Product breakdown structure

In project management under the PRINCE2 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.

Example of a product breakdown structure of a computer.

The PBS provides "an exhaustive, hierarchical tree structure of deliverables that make up the project, arranged in whole-part relationship" (Haughey, 2015).[1]

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 (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
      • ...
    • FDD
    • HDD
    • Video card
    • Sound card
    • Network card
    • LPT port card
  • Monitor
    • CRT
    • Housing
    • Electronic components
  • Mouse
    • Body
    • Marble
    • Cable
  • Keyboard
    • Keys
gollark: Well, I'm trying to map nothing onto random memory locations where segfaults happened.
gollark: Ah, it says "invalid argument" or "operation not permitted" unfathomably.
gollark: "Operation not permitted"?!
gollark: I don't actually do error handling because my code never fails.
gollark: I write it ironically only.

See also

References
  1. Duncan Haughey. (2015) ‘Project Management Tools’, Project Smart. Available from: https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/project-management-tools.php

Further reading
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