A WBS in Primavera P6 is the cornerstone in the planning of a multi-step project as it defines the project scope. It is a hierarchical tree structure that outlines the project and breaks it down into smaller, more manageable portions, visually detailing the deliverables within a project.
A WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) is built by breaking a large project into manageable deliverables so that work can be understood and performed by the project team. Each descending level of the hierarchical tree (WBS) represents an increased detailed description of the project deliverables, with the lower levels known as work packages.
Within the hierarchical tree are key milestones and steps that are aimed at simplifying large projects which helps to increase team productivity and the overall easier management of the project. The key to constructing a WBS is knowing when to stop. WBS elements should always describe the deliverables, whereas activities describe the work required to build the deliverable. When you construct the lowest level of a WBS you should ask yourself does this level add any value to the management team as a summary item? If it doesn’t then maybe the elements are activities and should be expressed as such!
The overall goal of a WBS is to simplify the project. The milestones are used as points throughout to measure the direction the project is taking as well as acting as a control mechanism. A WBS will help increase productivity, control, and monitoring as well as appeasing stakeholders as there is a clear summary of the project.
Primavera P6 schedulers can easily construct Work Breakdown Structures (WBS). We recently published an article on how to develop a Work Breakdown Structure in Primavera P6 and you can read that here.
Several folks have reached out to us wanting to know some more about developing a WBS for a project in Primavera P6, so we’ve produced a short video. You can get a feel of the capabilities of Primavera P6 and how to create and manage your WBS.
You can also see other Oracle Primavera P6 videos by Ten Six here as well as subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications of when we post a new video.
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