WBS
Business & Finance abbreviation · Project Management
| Stands for | Work breakdown structure |
|---|---|
| Categories | Business & Finance |
WBS stands for Work breakdown structure, a project management abbreviation.
Hierarchical breakdown of a project's total scope into progressively smaller deliverables and work packages, used as the basis for estimating, scheduling, assigning responsibility and tracking cost.
Example: Break the WBS down until each work package can be estimated and owned by one person.
Usage notes
The "100% rule" requires the WBS to include all the work, and only the work, in the project scope. A WBS dictionary describes each element. The technique was formalized by the US Department of Defense, which published a military standard for it in 1968. A WBS is organized by deliverables, not by schedule order.
Related abbreviations
More project management abbreviations
- AC – Actual cost
- ART – Agile release train
- BAC – Budget at completion
- CAPM – Certified Associate in Project Management
- CCB – Change control board
- CCPM – Critical chain project management
- CO – Change order
- CPFF – Cost-plus-fixed-fee
- CPI – Cost performance index
- CPM – Critical path method
- CR – Change request
- CSM – Certified ScrumMaster