How to Create a Work Breakdown Structure

If you feel you do not tkow where to start, how to get things done. how much time and money  you will need to accomplish a project, than this exercise is for you. You do not need any complicated studies but the following project management Jargon will help you to ask professional experts to visualize  their work so that you can understand the budget and the resources they claim to accomplish the work.  Whether you are a solopreneur or big boss who is hiring experts , you need to know  the following about the WBS.

What s a WBS?

The WBS - the work Breakdown Structure defines the “what” you need to accomplish in order to achieve the objectives of the project. The WBS is a  single easy to understanding chart  The purpose of a WBS  is to break down complex activities into smaller manageable pieces- so-called deliverables that you can control.  

A simple yet powerful  method  to creating a WBS is keeping in mind  the ORS framework:

• Objectives
• Roadmap
• Structure

You can apply this by asking the following questions: 

• What is the overall goal?  (outcome,  the project  objectives,  the transformation)
• What is the Roadmap?  ( path process, phases)
• How do you structure your tasks, deliverables, and activities?

The biggest mistakes in creating a WBS

You need to know these so that you can ask the right questions when your supplier submits a WBS, especially when you are not the subject matter expert.

One of the biggest mistakes I see in creating a WBS is trying to answer so many questions at once. Like who is doing what task and when will this task be ready,. what are the dependencies,  how much does each step cost, etc?  Creating a WBS is a thinking process and the best results you get are by using your brain to focus on the simple question.

What needs to get done in order to achieve the project objectives, o get the desired transformation,  to deliver the result?

How to create a WBS

If you are the expert and do the work alone you may still want to do this planning step so that you can communicate clearly to everyone what does it take to get to this transformation, results, outcome.

If you are a project manager like a sales manager who is selling solutions and you need to hire experts like engineering companies, or web designers, marketing agencies. such WBS helps you to understand the complexity you need to manage in order to get the desired outcome for the client.

Look at the Goals, look at the roadmap with the milestones, and brainstorm by asking yourself: What needs to get done in order to achieve that transformation/ objective or reach that milestone?

Ask your expert team, do this WBS planning exercise together with your team.

With our clients, I love to use sticky notes and ask every expert to share his knowledge about the steps.

If you do not know the strategy, the exact roadmap towards your big overall project goal, because you are in the development mode you may use this same approach for planning your development cycles or start with planning  1 week or 2 weeks. 4-week sprints.

Download the guide on how to to create a WBS with ease here. WBS WORKBOOK

The  WBS in 15 min

Get some sticky notes and write all objects, and results on these sticky notes Use one note for one object. Write in capital letters so that you can later take photos and send these to an assistant to digitalize.

Now add the actions you need to do related to these objects in the past tense and create groups.

If you do have a lot of tasks in mind first start with the tasks and group them later.

The  WBS in One hour

Do the same as in the previous exercise the WBS in 15 min but invite experts to add to the WBS their knowledge and ask your key stakeholder: What else?

In our training, we used flip charts, pinboards, and windows. However, in our online courses, we teach you how to create the same exercise online and have fun.

How to create a WBS in practical way  click here

 In the video, you`ll learn some tactical advice on how to do the Work Breakdown Structure. This simple mini project case we used to teach Project Management to over 6000 industry experts in English, Russian Hungarian, Spanish, and German languages and it helps to learn how to do the WBS process fast and easily. If it worked for them. it might work for you too. 

Happy Planning! if you have any questions or feedback please let us know here [email protected]

Resources:

WBS WORKBOOK