The WBS - How Important is it?

The PMI identifies several tools that are essential to effective project management. One tool is the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). How valuable is the WBS in the real-world of time constrained project management?

I believe the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is one of the most important tools PMI has established as being essential for Project Managers to complete projects successfully.

The WBS is critical because it furnishes the substructure for defining work related to the objective(s) of a project.  In addition to defining the work it also provides a core in which to manage the finalization of project work (Project Management Institute, 2006, p.1).

The PMI et al. (2006, p.1) states the WBS is used in projects to:

1. "Define the projects scope of work in terms of deliverables and to future decompose these deliverables into components."
2. It provides "the project management team with a framework on which to base project status and progress reports."
3. "Facilitate communication between the project manager and stakeholders throughout the life of the project."
4. Be "a key input to other project management processes and deliverables."

Given the above facts I see the WBS as being a critical tool needed in the "real-world" during the life of a project in order for the project to be planned, managed, and organized properly.

I believe any project be it a kitchen remodeling, a wedding, deploying a new computer network, or the Navy building a new nuclear submarine must use the WBS in some form or other.  The more complicated the project the more important a WBS becomes.

I have used elementary forms of a WBS at various times during my career but I did not realize it until a few years ago.  In the past, I called them business plans, and they exhibited some of the characteristics I have mentioned above.  After reading Chapter 11 in the Project Management book by Kerzner (2003) I now realize we were lucky to every successful complete a project.

An example of a project I was involved with was to decrease the time it took for us to complete a transaction.  We also wanted to reduce our cost for each transaction.  Our primary goal was to be able to conduct more business (make more money) while reducing our per transaction cost.  We implemented our plan and dealt with internal and external factors as they arose.  Training was easy and risk was never really an issue.  Defining the scope, creating a framework, communication with stakeholders, and using this project as an input for other projects was never formally practiced.  We might have used our experiences on that project for future ones but not at a proper level. This particular project was very successful but only because of pure knowledge and will power of the people involved and not due to a proper WBS.   Since that time, I create a WBS for every project I take on whether it be putting up a new fence in my yard or becoming the project manager for the creation of an analytics model.

Reference:

Kerzner, H. (2003) Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. Hoboken: NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Project Management Institute (PMI). (2006). Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures (2nd ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc.

Characteristics of a Proper Project Leader

If you ask 100 project managers you will get 100 different answers to the question “What are some of the characteristics of a proper project leader?”

Ferraro (p. 6) writes about the accountability a project manager (PM) faces and the importance of PMs "personal effectiveness" (emotional intelligence), project management skills, and intuition as being keys to PM success.

Many PMs have little or no directly authority. Ferraro (p. 8) tells us one way a PM can overcome a lack of direct authority is to create an affirmative climate for "customers and team members." He states a way to create a positive environment is to ask, "How can I help?" Helping customers (everyone involved on a project) does not require a direct authority. Ferraro states people want help but do not ask for it. By helping others you build what Stephen Covey calls an “emotional bank account." This account gives the other person a feeling, of "I owe the person who helped me" feeling. A PM can use this position when they do not have direct authority.

Ferraro (p. 9) suggests that a project manager cannot wait for direct authority, and must change the corporate culture to support project managers. I suggest changing the culture of the team first, and then lobby sponsors or upper management for more direct authority.

A project leader must use developed soft skills, and values to "effectively unite and lead a group of people over whom they have minimal authority ( (Ferraro, p 101). A PM must use their flexible skills not only with their team, but anyone they come in contact with. Morgan and Youngdahl, (p. 5) support the need for project managers to lead using soft skills. They say projects must be led by a person who has "an ability to influence and motivate without formal authority." Youngdahl and Moran's model of leading global projects (p. 6) list three elements a project manager must be able to bring to their project for it to be successful.

• "The ability to influence without authority across cultures and functions."

• "The ability to create project value and strategic alignment."

• "The ability to develop and share the project vision."

In the end, I believe a project leader must serve the wants, and needs of others. Ferraro (p. 112) states a PM must not think of themselves as a manager, which implies direct authority. They must think of themselves as leaders.

Ferraro, J. (2008). The Strategic Project Leader. Mastering Service-Based Project Leadership. Boca Raton: FL. Taylor & Francis Group.

Moran, R. & Youngdahl, W. (2008). Leading Global Projects. For Professional and Accidental Project Leaders. Burlington: MA. Butterworth-Heinemann.

Before selecting a project ask these questions

How projects are managed depends on many factors. Every organization has a way of doing things. The following is a list of questions that should be asked before selecting a project if you want it to succeed.

• What is the organization’s culture? How does the organization view project? Does the organization place emphasis on the group or individual people? How important is control to the organization and how does it go about monitoring a project life cycle? Is the organizational culture focused on outcomes as the only criteria to project success?

• What are the organization's IT governance standards? Are there controls in place to guide the project manager down a path to completion or does the project manager need to be creative?

• What is the scope of the project? Is the project technological related? If the project is technological, a technical project manager might be required to understand the complexity of the project in detail.

• What are the time constraints on the project? Does time have to be micromanaged to meet deadlines? Micro management of activates requires a project manager with greater technical skills than other projects.

• What are the costs to the project? Is the cost structure complex and require the project manager to have a deeper understanding of them or can the costs be easily summarized for the project manager to understand?

• Who are the customers? Do the customers require technical reports or do they care less about the details and only then end product?

• Who are the stakeholders? In my opinion, knowing who the stakeholders are (which includes customers) is the number-one  factor in determining what type of project manager should be selected to lead a project.