MS Project – Creating a Work Breakdown Structure
In this article, you will create a work breakdown structure by organizing tasks and setting task relationships.
You will:
- Promote and demote tasks.
- Link tasks.
- Identify deliverables within the project plan file by using notes.
- Apply a constraint to a task.
- Set a task deadline.
Creating a Work Breakdown Structure
Introduction
You now have a project plan file that contains a complete list of project tasks and their durations. For MS Project to create a realistic schedule for these tasks, you will need to organize them and create relationships between them.
In this lesson, you will continue to develop your project plan file by organizing tasks into more manageable pieces and forming relationships between them.
Getting your arms around all of the tasks in a project plan file can be overwhelming, especially for large projects that involve many tasks. Let Project help you manage these tasks by organizing them in a structure that shows how some tasks fit within broader groupings and how the tasks relate to one another. Doing this will make your project plan file easier to
comprehend.
Organizing tasks and creating task relationships are necessary steps in ensuring that Project will correctly calculate your project schedule.
Outline Tasks
Now that you have your tasks entered in your project plan file, you will need to organize them into manageable chunks. In this topic, you will organize tasks by converting them to summary tasks or sub-tasks.
As a project manager, you know that not all tasks are on the same level. Some tasks stand alone, while others are comprised of various other tasks. For example, you may have a high-level task called Develop Course Content that requires ten sub-tasks to complete it.
If you don’t identify and organize your tasks correctly, your project will not only be difficult to manage, but your schedule may be incorrect.
Work Breakdown Structure
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchy of tasks in a project represented by alphanumeric codes that identify each task’s unique place in the structure.
Beginning with the project goal or objective, the project’s work is progressively broken down until it reaches a level where you can estimate the duration of the lowest-level sub-tasks.
The Work Breakdown Structure can be drawn as a graphic that is displayed much like an organization chart with finite components, or it can be drawn as a simple outline.
MS Project uses the outline method to represent WBS
Examples of work breakdown structures.
Outlining
Microsoft Project uses the outline method to organize tasks within a project.
Outlining allows you to organize the tasks in your plan into summary tasks and subtasks. You create a summary task by promoting (or out-denting) it. You create a subtask by demoting (or indenting) it.
Demoting is the process of converting summary tasks into detailed tasks. You can use the Indent button on the Formatting toolbar to perform this action. When a task is demoted, the task’s information is summarized in the nearest preceding task.
Demoting moves tasks to a lower outline level. Promoting moves tasks to a higher outline level and is accomplished by using the Outdent button on the Formatting toolbar.
Creating a Work Breakdown Structure
Collapsing and Expanding the Outline
Collapsing and expanding an outline enables you to view different levels of detail in your project. Collapsing an outline hides subtasks from view, enabling you to focus on the big picture of your project.
When you collapse an outline, you are not removing the sub-tasks from the project; you are only hiding the subtasks from view. The duration and other details, such as costs, that are associated with summary tasks still represent the sum of the sub-tasks.
To collapse a single summary task either:
- Click the minus symbol (-) that appears to the left of the task name; or
- Select the summary task, and on the Formatting toolbar, click the Hide Subtasks
- button.
To collapse all sub-tasks either:
- Select all tasks by clicking the Task Name field title, and on the Formatting
toolbar, click the Hide Sub-tasks button; or - Use the Show button on the Formatting toolbar to show just the level you prefer.
Expanding the outline enables you to view the individual details of your project. To
display only the sub-tasks of the currently selected task:
- Click the plus symbol (+) that appears to the left of the task name; or
- Select the summary task, and on the Formatting toolbar, click the Show Sub-tasks button.
To display all sub-tasks, regardless of which task is selected, click the Show button on the Formatting toolbar and select All Sub-tasks.
Outline Numbers
You can include custom tags, or outline numbers, to show the hierarchy of the tasks in your project plan. To display these numbers, choose Tools→Options, select the View tab, and check the Show Outline Number option.
How to Outline Tasks
To outline, or organize, project tasks into summary tasks and sub-tasks:
