In Part 3 of my blog post series, I discussed Project Calendars. The focus of Part 4 is Project Work Breakdown Structures (WBS). WBS is a hierarchical assortment of top, mid, and lowest tasks within a project. A task is a piece or portion of work assigned to a resource.
Within the Oracle Projects Work Breakdown Structure there are two types of these task structures:
• Financial structures – for financial members of an organization to track costs, revenue, budgets, etc. Budgets and forecasts align to this financial structure because it can be designed independently of the workplan structures. It allows tasks to be summarized, or, “rolled up” and the costs more easily collected (fewer tasks to select from on timecards, expense reports, etc.) and simpler financial reporting. Financial structures can be setup to mirror the financial structure.
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• Workplan structures – for project managers to track all work within the project. Think “project scheduling.” Like a Financial Structure, this structure can be designed independently of the financial structures. This allows the day to day management tracking to be more detailed. Lastly, this structure can be setup to mirror the financial structure.
When building out your respective financial and workplan structures users can define an unlimited number of tasks, and as many levels/sub-levels of tasks as needed. Number, name and date range tasks as you wish. Additionally you may choose to name a task manager and transaction controls to the tasks.
In addition to all of the above, multiple factors are considered in determining the WBS for a project. Most times this is left in the hands of the project manager. Some companies benefit from using a static or fixed WBS depending on how repeatable a project and its tasks are.
In most cases you will want to map out a common WBS that can be used within the Project Template. A reasonable WBS paired with the benefits of the project template can reduce project start up admin time.
Contact me so we can help you in finding the best WBS for your company.
