The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) displays the all the work to be accomplished by the project. The WBS is generally developed during project planning which may occur during the proposal.
The WBS can show the following at a glance:
• The various elements of the project
• How the relate to one another
• How the work is distributed between the various elements
The WBS may be visually displayed in several ways.
WBS in Outline View
In this format, the project hierarchical structure is displayed in an outline format with each element numbered with the WBS code number.
Here is a partial WBS in an outline view:
WBS in GNATT Chart
Here the WBS is displayed in a GNATT view from MS Project:
WBS in Tree Structure view
The WBS is also shown using a tree structure with each child element connected to the parent element with a line. Each parent element is decomposed into child elements.
Here is a partial WBS in a tree Structure:
