Work breakdown structure

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Example of a product-oriented work breakdown structure of an aircraft system.

A work breakdown structure (WBS), in project management and systems engineering, is a deliverable-oriented decomposition of a project into smaller components. A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the team's work into manageable sections. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) defines the work breakdown structure as a "deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team."

A work breakdown structure element may be a product, data, service, or any combination thereof. A WBS also provides the necessary framework for detailed cost estimating and control along with providing guidance for schedule development and control.^[1]

Contents

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• 1Overview
• 2History
• 3Design principles
  • 3.1100% rule
    • 3.1.1Mutually exclusive elements
  • 3.2Plan outcomes, not actions
  • 3.3Level of detail
  • 3.4Coding scheme
  • 3.5Terminal element
  • 3.6Consistent to Norms
• 4Example
• 5Misconceptions
• 6See also
• 7References
• 8Further reading
• 9External links