IT Project Management, 2nd Edition

5.1. Defining the Work Breakdown Structure

An IT project manager cannot, and should not, do every piece of work in a project. On some projects it would be physically impossible for one person to do every task. Of course, with a project team, a project manager can delegate tasks to team members and let them get to work. But how will the team members know if their assigned tasks can begin before other team members' tasks end?

For example, your project is to create an application that allows web users to search a database of all the different cowboy boots your company makes—and have it in place before the Christmas shopping season begins on November 1. Customers must be able to search for their boots by size, color, style, and price.

A Work Breakdown ...