A Work Breakdown Structure (or WBS) is a planning method used to break down your key deliverables into smaller, more manageable chunks of work. As the first step to creating a formal schedule, a WBS helps you understand the scope of your project so you can assign work and resources more efficiently while also staying on top of progress & performance once your project kicks off.
Here’s how:
As a live, visual round-up of your project, a good WBS structure helps you organize your work by defining the nature, priority, status, deadlines, and resources associated with each task. Thanks to this high-level, bird’s eye view of how things are in real-time, you can easily track the progress of your key work packages from start to finish against a planned schedule & budget. Not surprisingly, WBSs are most common in large, complex projects with multiple roles & players, such as commercial construction projects (but more on that later!).
With our fully editable template, you can easily (and might I say quickly) come up with a full-fledged WBS document for any project simply by adding a few details, while our template does all the rest:
- Project Overview
- Phases/Deliverables
- Tasks & Subtasks
- Task Dependencies
- Estimated Timeline
- Budget & Resource Allocation
Key Features of Our WBS Template
- A built-in coding (numbering) system to uniquely identify each unit in your WBS.
- Reconfigurable drop-downs for Task Priority, Status, and Resources
- Visual bar graphs to show % of work completed for each task
- Built-in calendar divided by project phase for Gantt view
- Color-coded cells to highlight Task Status and Priority
The 3 Levels of a WBS Structure
A WBS hierarchy is built on multiple (usually three) levels of detail. Higher levels point to broader project goals or the main project deliverables, while lower levels show more detailed tasks or work packages.
Something like this:
- Level 1: The overall project goal or final deliverable. (Mother task)
- Level 2: Major deliverables or phase milestones of the project. (Sub-task)
- Level 3: Work packages, which are the smallest, most detailed components of the project. (Sub-sub-task)
A well-constructed WBS structure is built so that each new level in the hierarchy covers all the work needed to complete its parent task. Design your work packages to be small enough to be easily tracked but large enough to yield a meaningful outcome.
Lucky for you, our template uses a built-in numerical code system to identify each task as defined by project phase and WBS levels. Tasks are systematically categorized and numbered so that each parent (or mother) task is identified by a whole number in Column C (WBS) such as 1, 2 or 3. All tasks to be completed during Phase 1 of the project will be numbered as 1, 1.1 or 1.1.1 depending on what WBS level they are at.
Remember, each subtask of the mother task represents a new WBS level and will be numbered as 1.1, 1.2 or 1.3 and so on. If you want to add even more subtasks within one of these subtasks, they will be numbered as 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc.
In short, each task is:
- A parent task or a subtask (as defined by WBS levels)
- Sorted by phase (All tasks in phase 2 will be numbered 2, 2.1, 2.1.1, and so on.)
Even though most WBS charts have 3 levels, you can always add more depending on the complexity of your projects. To add more tasks when using our template, you need to insert a new row. But first, you have to unprotect the sheet by going to the Review tab. Now drag the formula to the new row to ensure it functions correctly. If you drag without unprotecting the sheets, you only copy the text, not the formulas we programmed into it.
How Our WBS Template Works
Most WBS templates follow either a phase or deliverable-based approach to making a work plan. In our template, we use both to create a comprehensive database to help you plan, assign work, and track progress once your project takes off.
Now, let’s discuss each component of our premade Excel sheet in more detail:
Project Overview
Right at the top, you describe the project as a whole, including its name and version (in case of periodically extended projects).
Now identify the project lead who oversees the overall planning, procurement, and execution of a project.
Follow this by outlining the scope of your project using a single, comprehensive, and clear statement that captures its objectives, deliverables, timeline, and budget.
Dependency & D Type
Now ask yourself how different tasks in your project are connected. Do some need to be finished before others can start? In project speak, this is called a task dependency. Clarifying your dependencies makes it easier for you to hit milestones and maintain a balanced workflow.
In our template, you can identify task dependencies by following these simple steps:
Step 1: Go to Column G (Dependancy) to select the task that has a dependent relationship with the task you are currently working on, or a new task or subtask you added to your WBS structure.
Step 2: In Column H (D-Type), define the nature of this dependency by selecting the type of dependent relationships between the two tasks/subtasks.
In our template, we give you all possible scenarios to choose from:
- FS – Finish to start. Only possible to start Task B when Task A has finished. This is the most common type of dependency.
- SS- Start to start. Only possible to start Task B when Task A has started.
- FF – Finish to finish. Only possible to finish Task B when Task A has finished.
- SF – Start to finish: Only possible to finish Task A when Task B has started.
Priority Assigner
Not all tasks are equally critical to project success. While some may be an urgent priority, others are better off on the back burner, say, minor bug fixes or responding to irrelevant emails.
In this column, we use a color-coded system to assign a particular priority level to each task by assessing its strategic value in light of factors like project needs or client demands. Our drop-down menu lets you choose from: ‘High’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Low’; however, we have added a configuration sheet in case you want to use different categories to suit your project context.
Learn more about how to prioritize individual tasks within a project using our Prioritization Matrix template!
Identifying Resources
Effective resource planning is an integral pillar of any project, especially large-scale projects involving huge sums of money and labor. In our template, you get to specify whether the resources available for undertaking individual tasks are:
- Inadequate
- Borderline
- Sufficient
- Excessive
This gives you a more detailed update on your material or human resources compared to a simple Yes or No. Use this column to avoid shortages or excesses while making sure you can monitor and adjust the project to ensure that your resources always line up with your project goals and timelines.
Setting a Budget
Whether you are opening up your own business, or spearheading a marketing campaign for a new product – a formal budget allows you to accurately forecast and meet your costs.
In this column, come up with a specific budget for every task, and try to stay within this limit to avoid a budget overrun or resource shortages.
Feel free to use our Project Budget and Budget Implementation templates to track your project budget at the task level and identify your actual vs. estimated costs.
Status Checker: Update Progress In Real-time
Here, you simply want to get a sense of which tasks have been completed, which are currently in progress, and which ones need to be finished before the final deadline.
We use a similar color-coded system to help you visually track the status of your tasks. Click on our built-in drop-down menu to indicate the current status of your tasks by selecting one of the following:
- Not Started
- In Progress
- Complete
- Need Review
- Approved
- Overdue
- On Hold
You can always change these categories in light of your own project needs & requirements using the separate configuration sheet we have provided.
The progress bar
Another useful feature of our template is a % bar to specify what percentage of a task has been completed so far. The completion bar (shown in blue) is based on the value you add to the main sheet, which you can update in real-time.
Establish a Timeframe
Deadlines are the guiding stars of project management. Having a set date to start and finish work is what pushes us to pace things up & get work done on time.
Enter a start date when you expect to start working on a particular task. You can decide this based on the level of priority you assign to each task or the logical sequence that connects each task or phase to another (See Task Dependency).
In case of end dates, try not to get carried away or be too ambitious as you want to choose time frames that are bold enough to create a sense of urgency for your team while still being realistic.
Based on the dates you manually enter in our template, we are able to visually represent task durations & timelines using a built-in Gantt-style calendar with light blue bars used to place each task inside a specific time frame.
Related Processes
- Project Planning
- Project Budgeting
- Risk Management
- Resource Planning & Management
- Task Management
- Project Scheduling
- Team Management
- Monitoring & Evaluation
Who Is Our Template For?
- Project Managers – To plan, structure, and manage project tasks.
- Team Leads & Supervisors – To allocate work and track team responsibilities.
- Stakeholders & Clients – To understand project scope and deliverables.
- Development & Operations Teams – To execute assigned tasks efficiently.
Why Do I Need One?
- To break down complex projects into structured and manageable tasks.
- Clarify project scope to avoid miscommunication and scope creep.
- Enhance task allocation by assigning work based on expertise.
- Improve tracking and accountability by defining deliverables and responsibilities.
- Streamline project scheduling, budgeting, and resource planning.
Wrap Up
Whether you are managing a commercial building site, leading a software management project, or working as a home-based freelancer – a WBS can help you streamline your work and avoid issues such as missed deadlines, scope creep and cost overrun.
Safe to say, a WBS makes both simple and complex projects easier to manage – since everyone involved in the project can understand their roles and responsibilities. Acting as a common point of reference makes it much easier to communicate progress and updates, helping you eliminate misunderstandings that can arise in verbal communication.
Use our free and designer-developed WBS Template to ensure that every part of your project is accounted for, helping your team stay aligned with project goals!
Note
For your ease, all cells showing automatically calculated values have been locked to ensure that their functionalities and formulae are protected.
Be aware that spreadsheets are somewhat prone to error. Even if the spreadsheet is completely free of errors at the time you download it, there is always a possibility that you might accidentally introduce errors as you edit it. That’s why we would recommend using this template only if you are comfortable using Excel and can identify and fix errors that may be introduced. With that said, download and enjoy!
Our editable template can be instantly accessed in Google Sheets, .xlsx, .xltx, and .ods formats.
