How to understand work breakdown structures

The significance of project and performance valuations often determine the effectiveness and are driven by the planning or the design of the program being assessed.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. While a work breakdown structure is not intended to be an identification of the outcomes or means of determining what is required of a project after it is operational, it is important to recognize that it does capture elements of performance. The first step in determining a work breakdown structure is to identify the major costs or elements or a project. The costs can be itemized as major costs because they may have components of two or more elements. Cost elements or individual major costs supporting a work breakdown structure may be summarized as arithemtic, parametric or analagous ones. The first type is simply the cost of a and b, b1, b2 etc.. a second type is the proportion of one to the other, eg., a is 2/3 b. An arithmetic cost would include a1 + a2 + a3 or the remaining costs comprising cost a. Cost B would be the ratio or multiplier times cost x to derive cost B. that is, B = .70 times x. Cost B may also need b1 to add or b2 to add as well.
2. While the work breakdown structure is intended to demonstrate that one knows of indirect and direct costs, namely the arithmetic and parametric costs the intention of the workbreakdown structure is that one should identify the costs that go into producing the outcome or project without missing any key parts, steps or components. Therefore if my project is an output which needs configuration, or needs maintenance or needs production in various sizes, varieties, then the cost of producing these is dependent on these additional considerations. Step two then requires schedule and post production or specifications elements.
3. The last utility or step of understanding a work breakdown structure is arguably that the benefits of our work product are in terms of its intended use. Ultimately the outcome or product needs to be utilized to its maximum
   potentiality. That is to say if my product has x y and z capabilities it should use them in the workplace.