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ProjectMngmtTechn WL040/Bidgolio-Vol I WL040-Sample.cls June 19, 2003 16:49 Char Count= 0
114 PROJECTMANAGEMENTTECHNIQUESTable 2Intranet Work Breakdown Structure in Tabular
Form1.0 Concept
1.1 Evaluate current systems
1.2 Define requirements
1.2.1 Define user requirements
1.2.2 Define content requirements
1.2.3 Define system requirements
1.2.4 Define server owner
requirements
1.3 Define specific functionality
1.4 Define risks and risk management
approach
1.5 Develop project plan
1.6 Brief web development team
2.0 Web site design
3.0 Web site development
4.0 Roll out
5.0 SupportNote: From Schwalbe (2002).©c 2002 by Course Technology, a
division of Thompson Learning. Reprinted with permission. Figure 6
shows this phase-oriented intranet WBS, using the same numbering
scheme, in Microsoft Project 2000. One can see from this figure that
the WBS is the basis for project schedules. Notice that the WBS is in
the left part of the figure, and the resulting schedule in the form of a
Gantt chart is in the right part of the figure.products or phases of the project. Level 2 includes the
major subsets of Level 1. For example, in Figure 5 the
Level 2 items under the Level 1 item called “Concept”
include the following: evaluate current system, definerequirements, define specific functionality, define risks
and risk management approach, develop project plan,
and brief Web development team. Under the Level 2 item
called “Define Requirements” are four Level 3 items on
the WBS: define user requirements, define content re-
quirements, define server requirements, and define server
owner requirements.
In Figure 5, the lowest level provided is Level 3. The
lowest level of the WBS represents work packages. A work
package is a deliverable or product at the lowest level of
the WBS. As a general rule, each work package in a WBS
should represent roughly 80 hours of effort. One can also
think of work packages in terms of accountability and
reporting. The WBS should partition the work to allow
semiautonomous work assignment for individuals and
teams. If a project has a relatively short time frame and
requires weekly progress reports, a work package might
represent 40 hours of work. On the other hand, if a project
has a long time frame and requires quarterly progress
reports, a work package might represent more than
100 hours of work.
The sample WBSs shown here seem fairly easy to con-
struct and understand. Nevertheless, it is difficult to create
a good WBS. To create a good WBS, a project manager
must understand both the project and its scope and in-
corporate the needs and knowledge of stakeholders. The
manager and the project team must decide as a group how
to organize the work and how many levels to include in
the WBS. Many project managers have found that it is
better to focus on getting the top three levels done well
before getting too bogged down in more detail.
Another concern when creating a WBS is how to or-
ganize it so it provides the basis for the project schedule.Figure 6: Intranet work breakdown structure and Gantt chart in Microsoft Project.