Completing a big project requires hard work & effort. A project manager alone can’t do it without the collaboration of co-workers. That’s the reason proper task distribution among co-workers is essential. And this is where the Work Breakdown Structure Templates or WBS templates could help you to break down tasks into small chunks and assign your associate co-workers.

A work breakdown structure starts with a large project or objective and breaks it down into smaller, more manageable pieces that you can reasonably evaluate and assign to teams.

Lucid Chart

A precise WBS template can help to estimate your cost, establish dependencies and alleviate your priorities based on your project deadline. Apart from adding these benefits, it will also track your task progress from time to time and identify the risk factors easily.

*Previously we have covered ‘How to create a Work Breakdown Structure‘ for your project. You can take help from this article to know the proper utilization of a WBS framework.

In today’s write-up, we’ll talk about some of the popular WBS templates that you can use for your project. Hopefully, you can choose the right template for your project to make it manageable & understandable for your whole team.

Quick navigation:

1. Work Breakdown Structure Template Explained
2. Types of Work Breakdown Structure Templates
   • Action oriented template
   • Gantt chart template to maintain consistency
   • Diagram template with box & rows
   • Dictionary template for project schedule
   • Tree diagram template with word document
   • Work level breakdown template
   • User acceptance testing & training template
3. How To Utilize WBS Template with WP Project Manager Pro To Ensure Project Quality
4. Some FAQ Related to Work Breakdown Structure Template

Before we move forward, let’s shortly explain the WBS template:

Work Breakdown Structure Template Explained

We all know that Work breakdown means sorting a complicated thought process into an easier one. After a project manager gets a project in hand, it may look complex or difficult to solve at that time. The WBS helps to break that complex task into small ones. It becomes easier for project managers to set a short target for each task and accomplish it with a 100% success rate.

Where WBS helps to shorten objectives into an easily manageable one, the WBS template will give you a visual structure to stay planned and organized to avoid mistakes.

A good WBS template would be a visual definition of the whole project scope which divides it into manageable parts which would be more understandable to all the members of the project team.

Kate Eby, Contributor & Senior Content Strategist at Smart Sheet

We can say the WBS template will give a visual presentation of your projects so that you can manage, deliver and distribute to your co-workers easily. Also, it will improve your project management skills to stay on top of your overall performance. In addition to these facilities, let’s explore why should you follow a proper work breakdown structure template for your business.

• Gives a visual presentation of a project workflow
• Helps to find out the mistakes & errors
• Chances to figure out scopes
• Generates team productivity & effeciency
• Provides whole scenario in a short picture

These are the reasons for which you should use a work breakdown structure template. Surely, it will give your project a better performance and finish it with no errors indeed.

Also Read: 10 Best Free Project Management Software for Small Business (Compared)

Types of Work Breakdown Structure Templates

There are different types of work breakdown structure templates are available. It varies from project to project. You have to choose the right one that gives you full flexibility and helps you stay aligned.

Different WBS templates have different purposes. From managing the development team to product management, finance, or any other group of people, it can deliver you the best in time.

Here are some of the WBS template that you can work on:

1. Action oriented template
2. Gantt chart template to maintain consistency
3. Diagram template with box & rows
4. Dictionary template for project schedule
5. Tree diagram template with word document
6. Work level breakdown template
7. User acceptance testing & training template

These are all popular WBS templates. But most of the users prefer the Tree diagram a lot. Because it’s easy to grasp and helps to make an easy decision over the project.

Let’s get introduced to the different types of WBS templates one by one:

01. Action Oriented Template

Since you’re working with a small group of people, this template can be fruitful for you. Here you can trigger your action that based on your project’s main function. You can see the entire process is aligned. It includes action steps, related departments, starting date, due date, and other important terms.

There are three parts to this template. Goal one to three. Each part has an individual purpose. So you can define your project tasks, sub-tasks, and deadlines to complete your project in time.

02. Gantt Chart Template To Maintain Consistency

Adjusting a work breakdown structure with a Gantt Chart gives full information about your tasks, subtasks, and deadlines management. Also, it gives a visual view of your projects to see the overall progress. It’s a simple template to combine your current WBS, dictionary, and schedule your projects with ease.

This template is totally editable and you can include whatever you want to add. Such as task numbering, task duration, completion status and assign co-workers with related information. And the visual presentation helps you to get an overview of how your project is going on.

Also Read: The Ultimate Guide to Software of Project Management

03. Diagram Template with Box & Rows

If your project tasks are straightforward and easily manageable, using this template could be handy for you. The overall tasks are designed according to the boxes and rows. So it can easily give you a visual view of your tasks, sub-tasks, and other elements.

You can arrange your tasks numbers hierarchically. Thus it will be easier for you to sort out the projects based on priority. Such as project planning, development, final step and release them when you’re done. Another benefit that you can get with this template is to track task progress to minimize errors, faulty sections, and project improvisations.

04. Dictionary Template for Project Schedule

Apart from giving different scopes to your projects, this template is especially for creating a project schedule. On top of that, you can include task numbering, task name, short description, and how much effort requires for each task.

Also, within this template, you can include the date, task manager, task owner, estimated date, etc. A visual column & row view can help you to understand the entire project with ease.

05. Tree Diagram Template with Word Document

If you’re using Word Document, it will be easier for you to use the Tree Diagram template for your project. Unlike the previous templates, the tree diagram template is the most popular diagram for the projects. It can give you the whole scenario of your projects by separating them under one main project.

The middlebox at the top of the tree will endure your project name. And the tiers underneath the box will reveal deliverables down to work packages. It can also be useful for balancing your WBS dictionary to your current project diagram. You can do more with this template, such as assigning new members, working on the running tasks, managing team members, and so on.

Also Read: How to Build Effective Project Management Communication Strategies

06. Work Level Breakdown Template

The work level breakdown template mainly focuses on the task levels. It separates all the essential levels and labels. Both vertical & horizontal preview organizes all the sub-tasks hierarchically. Thus it becomes easier to read and understand the elements and their relationships between these fields.

Well, this work breakdown structure template is slightly different from the tree template. Where tree template has deliverables to work packages, level breakdown templates add a new section – Levels.

You can use this template for your project if you manage a small group of people. It will align your team members’ task progress and stay up to date all the time.

07. User Acceptance Testing & Training Template

User acceptance testing or UAT is another form of the tree diagram template. But it only focuses on software-related matters. If you’re running a software firm, this template could be a method to manage your software development process easily. After your team develops any software, it needs continuous testing. The whole testing phase should go through a smooth process. Apart from running a test, you may need a training program for your workers to learn how to run the software before releasing it.

This is where the UAT template could help you to track the whole process combining the testing & training process altogether. It can manage diverse activities within your project. For example, training programs, project assignment, testing phase, training progress, and help to check each status by editing or removing elements if needs.

Moreover, UAT can provide a high-quality plan to organize and take in feedback from your project within a short time.

Well, a smart project manager sometimes has to play a leadership role. Adopting some leadership characteristics could refine your project management skills and upgrade your way of conduct towards any complex projects.

Must read: Best Known Leadership Theories That You Must Master In 2023

How To Utilize WBS Template with WP Project Manager Pro To Ensure Project Quality

WP Project manager is a diverse feature of WP ERP. On top of that, it can align all your projects, tasks, sub-tasks, deadline management into one dashboard. Even you don’t have to wait for any other third-party integrations to smoothly run your project with the WordPress Project manager. It’s fully open-source and you can create your own work breakdown structure template with it.

There are a number of features & functions you can find in WP Project manager. All you need to do is install it and follow the instructions below.

• WP Project Manager (FREE)
• WP Project Manager (PRO) (in some cases)

Let’s assume you have picked up a template for your project. Now we’ll show you how you can utilize WP Project Manager to create a comprehensive WBS template and make it worthy for your project.

Create a Project

After you install WP Project Manager Pro on your WordPress site, first you need to create a project. It’s simple & easy to create.

Navigate WordPress Admin>WP Project Manager> Project> Create New Project

Give a title to your main project with a description. After that, assign co-workers and department. Also, you need to choose a project manager to lead the whole project.

After hitting Add new project, you’ll get to the overview page. Here you can see the task lists, Kanban Board (pro feature), discussion, Gantt hart (pro feature), milestone, files, and more. Also, on the right side bad, you can get an overview of your assigned co-workers of that project.

Create a Task List

Once you create your project, you need to create a task. Staying on the same dashboard, click on the Task lists. Here you can create tasks and assign co-workers from the same window. Give your task list name, task list details, and set milestones.

After adding the task list, it will automatically be in place.

Create a Project Task

Under the Partnership Program tab, you can create tasks, add a deadline, assign users. And then hit the Add New button.

Create Sub Tasks

Click on the task that you created earlier. Once you entered the task, you can find different options. Such as members, due date, task type, time tracker, task time estimation, label, recurring task option, etc. You can also add the description in the custom fields section.

Now slightly scroll down and add your tasks under the main tasks. Such as R&D, keyword checking, email collection, product features, new updates, market dominance, etc.

After you add all the sub-tasks, you’ll get an estimated time for that task.

Managing Tasks From ‘My Task’ Page

Another way you can get all your tasks in the My Tasks page. Here you’ll only get your assigned tasks. In this page, you can filter your preferred tasks if you’re assigned to multiple projects.

After completing the tasks in time, you can mark it as Mark Complete. So after you filter the task with the Completed label, you will get the task here.

Similarly, you can complete your project once you’re done with the project.

Prepare Reports

Preparing a report is a vital part of a successful project. You can’t understand the project’s insights or analyze the faulty task without proper reporting. In that case, WP Project Manager Pro could easily help you to prepare a report within a short time. It requires just a click to create a report for overdue tasks, complete tasks, user activities, milestones, and unassigned tasks.

Well, this is how you can customize your work breakdown structure template with WP Project Manager Pro. Here is a quick view of the overall workflow of the WP Project Manager template. It seems to be a simple & effective one. If you want to adjust your existing template or want to use this template, the overall discussion could help you to do that swiftly.

Check out the video tutorial that explains how to efficiently manage project tasks with WP Project Manager Pro.

Also Read: How Project Management Automation Get You Desired Results

Some FAQ Related to Work Breakdown Structure Template

Ready to Work With The Best WBS Templates for Your Project?

Now we know that Work Breakdown Structure Templates are very useful for any project that you are planning. It charts the project in a logical order, which will help to create a schedule. It should be created at the beginning of a project so that everyone is aware of what needs to be done and there are no hidden costs.

Moreover, it creates a chart that effectively lists out all of the different tasks that have to be done for a project. This is a proven method of organizing and planning any project and is commonly used in conjunction with the project management triangle. Hope this blog helped you understand the different ideas about WBS templates. We are expecting that It will now be super easy for you to create a work breakdown structure for your project utilizing the suitable template smartly.

As you can see, WBS and its templates require the right tool like WP Project Manager to make the project management process a smooth one. But apart from helping in managing projects, there is a tool like WP ERP that can essentially make your overall business management process a smooth journey for your company. This solution enables businesses to perform department-wise individual tasks to accomplish within a company.

Its key function includes managing key business departments like Customer Relationship Management, Human Resource Management, Accounting Management incorporating with it the already mentioned project management solution, WP Project Manager.

So if you’re looking to get a complete ERP management system for your business, you may try WP ERP PRO.

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