Chapter Summary

Any organized activity, from football to cooking, requires a plan of action. A Work Breakdown Structure helps you create the plan of action. It allows you to define the top-level deliverables, the phases, and then break them down into work packages.

The process of breaking down the project deliverables into a logical order is called decomposition. As a rule, work packages do not need to be broken down into granular step-by-step tasks , but rather tight, individual units that provide a clearly defined expectation of the task for team members without micromanaging them on each click and CD-ROM to insert into the server they perform.

There are multiple ways to create a WBS, and any combination can be used as long as the end result depicts the start and end dates and the activities to be completed between the two. A WBS, once completed, needs approval from the project sponsor first to confirm the series of activities and how they mesh with an organization. Once you and the project sponsor are in sync on the plan, the key stakeholders need to sign off on the WBS to ensure that all of the project deliverables are accounted for as they re defined in the project scope.