Dear
PM Advisor,
What’s
a WBS Dictionary and how do you use it?
Poor
Speller in Chicago
Dear Poor Speller,
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the oldest
tool in the Project Manager’s toolkit and one of the more graphic ones. It is
the first opportunity for the PM to express his style as he shows the way he
intends to organize the project. Will he organize it by phase, function, or
deliverable? How many levels will he go before work starts to be done? I always
love watching the way a PM drafts his WBS; it is a look into his mind.
One thing about a graphic tool such as a WBS: there
is no room for paragraphs or even sentences. Nouns and adjectives are all you
have room to work with. And sometimes a chunk of work requires more than that
to allow those executing the work to know what needs to be done. That’s where
the WBS Dictionary comes in. It is a tool that provides more detail around a
piece of work that is in the WBS. Not every WBS element must be defined, just
those that need it.
I don’t strictly use a WBS Dictionary as a
stand-alone tool. But when I enter WBS elements into the Gantt chart, I’ll use
the Notes tab on that line to enter additional details.
Good luck,
PM Advisor
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