Minimum Elements to Include in a WBS:
A useful work break down structure identifies 10 minimum elements. The elements are used to arrive at performance metrics for each project.
- project start date
- project end date
- minimum amount of time per day to work on project's critical path
- tasks
- task dependencies
- estimated task duration
- tracks actual task duration
- task completion status
- assigned resources
- availability of resources
Metrics for a Work Break Down Structure:
- Total Duration on Critical Path
- Total Labor-Time
- Schedule Variance
- Duration Variance
- Availability Variance
All of the minimum elements in a WBS are used to compute the WBS metrics. When managing multiple projects, the above 5 metrics at quick glance allow project managers to evaluate which projects are advancing as a expected, which projects are ahead of schedule, and which project require attention.
Schedule variance, duration variance, and availability variance can each be converted into percentages for normalizing the metrics across projects.
