WBS Decomposition Strategies

A work-breakdown structure in project management and systems engineering, is a deliverable-

oriented breakdown of a project into smaller components. A work breakdown structure is a key
project deliverable that organizes the team's work into manageable sections. WBS has five
types of decomposition strategies and these are Physical, Logical, Geographical, Business
Function, and Departmental Decomposition. Decomposition is an important technique used in
WBS creation and definition of activities. It shows a complex, process, organization, data
subject area, or other type of object broken down into lower level, more detailed components.

 Physical Decomposition
Physical decomposition involves a hypothetical decomposition of the system design.
For example, a project being divided into distinct activities such as programming,
documentation, testing, etc.

 Logical Decomposition
Logical decomposition divides project activities into phases. For example, phase 1 is for
the development of the user interface of a program, phase 2 is for the business process,
and so on.

 Geographical Decomposition
Geographical decomposition divides activities according to location. The project
activities are categorized into development site, user site, main branch, etc.

 Business Function
Business function deals with activities that are carried out by the enterprise.

 Departmental Decomposition
Departmental decomposition deals with the links between actors, roles and location.

Software development is a complex process, and so being able to break down a large project
into its component parts is essential – think of all the different elements that need to be
combined to produce a program.

Granularity: When to stop decomposing?

The definition of granularity varies depending on what field or course you are studying. But in
software engineering, granularity is a key design concern when applying the paradigm of
service-orientation for instance during service-oriented modeling.
When do we stop decomposing?

 Status/completion are easily measured

 Estimation techniques shall be discussed in detail in the latter parts dedicated to
Estimation.
 Clearly defined start and end events Deliverable or accomplishment impractical to
decompose
 Reasonable activity duration in relation to project duration
 Clearly defined work assignment (by person)

Steps in Developing the Project Plan: Schedule Activities

In order to develop our schedule, we first need to define the activities, sequence them in the
right order, estimate the resources needed, and estimate the time it will take to complete the
tasks.

 Create Calendar . Specify duration (start-date and end-date) of each activity / task
o Project Calendar – all tasks/activities and resources
o Task Calendar – specify duration for specific task
o Resource Calendar – specify duration for specific resource needed to accomplish
tasks
o Project , Task and Resource Calendars are features of Project Management
Software.
 Establish task dependencies (first-pass dependency). Define predecessors of each task
according to chronological sequence
 Refine task dependencies . Review and modify task dependencies to reduce task or
activity duration. First-pass dependency may be changed into Finish-Finish or Start-Start
(if applicable) to reduce project duration.
 Introduce lag and lead time . The amount of wait time between start or finish of
predecessor and start or finish of successor is the Lag Time while Lead time is the
amount of overlapping time between start or finish of predecessor and start or finish of
successor.
Why is it important to schedule activities?

 To organize and complete your projects in a timely, quality and financially

responsible manner, you need to schedule projects carefully.
 Effective project scheduling plays a crucial role in ensuring project success.
 To keep projects on track, set realistic time frames, assign resources appropriately
and manage quality to decrease product errors.
 Task Dependencies
Dependencies are the relationships of the preceding tasks to the succeeding tasks. Tasks may
have multiple preceding tasks and multiple succeeding tasks.
What are the types of Task Dependencies?
1. Finish-Start – most common and default dependency; successor activity cannot start until
predecessor is finished; start of successor can be delayed
2. Finish-Finish – successor can start anytime; predecessor must finish before successor can
finish; finish of successor can be delayed.
3. Start-Start – successor can start only after predecessor starts; does not matter which one
finishes first; can apply in tandem with F-F; start of successor can be delayed.
4. Start-Finish - successor can finish only after predecessor has started; successor usually starts
before the predecessor; rare and can be very confusing; finish of successor can be delayed

References:
https://pmleadershipchamps.com/2008/04/04/decomposition-technique/
http://bawiki.com/wiki/techniques/decomposition-functional-and-otherwise/
https://www.workbreakdownstructure.com/
http://www.elearning.edu.my/ASKKSSM/Bahan/What%20is%20decomposition.pdf
https://www.togaf-modeling.org/models/business-architecture/organization-decomposition-
diagrams.html
https://www.quora.com/What-is-granularity-in-database
https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/chapter/chapter-10-project-schedule-planning-
project-management/
https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/importance-project-scheduling-its-role-business-projects-
9503.html
file:///C:/Users/admin/Desktop/SoftEng/Introduction_to_Software_Project_Management.pdf