Project Management Knowledge

Simply explained by a PMI-certified Project Manager

WBS Dictionary Creation Tips

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If you have already developed a detailed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), it might seem like a straightforward task to compile the information into a WBS dictionary. However, this step can actually be somewhat complex. That’s because in project management there is no single “right” way to create a WBS dictionary. It isn’t just a matter of taking your WBS and compiling a text version for other people to look at. The data has to be considered from both a big picture and a highly detailed perspective to ensure that stakeholders who view the document can fully understand the scope, activities, and requirements of the project.

Bear in mind that information which might be critical to include for one type of project might simply be extraneous and confusing in another. So, the first step in creating a dictionary from your WBS is to determine what to put in and what to leave out. Generally, the following standard information should be included in a separate entry for each WBS element:

  • An abbreviated version of the scope or SOW (statement of work)
  • A list of deliverables with well-defined milestones to measure progress
  • An outline of activities that will be carried out to complete each deliverable

Start with a Template

If you are stuck on how to structure your WBS dictionary, it’s a good idea to begin with a standard template. These are available from a variety of project management sources. However, if you want to look at a free version, try this one from the CDC. As you can see, it offers further suggestions for pertinent information to include for each WBS component including start and end dates, resource requirements, cost estimates, and so forth.

Prepare for Alterations

In project management, it is very rare to know everything about a project from the outset. This means the WBS and its accompanying dictionary will need to be revised/updated throughout the life cycle of the project. So, make sure to include a log that shows the version history of the dictionary and when/why any changes were made.

If you have the ability to upload the dictionary to a central location (such as your intranet resource library), that’s ideal. You should encourage stakeholders NOT to print out their own copy for reference because the WBS dictionary will be updated over time. Instead, they should always visit the online version to ensure that they are working with the most current information available.

Add an Appendix

Remember that the WBS dictionary is not designed to be a complete compendium of every single detail in the project. It should, however, contain a reference page that lets the reader know where to go to find the full version of each document mentioned. For example, let’s say a contract was signed with an outside vendor who will be supplying a service or product necessary to the project. The gist of the information in the contract (items or services being supplied, delivery date, and cost) should be included in the dictionary. However, all the pages of legal fine print don’t need to be. The location where the contract is stored can simply be noted in the WBS dictionary in case the reader needs to review that original document in full.

Project Time Management – Watch The Clock

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In the world of project management, it could be argued that no other resource is as valuable as time. This commodity, unlike money or materials, really is irreplaceable. Once a project falls behind schedule, it is extremely difficult to close the gap and get things back on track. One activity or event that is delayed affects the next like a line of falling dominoes. This means wise time administration must be a top priority. Here are several areas where accurate planning and management make a big difference.

Don’t Make Activity Sequencing Too Rigid

When you are creating a WBS, it can be tempting to construct a tidy timeline with one schedule activity flowing neatly into the next in chronological order. However, smart project management planning often means scheduling many activities concurrently even if they will be incorporated during different phases of the actual project. There is no reason to have Team B sitting around with nothing to do when they could be preparing for the role they will play when Team A is done with the first stage of a project.

Unless there is an actual dependency that prevents a schedule activity from a future project phase from being performed in advance, consider staying ahead of the curve by having work done on as many critical aspects of the project as possible simultaneously. This approach can buy you time if your project hits an unexpected snag later on.

Learn Project Duration Shortening Tricks

The old phrase “It takes as long as it takes” doesn’t always apply in project management. When you are estimating the time needed for each scheduled project activity, fully explore your options. Often, there are creative ways you can reduce the time resource required for one or more phases. Here are some questions to ask when planning time commitments:

  • Will adding more human resources to this activity shorten the project duration?
  • Will having employees work overtime get this done task faster or will quality be degraded due to fatigue?
  • Is there an individual on the team who needs to be reassigned because he/she tends to slow things down creating a bottleneck?
  • Would delaying the start of this activity until I have all the right resources in place actually lead to a quicker turnaround time?
  • Is there a tool or training option I can provide (within budget) that will reduce labor for this activity?

Shaving off a few days here or a week there creates a buffer that may help keep your project on schedule in the event of unavoidable delays.

Tips for Managing Your Ever-Changing Project Team

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One of the trickiest aspects of project management is that you can’t count on having the same team members every time. Depending on the nature of the project and the rate of turnover at your organization, you may have to integrate new members into your team with some frequency. At the Human Resource Planning stage, you should start strategizing ways to ensure everyone works together smoothly. Then, you will need to monitor and adjust your approach as you get to know your new employees better.

Review Feedback for Compatibility Clues

If your organization uses some form of 360 degree feedback, you have a wealth of information at your fingertips regarding the strengths and weaknesses of each prospective team member. Even if you can’t pick and choose which employees are assigned to your project, at least you can use this historical feedback to help you make decisions about which individuals should work together and what their roles should be.

For example, if you have one employee who is consistently praised for paying attention to detail, that person could be tasked with reporting on work status for his/her group. Another employee who has received multiple warnings for tardiness might not be ready to take on responsibility for meeting a critical deadline without additional supervision.

Make Newcomers Welcome

If only one or two people are being added to your team, they may feel like outsiders. Having well-defined processes in place is a good thing from an efficiency standpoint. However, it can make new employees who are unfamiliar with your methods uncomfortable. They may feel defensive about constructive criticism or unprepared to learn a whole different set of rules. Acknowledge this challenge and address it by:

  • Assigning a peer as a mentor to each new team member to help them with acculturation
  • Providing basic educational materials about how your project management process works
  • Taking time to explain core concepts in meetings instead of assuming everyone is up to speed already
  • Encouraging new members to ask clarifying questions either during or after each meeting if they don’t understand something

Address Conflicts Immediately

If a team member comes to you with a complaint about a coworker, take it seriously. Often, employees will wait until they are really fed up before they go to management to ask for help with resolving a conflict. When their concerns are dismissed instead of being addressed, they will transfer some of their anger and resentment at their coworker onto the manager who ignored their request for help. You don’t want to become the enemy. As a project management specialist, you should already have a decent set of communication skills. Put these to use in resolving conflict before it escalates.

Get to the bottom of what’s really bothering your direct report by using reflective listening and asking questions that focus on solutions. For example: “I hear you saying that you find it disruptive when Henry comes by your desk several times a day to ask you questions about his assignment because he tends to be kind of long winded. Would you like me to instruct him to communicate with you via email if he has a request or question?”

Project Management Etiquette – Why Manners Matter

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In project management, results are what really matter. However, this doesn’t mean you can afford to be completely focused on output and ignore the individual people who make it all possible. In fact, it’s the human component that will make or break a project faster than any other factor. Forgoing the social niceties may seem expedient when you have a lot on your plate; but ignoring the emotional response others have when they interact with you is sure to backfire. It doesn’t matter if everyone thinks you are a dedicated manager who “gets things done no matter what” if people hate working with you. Sometimes, a lack of cooperation and motivation can have the same negative result as outright sabotage.

Here are several areas where practicing good business etiquette can have a real impact on your ability to get things done:

Give Orders…Nicely

Every interaction with your subordinates provides an opportunity for you to practice excellent etiquette. When you are assigning tasks, giving instructions, offering guidance, or providing constructive feedback, couch your communication in positive reinforcement. For example “Jared, I know you like to stay on top of your team’s deliverables so you’ve got a good handle on what’s been done so far and the work that’s still pending. Would you take a look at the current work package and send in your status report by 3 PM today? Thanks.”

Take Turns in Meetings

Even when you are “chairing” a project management meeting, you shouldn’t monopolize the conversation. If you are the only person who is allowed to talk, there’s no reason to have a meeting at all – you could just send a memo. Establish ground rules such as going around the table to ensure everyone has a turn to speak and no one is interrupted. Then, make sure you observe the rules just like everyone else to demonstrate that each person deserves to be respectfully heard. Above all, keep your meetings brief and don’t talk just to listen to the sound of your own voice.

Keep Email Short and Sweet

Email is a form of communication that is intended to save everyone time. If it will take longer for the recipient to read and answer your email than it would for you to simply put in a quick phone call, use the phone instead. Always start your emails with a short salutation (the appropriate level of formality will depend on your relationship to the recipient), then cut to the chase. Close with an acknowledgement that you appreciate the recipient taking the time to read and respond to your email. Keep any personal remarks about others out of your business emails. Any necessary discussion of the shortcomings of a team member should be done in a private, face to face meeting if possible. This will help ensure your words don’t come back to haunt you later.

Conclusion

If your parents ever told you it’s politeness that makes the world go around, they were right. Good manners have a very high ROI in project management because they cost virtually nothing to implement and have a long lasting impact on your relationship with project stakeholders. Being consistently pleasant and professional even when you are feeling rushed or frustrated isn’t about being inauthentic. It’s simply about treating others with the same respect and consideration you appreciate having shown to you. We all have to deal with unpleasant people and situations from day to day. You want to be remembered as someone who makes life easier – not more difficult.

Can Decomposition Be Taken Too Far?

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Creating a detailed work breakdown structure (WBS) is a critical process in project management. When you have defined each deliverable, you need to determine how, when, and by whom the necessary work will be executed. Up to a point, hierarchical decomposition can be a very useful approach. It allows you to “eat the elephant one bite at a time” so to speak. It also provides the basis for prioritizing, sequencing, and tracking deliverables. In the PMBOK chapter of “Project Scope Management”, you can find sample diagrams showing such a structure at different branch levels:

  • The project
  • Various phases
  • Subprojects
  • Work packages

Technically, there is nothing to prevent you from further decomposing your project into sub work packages and sub-sub work packages and so forth ad infinitum. However, even with very complex projects there comes a point where this practice has diminishing returns.

WBS Considerations

The primary question to ask when you are subdividing a project into work packages is “Am I creating more work?” If the administrative time involved in defining, creating, assigning, and tracking a work package is greater than the actual time required to complete the tasks in the work package, the answer is obviously “Yes”. Project management should be about making your job simpler – not more complicated.

As an example of excessive decomposition, let’s say you need 100 widgets assembled for your project. You wouldn’t want your WBS diagram to show each widget as a separate work package that had to be reported on individually. That would require an enormous amount of administrative labor for you and for your team members. At the other end of the scale, you might not want to have a single work project for the whole widget construction deliverable because you have different departments involved. In this situation, it would make more sense to have the sourcing of the widget components listed as Phase 1, the widget assembly as Phase 2, and the widget Quality Assurance inspection as Phase 3.

Too Much Decomposition is Bad for Employees

Basically, you don’t want to turn project management into micro-management. This decreases efficiency and negatively impacts team morale. The individuals actually responsible for completing the deliverables or schedule activities shouldn’t feel that they are being treated as if they don’t know how to do their jobs. This is one reason you may want to have them involved in creating the WBS – especially since they may have additional insight into the most logical way to group various tasks.