Project Management- Chapter 6 Ideas

To me, the hardest part of making a work breakdown structure is getting started. The WBS includes so much that it can appear over whelming. A good way to begin is to review the work you have already done during project definition and risk management.
Name all the tasks required to produce deliverables. For example, if a WBS in a landscaping project lists lawn or shrubs, we need ot add verbs to each task name. the next steop is to break down each task into the lower level, detaled tasks required to produce the procuct. This sounds easy. right? don't be deceived. Breaking down the WBS can be the most difficult step in the planning process, becuase it is where the detailed process for building the product is defined. for example, a high level task may seem easy to understand, but upon breaking it down, the project manager may find that he is unable to list all the detailed tasks required to complete it. At this point, it is time to inveite more team members, with diverse skills, into the planning process.
A WBS is especially difficult to create when I have a new project ground. I usually spent lots lots of time planning the project and most of that time is spent on the WBS. That is usually a lot longer than I oringinally intended. But by spending the time to get a detailed strategy worked out, I can see I could actually save a lot of time.