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Project Management vocabulary · Scope & Requirements

Work breakdown structure

Meaning in project management, with examples

/ˌwɜːrk ˈbreɪkdaʊn ˌstrʌktʃər/nounCommon term

In project management, work breakdown structure means: A tree-like breakdown of all the work in a project, from the main deliverables down to small work packages that can be estimated, assigned and tracked.

In Turkish: iş kırılım yapısı, İKY, iş dağılım yapısı

How it is used

Usually shortened to WBS (said letter by letter). It is created in the planning phase and is the basis for the schedule, cost estimates and responsibilities. People create, build or break down the WBS.

Example sentences

  1. Let's finish the work breakdown structure first; then we can estimate each work package.

  2. Training wasn't in the work breakdown structure, so nobody had planned time for it.

Common collocations

  • create a work breakdown structure
  • WBS element
  • work package
  • level of the WBS
  • scopeAll the work, features and results that a project has agreed to deliver, and by extension what it will not deliver.
  • deliverableA specific product, document or result that a project must produce and hand over, for example a report, a design, a piece of software or a trained team.
  • taskA single piece of work that one person or a small group can complete, usually with an owner, a start and end date and a link to a bigger deliverable.
  • estimateAn informed guess of how long a task will take, how much effort it needs or how much it will cost, based on experience and the information available.

More terms: Scope & Requirements

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