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#Wbs project management template software#

Depending on the size and complexity of your project, you can have as many subtasks as required.

Use the bullet point characters to create an indented list of tasks and subtasks below the project name, with each task in its own row in the table.

Enter the overall project name in the first row and in the description column, provide a brief description of the project.

Create a table with two columns: one for the task name and one for the task description.

Type in the title of your work breakdown structure and center it at the top of the page.

Launch Microsoft Word and open a blank document.

Be very diligent about filling in the numbers, so that your WBS goes beyond being simply a smart task list.Ĭontinue reading here: Entry and Exit Criteria If you get lazy and don't key in actual dates, costs, and durations at the conclusion of each task, you'll be shocked at how fast your work can pile up on you. Tip Tracking the tasks, activities, and phases in the WBS is the responsibility of the PM.

#Wbs project management template software#

However, the inexpensive price of the software coupled with its functionality makes it a must-have for those who are actively engaged in IT projects. You can keep your WBS in a word processor, spreadsheet, database product, or even on paper. You can also keep notes, set milestones, and even key in multiple predecessors for one task within this software.Įo you need Microsoft Project to generate your WBS? Absolutely not. One nice feature of Project is that it automatically generates a Gantt chart by which you can visually track your project. Smaller IT projects may not need to take advantage these advanced features, but it's nice to know they're there. In Microsoft Project, you can keep both the estimated and actual costs so you can generate variances. Your WBS will also include the task durations and the folks working on the tasks, in addition to the cost estimates. It's hard, if not impossible, to create a WBS in which you linearly go down through the tasks, activities, and phases. You should also have a good grasp of the predecessors and successors each segment might require-noting that some that fall later in a project may have predecessors way back at the beginning. When you create a WBS, you need to have already logically thought out your tasks, activities, and phases and have them in the order that they need to occur. This might be something you would implement in a large, complex project where you need to be able to quickly find a given task-where the row number alone won't be helpful to you. Looking at the figure, you should also note that you can apply a hierarchical numbering system to your project's activities. ^^ -'FT- ~ ^ 177"^ :■■!»- i-i i ■■ " Figure 8.2: A sample WBS, as entered in Microsoft Project Completing a project template such as this formulates your WBS. Note that you can record the people who'll be involved in each of the elements and can also mark dependencies simply by pointing to the row number of the task that must be completed prior to the task you're currently on. You can pull all of this off in a word processor, but it involves much more work.įigure 8.2 shows a Microsoft Project 2002 project screen where I've entered some phases, activities, and tasks associated with a deliverable.

Such software keeps a listing of the people who work on the various phases of the project and tracks milestones as you achieve them. Using PM software will make your job easier, because when you denote dependencies between tasks, the dependencies are shown graphically and project dates are automatically adjusted to reflect them. But a typical WBS is built in a spreadsheet, word processor, or project management software.

A WBS consists of a description of the task, the people working on the task, the amount of time you expect it to take (based upon estimates derived from the people who will work on the task), and the materials involved.įormat doesn't define a WBS. Once you' ve decomposed the project ' s deliverables and have arrived at what you deem to be the components that will result in each, you' re ready to create your work breakdown structure.