[kplato] Re: Work Breakdown Structures, PM, SE

[Dave]

Hello folks.  I have been reading your KPlato doc.
I'd love to see someone (perhaps yourselves) create
a really fine project management tool, based, properly on the
work breakdown structure.  The Work Breakdown Structure
comes from the field of Systems Engineering.  There is
extended discussion about it at the link below.  Acronym
soup below.  

DTA - "Death To Acronyms!!"

(Below I have written some things down in much haste,
I have to go now.  I hope some of it makes sense, I apologize
for the grammer and runon thoughts.  I have written many many
better organized pages on the subjects, but none are on this
computer)

Some will think it (link below about WBS) is overkill and I will agree, almost.
We know tailoring is important and that Program Management
is Project Management on Steroids.  Still, WBS is very very
important.  It should control the numerical schema for the
entire project.  It should be at the core of your database design.

http://www.acq.osd.mil/pm/newpolicy/wbs/mil_hdbk_881/mil_hdbk_881.htm

Having said that, the work breakdown structure is the
skeleton upon which you base a project.  Costing is
done against WBS elements.  "Tasks" / Actions / Verbs are
not really WBS elements.  Products / Subsystems / Components
-these are the things that comprise a WBS.  .. Though you
often see "Training" on a WBS.  This is verb-ish, but it's also
a major, critical product oriented deliverable.. not something like...


14. Contact customer and get confirmation
    on such and such date to fly to finland - GDS
    Complete by 7/20/01

Above, this is a task.

Tasks are things executed to realize, deliver, support products or subsystems
identified in the WBS.  Tasks are temporal in nature
and live in a gantt chart and/or pert charts.  Yes, I think temporal
is time if memory serves.

Cost, Schedule, Performance - three axis form solution space.  That
can be traded off throughout several phases of the project in many
cases as better resolution is obtained.

project=f(C,S,P)

Cost: Rolled Up by WBS Element!

Schedule: Stands Largely Alone- important with PERT for CPM
          though.. WBS doesn't tie to Gantt or PERT "per say"..

Performance: Technical Performance (Measures) TPMs

Statement of work (SOW) or Statement of Objectives (SOO) for a large
project should sync with the WBS


Sample WBS

1.0 Project / System Name
  1.1 Product / Subsystem A
    1.1.1 Component A-1
    1.1.2 Component A-3 
  1.2 Product / Subsystem B
    1.2.1 Component B-1
    .
    .

  1.N Proj. Mgmt. & Systems Engineering

(there are different verbages.. project / system, products, subsystems
components, configuration items... take your pick, but pick carefully
and be consistent- software program should allow flexibility becuase different
verbage is used by different industries ...)

Note that specialty engineering does not live on WBS.. specialty
= electrical, mech., civil, SW, etc.. is rolled up as labor
against WBS elements.  Accounting usually will open multiple
charge numbers for given WBS elements. 

In construction industry, 1.N might be represented as
Architect / Proj. Mgmt.  & Architectual Engineering??
An AE performs function similar to an SE in defense.

SOW, or SOO now describes this system decomposition above which is
your WBS

Say SOW is section 2 in your proj. notebook..numbering is consistent
with WBS, but translated

2.0   Project / System Name shall ....
2.1   Product / Subsystem A shall ...
2.1.1 Component A-1 shall ...
.
.
2.N   Project Management & SYstems Engineering shall comply
      with procedures defined in document abc.123 referenced
      in section 1.7 of this document and with all such and such
      contained below in sections 2.N.1 (I'm making some of this
      up, salt to taste.., just note that the paragraph #s are
      consistent, though translated, with the WBS)

2.N.1 Project Mgmt. shall ....
      o CUstomer / Project Office Reviews
      o Overall Costing
      o Overall Schedule
      o Overall Performance Metrics

2.N.2 Systems Engineering shall ...
      o Technical Reviews
      o Systems Architecture
      o WBS & CWBS
      o SOO & SOW
      o Specifications

Cost Estimates based on
WBS.  CUmulatives vs. estimates based on / costed against WBS

Risk Management?  You can do Montecarlo through Gantt / Pert for
schedule risk.  You can do Montecarlo against WBS elements for
Cost and Performance Risk.


The WBS locks down the numbering scheme.  It is the critical
numerical (DB ID) mechanism.  All things tie to WBS - well, almost all 
things.  Would a Requirements Ranking Scheme (numeric vs. shall, should,
nice-to-have) be dependent on WBS?  No..  Are scheduled Tasks tied to
WBS?  No!!!  Temporal / Gantt


Do you need specifications???

System Level Specification?  Numeric Scheme follows WBS
Requirements Spec?  Follows WBS
Detailed Design Specification?  FOllows WBS
Costing? FOllows WBS

Requirements Management?  Requirements
are allocated to WBS elements..

Requirments Report- print this and give to design teams.
Requirements are sorted by WBS.  Teams are assigned to first
or second level WBS elements
and you give them the report so they know what the rqmts. are.


Teams & Requirements follow WBS.  Resources may work on multiple
elements.  Thats OK.

Trace / Track requirements?  Yes.  Which WBS elements are effected
when a requirements change is made?  You better know, so you can
tell the team lead.  Better use a WBS and allocate requirements
to WBS.  Tracking / Tracing
COnfiguration Management is tied to WBS.  WBS is the
deliverable system and / or service skeleton.  It is also
the skeleton by which the project is managed.  

WBS is top down structured decomposition of deliverable products 
and services.  Yes.. SW wants to go it's own way.. with concepts, requirements,
prototyping, design, build happening largely in parallel.  That's
OK, sometimes- assuming contract allows.  SW is usually one piece of the 
projects I'm talking about.

It may not even show up on the WBS for that matter (though it would
show up on what the referenced docuyment above calls a CWBS- COntract
Work Breakdown Structure).  Also, a system
architecture diagram for SW should be easy enough to make.
Procudural programming days.. your main components or sub
routines were your decomposition.

WBS should be first drafted by lead engineer on project.. then
project manager tacks on a few things such as
Proj. Mgmt. & Systems Engineering Element at first level, and
possible at lower levels if the elements are assigned to teams.


Please don't think Gantt temporal is project management.  It's
just one tool that everyone wants to use because M$ project
makes a nice chart.

Three major parameters.. COst, Sched., Performance

Gantt is only schedule.  CPM?/Pert.. Nice, but less important
for serious technical projects.  Drop dead schedule date is important
but a non technical project manager can only whip technical people
so hard.  Major milestones are important.  Haning documented technical
review objectives before existing the planning phase- this is more
important that a Gantt chart.

  Having an entry
in a Gantt chart for everyting done on a project and costing that
way is BAD!!  Wrong way!!

Many project managers over emphasize the importance of Gantt and 
Pert, because the cannot understand the systems architecture (WBS) 
and can't know proper cost until after preliminary design.  Schedule 
is important, but detailed scheduling is less important than what people
currently believe.  Estimates are estimates.  They improve with time.
Schedules should be kept up to date and compared with baseline.

Corrections to cost, sched * performance *should* be traded off up unitl
final (critical) design review, though poorly negotiated / written
contracts often wont allow this.  COst is fully known 98%+ at final
design.  Not before.  Maybe 90% known at PDR??

Proper WBS, SOW, Requirements Analaysis, Design.. Proper definition
of technical review e.g.

Proposal / SOO / SOW
Planning Review
Requirements Review
Prelim. Design Review
Final Design Review
Test Readiness Review
Production Readiness Review
Post Implement Review

these are important, .. and utilization depends on size of project
(budget).  Bigger budget = more process, small budget = less
process.  Small project, Gantt alone is fine.  Sharp pencil and
Big CHief tablet is fine. KISS.  More money at risk warrants proper
project management and engineering.  Warrants a software program
that has at the center of it's function a WBS that control the
configuration of the deliverable system / service and controls
the project.

Controlling a project using a schedule and pert chart.  Well, there
is room for improvement.  Forgive my communication.


Regards,
Dave