Building a Project Work Breakdown Structure: Visualizing Objectives, Deliverables, Activities, and Schedules

Most people do not truly understand a concept until they can visualize it. This applies to all fields, including Project Management. The best way to effectively manage projects is to help your team visualize the end result as well as the steps needed to achieve that result.

Help Your Team Visualize the Right Path to Success

Building a Project Work Breakdown Structure: Visualizing Objectives, Deliverables, Activities, and Schedules employs a diagram approach to project planning and scheduling. This useful tool empowers business professionals to take control of and successfully communicate their projects, ensuring they are completed on time with their targeted impact.

Industry professional Dennis P. Miller, a consultant to leading Fortune 500 companies, thoroughly explains the keys to an effective Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) through an Eight Step Process. He has refined this process over a period of twenty years, applying it to over 100 projects ranging from software development to social events. The Eight Step Process starts with a concentrated effort to define the project through its deliverables. The middle steps walk the project team through a process of activity definition and sequencing and resource assignment. Finally, the last steps involve estimating the duration and verifying the project timeline.

Not Just What to Do, But How to Do It

This is a hands-on volume that includes a practice section for each of the eight steps, providing readers with real examples of how the author has successfully applied this process. The result of its application is a visualization of the project's objectives, deliverables, activities, and schedules. Over 130 illustrations enrich the instructions. Project managers are assured of success by following the simple tools in this unique and comprehensive volume.

Consultant Miller states that the best way to effectively manage a project is to visualize the end result as well as the steps needed to achieve that result. He offers an eight-step process which starts with a concentrated effort to define the project through its deliverables. He then walks the project team fear a process of activity definition and sequencing, as well as resource assignment, then estimates the duration and verifies the project timeline. This supports manual calculation of the critical path, scripts for leading project planning sessions, post-planning instructions for visual scheduling, and background information. The result is remarkably accessible, and would serve well in the classroom as well as for self-study. With over 130 illustrations, this could also serve as a basis for in-service training and for development of project planning software. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Unlike other books in this area, this resource not only shows readers what they can do, but shows them how to do it. An organizing, visual communication, team-building, commitment-gaining, and project planning tool, the work breakdown structure (WBS) helps project managers communicate with their teams, clients, and management. This book provides an eight step process that facilitates the development of the WBS. The process defines the project through its deliverables and validates the initial target date by critical path analysis. The result is a clear visualization of the project's objectives, deliverables, activities, and schedule.