With regards to managing Waterfall initiatives, one of the necessary first steps is figuring out scope—what’s in and what’s out for the mission. This important info is usually outlined in a mission scope assertion that names the mission’s main deliverables and exclusions. A well-crafted mission assertion could seem enough to determine the scope—and it may be. But I can attest to the unimaginable worth of going one step additional and creating a piece breakdown construction (WBS). It’s a step that’s too usually skipped.
The WBS is a visible mission administration software that does precisely what the title implies: subdivides the product and corresponding initiatives into distinct increments of labor. As a result of our brains wish to work visually, the WBS turns into an efficient means for the workforce to conceptualize its work.
Usually talking, scope is pushed by necessities elicited from the shopper or sponsor. A sponsor could strategy a mission supervisor with the preliminary parameters for a brand new product, akin to a line of laptops that the corporate will promote in North America. From there, the mission supervisor or enterprise analyst derives a collection of necessities, asking questions like, “What colours will the laptops be?” “What’s the onerous drive’s imply time between failures?” “What number of USB ports are wanted?” It’s necessary to keep in mind that, on this context, the scope contains something contributing to the mission’s end result. This implies not solely product scope (the options and capabilities of the laptop computer) but additionally mission scope (the work required to ship these outcomes). The mission scope might entail duties like lining up manufacturing for the laptop computer or allocating assets for mission administration.
Exclusions are essential to report within the scope assertion in order that later nobody asks one thing like, “Why aren’t we delivery to the UK?” As soon as authorized, this scope baseline helps stop scope creep, which happens when somebody provides extra work with out contemplating its affect on schedule, prices, dangers, and assets. Any workforce member can test the scope assertion and see that each one the decision-makers signed off on which markets to prioritize, though in my expertise, many individuals by no means truly learn the scope assertion.
That’s the place the WBS is available in. When the workforce invests the time to develop a WBS collectively, it supplies a possibility for everybody to visualise and interpret the whole lot of the scope—what’s in and what’s out—together with associated points akin to budgets and timelines. As such, I like to consider the WBS as a mission’s Rosetta stone.
What Is a Work Breakdown Construction?
The WBS was developed by the US Division of Protection within the Fifties and continues to be generally utilized by authorities groups and contractors, on condition that mission outcomes in these contexts are sometimes decided on the outset. The WBS will also be priceless in different conditions the place Waterfall is required, which is extra frequent than many mission professionals could notice. Regardless of the ascendancy of Agile methodologies, which don’t embody the WBS as a part of the usual toolkit, 39% of knowledge know-how initiatives nonetheless make use of Waterfall, in response to the Challenge Administration Institute (PMI). In different industries, the odds are even increased.
The WBS breaks the mission scope into progressively smaller increments. This hierarchical rendering can seem in tabular or listing codecs, however the most typical (and helpful) format resembles a household tree, with associated work grouped on totally different branches.
The primary degree of the WBS identifies the mission. The second degree divides the mission into phases, deliverables, or capabilities. The selection relies upon completely on workforce preferences, however I choose phases as a result of they extra readily align with Waterfall’s sequenced strategy. The following layers are then subdivided till reaching an increment known as a piece package deal. Normally, work packages require not more than two weeks (80 hours) to finish, however that’s not inviolate. In massive authorities or aerospace initiatives, for instance, a piece package deal could take a number of hundred hours. I’ve hardly ever seen a WBS drill down greater than 4 or 5 ranges. By then, the workforce ought to have enough info to know what work must be performed.
Generally a WBS will incorporate a specialised numbering scheme that echoes the hierarchical breakdown. Essentially the most primary type assigns a quantity to every merchandise within the second degree of the WBS (e.g., 1, 2, 3). Subsequent layers in every column are additional divided with decimal factors (e.g., 1.1, 1.2, 1.3; 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3). In my expertise, groups can obtain the planning advantages of the WBS with out the numbering scheme, however in authorities initiatives, it’s usually a requirement.
It’s essential to notice that even when a workforce organizes a WBS in response to phases or capabilities within the second layer, the WBS continues to be a “what” doc, not a “who” or “when” doc. It ought to seize the whole lot of the work that should happen (usually known as the 100% rule) however not who does it or when. Nonetheless, as soon as the workforce has created a WBS to outline what work should happen, everybody can extra simply speak about these associated issues.
So the place does the Rosetta stone a part of this are available? The WBS is a visible reference that enables workforce members to align on a shared understanding of product and mission scope. It additionally helps the workforce start to make sense of different points, like prices, dangers, assets, and schedules. As PMI eloquently places it in its Observe Commonplace for Work Breakdown Buildings (a wonderful useful resource for anybody who needs to know the main points of this software): “The WBS creates a typical language amongst all mission stakeholders, together with mission administration and subject-matter features.” In my expertise, that is undoubtedly the case.
The best way to Create a Work Breakdown Construction
Ideally, WBS planning shouldn’t be a solitary exercise {that a} mission supervisor undertakes alone. It’s higher to develop the WBS with representatives of all of the groups concerned. This collaborative strategy is how the frequent language comes into being. Relying on the dimensions of the mission, one WBS could also be sufficient, though in some circumstances, every workforce could wish to make its personal WBS.
As a marketing consultant, I’ve led mission kickoff occasions for quite a few organizations, together with world pharmaceutical firms, for which I co-facilitated intensive two-day working periods to plan new drug growth initiatives. The drug growth course of can take 10 to fifteen years, however the scope is outlined firstly. Stakeholders would attend from far-flung corners of the globe to fulfill and higher perceive the product they’d finally be producing. When performed correctly, periods like this additionally function a wonderful team-building train. I ought to emphasize that the particular person main this train ought to be an skilled facilitator.
Amongst different issues, my co-facilitator and I might educate attendees tips on how to craft and use a WBS. Representatives from every division—regulatory, advertising, manufacturing, gross sales, and so forth—would produce their very own WBS by making use of sticky notes to flip charts on the partitions of a giant convention room. (For distant conferences, Miro is a superb software for the same exercise.) Groups can develop the WBS by following a top-down or bottom-up strategy: Within the first situation, a workforce arranges sticky notes that title bigger work gadgets after which provides sticky notes representing subtasks. Within the second situation, the subtasks are organized first. Group preferences dictate which strategy works finest, however I’ve all the time discovered top-down simpler to ascertain.
Every workforce aimed to map out the whole lot of its scope. If that degree of element wasn’t doable (as a result of a key consultant couldn’t attend or for another purpose), the workforce would nonetheless embody a planning package deal for these gadgets on the WBS and elaborate upon them later. The group brainstorming allowed the groups to visualise the total contours of the proposed work. You may think about the energetic debates that ensued. Folks would say issues like, “Is that this actually what we’re doing?” or “That doesn’t belong right here; it belongs there.” On the finish of the two-day periods, every workforce had produced its personal WBS, and we had a visible image of the mission. The sponsor might look across the room and say, “Sure, there’s my product,” or “The place is the advertising requirement we mentioned?” By means of these discussions, the workforce understood the character of its work in higher element.
Whereas the attendees had been mapping out their work, my colleague and I might enter the duties right into a scheduler like Microsoft Challenge or Smartsheet. Then we targeted on linking the gadgets to provide an preliminary timeline for the complete mission. The scope could require official approval and sign-off from the sponsor and different stakeholders, so the schedule created throughout the assembly is just a tough draft. Nonetheless, the schedule illustrates how a WBS has virtually instantaneous utility, permitting groups to start getting ready for the following mission steps. In the true world, groups usually skip WBS planning and soar on to constructing a schedule, forcing them to consider “what” and “when” concurrently. In my expertise, the WBS supplies a priceless alternative to element what goes into the scope first, earlier than figuring out when the work must happen.
It’s necessary to notice that specialised instruments may also help mission managers develop a WBS. One is named WBS Schedule Professional, and it integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Challenge. If a mission supervisor can not convey the complete workforce collectively, both in particular person or nearly, I nonetheless encourage mission managers to draft a WBS on their very own, maybe utilizing a specialised software. The mission supervisor can current this draft to the workforce at a gathering. The draft could get some issues flawed, however imagine me, the workforce will likely be joyful to right these points. That’s a great factor.
For the report, I additionally requested ChatGPT to generate a WBS for me, and it did so in a bulleted format. The final breakdown was surprisingly good. With cautious prompting, I think mission managers might flip to generative AI instruments for useful brainstorming help and even coax a picture generator akin to Dall-E 3 to render a graphical WBS. After all, the outcomes would require double-checking for accuracy.
Different Outcomes of WBS Planning
Whereas the WBS could appear to be “merely” a scope software, it gives far more than that. Challenge managers should concern themselves not solely with scope but additionally with prices, dangers, assets, stakeholders, and any variety of points. If a part of the scope is lacking, this implies there are:
- No assets related to it.
- No schedule allowed for it.
- No dangers recognized for it.
- No stakeholders specified.
- No assumptions made about it.
These points don’t go on the WBS, but when the workforce is already assembled in a big convention room for WBS planning—or collaborating nearly utilizing a software like Miro—it presents a wonderful alternative to start addressing them. The truth is, I keep that there is no such thing as a higher time to do that, on condition that the mission supervisor already has the best individuals in the best place on the proper time. The workforce can have a look at the fleshed-out WBS and say, “How many individuals do I want for this mission?” or “What are the dangers concerned?” And the sponsor could sigh and ask, “How a lot will all this price?”
Utilizing flip charts or on-line whiteboards, the workforce can begin to report dangers, assets, and motion gadgets in what we name parking tons. (The federal government formally defines the relationships between these associated issues utilizing a doc known as a piece breakdown construction dictionary. Nevertheless, I’ve by no means encountered a workforce that makes use of this dictionary in nongovernment contexts.)
Does the WBS Work in Agile?
An Agilist studying this would possibly say, “All of this sounds nice, however can we use this?” Strictly talking, the reply is sure—PMI’s Observe Commonplace for Work Breakdown Buildings even features a part on utilizing the WBS in Agile. But I wouldn’t suggest it, on condition that one of many most important variations between conventional mission administration and Agile is how scope is dealt with.
We usually use Waterfall once we—or the shopper or sponsor—have a really clear concept of what we would like as an finish consequence, end result, or product. Change is permissible however requires a considerably laborious change management course of. In Agile, the tip consequence is just not as well-defined, permitting the sponsor or product proprietor the posh of fixing their thoughts because the mission evolves. This implies the scope might change from dash to dash—usually solely every week or two in length—so time spent creating the WBS would distract the workforce from the worth they need to give attention to delivering.
Higher Planning Means Higher Initiatives
The method of making a WBS could sound time-consuming, and it may be, particularly if a mission supervisor doesn’t have all of the stakeholders within the planning session or the necessities aren’t effectively understood. With sufficient upfront preparation, nevertheless, making a WBS as a workforce is usually a little bit of a miracle. It brings everybody collectively, enforces planning, sparks dialog, and results in documented discussions about who, what, when, and the place. These outcomes will save time in the long term.
I’ve carried out a few dozen of the two-day planning workshops I described earlier, and we by no means failed to finish with a great general sense of the mission. If I’m managing a Waterfall mission, I’ll use the WBS at any time when doable, even when I can’t pull the workforce collectively for 2 days. The WBS is prime to planning, and, put merely, higher planning results in higher execution.
Need in-depth steering on facilitating mission conferences? Jim’s e-book Nice Conferences Construct Nice Groups: A Information for Challenge Leaders and Agilists gives sensible recommendation on bettering workforce cohesion and getting probably the most out of mission administration conferences and Agile occasions.
