What is a work breakdown structure?

- [Voiceover] After you get the go ahead to plan your…project, the first thing you do is identify the work…that has to be done.…A work breakdown structure, or WBS, is what you use…to divvy up project work into bite sized pieces.…So you can plan, track, and manage your project…effectively.…Creating a WBS helps the project in several ways.…First, it's easier to estimate time and cost…for smaller chunks of work.…Second, it's easier to assign work to team members.…

Third, by breaking work into smaller pieces,…you build check points into your project…that allow you to measure progress.…A WBS contains two kinds of tasks.…Summary tasks, and work packages.…Summary tasks are the higher level tasks…that summarize project work in some way.…Summary tasks can describe each portion…of the project.…Including, Updating conference center technology,…Remodeling the conference center, and so on.…

The number of levels of summary tasks…depends on the size of the project.…A few levels is probably enough…for a small project.…With a large, or complex project,…