How to create a work

breakdown structure and why

you should
Reading time: about 9 min

Posted by: Lucid Content Team

Rules to create a work breakdown structure

1. Include 100% of the work necessary to complete the goal.

2. Don't account for any amount of work twice.
3. Focus on outcomes, not actions.
4. A work package should take no less than 8 hours and no
more than 80 hours of effort.
5. Include about three levels of detail.
6. Assign each work package to a specific team or individual.

It’s your first dive into the world of project management and
everyone around you seems to be speaking a different language.
Worse than anything, your co-workers hurl acronyms left and
right, and there’s not enough time for you to look one up before a
new one is casually tossed onto the field—QCD, PMBOK, ACWP,
QFD, RBS, SOW, SWOT, FPIF, and WBS.

Mercifully, the deluge stops. But now you are left to ponder over
your list. You start at the bottom and think to yourself, “What does
WBS stand for?" 
In project management, WBS stands for work breakdown
structure. This is a foundational tool that will help you to plan,
manage, and evaluate large projects, so let’s learn a little bit more.

What is a work breakdown structure?

The name is rather self-explanatory. A work breakdown structure
starts with a large project or objective and breaks it down into
smaller, more manageable pieces that you can reasonably evaluate
and assign to teams. Rather than focusing on individual actions
that must be taken to accomplish a project, a WBS generally
focuses on deliverables or concrete, measurable milestones. These
deliverables may also be called work packages, tasks, sub-tasks, or
terminal elements. If you're still unclear on what is a work
breakdown structure, it looks something like this:
Work Breakdown Structure Example (Click on image to modify online)
A work breakdown structure is a diagram that shows the connections between the
objectives, measurable milestones, and deliverables (also referred to as work packages or
tasks). The main reason for a work breakdown structure is to make a project more
manageable and quantifiable by breaking up the work into smaller tasks.

Why use a WBS in project

management?
There are a number of reasons why breaking down a large project
is beneficial. It helps you to:

 Estimate the cost of a project.

 Establish dependencies.
 Determine a project timeline and develop a schedule.
 Writea statement of work (or SOW, one of your other
acronyms).
 Assignresponsibilities and clarify roles (and use our roles and
responsibilities template to outline duties).
 Track the progress of a project.
 Identify risk.

All of these benefits essentially arise from working with chunks of

a project that you can accurately visualize rather than trying to
digest and interpret a mysterious and overwhelming task in one
fell swoop.

How to create a work breakdown

structure
 1. Record the overarching objective you are trying to
accomplish. This objective could be anything from
developing a new software feature to building a missile.
2. Divide the overarching project into smaller and smaller
pieces, but stop before you get to the point of listing out
every action that must be taken. Remember to focus on
concrete deliverables rather than actions.
3. Depending on the nature of your project, start dividing by
project phases, specific large deliverables, or sub-tasks.

Tips for making a work breakdown

structure
As you make a work breakdown structure, use the following rules
for best results:

 The 100% rule. The work represented by your WBS must

include 100% of the work necessary to complete the
overarching goal without including any extraneous or
unrelated work. Also,  child tasks on any level must account
for all of the work necessary to complete the parent task.
 Mutually exclusive. Do not include a sub-task twice or
account for any amount of work twice. Doing so would
violate the 100% rule and will result in miscalculations as
you try to determine the resources necessary to complete a
project.
 Outcomes, not actions. Remember to focus on deliverables
and outcomes rather than actions. For example, if you were
building a bike, a deliverable might be “the braking
 system” while actions would include “calibrate the brake
pads.”
 The 8/80 rule. There are several ways to decide when a work
package is small enough without being too small. This rule
is one of the most common suggestions—a work package
should take no less than eight hours of effort, but no more
than 80. Other rules suggest no more than ten days (which
is the same as 80 hours if you work full time) or no more
than a standard reporting period. In other words, if you
report on your work every month, a work package should
take no more than a month to complete. When in doubt,
apply the “if it makes sense” rule and use your best
judgment.
 Threelevels. Generally speaking, a WBS should include about
three levels of detail. Some branches of the WBS will be
more subdivided than others, but if most branches have
about three levels, the scope of your project and the level
of detail in your WBS are about right.
 Make assignments. Every work package should be assigned
to a specific team or individual. If you have made your WBS
well, there will be no work overlap so responsibilities will be
clear.

Work breakdown structure example

As you are thinking about how to make a work breakdown
structure, let’s look at an example. This is a work breakdown
structure for building a house.
Notice how the rules of building a WBS are applied in this
example. First, the house building project is subdivided into three
large sections that seem to make sense: foundation, exterior,
interior. Those sections are further subdivided to one or two more
levels for a maximum of three levels. The effort needed to build a
house has been allocated across all of the work packages for a
total of 100% effort. There is no duplication of work represented in
this diagram. To further enhance this diagram, it would be possible
to add the budget for each work package and assign a team.

Work breakdown structure formats

You can choose from several different format options when
creating a work breakdown structure. The example above uses a
tree format, which is the most visual option. It structures the WBS
like an org chart and shows the hierarchy of tasks in addition to
providing space for additional information about each work
package.

Outline structure

A text outline is the simplest WBS format. It is easy to put together

and shows the hierarchy of tasks. However, it is difficult to add
additional information about budget, duration, and assignment
using this format.

                    Build a House

                         1 Foundation

                              1.1 Excavate

                                   1.1.1 Dig
                                   1.1.2 Level

                              1.2 Frame

                              1.3 Concrete

                                   1.3.1 Pour

                                   1.3.2 Cure

                         2 Exterior

                         3 Interior

Hierarchical structure

This format is less visually intuitive but shows the hierarchy of

tasks. Because it is a table, this format fits easily onto a page.
Tabular view

A tabular view is a more visually intuitive way to show hierarchy

using a table.

WBS dictionary

What is a WBS dictionary? A WBS dictionary is formatted like the

hierarchical structure, but it includes a brief description of each
work package. When documenting a project, a WBS dictionary is
often included in addition to a visualization of the WBS. It helps to
clarify the scope of each task so that all team members
understand their responsibilities.
Work breakdown structure template
To get you started, here are a number of work breakdown
structure templates you can use. Simply click to open the
template, and then customize the information, layout, and design.

Work breakdown structure chart

Work Breakdown Structure Template (Click on image to modify online)

How to make a work breakdown

structure in Microsoft Office
Work breakdown structures and WBS dictionaries are often
included as part of a larger set of documentation or data analysis
made using Microsoft Office. The best way to put a WBS into
Word or Excel is to use Lucidchart and its free integrations with
MS Office. Build your diagram in a software optimized for
diagrams, and leave the words and data crunching to Microsoft.
Just follow the steps below:

1. Register for a free account with Lucidchart.

2. To make a work breakdown structure in Excel, install the free

Lucidchart add-in for Excel.

3. Install the free Lucidchart add-in for Word to create a WBS in

Word.