WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

According to Wysocki, the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

is the description of hierarchy of all the work that must be done
before considering the project is done as defined in the Project
Overview Statements (POS). Moreover, there are several
processes that can be used for creating the structure. (2000)

Upon creating a Work Breakdown Structure, the first ones to

be considered are the commonly used terminologies in Project
Management. Some of these terms are the Activity, Task Work
Package, and Decomposition. The terms “”Activity” and “Task” are
sometimes being interchanged by the managers due to the
description of each words in literal meaning. However, these
words are different from each other in a project. The “Activity” is
composition of two or more tasks to work with while the “Task” is
simply the work itself. Both words are about the execution of work
but differ in the degree of work needed. On the other hand, the
terms such as “Work Package” and “Decomposition” are focusing
on making sure that the execution of works is regulated in
accordance to different factors such as time or duration. The
“Work Package” is the description of how are the tasks in an
activity be executed or be done while the “Decomposition” is the
breaking down of the activities, tasks, and work packages, and
enabling the person-in-charge to determine the estimated
duration of a project, required resources, and the schedules for
work. (Wysocki, 2000)

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) have different uses

towards the industry. However, still in accordance to Wysocki,
there are four uses of the said structure. These uses are as a
Thought – Process Tool, an architectural – Design Tool, a Planning
Tool, and a Project – Status Reporting Tool. In a WBS, it is common
for it to be used as a thought process. A thought process, it helps
the project manager and the team included to visualize and have
an idea of how the work of the project can be handled effectively,
and also to consider alternative ways of decomposing the work
until finding the best alternatives possible. Another use of the WBS
the Architectural – Design Tool. It is to picture the work of the
project and how are these items related to each other as a whole.
Moreover, the Planning Tool lets the WBS to give the team a
comprehensive representation of the project as a collection of
activities to be done to be able to complete the project itself. It is
also the lowest activity level of the WBS which requires estimation
on the effort, time, and deliverable dates for project completion.
Lastly, the Project – Status Reporting Tool. It helps the project
activities to be monitored, and lets the WBS to define a milestone
event which can be reported to the top management as well as the
clients. (2000)
 There are different existing approaches in generating or
creating a WBS, but according to Wysocki, there are two
approaches that can be used to identify the project activities. The
Top – Down Approach and the Bottom – Up Approach. The Top –
Down Approach starts with a goal and successively partitions on
work towards the lower levels of activity decomposition until the
involved individuals have been done enough. Under this approach
is the Team Approach and the subteam approach. The Team
Approach lets the entire team work on all parts of the WBS.
Although it requires more time than the Subteam approach, it is
much better in comparison to the other said approach. While the
Subteam approach is a multi – step process which will start on
dividing the team into subteams, then assigning them to the WBS
in their expertise. On the other hand, the Bottom – Up Approach is
another method for identifying the activities in the project that is
more like a brainstorming session of the team members. (Wysocki,
2000)

From the Top - Down and Bottom – Up approaches, another

method of creating a WBS is introduced in accordance of the
Project Management Institute. Creating a WBS can be considered
as the process of subdividing the deliverables and work of the
project into more manageable and smaller components. The
benefit of this is that the process provides a structured vision of
what must be done from the inputs, tools and techniques, and
outputs. (2O17).
Upon creating a WBS, there are factors that must be
considered such as inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs.
Inputs is about the Scope Management Plan, Project Scope
Statement, Requirements Documentation, Enterprise
Environmental Factors, and Organizational Process Assets. The
Tools and Techniques focuses on the Decomposition and expert
judgments which are essentials. Moreoever, the output. The
output is the one tackling the Scope Baseline and Project
Documents Updates. (Project Management Institute, 2O17)

According to Kerzner, a successful accomplishments from

both the corporate and contract objectives requires a plan that
defines efforts, assigned responsibilities, and established budgets,
along with the schedule, for the work or activity. In planning a
project, the person – in – charge must consider the elements of the
work to be Manageable, Independent, Integratable, and
Measurable in terms of progress. (

Besides the said definitions earlier, a WBS is product –

oriented family tree subdivision of things such as hardware,
services, and data which are required to produce the output. It is
also structured in a way that the work will be performed and
summarized the project costs and data. A single WBS can provide
a framework composed of the summation of subdivided elements,
planning, Costs and Budget, Tracked time, cost, and performance,
Objectives in a logical manner, Schedules, Network construction,
and the Responsibility. (Kerzner, 1979)

Various interpretations, approaches, and definitions can be

found about the Work Breakdown Structure. However, all lead to
the same conclusion that the WBS is definitely a way in handling
and distributing the tasks, activities, and work towards the
individuals managed by the Person – in – Charge or the Project
Manager.
REFERENCES
• Kerzner, H. (1979). Project Management : A System
Approach to Planning, Scheduling
Controlling 10TH ed. New Jersey. John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.

• Project Management Institute, Inc. (2O17). A Guide to

the Project Management Body of Knowledge 5TH
ed. Pennsylvania. Project Management
Institute, Inc.

• Wysocki, R.K. (2OOO). Effective Project Management :

Traditional, Agile, Extreme 5TH ed. Indiana. Wiley
Publishing, Inc.