Use work breakdown structure as the project backbone

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) centralizes the planning of tasks, timelines, and resources. Coordinating these three core areas is one of the essential challenges of project management. The widely adopted top-down planning method in task management suffers from a significant drawback: it demands detailed planning of all tasks simply to identify resource availability by specific deadlines. This makes any plan adjustments both time-consuming and complex. CONTACT Elements Work Breakdown solves this planning dilemma. Learn how to leverage the WBS as the backbone of your project – and how to achieve your goals with focus, using project templates, a shared view, and an incremental approach.

Benefits

  • Create work breakdown structures from best-practice project templates
  • Link project and product structure logically
  • Allow management, planning, and specialists to work with a shared view
  • Connect the work breakdown structure with results as well as resource and quality planning

Create work breakdown structure from templates

Many corporate projects share similar structures. Establish these as best-practice templates, and create new projects from modular elements. This way, your WBS is generated quickly, efficiently, and is easily customizable. Even within these templates, you can link tasks without fixed deadlines. These are only defined during the detailed planning of specific projects. Checklists, deliverables, and documents can also be integrated directly into the project template, establishing a solid foundation for planning and execution.

Many corporate projects share similar structures. Establish these as best-practice templates, and create new projects from modular elements. This way, your WBS is generated quickly, efficiently, and is easily customizable. Even within these templates, you can link tasks without fixed deadlines. These are only defined during the detailed planning of specific projects. Checklists, deliverables, and documents can also be integrated directly into the project template, establishing a solid foundation for planning and execution.

Link project and product structure logically

Traditional top-down planning of tasks and milestones demands early detailed specifications and complicates plan changes. CONTACT's Elements Work Breakdown solves this problem: Project management, planning teams, and specialists work collaboratively on work packages with clearly structured, transparent project views. Project managers embed status requirements and deliverables within the project structure and initially assign tasks to roles. Documents can be integrated as templates into contextual process information. During detailed planning, assignments are made to specialists who integrate completed deliverables into the project structure and traceably complete their tasks. This way, project management can focus on achieving objectives without having to track individual activities.

Traditional top-down planning of tasks and milestones demands early detailed specifications and complicates plan changes. CONTACT's Elements Work Breakdown solves this problem: Project management, planning teams, and specialists work collaboratively on work packages with clearly structured, transparent project views. Project managers embed status requirements and deliverables within the project structure and initially assign tasks to roles. Documents can be integrated as templates into contextual process information. During detailed planning, assignments are made to specialists who integrate completed deliverables into the project structure and traceably complete their tasks. This way, project management can focus on achieving objectives without having to track individual activities.

Connect the work breakdown structure with results as well as resource and quality planning

Projektdashboard in CONTACT Elements

The project structure is foundational for workflow, schedule, and resource planning. Link tasks chronologically within the structure, visualize the process in a Gantt chart, and have project deadlines automatically calculated. These tasks also serve as the basis for your resource planning. Requirements can be predefined within templates. Responsibility for work packages can be organized incrementally: Project management assigns tasks in an early phase – for instance, within the template – to roles such as Development or QA Lead. These roles are later replaced by specific individuals who see all their assigned tasks in a personalized task list. This approach facilitates the successful planning of complex projects: from the Work Breakdown Structure, through work packages and deliverables, all the way to the final project goal.

 

Connect the work breakdown structure with results as well as resource and quality planning

The project structure is foundational for workflow, schedule, and resource planning. Link tasks chronologically within the structure, visualize the process in a Gantt chart, and have project deadlines automatically calculated. These tasks also serve as the basis for your resource planning. Requirements can be predefined within templates. Responsibility for work packages can be organized incrementally: Project management assigns tasks in an early phase – for instance, within the template – to roles such as Development or QA Lead. These roles are later replaced by specific individuals who see all their assigned tasks in a personalized task list. This approach facilitates the successful planning of complex projects: from the Work Breakdown Structure, through work packages and deliverables, all the way to the final project goal.

 

Projektdashboard in CONTACT Elements

The project structure is foundational for workflow, schedule, and resource planning. Link tasks chronologically within the structure, visualize the process in a Gantt chart, and have project deadlines automatically calculated. These tasks also serve as the basis for your resource planning. Requirements can be predefined within templates. Responsibility for work packages can be organized incrementally: Project management assigns tasks in an early phase – for instance, within the template – to roles such as Development or QA Lead. These roles are later replaced by specific individuals who see all their assigned tasks in a personalized task list. This approach facilitates the successful planning of complex projects: from the Work Breakdown Structure, through work packages and deliverables, all the way to the final project goal.

 

Related Elements

Supply project portfolios with resources

Optimize capacity utilization and improve on-time delivery

Plan across projects using a top-down approach

Utilize resource pools across departments and locations

Clearly plan project and program schedules

Create schedules quickly and efficiently with Gantt charts and templates

Specify key deadlines and plan detailed deadlines bottom-up against the specifications

Plan projects from multi-project management to deadline details with optimal views, settings, and procedures

Overview of all project tasks including context information

Use tasks to set the course for a smooth transition from project planning to implementation

Facilitate optimal self-organization for all project participants

Connect reliability with agility and keep track with multi-project mode