Reviewing Work Breakdown Structures 133
Reviewing Work Breakdown
Structures
In this chapter
The WBS
Viewing a WBS
Grouping by WBS Path
Adding WBS Elements and
Assigning Properties
Using WBS Milestones
Assigning WBS Category Values
Defining Earned Value Settings for Specific WBS Elements
Assigning Estimation Weights to WBS Elements
A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a hierarchical arrangement of the products and services produced during and by a project. The project is the highest level of the WBS while an individual activity required to create a product or service is the lowest level. Each project in the enterprise project structure (EPS) has its own WBS.
When creating a project, the project manager typically develops the WBS first, assigns work products and documents to each WBS element, and then defines activities for performing the element’s work. Specific earned value calculations can be specified for each WBS element, along with an organizational breakdown structure (OBS) element responsible for all work included in the WBS element.
Read this chapter to learn how to set up and implement a WBS.
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134 Part 2: Structuring Projects
The WBS
The work breakdown structure (WBS) consists of the WBS for each project included in the enterprise project structure (EPS), in effect, extending the EPS beyond the project level. You can view the entire WBS at once, or you can display only the work breakdown structures for a specific node or project. Open the EPS element whose WBS you want to view, then choose Project, WBS.
When you create a project, the module automatically creates a WBS element at the same hierarchy level and with the same name as the project; you can differentiate the WBS level from that of the project by adding numbers or letters such as Bldg.1, Bldg.D&E.
You can break down the work further, essentially extending the EPS to another level.
Planning and budgeting You can set anticipated dates, budgets, and spending plans at a high level in a WBS to indicate when the work should occur and how much its planned budget and monthly spending will cost.
Because financial information is shared between projects and their WBS elements, you can use the preestablished budget amounts and funding information you set for WBS elements immediately for their project and activity counterparts.
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The budget and spending plan can stand alone to represent financial data for the WBS level.
You can also summarize project data to a specific WBS level when calculating and maintaining summary data.
Project Details
The WBS levels to which you want to summarize data for viewing in the Primavera Web application.
You can also use the WBS at the planning stage of a project for top-down estimations and summary rollups of data not yet associated with projects. For example, you can create a WBS for a higher-level node of the EPS and include summary data, planned budgets, and dates, independent of any project.
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136 Part 2: Structuring Projects
Viewing a WBS
You can view a WBS as a chart or a table. Open the Work Breakdown Structure window by choosing Project, WBS; you can also click WBS from the Directory bar or from the Home workspace.
View the Work Breakdown Structure chart Click the Display Options bar, then choose Show on Top, Chart View. To change the displayed information, click the Display Options bar and choose Chart Box Template, then an information type.
To change the display’s content and appearance, click the Display Options bar, then choose Chart Box Template and/or Chart Font and Colors.
View the Work Breakdown Structure table Click the Display Options bar, then choose Show on Top, WBS Table. To list and sort WBS elements, click the WBS Code column label. To change the information the table displays, click the Display Options bar, then choose any of the following:
■To view detailed information about a specific WBS element, choose Show on Bottom, WBS Details, then select the WBS element whose information you want to view. To hide WBS Details, choose Show on Bottom, No Bottom Layout.
■To change the columns in the WBS display, choose Columns, then one of the predefined displays, or customize the columns.
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You can also choose to display a Gantt Chart to the right of the WBS table. Click the Display Options bar, then choose Show on Top, Gantt Chart.
Click the Display Options bar, then choose Columns, Customize, to select only the columns you want to display.
This display is grouped according to OBS assignment.
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