WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE A TOOL FOR SOLVING DECISION MAKING PROBLEM IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT Jaromír Pitaš Abstract: One of the decision making tools of a project manager since the 1960s has been Work Breakdown Structure. It was standardized for the first time by the US Department of Defense for the environment of military projects. The basis of this method is a hierarchical decomposition of deliverables (products), which creates first view of the project scope. WBS is built at the start of the planning process (a phase of a life cycle of the project management planning) and further helps the project manager with decision-taking in planning processes and project monitoring. A lack of knowledge of building and using WBS while managing the project by the project manager plays often a crucial role in not attaining the project success. Keywords: Work Breakdown Structure, Project Management, Project, decision-making 1. Introduction by DoD while the latest one was carried Important milestones of the project out last year (MIL-STD-881C) [2]. management are represented by a creation Another milestone for WBS was and first usage of Critical Path Method – established in 1987 when the Project CPM) and PERT (Performance Evaluation Management Institute (PMI) in and Review Technique) in the 1950s. cooperation with DoD further processed A concept of Work Breakdown Structure – and spread WBS in order to be applied in WBS was developed together with the organizations out of the defense industry. method PERT in the United States First of all, PMI standardized WBS in a Department of Defense (DoD). Both document Project Management Body of methods were developed as a decision Knowledge (PMBOK). The document making tool for planning processes and explains WBS as a term and integrates it project monitoring. into the project management processes. In spite of the fact that the method PERT After that PMI standardized WBS in the was first used as early as 1957 by US Navy standard itself “Practice Standard for Work in the project of Polaris missiles, WBS was Breakdown Structures”. Both documents not put in usage at this first were subjects to many revisions in the past implementation. Only in 1962 DoD, in years (PMBOK 4th edition, Standard for cooperation with NASA, released a WBS 2th edition) [4;5]. document for implementation of the system PERT / COST where WBS was 2. Contents of the term Work described [1]. Subsequently in 1968 DoD Breakdown Structure published a standard "Work Breakdown The interpretation of the term WBS in the Structures for Defense materiel items" Czech Republic is closely related to a (MIL-STD-881), describing how to build quality of translations of English texts, WBS, its significance and application at therefore it is very difficult within Czech US Army projects and programs [2]. The literature to find properly explained standard has been revised for several times contents of this term. The most accurate 84 definition of the term in the Czech level of detail required. Republic is offered by Společnost pro It is possible to state that the definition projektové řízení, o. s. (Association for given by SPŘ in the Czech Republic is not Project Management) (SPŘ) in National in disagreement with the quoted definitions Standard Competences of Project by DOD and PMI, therefore it can be used Management version 3.2 that defines WBS in the field of the project management of as follows: “...a hierarchical breakdown of the Czech Republic. the project goal into individual deliverables and further into individual 3. Creating Work Breakdown products and subproducts to the level of Structure individual work packages to be delivered The project life cycle involves the phases in the course of project implementation.” of initialization, planning, implementation [3] and terminating of the project. The The authors of WBS (DoD) describe WBS planning phase is opened by creating WBS in the standard Work Breakdown that is the foundation for: Structures for Defense Materiel Items: “A - managing the costs of the project product-oriented family tree composed of implementation; hardware, software, services, data, and - identification of activities and creating facilities. The family tree results from an implementation schedule; systems engineering efforts during the - determination of the resource acquisition of a defense materiel item.” [2] requirements necessary for the project Practice standard for Work Breakdown implementation; Structure defines WBS as follows: “A - defining responsibility and Deliverable-oriented hierarchical involvement in the project decomposition of the work to be executed implementation; by the project team to accomplish the - quality management of the final project objective and create the required deliverable for a customer; deliverables.” [4] At the same time under - managing changes in the course of the term outcome it is understood a project planning and project verifiable product, output or service, which implementation. have to be produced to complete a process, The basic foundation for creating WBS is phase or project. a clearly formulated objective of the The authors of the definitions are in project (WHAT is to be delivered to agreement when claiming that WBS is not a customer, UNTIL WHEN and FOR an action-oriented decomposition, it does HOW MUCH). The top (1 level) of WBS not even include any activities since is composed of a definition of delivery activities are totally included in work item for a customer (WHAT is to be packages at the lowest level of WBS. On delivered to a customer – see example in the other hand they agree on the fact that it Figure 1). involves product decomposition into subproducts and further into the lowest 1 (1 level) Weapon system Figure 1: Project deliverable – top level of WBS Source: own processing The second level of WBS usually contains for a customer in a way that a customer more precise definition of a delivery item defined the item (for the example see 85 Figure 2). 1 Weapon system 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Automatic rifle Sight Ammunition Handbook Figure 2: Project deliverable decomposition to the products – 2 level of WBS Source: own processing The following hierarchical breakdown is a (delivered). It represents a return check definition of subproducts, which will be whether the project team identified necessary to create (produce) so that a everything that is to be completed in order product at the second level is created. to attain a higher level of WBS. Figure 2 When creating the second level the illustrates a primary violation of the 100 % implementation team with a project rule because the main product of the manager in charge has to observe the so second level, which is “project called 100 % rule. This obligatory rule management”, is missing here. Figure 3 binds WBS creators to define everything shows the right observance of the 100 % that is to be completed (delivered) so that a rule [4]. product at a higher level is produced 1 Weapon system 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Automatic rifle Sight Ammunition Handbook PM Figure 3: Right project deliverable decomposition to the products – 1-2 level of WBS Source: own processing Presenting the project management as a team and project manager to control their deliverable (product) plays a certain role in production from the perspective of WBS, since the project management is restrictive project criteria (time, costs, delivered to a project customer, and there resources, risks), customer defined criteria are costs required to build it. The project (acceptance criteria), together with management includes work of a project achieving the required quality of the final manager and project team, which is not deliverable, the project as a whole and the directly related to creation of further project management (for the example see deliverables (products), however, it is Figure 4). necessary to be executed in order to Providing that the project manager decides produce a final deliverable (achieve the that the product decomposition is detailed project objective). enough for managing the implementation When accomplishing the identification of and producing further documents in the the products at a certain level, the project course of planning, it is possible to team together with the project manager terminate the product decomposition in decides whether the performed breakdown terms of subproducts decomposition into is sufficient for the description of the work packages. Work packages represent a products (subproducts). The level of details set of activities to be accomplished in order of the decomposition is related to to create the products (to observe the 100 experience and capabilities of the project point rule). 86 1 Weapon system 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Automatic rifle Sight Ammunition Handbook PM 1.1.1 Barrel 1.2.1 Night sight 1.3.1 Shall with tracer 1.4.1 ……………….. 1.1.2 Magazine 1.2.2 Day sight 1.3.2 ……………….. 1.1.3 Bolt assist mechanism 1.2.3 …………. 1.1.4 ………… Figure 4: Project deliverable decomposition into the products – 1-3 level of WBS Source: own processing 4. How does Work Breakdown terms of time, a network chart is composed Structure support decision making and a network chart analysis is executed in project? (concord in attained milestones, Together with Logical Frame Matrix WBS initialization and termination of the project is the initial decision making tool of the according to the assignment). project manager for setting up the project Consequently, WBS with already created plan, managing the changes in the project Organizational Breakdown Structure and its monitoring. Completed WBS (OBS) helps the project manager to build enables, after it has been created, clarifying Responsibilities Matrix (RM). The goal of the requirements of financial resources for RM is to assign responsibility to the activity achievement summarized in the members of the project team for the lowest work packages (the costs of necessary level products creation, and verification project resources, material used in order to whether there is a sufficient number of create the required subproducts, products human resources in the project team or it is and the final outcome).