Hierarchical work structure: concept and purpose. Project management

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Each project has goals and stages of implementation. The implementation of the project implies the existence of goals, certain types of activities, skills and abilities. Each stage requires process control. This is a complex, creative art of coordinating all the resources involved in the implementation of the project: human and material.

Basic concepts

Project management is a process with limitless potential. Despite this, all types of actions are predictable. Throughout the life cycle of the project, modern management methods and technologies are applied. Purpose: to achieve certain results, laid down in terms of composition, volume, cost, quality and time costs in the project. Ultimately, all participants in this process must be satisfied with the result.

The very first and main tool is the definition of the scope of the project. The concept of a work breakdown structure (WBS) is important here. Creating a valid real document is simple in theory, but in practice, as a rule, it turns out to be difficult.a process that requires its own specifics and nuances.

ISR - fully defines the content of the project and is focused on its results. To determine the goals and composition of the stages, the methodology is excellent: the work breakdown structure (WBS), or in English WBS. This technique is also called CPP, which means work breakdown structure. But most often they use the abbreviation ISR.

As a result of the creative activity of the whole team, an official document is born that explains the content of the project and its components. Works not included in the WBS do not belong to the design work. The document itself can contain several levels, each element of which is unique, has a code and, according to the rules, must be described in the WBS dictionary.

The methodology by which a hierarchical structure of work is created to achieve success

The value of ISR also increases with the growth of the scale of the task. This is one of the key success factors. IRS serves for:

• detail project tasks;
• risk, resource, schedule, cost and quality planning;
• accurate distribution with clear limits and definition of the responsibility of the participants;
• organizations between the participants of the interaction project;
• organization of control over the implementation of work and changes;
• reporting organizations;
• creating a project structure called an organizational structure.

All elements that have a hierarchical structure of work are made in a convenient graphical form. This approach has advantagesbefore the list. Due to the collective work in the creation of IRS, the level of communications increases, the best visibility, monitoring and control is achieved. The information presented in graphical form allows you to visually cover the entire scheme.

Packages and dictionaries

An important element that the hierarchical structure of work has is packages that include lists of operations necessary to achieve the result of the task. Thanks to this, the work is carried out without the need for additions. It makes it possible to see a realistic assessment and a measurable result. Such a package is quite suitable for handing over to the contractor.

Tangible help for the implementation of work is played by a special dictionary. It makes it possible to interpret all the elements and terms that the hierarchical structure of the project's work has, and the manager to determine the boundaries of responsibility for each member of the team. This is necessary to avoid duplication of operations.

The dictionary contains: numbers of elements; their names; the time allotted for the implementation of a particular operation; the order of the elements; the expected result and responsible for each section of the project.

Elements

The hierarchical work structure of the project is being developed by the whole team using the integration method. All aspects of the project are broken down sequentially: goals, results, criteria, achievements, products, functional areas, volumes, technical requirements. The conditions required to create a work breakdown structure are as follows:

• each element should have its own formulated measurable result;
• each result of the element above is a product of the decomposition elements;
• packages and some operations must be unique.

For the organization of work to be successful, the structure is complete, but not redundant.

The elements of the upper levels must be combined with the entire organizational structure. The elements of the lower level should not be excessive in size, but quite sufficient for the implementation of the task and control.

To break down project deliverables into elements, there are two main approaches: functional and product. These criteria cannot be combined at the same level. However, on different ones it is even very expedient. It is also important not to mix managerial and substantive work. A product approach is needed so that the customer can see when and what products the manager will hand over to him. Functional - for the interaction of the manager with the performers and the appointment of those responsible for certain areas of work.

Approaches

If the organization of the project will take place in several stages, you can use the approach based on the cubic structure of the project.

At the top level, results are broken down based on life cycle stages. After that, structuring by project products is performed. At the final stage, work packages are completed according to the functional criterion or according to the types of activities.

For guidanceof the project, building a hierarchical structure of work and all the key information necessary for this is laid down in the charter. Description of meaningful work is done first. After that, you can create a description of the management block. It is usually allocated in a conditional module, as a "Project Management System". In addition, at the first level of the hierarchy, modules are formed according to the design documentation and the object put into operation.

Often the approach to the implementation of the project is unprofessional, ignoring the IRS. Such an approach, at best, will lead to many errors, the correction of which will take a large amount of material and physical costs.

Decomposition

In order for the result to be obtained in the form that was originally intended, with a minimum of resources spent, it is necessary to approach the implementation of the project professionally. That's what the work breakdown structure is for, an effective tool for managers.

Decomposition in progress:

• it will not be possible to realistically assess time, risk and cost;
• element can no longer be broken logically.

If the element can be completed quite quickly (up to 10 working days), then the decomposition is considered complete.

Stages of IRS

1. Set goals and plan goals.
2. Goal decomposition stage.
3. Operations are defined.
4. Pending content.
5. Resources being identified.
6. Stageresource assignments.
7. Cost is being estimated.
8. Budget is being estimated.
9. Estimated terms and volumes.
10. Scheduling.
11. A plan is being developed to complete the project.
12. Relationships are being identified.
13. The criteria for success are defined.

Economic modeling can be a valuable aid to planning. A properly developed functional model will reduce the time it takes to detail operations and think through priority operations in detail.

Sufficient number of methods have been developed for scheduling the optimal work schedule for the project, among them: the method of heuristic approach and critical path. It is advantageous to present schedules in the form of a checkpoint diagram (zero-length events corresponding to the moment of achieving the result and the onset of important milestones in the project). Such a diagram reflects the actual and planned terms.