Introduction About five years ago I inherited the family house, off course the current state was

familiar to me but it was considered just minor touch ups or more common term TLC it should have been termed hidden cost. This ended up in a full on renovation and a heap of lessons learned. Wysocki (2009, pp 2) couldnt be more correct by stating Unless you know where you are going, how will you know when you get there. Renovation is a taxing exercise and taking it on blindly can be costly as I experienced it. It was only on the recommendation, more borrowing, of a friends project management plan that all the ideas fell in place and the stress and time was reduced.

The need to develop a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) In the definition of a project scope as per Sanghera (2010, pp. 84) the author establish the work break down structure as being derived from the approved requirements stipulated to make up the scope. It is further regarded as a road map for stakeholders to track all deliverables set in the approved scope (PMBOK Guide, 2004, pp112). Wysocki (2009, pp 124-126) on the other hand refer to a hierarchical description by which the task that make up the scope are broken down for the WBS that serves as a project management tool for: thought process, architectural design, planning and status reporting. Most our successes on project we completed resulted in our planning stages, with earlier client involvement and participation in decision making. Although the projects differed, Sanghera (2010, pp. 96) consideration of historical data with regard to our policies and procedures made it easy to align it with a WBS suitable for the requirements of our clients.

Activity dependencies, Control accounts and the necessity of the WBS in every project irrespective of its scope. On the assumption that semi-furnished house we need to consider dependencies such as such as furniture, electrical equipment, plumbing, landscaping (garden), and painting needed for the renovation by compiling a collective needs assessment. These dependencies or tasks will be factored into a project network diagram (PND) where progression of tasks is dependent on one another. The PND allow for the tracking of activities on your renovation project. Wysocki (2009, pp 328) describe the linear pmlc model, which these tasks will have a Linear type arrangement. However some task may share similar functions and can be completed at the same time thus saving on time. Tasks outsourced should be tracked and controlled as each task has been assigned a duration estimate and is tied back to the subcontractor agreements. Control accounts are integration points factored into the WBS as a means for management to measure performance with each of these control points being assigned to a specified organization or person (Mosaic [online]) The importance for a WBS regardless of the scope has been previously established, Sanghera (2010, pp. 96) emphasize the necessity to decompose the deliverables to smaller manageable parts will allow for success of any project irrespective of scope.

Summary Evaluation Although deferent literature emphasizes the need for a WBS, it is duty of the project managers to understand the developing and implement a proper scope management plan to assist them in recognizing the need to accurate resources requirements to comply with stakeholders wishes.

Reference List: 1. 2. 3. 4. Mosaic White Paper; Work Breakdown Structure [Online]. Available from: http://www.mosaicprojects.com.au/WhitePapers/WP1011_WBS.pdf (Accessed: 6 Jan 2012). rd PMBOK Guide (2004) A Guide to Project Management Body Of Knowledge 3 ed. PMI. (pp. 112). Sanghera, P. (2010) Project Management Professional Study Guide for the PMP Exam 2nd ed. Boston: Course Technology. (pp. 84-96). Wysocki, R.K. (2009) Effective project management: traditional, agile, extreme. 5th ed. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing. (pp. 2, pp.124-126, pp.181-188, pp 328).