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41-429: A WBS provides the necessary framework for detailed cost estimation and control while providing guidance for schedule development and control. WBS is a hierarchical and incremental decomposition of the project into deliverables (from major ones such as phases to the smallest ones, sometimes known as work packages). It is a tree structure , which shows a subdivision of effort required to achieve an objective, for example,

82-454: A program , project , and contract . In a project or contract, the WBS is developed by starting with the end objective and successively subdividing it into manageable components in terms of size, duration, and responsibility (e.g., systems, subsystems, components, tasks , subtasks, and work packages) which include all steps necessary to achieve the objective. The work breakdown structure provides

123-472: A common framework for the natural development of the overall planning and control of a contract and is the basis for dividing work into definable increments from which the statement of work can be developed and technical, schedule, cost, and labor hour reporting can be established. A work breakdown structure permits the summing of subordinate costs for tasks, materials, etc., into their successively higher level "parent" tasks, materials, etc. For each element of

164-435: A cross-reference matrix mapping functional requirements to high level or low-level design documents. The WBS may be displayed horizontally in outline form or vertically as a tree structure (like an organization chart). The development of the WBS normally occurs at the start of a project and precedes detailed project and task planning. Through Progressive elaboration , an iterative process in project management knowledge,

205-478: A formal Systems development life cycle ), or forced events (e.g. quarterly updates or a fiscal year rebudgeting), or a skills/roles based approach. WBS design can be supported by software (e.g. a spreadsheet ) to allow automatic rolling up of point values. Estimates of effort or cost can be developed through discussions among project team members. This collaborative technique builds greater insight into scope definitions, underlying assumptions, and consensus regarding

246-423: A resource list with availability for each resource . If these components for the schedule are not available, they can be created with a consensus-driven estimation method like Wideband Delphi . To develop a project schedule, the following needs to be completed: In order for a project schedule to be healthy, the following criteria must be met: The schedule structure may closely follow and include citations to

287-517: A standard, framework, or practice guide, the PMI Lexicon of Project Management Terms offers clear and concise definitions for nearly 200 of the profession's frequently used terms. Definitions in the Lexicon were developed by volunteer experts, and PMI standards committees are chartered to use the Lexicon terms without modification. Version 3.2 contains numerous revised terms based on requests from

328-415: A variety of ways such as taking classes, attending PMI global congresses, contributing to professional research, or writing and publishing papers on the subject. Most credentials must be renewed every three years. These are the certifications and credentials offered by PMI: PMI also provided a Certified OPM3 Professional credential which was officially discontinued on March 1, 2017. PMI no longer allows

369-611: Is a U.S.-based not-for-profit professional organization for project management . PMI serves more than five million professionals including over 680,000 members in 217 countries and territories around the world, with 304 chapters and 14,000 volunteers serving local members in over 180 countries. Its services include the development of standards, research, education, publication, networking opportunities in local chapters, hosting conferences and training seminars, and providing accreditation in project management. PMI has recruited volunteers to create industry standards, such as " A Guide to

410-468: Is called the 100% rule. It has been defined as follows: Mutually exclusive : In addition to the 100% rule, there must be no overlap in scope definition between different elements of a work breakdown structure. This ambiguity could result in duplicated work or miscommunications about responsibility and authority. Such overlap could also confuse project cost accounting. If the work breakdown structure designer attempts to capture any action-oriented details in

451-457: Is commonly used in the project planning and project portfolio management parts of project management . Elements on a schedule may be closely related to the work breakdown structure (WBS) terminal elements , the Statement of work , or a Contract Data Requirements List . In many industries, such as engineering and construction, the development and maintenance of the project schedule is

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492-496: Is not an estimate of task duration. The three largest elements of WBS Level 2 are further subdivided at Level 3. The two largest elements at Level 3 each represent only 17% of the total scope of the project. These larger elements could be further subdivided using the progressive elaboration technique described above. This is an example of the product-based approach (which might be end-product or deliverable or work-based), as compared to phased approach (which might be gated stages in

533-699: The Georgia Institute of Technology in 1969 as a nonprofit organization. It was incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania in the same year. PMI described its objectives in 1975 as to "foster recognition of the need for professionalism in project management; provide a forum for the free exchange of project management problems, solutions, and applications; coordinate industrial and academic research efforts; develop common terminology and techniques to improve communications; provide an interface between users and suppliers of hardware and software systems; and to provide guidelines for instruction and career development in

574-543: The Project Management Institute (PMI) documented expanding these techniques across non-defense organizations. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide provides an overview of the WBS concept, while the "Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures" is comparable to the DoD standard but is intended for more general application. An important design principle for work breakdown structures

615-795: The ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 accreditation from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). As of May 2020 , over one million people held the PMP credential. PMI later introduced other certifications. Credential holders do not have to be members of PMI. To initially obtain a PMI credential, candidates must first document that they have met the required education and experience requirements. They must then pass an examination consisting of multiple-choice questions. To maintain most PMI credentials, holders must earn Professional Development Units (PDUs), which can be earned in

656-886: The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) ASSIST web site. [1] It includes WBS definitions for specific defense materiel commodity systems and addresses WBS elements that are common to all systems. Defense Materiel Item categories from MIL-STD-881F are: The common elements identified in MIL-STD-881F, Appendix K are: Integration, assembly, test, and checkout; Systems engineering; Program management; System test and evaluation; Data; Peculiar support equipment; Common support equipment; Operational/Site activation; Contractor Logistics Support; Industrial facilities; Initial spares and repair parts. The standard also includes additional common elements unique to Space Systems, Launch Vehicle Systems, and Strategic Missile Systems. In 1987,

697-871: The Project Management Body of Knowledge ", which has been recognized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). In 2012 ISO adapted the project management processes from the PMBOK Guide 4th edition. In the 1960s project management as such began to be used in the US aerospace, construction, and defense industries. The Project Management Institute was founded by Ned Engman (McDonnell Douglas Automation), James Snyder , Susan Gallagher (SmithKline & French Laboratories), Eric Jenett (Brown & Root), and J Gordon Davis (Georgia Institute of Technology) at

738-478: The Secretary of Defense for adoption by all services. In 1968, the DoD issued "Work Breakdown Structures for Defense Materiel Items" (MIL-STD-881), a military standard requiring the use of work breakdown structures across the DoD. The document has been revised several times. As of May 2023, the most recent revision is F, released 13 May 2022. The version history and current revision of the standard are posted on

779-466: The US Government for acquisition and accounting purposes. Project management is not limited to industry; the average person can use it to organize their own life. Some examples are: Some project management software programs provide templates, lists, and example schedules to help their users with creating their schedule. The project schedule is a calendar that links the tasks to be done with

820-483: The US federal government directly; several members were federal employees in agencies involved with project management. In the 1980s, efforts were made to standardize project management procedures and approaches. The PMI produced the first Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) in 1996. In the late 1990s, Virgil R. Carter became president of the PMI. In 2002 Carter was succeeded by Gregory Balestrero , who directed

861-523: The WBS Dictionary. It is a preferred practice that the Statement of work or other contract descriptive include the same section terms and hierarchical structure as the WBS. A practical example of the WBS coding scheme is 1.0 Aircraft System The lowest element in a tree structure , a terminal element, is one that is not further subdivided. In a Work Breakdown Structure such elements (activity or deliverable ), also known as work packages, are

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902-439: The WBS, the designer will likely include either too many actions or too few actions. Too many actions will exceed 100% of the parent's scope, and too few will fall short of 100% of the parent's scope. The best way to adhere to the 100% rule is to define WBS elements in terms of outcomes or results, not actions. This also ensures that the WBS is not overly prescriptive of methods, allowing for greater ingenuity and creative thinking on

943-497: The activity level is a task that: If the WBS element names are ambiguous, a WBS dictionary can help clarify the distinctions between WBS elements. The WBS Dictionary describes each component of the WBS with milestones , deliverables, activities, scope, and sometimes dates, resources , costs, quality. According to the Project Management Institute , the WBS dictionary is defined as a "document that provides detailed deliverable, activity, and scheduling information about each component in

984-426: The desired ends of the project, they form a relatively stable set of categories in which the costs of the planned actions needed to achieve them can be collected. A well-designed WBS makes it easy to assign each project activity to one and only one terminal element of the WBS. In addition to its function in cost accounting, the WBS also helps map requirements from one level of system specification to another, for example,

1025-589: The details of project management plan and amount of information will increase, and initial estimates of items such as project scope description, planning, budget, etc. will become more accurate. It also helps the project team to make the project plan with more details. The concept of work breakdown structure was developed with the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) by the United States Department of Defense (DoD). PERT

1066-476: The duration of activities necessary to produce a deliverable defined by the WBS. There are several heuristics or "rules of thumb" used when determining the appropriate duration of an activity or group of activities necessary to produce a specific deliverable defined by the WBS. According to the Project Management Institute , a work package is the "lowest level of the work breakdown structure for which cost and duration are estimated and managed." A work package at

1107-816: The field of project management." In the 1970s standardization efforts represented 10 to 15 percent of the institute's efforts. The functions were performed through the Professional Liaison Committee which called on and coordinated with the Technology, Research Policy, and Education Committees. The institute participated in national activities through the American National Standards Committee XK 36.3 and internationally, through liaison with an appointed observer to Europe's International Project Management Association, then called INTERNET. PMI did not deal with

1148-455: The hierarchy would be unacceptable. The adjacent figure shows a work breakdown structure construction technique that demonstrates the 100% rule and the "progressive elaboration" technique. At WBS Level 1 it shows 100 units of work as the total scope of a project to design and build a custom bicycle. At WBS Level 2, the 100 units are divided into seven elements. The number of units allocated to each element of work can be based on effort or cost; it

1189-422: The index of work breakdown structure or deliverables, using decomposition or templates to describe the activities needed to produce the deliverables defined in the WBS. A schedule may be assessed for the quality of the schedule development and the quality of the schedule management. Project Management Institute The Project Management Institute ( PMI , legally Project Management Institute, Inc. )

1230-505: The institute until his retirement in January 2011. He was succeeded as President and CEO by Mark A. Langley. From March 2019 through December 2021 the president and CEO was Sunil Prashara. Pierre Le Manh was appointed CEO on September 1, 2022. Launched in 1984, PMI's first credential was the PMP . It has since become a de facto standard certification in project management. In 2007 it earned

1271-565: The items that are estimated in terms of resource requirements , budget and duration ; linked by dependencies ; and schedule. At the juncture of the WBS element and organization unit, control accounts and work packages are established, and performance is planned, measured, recorded, and controlled. A WBS can be expressed down to any level of interest. Three levels are the minimum recommended, with additional levels for and only for items of high cost or high risk, and two levels of detail at cases such as systems engineering or program management, with

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1312-417: The level of granularity required to manage the projects. Schedule (project management) In project management , a schedule is a listing of a project 's milestones , activities , and deliverables . Usually dependencies and resources are defined for each task, then start and finish dates are estimated from the resource allocation , budget , task duration , and scheduled events. A schedule

1353-399: The most common technique to ensure an outcome-oriented WBS is to use a product breakdown structure (PBS). Feature-driven software projects may use a similar technique as the WBS, which is to use a feature breakdown structure. One must decide when to stop dividing work into smaller elements. For most projects, a hierarchy of two to four levels will suffice. This will assist in determining

1394-511: The part of the project participants. When a project provides professional services, a common technique is to capture all planned deliverables to create a deliverable-oriented WBS. Work breakdown structures that subdivide work by project phases (e.g. preliminary design phase, critical design phase) must ensure that phases are clearly separated by a deliverable also used in defining entry and exit criteria (e.g., an approved preliminary or critical design review ). For new product development projects,

1435-413: The resources that will do them. It is the core of the project plan used to show the organization how the work will be done, commit people to the project, determine resource needs, and used as a kind of checklist to make sure that every task necessary is performed. Before a project schedule can be created, the schedule maker should have a work breakdown structure (WBS), an effort estimate for each task, and

1476-529: The responsibility of a full-time scheduler or team of schedulers, depending on the size and the scope of the project. The techniques of scheduling are well developed but inconsistently applied throughout industry. Standardization and promotion of scheduling best practices are being pursued by the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE), the Project Management Institute (PMI), and

1517-680: The standard showing examples of WBS with varying depth such as software development at points going to 5 levels or fire-control system to 7 levels. The higher WBS structure should be consistent with whatever norms or template mandates exist within the organization or domain. For example, shipbuilding for the U.S. Navy must respect that the nautical terms and their hierarchy structure put into MIL-STD are embedded in Naval Architecture and that matching Navy offices and procedures have been built to match this naval architecture structure, so any significant change of WBS element numbering or naming in

1558-508: The use of the credential's designation by individuals who formerly obtained it. OPM3 , even though no longer neither a credential nor a publication, remains a registered mark of PMI. List of PMI Micro-Credentials: The standards PMI develops and publishes fall into three main categories: Here is a list of the current standards or guides in each category: Foundational Standards Practice Standards and Frameworks Practice Guides PMI Lexicon of Project Management Terms While not

1599-404: The work breakdown structure, a description of the task to be performed is generated. This technique (sometimes called a system breakdown structure ) is used to define and organize the total scope of a project . The WBS is organized around the primary products of the project (or planned outcomes) instead of the work needed to produce the products (planned actions). Since the planned outcomes are

1640-626: The work breakdown structure." It is common for work breakdown structure elements to be numbered sequentially to reveal the hierarchical structure. The purpose of the numbering is to provide a consistent approach to identifying and managing the WBS across like systems regardless of vendor or service. For example, 1.1.2 Propulsion (in the example below) identifies this item as a Level 3 WBS element, since there are three numbers separated by two decimal points . A coding scheme also helps WBS elements to be recognized in any written context, such as progress tracking, scheduling, or billing, and allows for mapping to

1681-468: Was introduced by the U.S. Navy in 1957 to support the development of its Polaris missile program. While the term "work breakdown structure" was not used, this first implementation of PERT did organize the tasks into product-oriented categories. By June 1962, DoD, NASA , and the aerospace industry published a document for the PERT/COST system, which described the WBS approach. This guide was endorsed by

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