Product Breakdown Structure
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{{more citations needed, date=January 2021 In
project management Project management is the process of supervising the work of a Project team, team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project initiation documentation, project documentation, crea ...
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 Product-based planning is a fundamental part of the PRINCE2 approach to project management, and is a method of identifying all of the products (project deliverables) that make up or contribute to delivering the objectives of the project, and the ass ...
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 gen ...
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


Comparison with the work breakdown structure

The PBS is identical in format to the
work breakdown structure A work-breakdown structure (WBS) in project management and systems engineering is a breakdown of a project into smaller components. It is a key project management element that organizes the team's work into manageable sections. The Project Mana ...
(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

The diagrammatic representation of project outputs shown provides an example of a clear and unambiguous statement of what the project is to deliver. 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 ** Keys


See 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 proje ...
*
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 domestic or an international market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer. In re ...
*
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 in ...
*
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 supervising the work of a Project team, team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project initiation documentation, project documentation, crea ...
*
Work breakdown structure A work-breakdown structure (WBS) in project management and systems engineering is a breakdown of a project into smaller components. It is a key project management element that organizes the team's work into manageable sections. The Project Mana ...
* Value breakdown structure * Product flow diagram


References


Further reading

* A Framework for Software Product Line Practic
Glossary

Product Breakdown Structure at PRINCE2 wiki
Project management techniques Product management PRINCE2