word for assignment part 1

8/3/2019 Word for Assignment Part 1

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For further help/assistance please email [email protected] or phone the IT Service Desk on extension 65515 or 01202965515 or call in to the Counter in either the Open Access Centre on the 1st floor of Studland House, Lansdowne Campus or in The Sir Michael Cobham Library at Talbot Campus. 1

Word for

Assignments– Part 1

Tutor - Kit Alcock

IT Skills Development Team –March 2009

mailto:[email protected]






CONTENTS

USING THE RIBBON..............................................................3

DIALOGUE BOX LAUNCHER.....................................................................................................................3

HIDING THE RIBBON............................................................................................................................3MINI TOOLBAR..................................................................................................................................3

PAGE SET UP OPTIONS.........................................................4

HEADERS AND FOOTERS......................................................4

INSERTING A HEADER...........................................................................................................................4ADDING PAGE NUMBERS.......................................................................................................................4ADDING THE DOCUMENT PATH AND FILE NAME IN HEADER OR FOOTER.................................................................4MAKE HEADERS OR FOOTERS DIFFERENT FOR ODD AND EVEN PAGES...................................................................5

CREATING A NEW PAGE FOR A COVER OR TITLE PAGE...........5

USING STYLES.....................................................................5

CREATING A BASIC TABLE OF CONTENTS..............................6

UPDATING TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................................6

USING WORD COUNT...........................................................6

USING THE THESAURUS ......................................................6

USING SPELL CHECK............................................................6

SAVING THE FILE FOR FUTURE USE......................................7

USING PRINT PREVIEW........................................................7

EXTRA - TIP BITS.................................................................7

REMOVE HEADER OR FOOTER FROM FIRST PAGE............................................................................................7CREATING A NEW S TYLE ......................................................................................................................7 THE NEW XML FILE FORMATS...............................................................................................................7

USING WORD 2007 - EXERCISE.............................................8

WANT TO KNOW MORE?.......................................................8

For further help/assistance please email [email protected] or phone the IT Service Desk on extension 65515 or 01202965515 or call in to the Counter in either the Open Access Centre on the 1st floor of Studland House, Lansdowne Campus or in The Sir Michael Cobham Library at Talbot Campus 2







Using the Ribbon

The first thing you will notice when you open an application in Office 2007 is the new look, instead of the usual toolbars Office 2007 now has a Ribbon which spans across the top of the application you

are using. The Ribbon brings the most popular commands to the fore front; with exposure andpractice this makes work easier and faster. The Ribbon makes everything in Office 2007 nicelycentralised and easy to find.

There are three basic components to the Ribbon:

► Tabs: There are seven basic ones across the top. Each represents an activity area.

► Groups: Each tab has several groups that show related items together.

► Commands: A command is a button, a box to enter information or a menu.

Everything on a tab has been carefully selected according to user activities. For example, the Home

tab contains all the things you use most often, such as the commands in the Font group for changingtext font: Font, Font Size, Bold, Italic etc.

At first glance, you may not see a certain command from the system you have used before but don’tworry it is still there.

Dialogue Box Launcher

Some groups have a small diagonal arrow in the lower-right corner the arrow is called aDialogue Box Launcher . If you click it, you will see more options; you will recognise these extraoptions due to them looking the same as before.

Hiding the Ribbon

Sometimes you may want to hide the Ribbon if you don’t need to use it: To do this:► Double-click the active tab. The groups will disappear so you have more room.

Whenever you want to see all of the commands again:

► Double-click the active tab to bring back the groups.

Mini Toolbar

The Mini Toolbar becomes available when ever you select text.

It will appear in a faded fashion just beside the text you haveselected, if you point to the Mini toolbar, it will become solid, and

you can click the formatting option you require there.


Microsoft OfficeButton

Tabs

GroupsDialogue Box Launcher More button







Page Set up Options

When first creating a document you need to consider the layout. Do you need a larger margin onone side for binding or staples? Does your document need to be in Portrait or landscape? Do youneed to have a title page and a contents page etc, whether you start a document from scratch or rework an existing document, you can follow a few basic steps to ensure high-quality results.

► Firstly click on the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon, from here you can change the margins of

your document, the page orientation or even add a border etc

Remember to save your document after any changes you make.

The size should be set to A4 or A3.

Headers and Footers

Headers and footers are those little identifiers that run across the top and bottom of your document,providing important background information. They include areas for you to enter details such aspage numbers, dates, chapter titles, and author name. They give the document a professional lookwith easy to see information.

Inserting a Header

On the Ribbon, click the Insert tab and in the Header & Footer group andclick on Header. This opens up drop down list of different headers (thesecond option in the drop down list is a good option) you can choose from,all of which have Content Control areas that you enter information.

You will notice that the Ribbon has changed due to you being in the Header & Footer group:

Adding Page Numbers

On the Ribbon, click the Insert tab, and in the Header & Footer group, click Page Number.

► Point to a position for the page numbers, on the menu, and click a pagenumber type from the gallery.

► The page numbers are inserted, and the header and footer workspacewill open.

Double click in the main part of your document will close the header/footer window. Double click in the header or footer area will open that area to allow you to make changes.

Adding the Document Path and File Name in Header or Footer

In the header or footer, position the cursor where you want the informationto go.

► In the Insert group in Header & Footer Tools, click Quick Parts, andclick Field.

► In the Field dialog box, under Field names, click Filename. Over to theright in the dialog box, click the check box next to Add path to filename.Click OK.

► The path and file name for your document are inserted in the header or

footer.You may also find it useful to place your name in the header or footer for use for your tutor.

If you are using the compatibility mode some features may not be available to you.








Make Headers or Footers Different for Odd and Even Pages

► On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

► Click Edit Header or Edit Footer.

► On the Headers & Footers tab, in the Options group, select theDifferent odd and even check box.

If necessary, in the Navigation group, click Previous or Next to move into the odd or evenheader or footer areas.

Create the header or footer for odd-numbered pages in the Odd Page Header or Odd Page Footer area. Create the header or footer for even-numbered pages in the Even Page Header or Even PageFooter area.

Creating a New Page for a Cover or Title Page

Creating a title page (the front page of your assignment) can be done at any stage i.e. it does notneed to be done when you first create your document.

To create a title page:

► Place your cursor at the top of the document at the beginning of the first word

► Press the Ctrl and Enter Key (at the same time)

Or

► Click on the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon

► From the Page Setup group click on the arrow beside the Breaks button

► From the drop down menu choose Page

You will notice a new page has been created above the one you had your cursor on, this can now beused as your title page, Word 2007 has a gallery of predesigned cover pages that you can chooseand then replace the sample text with your own.

To do this:

► On the Insert tab, in the Pages group, click Cover Page.

► Click a cover page layout from the gallery of options.

► The Conservative option is recommended for this exercise

To delete a cover page, click the Insert tab, click Cover pages in the Pages group, and then clickRemove Current Cover Page.

Using Styles

When you start to work on a new document, you can choose from several predesigned Quick Stylesets, Each Quick Style set may include styles for several heading levels, body text, quotes, and titlesthat are designed to work together in a single document.

► On the Home tab, in the Styles group you will see different types of styles to choose from in thestyle gallery, if however you want more choice then click on the Change Styles button, andthen point to Style Set.

► Click a Quick Style set, such as Modern.

The gallery of Quick Styles changes to reflect the Quick Style set that you clicked. You can then useall of the styles in the gallery to build your document.

If you click on the Dialogue Box Launcher button, this will bring the style box on the right side of the screen; from here you can choose different headings, bullet points etc.








Creating a Basic Table of Contents

You create a table of contents by choosing the heading styles — for example, Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 — that you want toinclude in the table of contents. Microsoft Office Word searches for headings that match the style that you have chosen; it then formats andindents the entry text according to the heading style you have selected,

and then inserts the table of contents into the document.► Click where you want to insert the table of contents.

► On the References tab, in the Table of Contents group, click Table of Contents, and thenclick the table of contents style that you want.

Updating Table of Contents

You may add more content to your document and need to re-dothe table of contents:

► Place your cursor within the table of content and press the F9key on the keypad, a small dialogue box will appear:

OR

► On the References tab, in the Table of Contents group, click UpdateTable.

► Click Update page numbers only or Update entire table.

Using Word Count

You may need to count the amount of words in a document of aselect area within your document, to do this:

To count the whole documents:

► Click on the Review tab and from the Proofing group select the

Word Count Button.

► This opens up a small dialogue box which will display all theinformation you require, you will also notice that the status bar

displays the number of words.

To count a selected area, just select the text to be counted and follow the instructions above.

Using the Thesaurus

► Select the word you want to check.

► Click on the Review tab, in the Proofing group click on the Thesaurus button.► On the right hand side of your screen the Thesaurus Research task bar will appear with

alternatives you could use.

► To use one of the words in the list of results point to it, click the down arrow, and then click Insertor Copy.

Using Spell Check

When you check spelling automatically while you type, you can be more confident that you won'thave to correct a lot of spelling mistakes when you are ready to deliver your document. A red line willappear underneath the incorrect word.

► Right click the word with the red line and from the options available select the correctly speltword.








Saving the File for Future Use

Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Save. When saving in 2007 it is always best tochoose the Word 97-2003 option from the list as this will save a copy of the document that is fullycompatible with Word 97-2003

Using Print Preview

When you are ready to Print it is always advisable to do a Print Preview before hand, to do this:

► Click the Microsoft Office Button , point to the arrow next to Print, and then click PrintPreview.

► OneNote, Outlook, Project, Publisher, or Visio

► On the File menu, click Print Preview

Extra - Tip Bits

Remove Header or Footer from First Page

► On the Page Layout tab, click the Page Setup Dialog Box Launcher, and then click the Layouttab.

► Select the Different first page check box under Headers and footers.

You will see the Headers and footers are removed from the first page of the document.

Creating a New Style

Sometimes you may need to create a new style within the Quick Styles

Although a Quick Style set likely contains all of the styles you require for your document you mayneed to add a brand new style.

To do this:

► Select the text that you want to create as a new style.

► On the Mini toolbar that appears above your selection, click on the relevant changes you want tomake i.e. the font size, style colour etc to format the text.

► Right-click the selection, point to Styles, and then click Save Selection as a New Quick Style.

► Give the style a name and then click OK.

► You will notice your new style has appeared in the Styles Box.

The New XML File Formats

Office 2007 now has a new improved file format. The new file format helps to keep files safer andsmaller. It’s based on the new Office Open XML Formats (XML is short for Extensible Markup

Language). It makes documents safer by separating files that contain scripts or macros, making iteasier to identify and block unwanted code or macros. It also helps make your documents lesssusceptible to damage.

► To save your document:

► Click on the Microsoft Office button and select: Save As: Word 97-2003 Document

► From the list of options select Word Document,

► The save as dialogue box will appear.

► From the Save as type section click on the small arrow, from here you will see all the new XMLformats that you can save the document as.

The only outward difference you are likely to see with the new Word file formats is if you use macrosor code. Previously, there were just two types of Word file extensions: .doc for documents and .dot








for templates. With Word 2007 there are now four file extensions rather than two, these are: .docx,.dotx, .docm and .dotm (the "x" stands for XML and the "m" for macro

Basic documents and templates (.docx and .dotx) can no longer contain macros or code, which ishow they are made safer for everyday use. But because macros are useful things to have, there aretwo additional file types to support documents and templates which contain code which are: .docmand .dotm

File extension What it's used for

.docx A standard Word document with no macros or code

.dotx A Word template with no macros or code

.docm A Word document that could contain macros or code

.dotm A Word template that could contain macros or code

Using Word 2007 - Exercise

Open the document called Assignment exercise1.doc from the student P/drive in a folder called IT

Workshops.

Save this document to your H/drive and call it: Climate

Place a header in the document, which is to contain your name and the date.

Place a footer in the document, which is to contain page numbers, the path and file name.

Make the headers different for odd and even pages.

Save the document again.

Now create a new page to be used as your cover or title page. Once you have created this pagegive the document the title of Climate.

Save the document.Using styles give the documents heading styles and sub-heading styles.

Save the document.

Now create a Table of Contents

In the first paragraph highlight the word “extinction” and using the Thesaurus find an alternate word.

Save the document.

Use spell check and word count.

Change the margin of the document to: Left 3.5cm (this may alter your page numbering so you willneed to go to your contents page and update the table)

Save the document.

Now go to Print Preview to view how your document will look if printed.

Want To Know More?

Why not book to attend the Using Word for Assignments Part 2

In this workshop you will learn how to:

► Get more creative with Headers and Footers

► Create Endnotes, Footnotes and Captions

► Insert Images into your document

► Layout your document text around Images








► How to Develop Work

► Breakdown Structures

► Michael D. Taylor2

► Copyright 2003-2009 by Michael D. Taylor

► All Rights Reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced

or used in any form

► or by any means -- graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping,or information

► storage and retrieval system -- without written permission of Michael D. Taylor, SystemsManagement Services

► (http://www.projectmgt.com).P a g e | 3

► WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURES

► “A Work Breakdown Structure is a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work tobe

► executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the requireddeliverables.”

► 1

► A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a fundamental project management

► technique for defining and organizing the total scope of a project, using a

► hierarchical tree structure. The first two levels of the WBS (the root node and

► Level 2) define a set of planned outcomes that collectively and exclusively

► represent 100% of the project scope. At each subsequent level, the children of a

► parent node collectively and exclusively represent 100% of the scope of their ► parent node.

► A well-designed WBS describes planned outcomes instead of planned actions.

► Outcomes are the desired ends of the project, such as a product, result, or service,

► and can be predicted accurately. Actions, on the other hand, may be difficult to

► predict accurately. A well-designed WBS makes it easy to assign any project

► activity to one and only one terminal element of the WBS.

► TYPES OF WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURES

► Even though the term “Work Breakdown Structure” has been used as a label for ► all project scope hierarchical diagrams, there are, in practice, many types other

► than “deliverable” oriented structures.

►

► 1

► A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (Newton Square, PA: ProjectManagement Institute, 2004).P a g e | 4

► Verb-oriented WBS: a task-oriented WBS defines the deliverable of project work

► in terms of the actions that must be done to produce the deliverable. The first word

► in a given WBS element usually is a verb, such as, design, develop, optimize,

► transfer, test, etc.








► Noun-oriented WBS: a deliverable-oriented WBS defines project work in terms of

► the components (physical or functional) that make up the deliverable. In this case,

► the first word in a given WBS element is a noun, such as, Module A, Subsystem

► A, Automobile Engine, Antenna, etc. Since the nouns are usually parts of a

► product, this WBS type is sometimes called a “Product Breakdown Structure

► (PBS). Deliverable-oriented WBS structures are the preferred type according to

► PMI’s definition.

► Time-phased WBS: a “time-phased” WBS is one that is used on very long projects.

► It breaks the project into major phases instead of tasks. In this type, a “rolling

► wave” approach is adopted and only the near-term phase is planned in detail.

► Other WBS types may include organization-types, geographical-types, cost

► breakdown types, and profit-center types.

► WBS DESIGN PRINCIPLES

► The 100% Rule

► One of the most important WBS design principles is called the 100% Rule. The

► Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures (Second Edition), published by

► the Project Management Institute (PMI) defines the 100% Rule as follows:

► The 100% Rule...states that the WBS includes 100% of the work

► defined by the project scope and captures ALL deliverables –

► internal, external, interim – in terms of the work to be completed,

► including project management. The 100% rule is one of the most

► important principles guiding the development, decomposition and

► evaluation of the WBS. The rule applies at all levels within the

► hierarchy: the sum of the work at the “child” level must equal 100%

► of the work represented by the “parent” and the WBS should not

► include any work that falls outside the actual scope of the project,

► that is, it cannot include more than 100% of the work… It is

► important to remember that the 100% rule also applies to the activity

► level. The work represented by the activities in each work package

► must add up to 100% of the work necessary to complete the work

► package.P a g e | 5

► The best way to adhere to the 100% Rule is to define WBS elements in

► terms of outcomes or results.

► Planned Outcomes, Not Planned Actions

► If the WBS designer attempts to capture any action-oriented details in the WBS,

► he/she will likely include either too many actions or too few actions. Too many

► actions will exceed 100% of the parent's scope and too few will fall short of 100%

► of the parent's scope. The best way to adhere to the 100% Rule is to define WBS

► elements in terms of outcomes or results. This also ensures that the WBS is not








► overly prescriptive of methods, allowing for greater ingenuity and creative

► thinking on the part of the project participants. For new product development

► projects, the most common technique to assure an outcome-oriented WBS is to

► use a product breakdown structure (PBS).

► Feature-driven software projects may use a similar technique which is to employ a

► feature breakdown structure. When a project provides professional services, a

► common technique is to capture all planned deliverables to create a deliverableoriented WBS.Work breakdown structures that subdivide work by project phases

► (e.g. Preliminary Design Phase, Critical Design Phase) must ensure that phases are

► clearly separated by a deliverable (e.g. an approved Preliminary Design Review

► document, or an approved Critical Design Review document).

► Level 2 is the Most Important

► Of all the levels on a WBS, Level-2 is often the most important because it

► determines how actual costs and schedule data are grouped for future project cost

► and schedule estimating. A project manager may find it useful to know how much

► it took to design (major work element) a product after it had been completed so

► that the data can be used for future analogous estimating. In other cases, the

► project manager may want to know how much a major part of the product actually

► cost after the project was completed. For this a PBS would be used. Level-2 is

► therefore used to capture “actuals” from a project for future estimating purposes.

► The Four Elements in Each WBS Element

► Each WBS element, when completed should contain the following four items:

► 1. The scope of work, including any “deliverables.”

► 2. The beginning and end dates for the scope of work.

► 3. The budget for the scope of work.

► 4. The name of the person responsible for the scope of work.

► By using a WBS in this manner the project manager can approach a complex

► project and decompose it into manageable, assignable portions. There is minimal

► confusion among project members when this technique is used.P a g e | 6

► Mutually-exclusive Elements

► In addition to the 100% Rule, it is important that there is no overlap in scope

► definition between two elements of a WBS. This ambiguity could result in

► duplicated work or miscommunications about responsibility and authority.

► Likewise, such overlap is likely to cause confusion regarding project cost

► accounting. If the WBS element names are ambiguous, a WBS dictionary can help

► clarify the distinctions between WBS elements

► How Far Down?

► The WBS is decomposed down to the work package level. A work package is the

► lowest level in the WBS, and is the point at which the cost and schedule for the








► work can be reliably estimated.

► 2

► A question to be answered in the design of any WBS is when to stop dividing

► work into smaller elements. If a WBS terminal elements are defined too broadly, it

► may not be possible to track project performance effectively. If a WBS terminal

► elements are too granular, it may be inefficient to keep track of so many terminal

► elements, especially if the planned work is in the distant future. A satisfactory

► tradeoff may be found in the concept of progressive elaboration which allows

► WBS details to be progressively refined before work begins on an element of

► work.

► One form of progressive elaboration in large projects is called rolling wave

► planning which establishes a regular time schedule for progressive elaboration. In

► reality, an effective limit of WBS granularity may be reached when it is no longer

► possible to define planned outcomes, and the only details remaining are actions.

► Unless these actions can be defined to adhere to the 100% Rule, the WBS should

► not be further subdivided.

►

► 2

► PMBOK

► It is important that there is no overlap in scope definition between two

► elements of a WBS.

► An effective limit of WBS granularity may be reached when it is no longer

► possible to define planned outcomes, and the only details remaining are

► actionsP a g e | 7

► The 40-Hour Rule of Decomposition

► Another rule-of-thumb for determining how far down a WBS should be

► decomposed is called the “40 Hour Rule.” Generally, when a project has been

► decomposed down to an element that has about 40 hours of allocated direct labor,

► there is no need to decompose further. The 40 Hour Rule is based on a 40-hour

► work week. Because of this, most WBS diagrams are not symmetrical. Some legs

► may go down to Level-4 while others may go down to Level-5.

► The 4% Rule of Decomposition

► Gary Heerkens suggests a 4% Rule for decomposing a WBS. With this rule a

► WBS is adequately decomposed when the lowest element is about 4% of the total

► project.

► 3

► For a 26-week schedule, the lowest element should be about one week.

► For a $2.6M project, the lowest level should be about $104K.

► WBS Identification Numbering








► It is common for WBS elements to be numbered sequentially to reveal the

► hierarchical structure. For example 1.3.2 Rear Wheel identifies this item as a

► Level 3 WBS element, since there are three numbers separated decimal point. A

► coding scheme also helps WBS elements to be recognized in any written context.

► Figure 1 WBS Construction Example

► The above WBS is from PMI's Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures

► (2nd Edition). This image illustrates an objective method of employing the 100%

► Rule during WBS construction.

►

► 3

► Gary R. Heerkens, Project Management (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishers, 2002) p. 103,122.P a g e | 8

► Figure 1 shows a WBS construction technique that demonstrates the 100% Rule

► quantitatively. At the beginning of the design process, the project manager has

► assigned 100 points to the total scope of this project, which is designing and

► building a custom bicycle. At WBS Level 2, the 100 total points are subdivided

► into seven comprehensive elements. The number of points allocated to each is a

► judgment based on the relative effort involved; it is NOT an estimate of duration.

► The three largest elements of WBS Level 2 are further subdivided at Level 3, and

► so forth. The largest terminal elements at Level 3 represent only 17% of the total

► scope of work. These larger elements may be further subdivided using the

► progressive elaboration technique described above.

► In this example, the WBS coding scheme includes a trailing "underscore"

► character ("_") to identify terminal elements. This is a useful coding scheme

► because planned project schedule activities (e.g. "Install inner tube and tire") will

► be assigned to terminal elements instead of parent elements.

► It is recommended that WBS design be initiated with interactive software (e.g. a

► spreadsheet) that allows automatic rolling up of point values. Another

► recommended practice is to discuss the point estimations with project team

► members. This collaborative technique builds greater insight into scope

► definitions, underlying assumptions, and consensus regarding the level of

► granularity required to manage the project.

► Another example of a Project WBS using the 100% Method is shown below.

► PROJECT 1267

► (100%)

► 1267.1.1

► Reqt’s Definition

► (7%)

► 1267.1.2








► Regulations

► (5%)

► 1267.1.3

► Scheduling

► (5%)

► 1267.1.4

► Mon & Control

► (5%)

► 1267.2.1

► Conceptual Design

► (5%)

► 1267.2.2

► Preliminary

► Design

► (5%)

► 1267.2.3

► Final Design

► (5%)

► 1267.3.1

► Civil Engineering

► (7%)

► 1267.3.2

► Mechanical

► Engineering

► (5%)

► 1267.3.3

► Electrical

► Engineering

► (3%)

► 1267.3.4

► Systems

► Engineering

► (5%)

► 1267.4.1

► Foundation

► (7%)

► 1267.4.2

► Structures

► (5%)








► 1267.4.3

► Roads

► (5%)

► 1267.4.4

► Landscape

► (3%)

► 1267.5.1

► Safety Planning

► (4%)

► 1267.5.2

► Safety Documents

► (4%)

► 1267.5.3

► Inspections

► (4%)

► 1267.1.6

► Closeout

► (3%)

► 1267.1.5

► Procurement

► Management

► (8%)

► 1267.1.0

► Systems Integ.

► (33%)

► 1267.2.0

► Design

► (15%)

► 1267.3.0

► Engineering

► (20%)

► 1267.4.0

► Construction

► (20%)

► 1267.5.0

► Safety

► (12%)P a g e | 9

► COMMON PITFALLS AND MISCONCEPTIONS

► A WBS is not an exhaustive list of work. It is instead a comprehensive








► classification of project scope.

► A WBS is not a project plan or a project schedule and it is not a chronological

► listing. It is considered poor practice to construct a project schedule (e.g. using

► project management software) before designing a proper WBS. This would be

► similar to scheduling the activities of home construction before completing the

► house design. Without concentrating on planned outcomes, it is very difficult to

► follow the 100% Rule at all levels of the WBS hierarchy. It is not possible to

► recover from an improperly defined WBS without starting over, so it is

► worthwhile to finish the WBS design before starting a project plan or project

► schedule.

► A WBS is not an organizational hierarchy. Some practitioners make the mistake of

► creating a WBS that shadows the organizational chart. While it is common for

► responsibility to be assigned to organizational elements, a WBS that shadows the

► organizational structure is not descriptive of the project scope and is not outcomeoriented.

► Short-term memory capacity should not dictate the size and span of a WBS tree

► structure. Some reference material suggests that each WBS level be limited to 5-9

► elements because that is a theoretical limit to short-term memory. It is far more

► important to construct a logical grouping of planned outcomes than to worry about

► the limits of short-term human memory.

► WBS updates, other than progressive elaboration of details, require formal change

► control. This is another reason why a WBS should be outcome-oriented and not be

► prescriptive of methods. Methods can and do change frequently, but changes in

► planned outcomes require a higher degree of formality. If outcomes and actions

► are blended, change control may be too rigid for actions and too informal for

► outcomes.

► WBS Checklist

► The top element of the WBS is the overall deliverable of the project, and all

► stakeholders agree with it.

► The first two levels of the WBS (the root node and Level 2) define a set of

► planned outcomes that collectively and exclusively represent 100% of the

► project scope.

► The WBS elements are defined in terms of outcomes or results. (Outcomes are

► the desired ends of the project, and can be predicted accurately).

► Each WBS element has an identification number assigned which identifies its

► relative position within the structure.P a g e | 10

► The WBS encompasses everything that will ultimately comprise the project

► deliverable, and all deliverables in the project are included.

► Each WBS element contains the following four items:

► The scope of work, including any “deliverables.”








► The beginning and end dates for the scope of work.

► The budget for the scope of work.

► The name of the person responsible for the scope of work.

► There is no overlap in scope definition between two elements of a WBS.

► The WBS is not a project plan or a project schedule, and it is not a

► chronological listing.

► In the judgment of all parties involved, the WBS has been decomposed and it

► is no longer possible to define planned outcomes--the only details remaining

► are actions.

► The WBS is not an exhaustive list of work. It is instead a comprehensive

► classification of project scope.

► The WBS is not an organizational hierarchy.

► In the judgment of all parties involved, the WBS is neither over-simplified or

► overly complex. It provides an adequate graphical or outline form for viewing

► the overall scope of the project.

► Where to Get More Information

► Carl L. Pritchard. Nuts and Bolts Series 1: How to Build a Work Breakdown Structure. ISBN 1-

► 890367-12-5

► Dennis P. Miller, Visual Project Planning & Scheduling, Second Edition (2002). ISBN 0-

9640630-2-

► 6 (Note: This e-book is essential a facilator's guide for planning a project based on the WBS.)► Gary R. Heerkens. Project Management. (New York, NY: McGraw -Hill Publishers, 2002).

ISBN 0-

► 07-137952-5.

► Gregory T. Haugan. Effective Work Breakdown Structures (The Project Management Essential

► Library Series). ISBN 1-56726-135-3.

► Project Management Institute. Project Management Institute Practice Standard f or WorkBreakdown

► Structures, Second Edition (2006). ISBN 1-933890-13-4 (Note: The Second Edition is anextensive

► re-write of the Practice Standard).

► Robert Wysocki. Effective Project Management: Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme. Indianapolis, IN:

► Wiley Publishing, 2003.Amending existing styles

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