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Learning Outcomes
• On completion of this topic you should
The Work Breakdown be able to:
Structure, Activity • to identify all activities necessary to
Sequencing and achieve the goals and objectives of your
Determining Resource project.
Requirements • Display these activities by completion of
a Work Breakdown Structure.
• Schedule the activities
• Apply initial time estimates to the
activities.

WBS DEFINED Essential elements of the WBS:

• The WBS is a deliverable-oriented
hierarchical decomposition of the • It serves as a major component of the project scope
work to be executed by the project baseline.
team, to accomplish the project • It’s one of the most important project management
objectives and create the required tools serving as the foundation for planning,
deliverables. estimating, and project control.
• It visualises the entire project:
• The WBS organises and defines the • Work not included in the WBS is not part of the project.
total scope of the project. • It builds team consensus and buy-in to the project.

minimum set of inputs necessary

to develop a WBS: The WBS Structure.

1. Organisational Process Assets

• Similar in appearance to an organisation chart.
all policies, procedures and assets of the organisation
• Each level represents a sub level of the level above.
2. Project Scope Statement
• For the goal, we identify objectives required to
defines what work will be performed and what work is
enable the goal to be achieved.
excluded
• For each objective we identify activities (work
3. Project Scope Management Plan packages) required to enable the objectives to be
explains how the project scope will be managed and achieved.
how scope changes will be factored into the project
plan.
4. Approved Change Requests
Approved change requests are the documented,
authorised changes to expand or contract project scope.

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WBS Structure WBS Structure2

Goal
Predecess Duration Cost
Item Activity or (days) Resources $
Milestone 1 Milestone 2 Milestone 3
1 Team Selection
1.1 Draft notice prepared 3 Team members & others: x
WP WP WP WP WP WP WP WP WP 1.2 Final draft approved 1.1 1 Project sponsor -
1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 2.2 2.3 3.1 3.2 3.3 Notice prepared and
1.3 posted 1.2 2 Clarabelle xx

xxx

Activity Sequencing ■ Computer-driven.

• Create an activity list (brainstorming is a
good technique to use for this). • Using project management and
• Once the activity list has been created, scheduling software packages.
activities must be arranged in a logical
sequence. • These programs can help the project
• This process calls on the project team to manager and the project team determine
identify the logical relationships between which actions need to happen in what
activities—and the preferred relationship order—and with what level of discretion.
between those activities.

Manual process. Activity Attributes

• In smaller projects, and on larger • Each scheduled activity has attributes that
projects in the early phases, manual need to be documented.
sequencing may be preferred. • For example, the successor and predecessor
of each activity, the lead and lag information,
• An advantage of manual sequencing is and the person responsible for completing the
that it’s easier to move around activity should all be documented.
dependencies and activities than in • This information is important when it comes
some programs. to schedule development and project control.

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Milestone List Activity Sequencing:

• Milestones must be
considered and evaluated
when sequencing events to
Tools and Techniques
ensure all of the work
needed to complete the
milestones is included.

Precedence Diagramming Method

Schedule development (PDM) - Activity-On-Node (AON)
• The (PDM) is the most common method of
Goal arranging the project work visually.
Milestone 1 Milestone 2 Milestone 3
• The PDM puts the activities in boxes, called
WP WP WP WP WP WP WP WP WP nodes, and connects the boxes with arrows.
1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 2.2 2.3 3.1 3.2 3.3

• The arrows represent the relationship and the

1.1 1.2 1.3 dependencies of the work packages.
Start 3.3. Finish
2.1 2.2 2.3

3.1 3.2

PDM PDM example

•When completed the PMD is known as
a project network diagram. A
B
C D

•It’s also referred to as a PERT chart.

•Historically PERT (Program H

Finish

Evaluation and Review Technique) was

Start

a specific type of network diagram

E

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Four types of dependencies or

Dependency Determination precedence relationships:
• The progression of the project is built
on the sequence of activities.
• In most cases activities are
dependent on their predecessor • Finish to Start (FS)
activities completing before successor
activities may begin. • Finish to Finish (FF)
• Start to Start (SS)
• Start to Finish (SF)

Finish-to-Start (FS). Finish-to-Finish.

• This relationship means Task A must • This relationship means Task A must
complete before Task B can begin. complete before Task B does.
• For example, the foundation must be • Ideally, two tasks must finish at exactly
set before the framing can begin. The the same time, but this is not always
initiation of the successor activity the case.
depends upon the completion of the • The completion of the successor activity
predecessor activity. depends upon the completion of the
• This is the most common relationship. predecessor activity.

Start-to-Start. Start-to-Finish.
• This relationship means Task A must • It requires that Task A start so that
start before Task B can start. Task B may finish.
• This relationship allows both activities to • Such relationships may be encountered
happen in tandem. in construction and manufacturing. It is
• The initiation of the successor activity also known as just-in-time (JIT)
depends upon the initiation of the scheduling. The completion of the
predecessor activity. successor activity depends upon the
initiation of the predecessor activity.
• This relationship is unusual and is
rarely used.

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Applying Leads and Lags Lead

• Leads and lags are values added to • A lead allows an acceleration of the
activities to slightly alter the successor activity.
relationship between two or more • For example, a technical writing team can
activities. begin writing the second draft of a large
• The project management team document (the successor activity) fifteen
determines the dependencies that may days before they finish writing the entire
require a lead or a lag to accurately first draft (the predecessor activity).
define the logical relationship. • This could be accomplished by a finish-to-
• The use of leads and lags and their start relationship with a fifteen-day lead
related assumptions are documented. time.

Lag Activity Resource Estimating:

• Lag time is waiting time, adding time
between activities
• Example: a project to install wood
floors in an office building.
• A lag directs a delay in the successor
Tools and Techniques.
activity. For example, to account for
a ten-day curing period for concrete,
a ten-day lag on a finish-to-start
relationship could be used.

Expert Judgment Analogous Estimating

• Expert judgment is often required to
assess the resource-related inputs to this • -using
the actual duration of a previous,
process.
similar schedule activity as the basis for
• Any group or person with specialised
estimating the duration of a future
knowledge in resource planning and
estimating can provide such expertise. schedule activity.

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Parametric Estimating - Published Estimating Data

• Several companies routinely publish

• quantitatively determined by multiplying
updated production rates and unit
the quantity of work to be performed by the
costs of resources for an extensive
productivity rate.
array of labour trades, material, and
equipment for different countries
and geographical locations within
countries.

Bottom-up Estimating Three-Point Estimates

• When a schedule activity cannot be

estimated with a reasonable degree of • considering risk in the estimates. The three
confidence, the work within the points are pessimistic, most likely and optimistic.
schedule activity is decomposed into
more detail.
• The resource needs of each lower, more
detailed piece of work are estimated,
and these estimates are then Te = (tp + 4tm + to) /6
aggregated into a total quantity.

Determining a Critical Path China project Gantt Chart Page 1

B
A C D
8 5 2
4

Finish
H
Start

F 3
9
E

2
G

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Page 2 DAY
Mon 10th
TIME DURATION
12 hrs
ACTIVITY
Travel
TRANSPORT
Plane
REQUIRE?
Ticket/visa
CATEGORY

Tues 11th All day Rest & acclimatise Nil nil

Wed 12th All day Central academy of fine art Mini bus Contact to organise Art
meetings
Thurs 13th All day Central academy of fine art Mini Bus Pen & paper; camera Art
Fri 14th 9.00 All Day Great Wall & Ming Tombs Mini Bus Good shoes; water; Culture
camera
Sat 15th All day Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City Walk Good shoes; water; Culture
camera
Sun 16th Free Day (possible shopping day) Mini Bus / walk
Mon 17th All day Art Scene Beijing gallery 798 Dashanzi, Mini Bus Pen & Paper; Camera. contemporary
Beijing, China Organise meeting Chinese art
Tues 18th ½ day The Museum of Contemporary Art Mini Bus Pen & Paper; Camera. contemporary
½ day Activity? Write to arrange meeting Chinese art
& tour
Wed 19th All day Yangliuqing Art and Xiquing Maglev train. May Pen & Paper; Camera. Art and
Economic Dev Area need mini bus to Contact with a Xiquing Business
train technical college through students’
Kathleen (TAFE meeting
partnership)
Thus 20th Activity?
Fri 21st Culture tour? Culture
Sat 22nd Free day (possible shopping day) Mini Bus / walk Reserve travel
day
Sun 23rd 12 hrs Travel Plane ticket Preferred travel
day