Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Gantt Chart

Purpose

The process of project management has five phases: (1) design and initiation, which you just completed; (2) finalizing your plan before implementation, which you will do now; (3) implementation; (4) monitor and control; and finally, (5) evaluation and lessons learned (as well as knowledge transfer).

During Phase 2 (finalizing the project plan), you will continue to create the tools and documents you will need when you implement your project as the project manager in Phase 3.

Week 4: Communications Plan

Week 5: Deliverables and Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

Week 6: Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Gantt Chart

Week 7: Risk Management and Human Resource Management Plans

In this assignment, you will define and document the project’s tasks and deliverables and the relationships among each. You will develop the work breakdown structure (WBS) and project timelines using a Gantt chart.

The WBS identifies the project’s tasks that need to be completed by priority and flows into, then facilitates, project scheduling. This breakdown helps the project team identify all tasks needed to get the work done and the resources necessary to complete it. This framework allows you to assign tasks to individual team members, making them accountable for those tasks in the process. It is important that all tasks be identified and broken down, because project delays or even failure frequently result from forgotten or overlooked tasks rather than imprecise guesstimates.

The Gantt chart, named after Henry Gantt, clearly shows the start and completion dates for all major project activities and subtasks. The Gantt chart is straightforward, easy to understand, and simple to change. It provides a snapshot of the project, and one can immediately identify task durations and distinguish tasks that depend on other tasks being completed before they are started. Understanding all dependencies is critical for the project manager, who is ultimately responsible for time, budgets, and resource allocation.

One example of how to create a Gantt Chart is provided as a tutorial in the lesson.  Other tutorials can be found by doing an internet search. You only need to choose one format or the other, not both.  You may also construct a combination WBS/Gantt Chart and submit it as a single appendix.

Total Points Possible: 50

Requirements

1. Complete the WBS and Gantt chart documents. Attach documents as appendices to a professionally written paper explaining what you are doing.
2. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, references, and citations are consistent with formal academic writing and APA format as expressed in the current edition of the manual.

Preparing the paper

1. All project tasks must be identified and broken down in your WBS. Attach documents as appendices to a professionally written paper explaining what you are doing.
2. The Gantt chart must provide timelines for all major project tasks and subtasks following the Excel sample. Attach documents as appendices to a professionally written paper explaining what you are doing
3. Ideas and information from professional sources must be cited correctly using the current edition of the APA manual.
4. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, references, and citations are consistent with formal academic writing.