Editing Project management (section)

== Work breakdown structure and other breakdown structures ==
{{Main |Work breakdown structure|Scope (project management)}}
The [[work breakdown structure]] (WBS) is a [[tree structure]] that shows a subdivision of the activities required to achieve an objective&nbsp;– for example a portfolio, program, project, and contract. The WBS may be hardware-, product-, service-, or [[Business process|process]]-oriented (see an example in a [[:Image:NASA NF 533 reporting structure.jpg|NASA reporting structure (2001)]]).<ref name="NASA01">[http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?Internal_ID=N_PR_9501_002D_&page_name=Chp2&format=PDF NASA NPR 9501.2D]. May 23, 2001.</ref>  Beside WBS for project scope management, there are [[Organizational breakdown structure|organizational breakdown structure (chart)]], cost breakdown structure and [[risk breakdown structure]].

A WBS can be developed by starting with the end objective and successively subdividing it into manageable components in terms of size, duration, and responsibility (e.g., systems, subsystems, components, tasks, sub-tasks, and work packages), which include all steps necessary to achieve the objective.<ref name="Stellman05"/>

The work breakdown structure provides a common framework for the natural development of the overall planning and control of a contract and is the basis for dividing work into definable increments from which the statement of work can be developed and technical, schedule, cost, and labor hour reporting can be established.<ref name="NASA01"/>
The work breakdown structure can be displayed in two forms, as a table with subdivision of tasks or as an organizational chart whose lowest nodes are referred to as "work packages".

It is an essential element in assessing the quality of a plan, and an initial element used during the planning of the project. For example, a WBS is used when the project is scheduled, so that the use of work packages can be recorded and tracked.

Similarly to work breakdown structure (WBS), other decomposition techniques and tools are: organization breakdown structure (OBS), product breakdown structure (PBS), cost breakdown structure (CBS), risk breakdown structure (RBS), and resource breakdown structure (ResBS).<ref>Levine, H. A. (1993).  [https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/concepts-work-risk-organizational-breakdown-structures-3694 "Doing the weebis and the obis: new dances for project managers?" ''PM Network'', 7(4), 35–38.]</ref><ref name="Morcov2021">{{cite web|last=Morcov|first=S.|year=2021|title=Managing Positive and Negative Complexity: Design and Validation of an IT Project Complexity Management Framework|website=KU Leuven University|url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/637007}}</ref>