Page | 1

Table of content

1. What is WBS 1. Tools to Create a Work Breakdown Structure1. MindMeister1. XMind1. FreeMind1. MS Visio1. Formula One Car WBS1. Conclusion1. References

Introduction

In this assignment I give some explanation about WBS (work breakdown structure). Work breakdown structure is now commonly used before starting any project to measure project cost, time and risk.

Different software/tools are used to design work breakdown structure. I also define some of the tools which are used to design work breakdown structure and I also give an example of work breakdown structure of formula one car.

I suggest everyone who is going to start and small or big project must design work breakdown structure by using any tool such as MindMiester because by this you can plan and manage your work easily.

What is a WBS?The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is defined by A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge 3rd Edition (PMBOK Guide) as:

"A deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables."

First developed by the US Defense Department in the second half of the 1950s and by NASA in the early 1960s, a WBS is a document used by project managers to define the scope of a project. It describes the end goal, not the means of reaching that goal. For example, if the project is to build a house, the WBS defines all the aspects of the finished house, in increasing levels of detail. It does not specify how the elements of the house are to be constructed, except where the method of construction is an important part of the finished house.

A work breakdown structure is not a list of tasks, a schedule or an organization chart. Rather it provides the basis on which a task list and a schedule can be constructed. Tasks and schedules are better handled in other ways, for example by using Gantt charts.A work breakdown structure can show you at a glance: What the various elements of the project are How the necessary work is distributed between the elements of the project How the cost or budget is distributed between the elements of the project How the larger elements of the project are subdivided into smaller onesTools to Create a Work Breakdown StructureProject Managers have been increasinglyusing mind mapping software to help manage projects. One area in particular is the creation of a work breakdown structure (WBS). Mind mappers are great for brainstorming and can aid your team in understanding the information by providing a visual representation.MindMeister

MindMeister is a simple web-based mind mapping tool that has both a free and a paid account type. The free account lets you create up to three mind maps and has fewer features than the paid version, but the free version still contains what we need. The fact that it is web-based is convenient when you use multiple machines like I do, but is also a major drawback due to the frequent issues I experienced communicating with its server.Creating a map here was very quick and keyboard shortcuts allow you to move through the map with ease. There are also easy tools for formatting nodes, adding icons, pictures, links and notes. Additionally, you can share your maps with other people allowing for a greater level of collaboration with remote teams. Thirdly, you can also add task information to nodes including assigned to, duration, and due date fields.MindMeister is considered the best online mind mapping app currently on the market. With its award-winning online version and its free mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, users are able to mind map at school, at home, at the office and even on the go. Mind mapping with MindMeister is so simple and intuitive that anyone from first grader to CEO can use it to improve their productivity and turn their creative ideas into action. MindMeister offers a number of powerful features that let users collaborate and brainstorm online, plan projects, develop business strategies, create great presentations and utilize the enormous power of mind maps for their education. MindMeisters features include:1. Collaboration: Share your mind maps and brainstorm with others in real-time2. Multi-media: Add images, links, notes, files or videos to your mind map3. Publishing: Make your mind maps public and embed them in a website or blog4. Presentation mode: Turn mind maps into stunning presentations5. Task Management: Assign tasks to your collaborators and follow their progress in your activity stream. Now even better with MeisterTask, our brand new online task management solution.6. Export maps: Turn your mind maps into Word documents, PNGs , PDFs or convert them into other mind map formats

One feature that people really liked was the History View which allows them to replay all edits to the map and revert to any previous version. This can also be useful if a team member misses the meeting in which you created the map; they can relive the experience!You can export to PDF, PNG, or RTF; I exported to RTF then opened the file with MS Word. While this gave me a good outline in Word, it did mean some reformatting to move it into MS Excel or MS Project.

XMind

Xmind is another free tool with a very slick, easy-to-use interface that is simple, elegant and packed with features. This one is not web-based, but it is cross-platform compatible so no need to worry about what operating system you are on. It features great keyboard shortcuts and formatting options for your nodes so it is very quick and can be used live in a brainstorming session.For the purposes of making a WBS I was able to quickly add a numbering scheme and export to a simple text file that I could use to build my WBS dictionary. The real good stuff like the Gant chart view and the more advanced export features were not available in the free version.

FreeMind

Probably the most popular of the free tools is FreeMind, and it is no wonder given the set of tools that are available. Customizable keyboard shortcuts let you create maps with ease using the keys that you want (I switched to using Tab for child nodes instead of the default Insert key). FreeMind also offers a selection of options for icons, flagging, and color coding your nodes, as well.

For the purposes of WBS a key feature is custom attributes. You can create an attribute like cost or hours and assign a value to each of your nodes. You would need some custom scripts to do any manipulation of these attributes, but having this feature in a free tool is a big plus. However, like with most of the free tools, you are limited on export options to just the basics like text, image, or HTML. I was able to make a basic outline for a WBS dictionary by exporting to an .ODT file and then opening in MS Word. There are a ton of great features if you are willing to take the time to learn them.FreeMind also has great support for its user community, including detailed instructions for its more advanced features.MS Visio

I know what you what you are probably thinking: Visio is neither free, nor a mind mapper. While it is not free, most of us already have it installed on our machine so it doesnt cost us anything additional. And while it is not a traditional mind mapper, it can be used like one by using two different templates: the WBS modeler and the Brainstorming Diagram template.

FormulaOne Car WBS:

ConclusionFrom the above discussion we can conclude that the WBS is an extremely valuable tool to the project management methodology. It can make or break a project. It sets the foundation for the rest of the project planning. A solid WBS helps ensure proper project baselines, estimating, resource use, scheduling, risk analysis, and procurement and I also found that MindMeister was the easiest to use, FreeMind had the most features, and Visio has the best export options.

References1. https://www.captechconsulting.com/blogs/5-free-mind-mapping-tools-to-create-a-work-breakdown-structure

2. http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/work-breakdown-structure-purpose-process-pitfalls.php

3. https://prezi.com/alklmxft8rpu/wbs-4760-project-presentation/