a hierarchical structure consisting of one or more phases of work in a project. A phase represents a major "key event" or milestone in the project. Each phase consists of one or more activities representing "sub-events" required to meet the milestone. Each activity consists of one or more operational steps or tasks representing the individual actions to be taken in the project. The "PRIDE" methodologies represent Work Breakdown Structures.
The method of structuring a given Project activities into discreet tasks for the purpose of cost accumulation and monitoring. A Project must have at least one task in the WBS; but may have more tasks if desired. These tasks can be further broken down into related subtasks.
A tool which provides a logical format for organising all the work required to deliver a project. Visually the WBS looks like a organisation chart. The first layer being the Project Goal, the next the milestones, third layer activities and fourth level tasks. A deliverable-orientated grouping of project elements which organises and defines the total scope of the project. (PMI)
A detailed list of tasks to be performed on the project.
a list of project tasks along with deliverables and owners responsible for ensuring the tasks are completed
a process of breaking down the actual projects into smaller parts
a product oriented, family tree composed of hardware elements, software elements, and service elements
a product-oriented family tree composed of hardware, software, services, data and facilities
a product-oriented family tree subdivision of the hardware, software, services, and program-unique tasks that organizes, defines, and graphically displays the work to be accomplished and the product to be produced
a results-oriented family
a task-oriented 'family tree' of activities that organizes, defines and graphically displays the total work to be accomplished in order to achieve the final objectives of a project
A task-oriented detailed hierarchical breakdown, which defines the work packages and tasks at a very low level.
The breakdown of a project in terms of deliverables.
WBS supports the cost reporting requirements of U.S. government contractors (Department of Defense) as well as activity-based costing requirements for commercial manufacturers. WBS typically includes project management, multi-level costing and reporting and budgeting.
A product-oriented family tree division of hardware, software, services, and other work tasks which organizes, defines, and graphically displays the product to be produced as well as the work to be accomplished to achieve the specified product. Project Summary Work Breakdown Structure (PWBS). A summary work breakdown structure (WBS) tailored to a specific defense material item by selecting applicable elements from one or more summary WBSs or by adding equivalent elements unique to the project in accordance with MIL-HNDBK 881 (latest revision). Contract Work Breakdown Structure (CWBS). The complete WBS for a contract, developed and used by a contractor within the guidelines of MIL-HNDBK 881 (latest revision) and according to the contract's work statement. The CWBS includes the levels specified in the contract and the contractor's extension.
way in which a project may be divided by level into discrete groups for programming, cost planning and control purposes. Note: see also ‘work package' (The WBS is a tool for defining the hierarchical breakdown of work required to deliver the products of a project. Major categories are broken down into smaller components. These are sub-divided until the lowest required level of detail is established. The lowest units of the WBS become the activities in a project. The WBS defines the total work to be undertaken on the project and provides a structure for all project control systems.)
A deliverable-oriented group of project elements that organizes and defines the total work scope of the project. Each descending level represents an increasingly detailed definition of the project work.
In project management, a hierarchical representation of the activities associated with developing a product or executing a process; a list of tasks; often used to develop a Gantt Chart.
The complete list of activities that need to be done for a project, used for estimation and scheduling the work
This refers to the breaking down of the work in a project into related tasks, sometimes described as an Activity Decomposition Chart.
The WBS is an outline of the work that is to be done to complete the project. It is a way to organize the project, it is the basis from which the project is controlled, and it ensures that the plan is complete. See the Project Management Institute Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures in the recommended reading list shown in this workbook (located immediately before this glossary).
A technique for representing all the components, software, services and data contained in the project scope statement. It establishes a hierarchical structure or product oriented "family tree" of elements. It is used to organize, define and graphically display all the work items or work packages to be done to accomplish the project's objectives. NASA Cost Estimating Handbook 2004 Keyword(s): Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
In project management, a hierarchical description of a project in which each lower level is more detailed.
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a fundamental project management technique for defining and organizing the total scope of a project, using a hierarchical tree structure. The first two levels of the WBS (the root node and Level 2) define a set of planned outcomes that collectively and exclusively represent 100% of the project scope. At each subsequent level, the children of a parent node collectively and exclusively represent 100% of the scope of their parent node.