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Product Breakdown Structure at PRINCE2 wiki
Project management techniques Product management PRINCE2
In project management
Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...
under the PRINCE2
PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured project management method and practitioner certification programme. PRINCE2 emphasises dividing projects into manageable and controllable stages.
It is adopted in many countries wor ...
methodology, a product breakdown structure (PBS) is a tool for analysing, documenting and communicating the outcomes of a project, and forms part of the product based planning technique.
The PBS provides "an exhaustive, hierarchical tree structure
A tree structure, tree diagram, or tree model is a way of representing the hierarchical nature of a structure in a graphical form. It is named a "tree structure" because the classic representation resembles a tree, although the chart is genera ...
of deliverable
A deliverable is a tangible or intangible good or service produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered to a customer (either internal or external). A deliverable could be a report, a document, a software product, a server upgr ...
s that make up the project, arranged in whole-part relationship" (Haughey, 2015).Duncan Haughey. (2015) ‘Project Management Tools’, Project Smart. Available from: https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/project-management-tools.php
This diagrammatic representation of project outputs provides a clear and unambiguous statement of what the project is to deliver.
The PBS is identical in format to the work breakdown structure
A work-breakdown structure (WBS) in project management and systems engineering is a deliverable-oriented breakdown of a project into smaller components. A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the team's work into ...
(WBS), but is a separate entity and is used at a different step in the planning process. The PBS precedes the WBS and focuses on cataloguing all the desired outputs (products) needed to achieve the goal of the project. This feeds into creation of the WBS, which identifies the tasks and activities required to deliver those outputs. Supporters of product based planning suggest that this overcomes difficulties that arise from assumptions about what to do and how to do it by focusing instead on the goals and objectives of the project – an oft-quoted analogy is that "PBS defines where you want to go, the WBS tells you how to get there".
Example
PBS of a computer (see image on right): * Main unit ** Housing ** Motherboard *** CPU *** RAM chips *** ... ** Hard disk drive ** Graphics card ** Sound card ** Network card * Monitor ** Display ** Housing ** Electronic components * Mouse ** Body ** Optical sensor ** Battery * Keyboard ** KeysSee also
*List of project management topics
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to project management:
Project management – discipline of planning, organizing, securing, managing, leading, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals. A proj ...
* Product (business)
In marketing, a product is an object, or system, or service made available for consumer use as of the consumer demand; it is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer. In retailing, products are oft ...
* Product description
In the PRINCE2 project management method, a product description (PDD) is a structured format that presents information about a project product. It is a management product (document), usually created by the project manager during the process of i ...
* Product management
Product management is the business process of planning, developing, launching, and managing a product or service. It includes the entire lifecycle of a product, from ideation to development to go to market. Product managers are responsible for ...
* Project management
Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...
* Work breakdown structure
A work-breakdown structure (WBS) in project management and systems engineering is a deliverable-oriented breakdown of a project into smaller components. A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the team's work into ...
* Value breakdown structure
A value breakdown structure (VBS) is a project management technique introduced by Stephen Devaux as part of the total project control (TPC) approach to project and program value analysis.
The concept has similarities with the deliverable-oriented ...
* Product flow diagram
References
Further reading
* A Framework for Software Product Line PracticGlossary
Product Breakdown Structure at PRINCE2 wiki
Project management techniques Product management PRINCE2