8 Best Practices for Developing a Work Breakdown Structure
Did your project ever feel like a giant elephant? Tall, bulky, wearisome, and probably immovable?
Famous South African theologists and Nobel Peace Prize winner ‘Desmond Mpilo Tutu’ once said — ‘There is only one way to eat an elephant. And that’s is like one bite at a time. Now, in these days of new normal, where nearly everything appears to be overwhelming, challenging, and often impossible to grasp-the Project Manager can accomplish success only by taking a little bit at a time.
Let’s look at some of the guidelines that our company follows for effective project management and execution, which aims at minimizing the work stress, uncertainty, and difficulty of each project by breaking it down into some bite-sized pieces that everybody can appreciate.
Last week, my 4-year-old son asked me to share a bedtime story. As usual, I began with “Once upon a time, there was a large forest.” he stopped me by telling me that he wants a Robot story that can be accessed with a fingerprint and a face scan. The robot must recognize his voice and accept only his commands. The robot must have the ability to fly like a rocket and the speed of the Paw Petroller (an AI minivan-which has the capacity to fix 7 other vehicles).
Projects are coming like this now. It looks like a beast with so many dark features in front of us. You would need to dig deeper into all its components to understand the foundations of a project. You need to split it down into real baby steps before you get a good balance on each of the components.
Before the beginning of every project, we need to do a proper process of thinking.
In SayOne, we start by looking at inputs, data, documentation, understanding the task, what we’re going to do, looking at the potential, the skill of the developers, and the use of it. As an experienced project manager, we realize that a lot of things can go wrong in projects, regardless of how well the project is planned and executed. Part or full-project might get delayed because of improperly conceived plans.
In order to explain the complexity of the project, we need to split each job into smaller sections before beginning the development process. This tells us the structure of what the job looks like, a kind of puzzle where all the pieces come together to make up the whole thing. It teaches us about the styles of feature standards and how the components relate to each other in this way.
So what exactly is a work breakdown structure and how can we make a good quality one?
Work Breakdown Structure(or WBS) is a guide to complete a dynamic, multi-step process. It’s a way to divide and conquer big jobs, so you can make it simpler and more effective. WBS is a hierarchical tree structure that describes the project and separates it into smaller, more manageable sections. It teaches us different kinds of phases of operation and how the elements relate to each other in this way. It also helps to develop a stable basis and structure for your company.
There are two approaches to the qualitative breakdown of a broad piece of work.
Delivery-Based & Activity-Based
The Delivery-Based WBS explicitly reveals the relationship between the deliverables and the size of the project. Let’s say, we’re planning to deliver Project A. There are three deliverables for this: Smartphone Device, Online Dashboard, and Marketing. But it’s like breaking down the deliverables where the outputs are complicated or vague and give people an explanation. whereas the other approach is only focused on operations or activities. Breaking down the all functionalities into component pieces.
Below are some of the Best Practises SayOne is following while creating a WBS.
- Make it from the Team
The development team has the complete right to set up a WBS. Team leader, Project Managers, Engineers, HTML folks who are involved in the development of a project must take responsibility for the development of the WBS.
2. Follow the 100% Rule
It indicates that the top level of the work breakdown structure is the entirety of the project, and lower stages categorize more detail in the top-down structure under the first level. Applying the 100% rule allows the manager to guarantee that all activities in each area are captured where they belong and that nothing irrelevant is included in the element.
3. Capture Every Deliverable
When the tasks are broken down into minute baby steps, each and every deliverable will be crystal clear. The team can therefore predict the complexity and expenditure of the project.
4. Communicate to Stakeholders
When it comes to WBS, you can build a range of tiers. Different levels for different types of stakeholders. This document can also be used for settling disputes. So whenever you are in trouble, check the WBS.
5. If there is a CR, Update the Structure
For any modification request from customers, the WBS documentation must be revised. This tends to reduce the reach of the project creep and gold plating.
6. One WBS for One Project
Don’t prepare a new WBS when it comes to customer communication. This is a common mistake made by several Project managers. Update each task in the same WBS so that each stakeholder can grasp what is being discussed within the project. Find the right tools to manage the various stages of WBS.
7. No one else Touches my Scope Document
Once the WBS contract has been signed off by the Project Manager and the customer, either one must hold the power to update the document after consulting with the other person. Otherwise, uncertainty can occur which can increase friction with the members of the team.
8. A project should own the WBS
The WBS is not owned by either the Organisations or the stakeholders. WBS is for a Project. Just assume that the design part of the project is being created by a company and QA is being implemented by another company. which is performing the development tasks creates the WBS-there could be chances that all the other party may skip some aspects of the product.
Wrapping Up
Poor schedules may result in adverse project results, including continual project re-plans and delays, volatile project outcomes, chaotic or unmanageable & constantly evolving scale, budget overruns, missing deadlines, and unusable new products or features. SayOne’s executive team is constantly focusing on coordinating with various advisors, subject matter experts, and international leaders who can put in innovative thoughts to ensure that the organization retains in its first place among all her competitors.
Author
Joys.K.J
Project Manager
