TCM490: Telecommunications Management Senior Project
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Introduction

In simple format, a WBS is a list of all the major tasks and their subtasks with assigned resources. The WBS should show applied effort to planning the project and assigning resources to tasks.

Most project management books will indicate that "the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is not one thing. It can take a wide variety of forms, which, in turn, serve a wide variety of purposes. The WBS "often pictures a project subdivided into hierarchical units of tasks, subtasks, work packages, etc...." This type of WBS is acceptable. You can do it in Word, Excel, Visio or even MS Paint to produce an hierarchical WBS

The WBS should answer the questions below.

• What are all the tasks that have to be done at every possible step?
• Who is responsibel for each tasks?

Microsoft Project Management software uses outlining in the Gantt chart view and also produces reports to show the WBS.

Examples

Hierarchical WBS example

Outlining: example-1, example-2