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document or in the scope statement. If your requirements document is a stand-alone

document, you should include at least the following elements:

Business need for the project and why it was undertaken

Project objectives

Project deliverables

Requirements

Once you have documented the project scope and requirements, you’re ready to start
on the work breakdown structure. You’ll look at that next.

Creating the Work Breakdown Structure

The final element of scope planning is the work breakdown structure (WBS). The
WBS is a deliverables-oriented hierarchy that defines all the work of the project. Each
level of the WBS is a further breakdown of the level above it. Decomposition is the
process of breaking down the high-level deliverables (and each successive level of the

WBS) into smaller, more manageable work units. Once the work is broken down to the
lowest level, you can establish time estimates, resource assignments, and cost
estimates.

A WBS is one of the fundamental building blocks of project planning. It will be used as
an input to numerous other planning processes. It’s also the basis for estimating
activity duration, assigning resources to activities, estimating work effort, and creating
a budget. Because the WBS is typically displayed as a graphical representation, it can

be a great way of visually communicating the project scope. It contains more details of
the deliverables than the scope statement does and helps further clarify the magnitude
of the project deliverables.

The WBS puts boundaries around the project work because any work not
included in the WBS is considered outside the scope of the project.

Decomposing the Major Deliverables

The quality of your WBS depends on having the right team members involved in its

development. You won’t want a large team of people to assist in this process, but it’s
helpful if you can involve some of your more experienced team members. Work with
the functional managers to get representation from each business unit that has a major
deliverable for the project.

A WBS is typically created using either a tree structure diagram or an outline form. The
tree structure can be created using software, using a whiteboard, or using easel paper

with sticky notes for each level and each component of the WBS. This allows the

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