Work Breakdown Structures: The Foundation for Project Management Excellence

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) has emerged as a foundational concept and tool in Project Management. It is an enabler that ensures clear definition and communication of project scope while performing a critical role as a monitoring and controlling tool. Created by the three experts who led the development of PMI's Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures, Second Edition, this much-needed text expands on what the standard covers and describes how to go about successfully implementing the WBS within the project life cycle, from initiation and planning through project closeout.

Filling the gap in the literature on the WBS, Work Breakdown Structures: The Foundation for Project Management Excellence gives the reader an understanding of:

• The background and key concepts of the WBS
• WBS core characteristics, decomposition, representations, and tools
• Project initiation and the WBS, including contracts, agreements, and Statements of Work (SOW)
• Deliverable-based and activity-based management
• Using the WBS as a basis for procurement and financial planning
• Quality, risk, resource, and communication planning with the WBS
• The WBS in the executing, monitoring, and controlling phases
• New concepts regarding the representation of project and program scope
• Verifying project closeout with the WBS

Using a real-life project as an example throughout the book, the authors show how the WBS first serves to document and collect information during the initiating and planning phases of a project. Then, during the executing phase, the authors demonstrate how the WBS transitions to an active role of project decision-support, serving as a reference and a source for control and measurement.

Eric S. Norman, PMP, PgMP, is a strategic project and program management consultant. Shelly A. Brotherton, PMP, is a senior project and program management leader. Robert T. Fried, PMP, is a director responsible for project and program management with a globally recognized enterprise management software company.