If you’re working alone, you can empty your brain into Project, or you can just as easily transcribe the results of collaborative WBS sessions. The fastest way to create a WBS is to construct it directly in Project, and this chapter shows you several ways to do just that. The rest of the chapter helps you get your WBS into Microsoft Project so you can move on to constructing a project schedule as described in Chapter 6. Equally important, you’ll learn how to tell when the WBS is broken down enough. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to create a WBS that successfully communicates the work within a project. The hordes of tiny capillaries that deliver blood to every part of your body correspond to the individual tasks (called work packages) at the bottom of the WBS, which are the smallest chunks of work that you assign to people to complete the project. The structure of a WBS is much like the system of blood vessels in your body, with the aorta representing the entire project and the smaller blood vessels as progressively smaller chunks of the overall work at each level ( summary tasks). The movie example in the previous paragraph is actually a simple WBS. If you’re new to managing projects, don’t panic-you’ve built a WBS before. Carving up the project’s work into a hierarchy of progressively smaller chunks until you get to bite-sized pieces is the first step toward figuring out how and when everything will get done. That’s where a WBS ( work breakdown structure) comes in. In cases like these, cost, delivery dates, and other objectives are important. And that new product may make a profit only if you keep costs below $100,000 and get it on store shelves before Thanksgiving. For example, missing the April 15 tax deadline can cost you hundreds of dollars in penalties. But for more complex projects-like doing your taxes or launching a new product line-identifying the work involved is key to planning how and when to get it done. You just call your friends, pick a movie, get tickets, and buy popcorn without a formal plan. When you organize a simple activity like seeing a movie with friends, you probably don’t bother writing out the steps.
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