Structuring projects

• You can view only the information you want to work on, instead of having to view the entire project.
• You can delegate self-contained subsections of the project to other people.
• It is easier to communicate the plan to others because you can display only the relevant sections instead of overwhelming people with the entire project.

The most important stages in a project to develop a new computer could be Design, Production and Testing. The manager of each stage could be encouraged to think of their own stage as a distinct project. The main stages of the Design stage could be Hardware, Software and Documentation. The manager of each of these substages could think of their own stage as a distinct project, producing project plans for their own substage, and so on. Each person can then see the part of the project in which they are interested.

You can structure a WBS by creating a new chart for each separate stage of a project. The first chart in a project is known as the programme chart, as it is the chart from which all other charts grow. Tasks in a chart that can be expanded into a subchart are known as expanded tasks. When an expanded task is expanded, you see its subchart. Subcharts can contain further expanded tasks. This is known as nesting.

Expanded tasks take their duration and position from the duration and position of the tasks within their subcharts. You can draw links across charts, linking tasks in one chart with tasks in another:

You can structure a WBS by creating a new summary group for each separate stage of a project, while still keeping all tasks in the same chart if required. Tasks that can be expanded into a summary group are known as summary tasks. Summary groups can contain further summary tasks. This is known as nesting.

As with expanded tasks, summary tasks take their duration and position from the duration and position of the tasks within their summary group and you can draw links between summary groups. When a summary task is expanded, you see the tasks within its summary group:

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a tool used to define and group a project's discrete work elements (ie its tasks) in a way that helps to organise and define the total work scope of the project. Each element within a work breakdown structure element may represent a product, data, a service, or any combination of the above. A WBS also provides a framework for detailed cost estimating and control.

A work breakdown structure is a tree structure, in which all of the elements on one level are summarised by elements on the level above. A WBS is useful when you want to break down the work involved in a project, starting from the main phases of the project and expanding right down to the individual tasks that must be carried out. Each element within a WBS is identified by an alphanumeric WBS code and a descriptive WBS name.

To work with a work breakdown structure, you first set up the hierarchy of WBS codes in a project. You can then assign WBS codes to the tasks in the project.

Once you have assigned WBS codes to the tasks in a project, you can sort/group the tasks by WBS code. This presents you with an alternative view of the structure of your project: tasks are displayed according to their position in the WBS hierarchy, rather than according to their position in the project hierarchy. You can also filter tasks by the WBS codes that are assigned to them.

Although the Asta Powerproject chart hierarchy lends itself to organising projects as a WBS, you can view projects in other ways. When you view a project in its natural order, the tasks are displayed in the order in which they were created and you can navigate around the project by displaying different charts and subcharts.

However, you can filter the tasks that are displayed in a chart to view tasks from different charts or from different projects within a group project. For example, you could choose to view all tasks with a cost greater than a specific amount, or all tasks assigned to a specific department.

You can also view project data using a Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS), or a Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS). An RBS displays tasks from the point of view of resources, so you could view all tasks assigned to a specific resource; a CBS displays tasks from the point of view of cost centres, so you could view all tasks allocated to a specific cost centre.