I’m finally at peace with the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure).

What bothered me for the longest time is how phases and deliverables seem to get all tangled up during the planning and documentation of a project. And I couldn’t put my finger on what seemed wrong. But my enlightenment has arrived. I understand now that the two are not interchangeable and should not be too closely entwined.

It’s because of Josh Nankievel of www.WBScoach.com that I have seen the light: I will no longer do a WBS with phases built into it. This is project management’s answer to the equivalent of the “spaghetti code” problem in the programming world. He nails the problems right-on and provides the cure. You are the man, Josh!

From now on I will keep scheduling and phases as a separate animal from the WBS. Once I do that I will be able to easily trace my project artifacts (e.g. the docs) and delegated assignments back to numbered WBS deliverables – and back to the line numbers in the formal contract. This means project members can be flexible with scheduling and granular task changes without causing me to lose control of the formal scope.