Week- 4

WBS
CS3009-Software Engineering-spring’25
Course Instructor: Mahrukh Khan
Project Management
Why is it needed?
Why is it needed?

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 WBS
• Most modern day projects are designed, organized and built by teams of specialized
professionals.
• ➢To organize this process efficiently it is necessary to breakdown the project into specific parts
that can be coordinated and controlled. Dividing complex projects to simpler and manageable
tasks is the process identified as Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
• ➢The purpose of WBS is to identify terminal elements (the actual items to be done in a
project);
• Work Package: A group of related tasks that are defined at the same level within a work
breakdown structure.
WBS
 When should we develop WBS?

Once the project Scope is agreed (finalized) then before starting

the project we need to plan various components (activities) of
software development project.
 WBS
WB
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 Role of WBS
The WBS is the single most important element because it provides a common
framework from which:
1. The total program can be described as a summation of subdivided elements.
2. Costs and budgets can be established.
3. Time, cost and performance can be tracked.
4. Objectives can be linked to a company resources in a logical manner.
5. The responsibility assignment for each element can be established.
6. Network construction and control planning can be initiated.
Criteria for WBS
• The WBS and work description should be easy to understand.
• All schedules should follow the WBS.
• No attempt should be made to subdivide work arbitrarily to the lower
possible level.
• Since scope of effort can change during a program, every effort
should be made to maintain flexibility in the WBS.
• The WBS can act as tangible milestones.
 Goals For WBS
• Giving visibility to important work efforts.
• Giving visibility to risky work efforts.
• Illustrate the correlation between the activities and deliverables.
• Show clear ownership by task leaders.
• Breaking down a project into tasks allows effective delegation
• Individual tasks allow people to focus
• Without a WBS, things will be forgotten, started late, or allocated to
several people.
 WBS helps manager
•Facilitates evaluation of cost, time, and technical performance of the
organization on a project.
•Provides management with information appropriate to each organizational
level.
•Helps organization to project responsibilities to organizational units and
individuals
•Helps manager plan, schedule, and budget.
•Defines communication channels and assists in coordinating the various
project elements.
 Levels in WBS

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 Levels in WBS
• Starts with level 0 i.e. project title

• Then make level 1, highest level breakdown of about 4-7 nodes

depending on your project. Termed as control accounts

• Then make level 2 are work packages.

• Level 3 are the tasks/activities to be performed

• Follow the standard numbering scheme

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 A Full WBS Structure

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Example Template
 Steps to build a WBS
• Begin with the Charter, focusing on Objectives and Deliverables
• Break the main product(s) down into sub-products
• Set the structure to match how you’ll manage the project
• Lowest level not too detailed, not too large
• Is there a need for Integration?
• Identify support activities
• Check for completeness - is all the effort included?
• Develop a coding structure if needed
• Assign work package managers
WBS Guidelines
WBS Guidelines
WBS Formats
• Outline (Indented Format)
• Graphical Tree (Organizational Chart)
 Displaying the WBS
Example of outlined WBS.

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 Displaying the WBS
Example of outlined WBS.

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 Displaying the WBS
Example of Chart WBS.

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The Dictionary of the WBS
• A WBS dictionary is a companion document to the WBS that
describes each WBS element. For each WBS element, the WBS
WB

dictionary includes a statement of work, a list of associated

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activities, and a list of milestones.

• Other information can include:
• the responsible organisation,
• start and end dates,
• resources required.

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WBS Template

Component groups with a ‘+’ in

front of them are ‘rolled up’ –
subcomponents are hiden to reduce
clutter

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Example Template
 Example WBS
• Redecorate Room
• Prepare materials
• Buy paint
• Buy a ladder
• Buy brushes/rollers
WB

• Buy wallpaper remover

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• Prepare room
• Remove old wallpaper
• Remove detachable decorations
• Cover floor with old newspapers
• Cover electrical outlets/switches with tape
• Cover furniture with sheets
• Paint the room
• Clean up the room
• Dispose or store left over paint
• Clean brushes/rollers
• Dispose of old newspapers
• Remove covers
 WBS Check List
• Does it define 100% of the work that will be produced by the project?
• Does it use a coding structure so that each element has a unique ID that shows its
place in the hierarchy e.g. 1.1, 1.2, 1.1.1, 1.1.2?
• Will project stakeholders be able to understand the project scope from the WBS?
• Does each level represent 100% of the work required to deliver the parent level?
• Is the decomposition sufficient that the tasks required to deliver each work
package can easily be identified?
• Is it in the format that gives a clear graphical, textual or tabular breakdown of the
project scope?
 Pitfalls
There are common pitfalls to creating a WBS. If you can
keep these few possible, you and your team will be much
more successful at creating a useful and accurate Work
Breakdown Structure.
• Level of Work Package Detail
• Deliverables Not Activities or Tasks
• WBS is not a Plan or Schedule
• WBS Updates Require Change Control
• WBS is not an Organizational Hierarchy
 Ease Travel App : Case Study
After much deliberation and watching people wait silently and suffer, the company was founded in 2021 to
provide a solution whereby one could track designated rides while they were on the way and avoid the physical
and mental discomfort of waiting on the road for the ride to arrive. EaseTravel app is a trip tracking service for
daily commuters and essentially to be used for people using hired transport services for daily intra-city traveling.
This application has two main users: the driver and the daily commuter. After analysis some findings conclude
that most of the Vehicle drivers are novice users and reluctant to embrace any technology so, the developing
company must create user-interface accordingly. Onboard screen has all the basic features needed to fulfill the
objectives of user. Such as, log-in, forget password; setting new-password after verification user will get into the
application to make vehicle selection, this option only appears one-time for drivers who have multiple vehicles
assigned to them. They can change the vehicle anytime; the home screen displays the vehicle selected. To be
clicked when you need to change the vehicle, starting a journey, The APP automatically marks Arrived when the
driver reaches a stop. Attendance automatically opens with all travelers marked present, only need to mark
absentee, pop-up: ride complete, making calls Occasional - When needed. Same goes for the daily commuter
until login, afterwards the home screen displays the passenger selected. To be clicked when need to change the
passenger. (In case of multiple passengers associated with an account), tracking services will be available to
ensure the safety. On reaching the destination the screen will pop with a successful ride! Message. There are
some complementary features like: previous ride history and delay and cancellation of ride, passenger no-show
notification as well.

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 Ease Travel App : Case Study

Ease Travel
App

Commuters Drivers

Pop up msg on
Onboard Passenger Change Tracking Delay and ride Onboard Make vehicle Change Delay & ride
ride Ride history Home screen Attendance Ride history
Screen selected passenger service cancellation Screen selection vehicle cancellation
completion

Login Home Screen login

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