Work breakdown structure (WBS) rules and the WBS dictionary

Try 3 questions on this

Pick an answer to see why each option is right or wrong.

1. On a predictive construction project, the WBS is organized by trade, such as carpenters and electricians. When costs overrun, managers cannot tell which part of the building is causing it. Which of the following should the project manager do?

   Right. In the game that’s Renown for your Process building.

   Not that one: B is right. In the game your Process building would lose a little Renown, and this question would come back later.

   Your answerA.Report overruns by funding typeGAO lists types of funds among elements that are not products; they cannot locate the problem component.The answerB.Restructure the WBS around deliverablesGAO's Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide calls a product-oriented WBS a best practice because it reflects cost, schedule and technical performance on specific parts of the program.Your answerC.Add more levels under each tradeMore levels under each trade still group cost by who does the work, not by which product is overrunning.Your answerD.Organize the WBS by departmentGAO lists the organizational structure among things a WBS should not be organized around.

   Show the full explanation and doc quotes

   Organized by carpenters instead of framing, management lacks the information to find the root cause of an overrun.

   Written from www.gao.gov/assets/d20195G.pdf

2. On a predictive project, the cost analyst finds that two children of a single WBS parent each include the same site survey, so the children's total exceeds the parent. Which of the following should the project manager have the analyst do?

   Right. In the game that’s Renown for your Process building.

   Not that one: B is right. In the game your Process building would lose a little Renown, and this question would come back later.

   Your answerA.Raise the parent to the totalMatching the parent to the inflated total hides the error rather than fixing it; the survey would still be counted twice.The answerB.Keep the survey in one childGAO's Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide says that in a WBS the sum of a parent's children must equal the parent, so that each element is defined and related to only one work effort.Your answerC.Log the survey overlap as riskThe overlap is a known structural error, not an uncertain event; logging it leaves the double count in place.Your answerD.Add contingency for the surveyAdding contingency treats a counting error as uncertainty. The fix is to relate the survey to a single element.

   Show the full explanation and doc quotes

   A survey that sits in two children breaks that, so it belongs in one of them.

   Written from www.gao.gov/assets/d20195G.pdf

3. On a predictive project, two control account managers disagree about whose deliverable includes certain integration work, because nothing written sets the boundaries between their elements of the work breakdown. Which of the following artifacts should clarify those boundaries?

   Right. In the game that’s Renown for your Process building.

   Not that one: C is right. In the game your Process building would lose a little Renown, and this question would come back later.

   Your answerA.Risk registerA risk register tracks threats and opportunities. The disagreement here is about scope, which GAO says the WBS dictionary defines element by element.Your answerB.Schedule basis documentA schedule basis document records how the schedule was built and its assumptions. GAO gives the job of defining each element's scope and boundaries to the WBS dictionary.The answerC.WBS dictionaryGAO's Schedule Assessment Guide says the WBS must have an associated WBS dictionary that clearly defines the scope of each element, and so helps clarify the boundaries between elements.Your answerD.Stakeholder registerA stakeholder register records who has an interest in the project. It does not define what work each WBS element contains.

   Written from www.gao.gov/assets/d1689G.pdf