Breaking the work down
The work breakdown structure: splitting a project into packages then tasks, the 100% rule, a task with a deliverable, an owner and an estimable duration, and dependencies between tasks.
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Work breakdown structure (WBS): what is it?
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A hierarchical decomposition of the project's work into ever finer levels, from the whole project down to tasks.
It is built on deliverables and the work to do, not on dates. It is the basis for estimating, assigning and tracking.
A WBS has "Development" (40 days) and, in another package, "Build the payment module" (10 days) which is part of it. What flaw does it show?
- A duplicate: payment is counted twice
- An omission: part of the work is in no package
- A missing dependency between the two tasks
- A badly estimated duration for the development package
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A duplicate: payment is counted twice
The 100% rule forbids omission as well as overlap: a parent's work is covered exactly by its children. A duplicate inflates the budget and distorts progress.
A package is split until you get tasks whose … can be estimated, each entrusted to one …, with a … you can check.
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A package is split until you get tasks whose duration can be estimated, each entrusted to one owner, with a deliverable you can check.
An unsplit 40-day task is too big to track: you only learn at the end that it went off course.
Work package: what is it?
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A group of related tasks tied by a common goal and a deliverable, entrusted to one owner.
A package with no deliverable is just a heading: it can be neither costed nor said to be finished.
A schedule places "go live" in parallel with "test payment". What is the flaw?
- A violated 100% rule: go-live is counted twice
- A package with no owner named for go-live
- A missing predecessor: go-live must follow the test
- An unknown deliverable for the test task
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A missing predecessor: go-live must follow the test
Predecessors set the logical order: you ship what has been tested. Without a link, the schedule allows an impossible order and hides the project's true path.