The Work Breakdown Structure is a deliverable-oriented
hierarchical decomposition of the work to be performed by the project team to
create deliverables.
The WBS subdivides the project work into smaller, more
manageable pieces of work. Each lower level of the WBS represents further
detailed breakup of the project work. Each lower level of the WBS represents
further detailed break-up of the project work. The Lowest level WBS nodes are
called work packages, which can be scheduled, estimated, monitored, and
controlled by an individual or a team.
A Work Breakdown structure is a result-oriented family tree
that captures all the work of a project in an organized way. It is often
portrayed graphically as a hierarchical tree; however, it can be a tabular list
“element" categories and task or the indented task list that appears in
your Gantt chart schedule.
The WBS is commonly used at the beginning of a project for
defining project scope, organizing Gantt schedules and estimating costs. It
lives on, throughout the project schedule and often is the main path for
reporting project costs. On larger projects, the WBS may be used throughout the
project to identify and track work packages, to organize data for Earned Value
Management (EVM) reporting and for tracking deliverables.