The work breakdown structure represents all products and project work. It shows the total work from lowest levels to the highest levels so that nothing is left out and no extra work is completed. The WBS elaborates the work required by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables for everyone in the team.

Work breakdown structure (WBS) is critical for planning and accomplishing a project successfully. It is basically a family tree listing all the "parent" tasks and then breaking them down into smaller tasks. This helps the team understand what needs to be done and the proper sequence of priorities. Thus the WBS is critical for all stages of the project management life cycle.

Work breakdown structure is essential in order to complete any project successfully. It helps to plane and organize tasks in a way that it's easy to accomplish. This is by breaking them down into smaller tasks. Work breakdown structure makes it simple for the team to understand what is exactly required from them to finish the project on time.So, work breakdown structure helps to organize tasks in a priority order; instead of looking at the project as a high level task and that makes the team sometimes wast time trying to figure out things or an extra work is done in the project that is unnecessary.

In theory, the WBS is an ideal template to follow when working on a project. I agree that the WBS is pertinent to the success of a project. In reality, people do not always follow the WBS due to people either being ignorant, lazy and or arrogant like Bob in Dr. Simons pretend scenario. In situations like Bob, that’s when projects fall apart due to the manager not doing his or her due diligence. Has anyone experienced a situation in which the manager was like Bob? Also, how did you go about talking to others on the team about the demands Bob wants? Did you tell Bob that it can not be done, we need another alternative?

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is probably the first thing you should do when working on the Planning Phase. This is a very broad outline but it still lays the framework for the entire project. It is also versatile in that you can organize it in several different ways (by department, by product subsystem) so you can get the information across clearly. This WBS will also be the template for the Gantt chart which will almost certainly be created for any important project. The Gantt chart will elaborate on each division of the WBS in much more detail. Putting in the necessary work in this Planning Phase will make the execution of the project infinitely easier.

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a great way to keep yourself and your colleagues organized within your project. As said before, the WBS is the foundation and structure of the Pert or Gantt chart you would make to detail all your tasks. It also provides you the space to catch any task that you may have overlooked or left out from your project initiation. I have personally never made a work breakdown structure before, but I can imagine that after correctly putting all the information into a WBS, the rest of the project will be a lot easier to manage. Tasks will be clearly defined by hierarchical divisions and groups. A WBS is a perfect way to organize a project.

I agree with most of the comments, the Work Breakdown Structure is extremely useful to break down the project into tasks and sub-tasks. Though a disadvantage of the WBS is that it doesn't include a time frame or relationships between tasks. The WBS may be a useful starting point to then use as a guide when making a Network Diagram or Gantt Chart. 

The Work Breakdown Structure is an important tool for the project management cycle, but only if it is created and used properly. Factors like dependencies, estimated costs, tasks, responsible individuals or departments for those tasks,  and other measurable quantities like scope should be considered, depending on the project and team. In order minimize any issues further down the PM cycle, all departments of the project should review the WBS and provide input. An effective WBS will help create a network diagram capable of yielding a reasonable project schedule. 

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a critical document that helps divide the end goal of a project into smaller, more achievable sub-goals and tasks. Therefore, the importance the WBS plays in the project management life cycle is that it is the first step in determining all the tasks that will need to be accomplished for the project. As mentioned in the lecture, it can also be subdivided into phases or departments, which can give an early look at what groups of people will be responsible for certain tasks or phases of the project. Another importance the WBS plays is that it can help prevent scope creep if all the tasks required for the project are defined in advance. Furthermore, the WBS can act has a helpful guide during the creation of a network diagram and Gantt Chart, which will be used to assess the progress of the project.

Aside from an example Work Breakdown Structure in an engineering management class, I have never actually been apart in the process of creating one for a real project in industry. Therefore, does anybody have any experience in helping to create a WBS for a project they were involved in? Also, another question I had was how exactly is the Work Breakdown Structure created in industry. For instance, is it created as a group by various members involved in the project, by the project manager, or another party involved with the project?