Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures - Third Edition

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INTRODUCTION TO THE PRACTICE STANDARD FOR WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURES

1.1 PURPOSE OF THIS PRACTICE STANDARD

A standard is a document established by consensus and approved by a recognized body that provides rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their results. Standards aim to achieve the optimum degree of order in a given context through common and repeated use. Developing a standard follows a process based on the concepts of consensus, openness, due process, and applicability. PMI standards provide guidelines for achieving specific portfolio, program, and project management results, which apply to most projects, in most organizations, most of the time.

The purpose of a standard is to convey the what, not the how.

A practice ...