Project Management

Part 1

Create a WBS for a project of interest, such as building a house or planning a wedding. You do not have to select one of those two. In fact I encourage you to be creative. Describe the level of detail that should be included and the format of the WBS. Make sure you describe the project and answer specific questions related to the scope and include work that must be done in the WBS.

There's very little that a Project Manager (PM) can do before the start of a project without first defining the project scope. Executing the Scope Management phase of the project will allow the PM to create and maintain the Scope Statement that outlines the deliverables the PM needs to produce by the end of the project. This phase also helps the project manager by ensuring and communicating that only the work that is defined in the Scope Statement is actually executed.

Step 1: Planning

Most organizations that have any type of Project Management have their Organization Process Assess (OPA) available to the PMs in the company. This, along with your Project Charter and a Preliminary Project Scope Statement, are going to help the PM go a long way to getting this part off the ground. When this step is finished, The PM will have created the Scope Management Plan. The Scope Management Plan defines how the PM will document, refine, verify and control the project scope.

Step 2: Definition

The next step is the scope definition. The PM should be spending time with all the relevant participants of the project and doing in-depth interviews to define the project requirements. The scope will be defined by understanding the needs and expectations of the project stakeholders and then prioritizing those results accordingly. This is also a good time to discuss some of the alternatives, in case they need to be captured for documentation. After the completion of the scope definition, the PM should be able to finalize the project scope statement, which will be helpful later on when making future project decisions and maintaining a common understanding of the project goals.

Step 3: Creating the WBS

A well-formed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) should be focused on project deliverables rather than the associated tasks. By not treating the WBS as a checklist of all the things that need to completed (that's what your project plan will help you with), you can focus on its original intent, which is to help you organize and define the overall project scope. At its lowest level in the hierarchy, the WBS should be built of work packages that will allow you to accurately estimate your project costs while also enabling you to create a project schedule.

Step 4: Verification

Scope Verification is where you achieve formal acceptance of your project