THE PROJECT PROBLEM AND SOLUTION

Starting a new project is like starting to write a book—you have an idea of what you want to do but are not sure how to start. Many writers, like many project planners and managers, find that outlining is frequently the most effective way to start writing.

An outline is both a method for organizing material as well as a plan for the book itself. But when you start outlining a book, especially a book based on research, you realize there are many ways to do it. In general, you need to plan your research or data gathering; decide what goes in each chapter, including appendices; and take into account drafting chapters, getting reviews, and the other steps involved in reviewing proofs and publishing the document. A sample outline for a book is included in the form of a WBS in Chapter 10.

A frequently used analogy for any large project is the old question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer is, “One bite at a time.” So the first step in preparing an outline or planning a project is to start defining and categorizing the “bites” (activities). The bites are important because they are where the useful work is accomplished. For a project, brainstorming can help define the bites from the bottom up, or a process of decomposition can be used, starting from the top, that subdivides the elephant into major sections working downward, as shown in Figure 1-2. In either approach, the objective is to develop a structure of the work that needs to be done for your project. This structure is the topic of this book.

FIGURE 1-2 Elephant Breakdown Structure—Top Level

The parts of the elephant can clearly be broken down (or subdivided) further. For example, the head is made up of a face, ears, tusks, and trunk; the four legs could be individually identified; other body parts could also be identified, as could the tail and tuft. A WBS for a project follows the concept just shown. The WBS is an outline of the work; it is not the work itself. The work itself is the sum of the many activities that make up the project.

A WBS may be started either as an informal list of activities or in a very structured way, depending on the project and the constraints, and can end wherever the planner wants it to end. The goal is to have a useful framework that helps define and organize the work.

In developing an outline for a book, some things happen almost automatically, growing out of the discipline of the process. The first is that you limit the contents of the book. Preparing an outline forces you to define the topics, sections, chapters, and parts of the book. The same thing happens when you develop a WBS of the project. You consider assumptions and constraints often without focusing on them directly.

When you complete the outline of a book, you have also defined the scope of the book, especially when the outline is annotated. The same thing happens in a project. An annotated WBS becomes an initial scope description. This is logical and elementary: If the outline (WBS) addresses all the work, then all the items described in the outline delineate all the work or the scope of the project.

Developing the WBS is a four-step process:

Step 1. Specify the project objectives, focusing on the products, services, or results that are to be provided to the customer.

Step 2. Identify specifically the products, services, or results (deliverables or end items) to be provided to the customer to meet the project objectives.

Step 3. Identify other work that needs to be performed in the project, to make sure that 100 percent of the work is covered; identify work that (a) either cuts across deliverables or is common to the deliverables (cross-cutting elements), (b) represents intermediate outputs, or (c) complements the deliverables.

Step 4. Subdivide each of the work elements identified in the previous steps into successive logical subcategories until the complexity and dollar value of the elements become manageable units (work packages) for planning and control purposes.

A typical WBS is shown in Figure 1-3.

FIGURE 1-3 Typical WBS: Elephant Gourmet Project

In the early phases of a project, it may be feasible to develop only a two-to three-level WBS because the details of the work may not yet be defined. However, as the project progresses into the project definition phase or planning phase, the planning becomes more detailed. The subdivisions of the WBS can be developed to successively lower levels at that time.

The final subcategories or work packages created in step 4 are the bites that we are going to use to “eat the elephant one bite at a time”—that is, to perform the project work. The product of this subcategorization process is the completed WBS. This book provides more complete explanations of steps 2, 3, and 4 in later sections.

The following example demonstrates how to begin developing a WBS using the four-step process in a project to build a garage for a new car:

Step 1. Specify the project objectives: Build a one-car garage with landscaping on the existing lot; the garage should have internal and external lighting and plumbing.

Step 2. Identify specifically the products, services, or results (deliverables or end items): The garage and the landscaped grounds.

Step 3. Identify other work areas to make sure that 100 percent of the work is identified: A project management function is needed to do such things as construction planning, get permits, and award subcontracts.

The WBS so far would look like that shown in Figure 1-4.

FIGURE 1-4 Top-Level Garage WBS

Level 1 is the total project, and Level 2 is the subdivision into the final products (a garage and landscaped grounds) plus “cross-cutting” work elements (work elements whose products apply to several work elements) needed for the project, such as the project management function. The total scope, 100 percent of the project, is represented by the sum of the work in the three Level 2 elements.

Step 4. Subdivide the elements until a level is achieved that is suitable for planning and control. The subdivision of each Level 2 element shown in Figure 1-4 is shown in Level 3 of Figure 1-5.

FIGURE 1-5 Garage WBS to Level 3

A further breakdown of some of the Level 3 elements could be performed. The complete WBS to the work package level (which is adequate for planning and control) is shown in Figure 1-6. The work package level is defined as the lowest level of each branch of the WBS; therefore, a work package may be at the overall Level 3 or 4 depending on the decomposition of the specific branch. The next level below the work packages is where the activities or tasks are performed.

In Figure 1-6, the WBS is presented in outline format rather than the space-consuming graphic format usually used. Either format is acceptable; this author prefers the graphic format, but the outline format is used when entering WBS data into project management software packages or to save space in documents.

FIGURE 1-6 Complete Garage Project WBS

The individual tasks or activities are located at the first level below the work packages and are not normally considered a part of the WBS. In fact, as discussed later, one of the primary purposes of the WBS is to provide a framework that helps you to define the activities of the project. When the WBS is complete, it covers the total scope of the project.

This mention of scope brings up a very important project management principle: Work not included in the WBS is outside the scope of the project. For example, in Figure 1-6, there is no heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system shown; therefore, an HVAC is not part of the project.

After the WBS is established, it must be maintained and updated to reflect changes in the project. The configuration and content of the WBS and the level of detail of the work packages vary from project to project depending upon several considerations, including the following:

Size and complexity of the project

Culture of the enterprise

Structure of the organizations involved

Phase of the project

Natural physical structure of the deliverable items

Project manager’s judgment of work allocations to subcontractors

Degree of uncertainty and risk involved

Time available for planning

The WBS is an excellent tool to use for communicating the scope of a project in an understandable form to the project team and other stakeholders. At the end of the planning phase, the plans and schedules are frozen or “baselined” and become the basis for executing the work of the project in stages. At the same time, the WBS is baselined and becomes one of the key mechanisms for change management. Proposed work that is not in the WBS needs to be added to the project and to the WBS through formal change control processes.

Figures 1-7 and 1-8 show additional sample WBSs that focus on the output products or deliverables of the project.

Figure 1-7 is a sample WBS for a civilian aircraft project in which a passenger aircraft is to be converted into a freighter. The output products are a certified airworthy converted aircraft, technical manuals, and a list of spare part requirements.

FIGURE 1-7 Sample WBS for an Aircraft Conversion Project

This WBS contains a cross-cutting work element labeled “System Engineering” that encompasses the work necessary to define the conversion. It is called cross-cutting because the work performed applies to all or most of the other WBS elements at the same WBS level; therefore, it cuts across other WBS elements. The WBS element “System Engineering” is present in all WBSs. “Project Management” is also a common cross-cutting WBS element.

Figure 1-8 presents a WBS for a software development project. The primary deliverable is the software itself, and secondary deliverables are the training materials and the user documents. The software system also has a cross-cutting work element labeled “System Analysis” that represents work such as project definition, workflow analyses, and structured analyses.

FIGURE 1-8 Sample WBS for a Software Project

The WBS can be used, in whole or in part, to make assignments, issue budgets, authorize work, provide the basis for other data organization schemes, and explain the scope and nature of a project. Projecting the WBS on a screen at a meeting greatly facilitates explanation of many aspects of the project and helps people who are newly assigned to the project to understand the major work elements.

Responsibilities are assigned at the lowest WBS level, such as “coding” and “test” in Figure 1-8. The WBS serves as a common focal point for presenting the totality of a project. Note that the WBS is not an organization chart, even though its hierarchical structure is similar to that of an organization chart.