the project
deliverables down into smaller parts
• Decomposition
• Breaking down of the project deliverables into smaller,
more manageable components is called decomposition.
Breakdown should not be done until the cost and
schedule for the work can be reliably estimated. The
level of detail for work packages will depend on the size
and complexity of the project

14. Different Type of WBS Structure
 Phase-based structures
 Deliverable-based structures
 Responsibility-based structure
 Resource Breakdown Structure
 Risk Breakdown Structure

15. Project Management | Work Breakdown Structure (Yard Project
Example)
Source- You tube Video
URL-URL-https://youtu.be/AbkAS0K8EXA

16. Work Breakdown Structure: a blueprint for project management
When finished, a well-organized WBS resembles a flowchart in which every element is
logically connected to another. The primary requirement or objective appears at the top,
with increasingly specific elements appearing beneath it. The elements at the bottom of
the diagram represent tasks and activities small enough to be easily understood and
carried out. An effective WBS avoids redundancy, but at the same time, leaves out no
critical elements.
The bottom line is that a Work Breakdown Structure divides your project into distinct,
manageable work elements. A WBS is useful to various groups within a company,
including marketing, business development, accounting, and project management. A
well-planned WBS is integral to successful project proposals, planning, scheduling,
budgeting, and reporting.

17. REFERENCES, CASE STUDY , ARTICLES USED IN CREATION OF PPT IS MENTIONED BELOW-
HTTPS://THEARTOFSERVICE.COM/PROJECT-MANAGEMENT-STAFFING-WHAT-IS-A-PROJECTS-WORK-BREAKDOWN-STRUCTURE-WBS.HTML
BLOG- HTTPS://BLOG.EPMAINC.COM/WHY-WBS-WORK-BREAKDOWN-STRUCTURE
WEB- HTTPS://BIBLUS.ACCASOFTWARE.COM/EN/FUNCTIONS-AND-ADVANTAGES-OF-WORK-BREAKDOWN-STRUCTURE-WBS
VISUALS-HTTPS://WWW.VISUAL-PARADIGM.COM/GUIDE/PROJECT-MANAGEMENT/WHAT-IS-WORK-BREAKDOWN-STRUCTURE/
PMI-HTTPS://WWW.PMI.ORG/LEARNING/LIBRARY/APPLYING-WORK-BREAKDOWN-STRUCTURE-PROJECT-LIFECYCLE-6979
WBS INFOGRAPHICS
HTTPS://SLIDESGO.COM/THEME/WORK-BREAKDOWN-STRUCTURE-WBS-INFOGRAPHICS#SEARCH-WBS&POSITION-1&RESULTS-1
PROJECT MANAGEMENT | WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (YARD PROJECT EXAMPLE)
URL-HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/ABKAS0K8EXA
EXAMPLE OF WBS
AN OVERVIEW OF WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS) AND SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT PLAN TECHNIQUES FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT
HTTPS://WP.NYU.EDU/MIGUELLEE/2016/10/19/AN-OVERVIEW-OF-WORK-BREAKDOWN-STRUCTURE-WBS-AND-SCHEDULE-MANAGEMENT-
PLAN-TECHNIQUES-FOR-PROJECT-MANAGEMENT/