What is a Work Breakdown Structure Diagram?
A WBS diagram expresses the project scope in simple graphic terms. The diagram starts with a single box or other graphic at the top to represent the entire project. The project is then divided into main, or disparate, components, with related activities (or elements) listed under them. Generally, the upper components are the deliverables and the lower level elements are the activities that create the deliverables. Information technology projects translate well into WBS diagrams, whether the project is hardware or software based. That is, the project could involve designing and building desktop computers or creating an animated computer game. Both of these examples have tasks that can be completed independently of other project tasks. When tasks in a project don’t need to be completed in a linear fashion, separating the project into individual hierarchical components that can be allotted to different people usually gets the job done quicker. One common view is a Gantt chart. In a recent
