The Work Breakdown Structure - an essential planning tool

A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) gives project teams both a deeper understanding of the overall work required and a way to identify problems before they become too costly. By forcing the project team to break complex tasks into bite-sized chunks, according to workstream and resources, it promotes clearer thinking an prevents projects from failing through lack of planning.

The Project Management Institute has produced a number of good documents on the development of WBS's, and most good project management courses include the development of WBS's as part of the syllabus.

A WBS can be used to link estimates, budgets, schedules, and cost control through a common visual language. When executed properly and consistently across several projects, a WBS can also be used to generate historical data that can ultimately benefit companies by providing their projects’ teams with valuable price comparisons and future estimates. A good primer on the subject is here.

The construction process is improved in these three key areas — communication, logic of process, and cost comparisons — making a WBS a worthwhile component in the planning of any major construction project, so that it meets the ultimate goal of delivery within budget.