Work breakdown structure or wbs is a hierarchical tree structure that outlines your project and breaks it down into smaller, more manageable portions. The work breakdown structure in software project management robert c. The importance of the wbs experienced project managers know there are many things that can go wrong in projects. It means breaking down a project into tasks and subtasks so that there is no room for confusion in the future. Wbs work breakdown structure is a method to make complex projects more manageable.
Wbs examples for a software project, construction projects, a conference. Featuredriven software projects may use a similar technique which is to employ a feature breakdown structure. As an example here is a work breakdown structure wbs i got from the principle based project management information and training. Application development project work breakdown structure. Modern principles of software development software maintenance and. In reality, wbs is a simple and easy visual breakdown of deliverables for product, result, or service.
It is an important planning tool which links objectives with resources and activities in a logical framework. The following discussion will examine the current trends and practice regarding work breakdown structures. Then we learned that create wbs process is performed after plan scope management, collect requirements, and define scope processes in. Game development work breakdown structure creately. Software engineering work breakdown structure geeksforgeeks. In your project you will want to develop them down to a much more detailed level using the 8 to 80 rule where the wbs is broken down to where a work package contains between 8 and 80 hours of work to complete. This is an example of a work breakdown structure wbs for a traditional waterfall approach to software development this is an example of a work breakdown structure wbs for a traditional waterfall approach to software development.
To create a work breakdown structure you start from the end product in its entirety and work downwards to increasing levels of detail. Define the amount of work necessary for producing the deliverables. How to improve productivity with a work breakdown structure. Approaches to develop work breakdown structures resultoriented approach structure the work based on the work products activityoriented approach structure the work based on development activities and project functions geographical area approach structure the work based on geographical location organizational approach.
A work breakdown structure is a deliverableoriented grouping of the work involved in a project that defines the total scope of the project. Identify project deliverables based on stakeholder requirements. At the lowest level of the wbs you can have the projects work. What is a work breakdown structure in project management. Applying the work breakdown structure to the project. Continue on to as many levels as you need to represent the work at a level that is detailed enough that stakeholders get a clear picture of what is involved in the project and what to expect, but not so detailed that the. Instead, wbs provides useful inputs for cost estimating and budgeting, scope control, activity definition, and more. In software development, qa can contribute to high level risks list during initiating, as do all stakeholders, but their real work begins during the. Work breakdown structure software project management. A work breakdown structure showing game development. Creately diagrams can be exported and added to word, ppt powerpoint, excel, visio or any other document. Estimate total duration of the work to be done the actual schedule. Information technology engineers can use a work breakdown structure as a roadmap for their program development, for example, software development, remote projects, database system development and more. The wbs consists of 4 named levels of work decomposition.
Online project management software allows project managers to track project schedules, resources, budgets and project related assets in real time. Free work breakdown structure templates smartsheet. This is an example of a work breakdown structure wbs for a traditional waterfall approach to software development. Since many projects involve many people and many different deliverables, it is important to organize and divide the work into logical sections based on how the work will be performed. We have also seen the examples of work breakdown structure creation by taking a software development project as an example. A work breakdown structure includes dividing a large and complex project into. Mindview is ideal for this because it allows you to enter elements quickly and then arrange them into a structure that makes sense for your particular project. Quickly get a headstart when creating your own wbs diagram. If you are a project manager and you want to stretch your tasks correctly, then you need to create what is known as a work breakdown structure for your project. A work breakdown structure wbs is a key project deliverable that organizes the teams work into manageable sections. A workbreakdown structure wbs in project management and systems engineering, is a deliverableoriented breakdown of a project into smaller components.
Many of these phases and subtask produce interim deliverables and are the responsibility of a specialist role. A free customizable wbs of software development template is provided to download and print. One work breakdown structure example that will make it clear. The project schedule can be viewed and updated by team members associated with the project, keeping everyone well informed on the overall project status. Quickly get a headstart when creating your own wbs of software. A work breakdown structure showing android application. Continue on to as many levels as you need to represent the work at a level that is detailed enough that stakeholders get a clear picture of what is involved in the project and what to expect, but not so detailed that the wbs lists every individual task that must be done. The root of this tree structure is labelled by the project name itself. Tausworthe jet propulsion laboratory the work breakdown structure wbs is a vehicle for breaking an engineering project down into subproject, tasks, subtasks, work packages, and so on. Thinking in detail is critical when planning your project, but you also need to consider the big picture.
The work breakdown structure wbs is the decomposition of a software project into low level work tasks. The work breakdown structure presented here represents all the work required to. Work breakdown structure relativistic heavy ion collider. Creating a work breakdown structure wbs helps you be both comprehensive and specific when managing a project. Work breakdown structure wbs sample skeleton wbs for softwarehardware system development to download the above as a 20k zip file in msproject 2002. Development, management, and project support tasks. In wrike, you can build a wbs by creating folders and subfolders, and can even go further to divide individual tasks into subtasks. Software engineering work breakdown structure a work breakdown structure includes dividing a large and complex project into simpler, manageable and independent tasks. This is usually practiced by project managers to simplify the process of execution of tasks during the scope of the project. A wbs will typically be a phase for analysis, and others for design, development, testing, release, etc. Featuredriven software projects may use a similar technique which is to. Wbs of sdlc editable work breakdown structure template. Of the dozens of work breakdown structure software programs available, few tools blend the functionality of a drawing tool with additional features for optimizing your wbs like cost calculation, integration with ms office ms project and the ability to attach files to your wbs. Work breakdown structure an introduction to software project.
What is work breakdown structure in project management. If you fail to identify a major part of your projects work. When a project provides professional services, a common technique is to capture all planned deliverables to create a deliverableoriented wbs. It organizes and defines the total scope of the project.
Android application editable work breakdown structure. Introduction to work breakdown structure software testing in the pmi world, the processes or phases of a project are. Wbs has become popular and widely used in software development because of its benefits which project managers can apply. Work breakdown structures wbs for software development. Wbs work breakdown structure is a deliverableoriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.
You can edit this work breakdown structure using creately diagramming tool and include in your reportpresentationwebsite. Work breakdown structure for it projects wbs by published october 3, 2018 updated october 16, 2018 after defining your it projects scope and deliverables it is very important to break down the projects work into smaller work elements so that everything is. Through this wbs of software development, viewers can get a comprehensive understanding about this process. Work breakdown structures give you a highlevel understanding of the project and. Use pdf export for high quality prints and svg export for large sharp images or embed your diagrams anywhere with the creately viewer. Initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing. This sdlc handbook is organized around a standard work breakdown structure wbs has been developed to describe the typical work conducted during a systems development project. Create a highlevel decomposition of work using the above information.
A workbreakdown structure wbs in project management and systems engineering, is a. In a project or contract, the wbs is developed by starting with the end. This is an example of a work breakdown structure wbs for. A work breakdown structure wbs is a hierarchical structure of things that the project will make or outcomes that it will deliver this one is far better. 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. This document provides project managers with a work breakdown structure wbs, which defines all of the application development projects critical deliverables. Work breakdown structure wbs software project management. The project management body of knowledge pmbok defines the work breakdown structure as a deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team. Developing the work breakdown structure involves the following steps. The work breakdown structure wbs is a vehicle for breaking an engineering project down into subproject, tasks, subtasks, work packages, and so on.
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