Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures - Second Edition

Chapter 3

Importance of the WBS

3.1 Overview

A WBS can not alone ensure project success, but consider that the WBS does the following:

• Defines all the work of the project, and only the work of the project, thereby clarifying the project scope
• Reflects the input from all team members to ensure buy-in
• Provides the baseline for subsequent change control
• Is a primary input to other project management processes—for example, resource planning, cost estimating, schedule development, and risk identification
• Provides the framework for project control, performance monitoring, and the foundation for communication with all stakeholders
• Ensures the work of the project correlates appropriately with the Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) and the Organizational ...