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The WBS Dictionary is a table or spreadsheet that is organized by project task and contains all project planning details.

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Quick reference

Work Breakdown Structure Dictionary

The WBS Dictionary is a table or spreadsheet that is organized by project tasks and contains all project planning details.

When to use

Small/Focused Projects: The WBS Dictionary is an ideal tool for consolidating and communicating the project plan on small or focused projects.  The entire project plan can be presented in one table.

Large/Complex Projects: The WBS Dictionary is useful on large or complex projects for summarizing a portion of the project such as a phase or all the activities required to support a major deliverable.  The technique becomes unwieldy when the table grows to include hundreds of tasks.  At that point project management software should be used, most of which includes a WBS Dictionary display.

Instructions

  • Determine the column headings for documenting the plan. There should be at least one column for the task description, normally at least two columns for the schedule – those being the start and finish date for the task, and at least one column for resources – either personnel or budget.   
  • Determine the column headings for managing the project.  There should be at least one column for current status.  Often there are columns for items such as risk, variance, or relationships with other tasks.
  • List each of the project deliverables.  If the project is managed in phases, list each phase and the deliverables for that phase.
  • List each task that must be accomplished to complete each deliverable under the respective deliverable - use deliverables deployment to assist with this effort.
  • As the project plan is developed, insert the planning information into the appropriate cell in the table.
  • As the project progresses, insert the status information into the appropriate cell in the table.
  • WBS Dictionary:  “A document that provides detailed deliverable, activity, and scheduling information about each component in the Work Breakdown Structure.”  PMBOK® Guide

This definition is taken from the Glossary of the Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017.

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  • 00:00 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:05 Let's talk with you now about the WBS Dictionary.
  • 00:09 The project management body of knowledge, the PMBOK Guide, defines the WBS
  • 00:13 dictionary as a document that provides detailed, deliverable, activity, and
  • 00:18 scheduling information about each component in the work breakdown structure.
  • 00:23 Now, in case you're wondering what a WBS stands for,
  • 00:26 it is work breakdown structure.
  • 00:28 That is the project management term for
  • 00:30 all the stuff that we have to do on a project.
  • 00:32 It's essentially a complete description of the project scope,
  • 00:36 showing all the deliverables and tasks.
  • 00:38 I talk more about the structure of a WBS in a different lesson.
  • 00:42 The WBS Dictionary is often used as the detailed description of project scope that
  • 00:47 is found in the scope baseline.
  • 00:49 The deliverables and
  • 00:50 tasks that we discussed in an earlier lesson are listed here.
  • 00:53 The WBS Dictionary is structured as a matrix and a table or spreadsheet.
  • 00:59 Each row is a task or deliverable, and
  • 01:01 each of the columns is some aspect of how that work is to be done.
  • 01:05 Some of the columns are focused on planning,
  • 01:08 and some on execution and control.
  • 01:11 A WBS Dictionary can be a tremendous asset to a project
  • 01:14 manager if the columns are chosen wisely, and
  • 01:17 can be an administrative waste of time with inappropriate columns.
  • 01:22 The key is to use columns to provide information that helps you actually plan
  • 01:26 and manage the project.
  • 01:28 This typically means at least one column representing each side
  • 01:32 of the project management triangle, those being scope, schedule, and resources.
  • 01:37 I often will have several columns for each side, and an additional column for
  • 01:41 tracking status.
  • 01:43 You can select whatever columns you find to be most helpful.
  • 01:47 Recognizing that the more columns you have, the more insight into the tasks, but
  • 01:52 also the more work to create and maintain the WBS Dictionary.
  • 01:57 Here are some suggestions for columns.
  • 01:59 I've used all of these from time to time, but never all of them at the same time.
  • 02:04 For a scope column, you might have a deliverable, a task, or
  • 02:08 the quality requirements.
  • 02:10 For schedule problems, you will often have the start date, the end date, and
  • 02:14 the duration.
  • 02:15 For resource columns, I normally use the task leader, the department, and
  • 02:20 the cost or the hours of effort.
  • 02:23 Other columns include things like, what's the current status?
  • 02:26 What are the risks?
  • 02:27 Or, how is this task related to other tasks?
  • 02:31 This slide is an example of a segment of a WBS Dictionary.
  • 02:35 You can see that this is from a portion of phase three of the project,
  • 02:39 the concept phase.
  • 02:41 The first column is just an identifier column, but
  • 02:43 this can be very helpful in managing a large project.
  • 02:46 As you can see, we're dealing with a deliverable of a prototype test,
  • 02:50 and have a number of tasks listed.
  • 02:53 We also have the quality requirement or definition of done, for
  • 02:56 each of those tasks.
  • 02:58 These comprise the scope columns.
  • 03:01 Next, there is a column for the task leader.
  • 03:03 This would be a resource column.
  • 03:05 This is followed by several scheduled columns, start and finish dates,
  • 03:09 then another resource column with the hours of estimated work for each task.
  • 03:14 Finally, a list of risks by task and the current status.
  • 03:18 Use the columns that make the most sense for your project and
  • 03:21 the way you're managing it.
  • 03:23 It can be used to document the plan and
  • 03:25 communicate that to your team in addition to tracking progress.
  • 03:29 When I'm working on a small project, the WBS Dictionary may be the only
  • 03:33 project management planning document that I generate.
  • 03:36 It captures all of the other information needed to plan and track the project.
  • 03:40 I will then use this project as we follow along and
  • 03:43 update the status column at each team meeting.
  • 03:46 Large projects will often demand additional project planning tools. The WBS
  • 03:47 Dictionary is a great planning and tracking tool.
  • 03:55 It can be a big help for managing your project.

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