A work breakdown structure element may be a product, data, service, or any combination thereof. The work breakdown structure wbs is the decomposition of a software project into low level work tasks. Creately diagrams can be exported and added to word, ppt powerpoint, excel, visio or any other document. Screenshot of an sample product breakdown structure pbs. The two main types of project work breakdown structures. It is a hierarchical description of the work that must be. Work breakdown structure is a type of project management that offers a visual way to detail the deliverables within a project. A structure chart that shows the products to be delivered in a project, grouped by product type e. Work breakdown structures wbs for software development.
The pbs diagram differentiates between the different types of product ie thing. Easily create, share and collaborate on wbs charts and diagrams with cacoo. If you are a project manager and you want to stretch your tasks correctly, then you need to create what is known as a work breakdown structure for your project. Our cloudbased software allows you to use the work breakdown structure template with all our other great features.
Work breakdown structure wbs software edraw max provides an approach to visually and graphically create, edit and modify work breakdown structure diagram. Product versus work breakdown structure project manager. It allows you to take a project and decompose it into planable and controllable elements. In project management under the prince2 methodology, a product breakdown structure pbs is a tool for analysing, documenting and communicating the outcomes of a project, and forms part of the product based planning technique the pbs provides an exhaustive, hierarchical tree structure of deliverables that make up the project, arranged in wholepart relationship haughey, 2015. If your software does not allow you to create a hierarchy diagram easily, dont do it in ms word, please. The most complete project management glossary for professional project managers. How to create a work breakdown structure projectengineer. Product breakdown structures and work breakdown structures look very. Collaboration features to do the breakdown as a team.
A product breakdown structure pbs is an essential part of this, its purpose being to define the products deliverables of a project and how they relate to each other. For example, you can link dependencies with a simple click on the gantt chart, which is online and will notify the team member who is responsible for it. The work breakdown structure wbs is developed to establish a common understanding of project scope. There are many free and commercial software application around the web to create the work breakdown structure. Apm web briefing use of product breakdown structures and. Prince2 product breakdown structure example work breakdown. Use pdf export for high quality prints and svg export for large sharp images or embed your diagrams anywhere with the creately viewer. In project management under the prince2 methodology, a product breakdown structure pbs is a tool for analysing, documenting and communicating the outcomes of a project, and forms part of the product based planning technique. In so doing, you gain clarity into the details needed to accomplish every aspect of your project. A work breakdown structure is your map through more complicated projects. A product breakdown structure is an effective tool that details the physical components of a particular product, or system, under consideration.
A wbs can be oriented around deliverables or around project phases and milestones for a processcentered approach. Product breakdown structures and work breakdown structures look very similar and both have. Its a helpful tool that defines a detailed cost or time estimate and provides guidance for schedule development and control. It begins with the final product at the top of the hierarchy followed by the subcategorized elements of the product. Work breakdown structure wbs project management chart. What is a work breakdown structure in project management. One work breakdown structure example that will make it clear. One of the best tips i ever received about wbs was to use a template. A product breakdown structure helps us to answer the question, what are we trying to build. The product breakdown structure pbs is a hierarchical structure of things that the project will make or outcomes that it will deliver. Example of a product breakdown structure of a computer. A product breakdown structure pbs is a product based planning method used to. Free work breakdown structure templates smartsheet. This helps to identify all of the elements and deliverables that are required to organize a project as a whole a work breakdown structure is often presented in the form of a chart, it is a visual representation of all team.
Are you looking for a work breakdown structure example this method is frequently used in project management to break a project down into activities, tasks and subtasks. Draw product breakdown structures with online product breakdown structure software. You wont find the problem if you cant isolate the defective part, and you cant fix the problem if the defective part is not separated from the main engine a work breakdown structure wbs represents this division of a project into constituent tasks. This article will give a few work breakdown structure examples and will give you an overview of how wbs can. Featuredriven software projects may use a similar technique which is to employ a feature breakdown structure. It is a tabular or graphical representation of the tasks. Thus, this involves the linking between items related to the product. Systems upgrade work breakdown structure the project diva.
This zip file contains the white paper the work breakdown structure. A fixture in classic project management methodology and systems engineering, the work breakdown structure wbs is a method that breaks a project down into a hierarchy of deliverables, tasks, and subtasks. To do this, highlight the column you have designated for the task id numbers by clicking on the letter at the top of the column. Using the work breakdown structure, you can break tasks down into subtasks and individual work packages. Product breakdown structure pbs expert program management. A product breakdown structure pbs is a hierarchical structure of things that the project will make. Work breakdown structure templates editable online or. In project management under the prince2 methodology, a product breakdown structure pbs.
This is when making a work breakdown structure or a work breakdown structure template is essential. In this article, we will go through some of the breakdown structure examples. An important point to remember is that in design decomposition, only the lower. Use our templates to visualize, breakdown and manage your projects. Work breakdown structure of a software life cycleyou can edit this template and create your own diagram. A product breakdown structure pbs is a product based planning method used to analyze, document and communicate the outcomes of a project. The project management body of knowledge defines the work breakdown structure as a deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team. A product breakdown structure pbs is a hierarchical structure of things that the project will make or outcomes that it will deliver. Wbs examples for a software project, construction projects, a conference, finding a job, selling a house, planning.
The work breakdown structure in software project management article pdf available in journal of systems and software. Work breakdown structure wbs in project management. An organized work breakdown structure can break down your large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks, allowing you, your executives, and your team to focus on concrete deliverables and measurable milestones. The work breakdown structure wbs provides exactly this. Work breakdown structure software features create wbs quickly create wbs quickly and easily in edraw using a topdown approach. Risk breakdown hierarchical decomposition of risks, starting from the root node, and going down to the various risk categories, and then finer level risks. To create a work breakdown structure you start from the end product in its entirety and work downwards to increasing levels of detail. Work breakdown structure wbs software project management. Pdf the work breakdown structure in software project. Project management is like fixing a car you must break it down into parts. The final product is the blue box at the top of screen. Many people have mistaken wbs as a list of tasks, a schedule or an organization chart. The template is fully editable with excel and can be converted or changed to suit specific project requirements.
The wbs is designed to help break down a project into manageable chunks that can be effectively estimated and supervised. Edit this wbs template online using our tool and easily visualize your project work. Instead, every item is a noun describing an end product a bicycle seat, fork, handlebar, etc. In reality, wbs is a simple and easy visual breakdown of deliverables for product, result, or service. Work breakdown structure information, software and wbs samples, sitemap.
Learn how to make a product breakdown structure pbs and how to use product breakdown structure software. A product breakdown structure pbs is a hierarchical structure of things that. They may look identical to a work breakdown structure, but rather than focusing on activities, they focus on what is the product itself the reason we create a pbs is that as we develop the pbs we may think of other products we need to add into the pbs. This is a free work breakdown structure wbs template in excel and pdf.
Mindview is ideal for this because it allows you to enter elements quickly and then arrange them into a structure that makes sense for your particular project. One project may include several phases, or also smaller subprojects. Some of them has features to export the wbs into applications such as microsoft. These resources are presented from the pmi practice standard for work breakdown structures. Wbs should not take too much effort to create and maintain it. The process of breaking down the scope into a wbs should continue until the entire project scope is decomposed in adequate details matching the level of control that the project read more. For new product development projects, the most common technique to assure an outcomeoriented wbs is to use a product breakdown structure pbs.
Through this hierarchy, project planners can see a clear relationship between the different levels of. Even subprojects can be broken down into smaller bits. It does so by presenting key milestones within a hierarchy that simplifies large projects into smaller, more manageable groups. The work breakdown structure visually defines the scope into manageable chunks that a project team can. As an agile software product manager, do you use the work. A work breakdown structure separates data, services, a product, or all three, depending on the type and scope of a project. Software implementation work breakdown structure wbs. Generally speaking, no wbs tends to be more useful and usable in a waterfall approach, as it typically expects that you know everything that will need to be done, and then break that down into executable chunks see. Editable work breakdown structure template to plan your work.
Product breakdown structure mindview software matchware. You only need to click, drag and drop to create tasks and phases. A brief synopsis, a software implementation work breakdown structure in both word and excel, and a pdf appendix of the software implementation work breakdown structure wbs example. Reorganizing the tasks in the chart requires only click of a button. With our wbs creator, you can create the work breakdown structure you need in a matter of minutes. Through this hierarchy, project planners can see a clear relationship between the different levels of a system under consideration. Company owners and project managers use the work breakdown structure wbs to make complex projects more manageable. After creating the columns, you will format the cells.
A work breakdown structure wbs provides a hierarchical or a breakdown structure that decomposes the project scope into more discrete and manageable work components 1. A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the teams work into manageable sections. What is wbs work breakdown structure in project management. Wbs of sdlc editable work breakdown structure template. Systems upgrade project planning documents, including wbs structure. What are some software for creating and displaying a work. This is an example of a work breakdown structure wbs for a traditional waterfall approach to software development. The product breakdown structure pbs is the hierarchical breakdown of the products such as hardware items, software items, and information items nasa.