Define The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Team Project Part 2: Define the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

In Part 2 of your Project, you will develop a work breakdown structure (WBS) that must be accomplished in order to complete the Casino Medical Center project. Use the Team Project Scenario document in this week’s Learning Resources to help define your deliverables. (SEE ATTACHED FILE FOR TEAM PROJECT SCENARIO)

Begin by deciding, with your team, the approach to developing a work breakdown structure you wish to use (WE WILL USE THE TABULAR BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE). This approach will guide your process and the final design of the WBS. Your team will identify project deliverables that need to be accomplished to achieve the project’s goals. For each deliverable, relevant subtasks or activities must be identified (the work that needs to be done). Using these activities, you create a WBS. This WBS will be the basis for creating a project plan and schedule in Microsoft Project.

You and your team are not expected to know all of the deliverables and sub-activities that need to occur, but you should be able to use your combined experience, knowledge, and research to identify many of the necessary deliverables and supporting activities. Be sure to utilize course resources, as these resources should provide information on what to include in this part of the Team Project.

As you and your team address the discussion question below, you will be able to write and submit

a 2- to 3-page team paper that summarizes the group’s work and that includes WBS diagrams of at least five high-level deliverables.

Deliverables to consider in defining the activities and tasks for the hypothetical project are included here. Your team will identify the unique deliverables for your project. Use specific names for the deliverables that reflect the project’s purpose.

Project Deliverables

1. Selection: Request for information & Request for Proposal
2. Installation: Hardware & Application
3. Configuration:  Screens, Interfaces, & Reports
4. Tested system: Test Scenarios, Integration test, & Customer acceptance test
5. New workflow:  Policies & Procedures

and a Work Breakdown Structure diagram (Tabular Model)

To prepare:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources on work breakdown structures.
• Thoroughly examine the Team Project Overview document in this week’s Learning Resources to familiarize yourself with the requirements of this Assignment.
• Engage in discussion with your team members on how you will collaborate, distribute work, and submit the Assignment.

  To complete Part 2 of your Team Project:

• Collaborate on a 2 to 3-page paper that summarizes the group’s work and includes a WBS diagram of at least five high-level deliverables and a list of relevant tasks and subtasks. Based on the Team Project Scenario (SEE ATTACHED FILE 

Project Deliverables

1. Selection: Request for information & Request for Proposal
2. Installation: Hardware & Application
3. Configuration:  Screens, Interfaces, & Reports
4. Tested system: Test Scenarios, Integration test, & Customer acceptance test
5. New workflow:  Policies & Procedures

and

Work Breakdown Structure diagram (Tabular Model)

Required Readings

Biafore, B. (2010). Microsoft Project 2010: The missing manual. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.

• Chapter 4, “Breaking Work Into Task-Sized Chunks” (pp. 77–100)

  This chapter explains how to create a work breakdown structure and how to import a work breakdown structure into Microsoft Project.

   

  Coplan, S., & Masuda, D. (2011). Project management for healthcare information technology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

• Chapter 3, “Project Management”
  • “Prepare Work Breakdown Structure and WBS Dictionary” (pp. 53–56)

     

    This section of Chapter 3 reviews the core processes of preparing a work breakdown structure (WBS). The chapter provides an example of a WBS and details its essential components.

     

    Project Management Institute. (2013). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (5th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Author.

• Chapter 5, “Project Scope Management”
  • 5.3, “Create WBS” (pp. 125–132)

    This section of Chapter 5 reviews the process of creating a work breakdown structure. Specifically, the chapter examines how to determine inputs, WBS tools and techniques, and outputs.

     

    Kendrick, T. (2009). Identifying & managing project risk: Essential tools for failure-proofing your project(2nd ed., Ebrary version). New York, NY: AMACOM.

    Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

• Chapter 3, “Identifying Project Scope Risk” (pp. 40–69)

  This chapter examines methods of identifying scope risks and the types of scope risks pertaining to project deliverables. The chapter highlights a variety of sources of scope risk as well.

   

  Shirey, M. R. (2008). Project management tools for leaders and entrepreneurs. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 22(3), 129–131.

  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

   

  The author of this article introduces project management tools that clinical nurse specialists may use to coordinate team work. The article highlights the usage of one such tool, the Gantt chart.

   

  Thomas, M., Jacques, P. H., Adams, J. R., & Kihneman-Wooten, J. (2008). Developing an effective project: Planning and team building combined. Project Management Journal, 39(4), 105–113.

  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

  This article analyzes project planning and control and the process of developing a project plan. The article also reports the results of research that sought to determine 137 organizations’ approaches to establishing projects.

   

  U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2009, March 2). Work breakdown structure. GAO Reports, 65–78. 

  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

  This article examines the importance of a work breakdown structure (WBS) in project management. The chapter demonstrates how a WBS assists in resource identification, cost estimation, and risk determination.

   

  Wu, Z., Schmidt, L. P., & Wigstrom, M. S. (2010). Product development workflow management based on work breakdown structure. IIE Annual Conference. Proceedings, 1–5.

  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

  The authors of this article highlight the usage of WBS in managing complex product development projects. The authors examine how a WBS helps represent and manage the intricacies of tasks and activity relationships.

   

  Mathis, M. (n.d.). Work breakdown structure: Purpose, process and pitfalls. Retrieved March 13, 2013, from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/work-breakdown-structure-purpose-process-pitfalls.html

  This article provides a general review of the WBS. The author focuses on the purpose, process, and pitfalls of a WBS.

   

  Document: Team Project Scenario (See ATTACHED PDF IN FILE AREA)

  This document presents a scenario your team will use for the Team Project

   

  Required Media

  Laureate Education (Producer). (2013c). Planning, part I: Defining project scope and activities [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu 

   

  Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 6 minutes.

  In this presentation, the participants discuss defining project scope and project activities, using the work breakdown structure, and managing project risk through SWOT analysis.