How to Create the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in P6

In my previous post “Starting a New Project in Primavera P6” I covered how to start creating your first project in Primavera P6. A project schedule requires so much more than taking that first step. From the simplest project to the most complex, a schedule should include at a minimum the WBS, Activities, Durations and Relationships. This post walks you through how to build the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

The project WBS outlines the scope at a high level and provides the framework for more detailed scope definition. The WBS is also used to roll up schedule details into summary level information. As an example, once the schedule is developed a WBS can provide start & finish dates, total cost and resource hours by project phase or deliverable.

If your project already has contractually specified WBS the P6 WBS should be built to align with that. If the WBS hasn’t already been agreed on or previously specified, the schedule developer should work closely with the project manager to outline the scope to a high level.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the nature of a WBS let’s get started building a sample WBS.

Step 1 Open Project & Show WBS Entry Screen

First open the project by right-clicking on the project and selecting "Open Project". Once your project is open go to the WBS tab. To show the WBS entry screen click the circled icon in the toolbar as shown in Figure 1. Your WBS icon may be in a different location but it will generally be in the vertical toolbars along the sides of your screen.

Figure 1

If you don’t see the icon in any of your toolbars use the main menu along the top to find the WBS icon per Figure 2.

Figure 2

Either of these methods will take you to the WBS pane where you can begin to build your WBS.

Step 2: Creating the 1st and 2nd level WBS

The first level of the WBS in P6 will always be the P6 Project's name & ID by default. This can’t be changed without changing the name & ID of your project. If you need help remembering what screen will allow you to change the project name please see the previous post.

To create the 2nd level of the WBS structure click on the plus + symbol shown in Figure 3. The icon can usually be found in the vertical toolbars along the side of your screen depending on your current settings.

Figure 3

If you don’t see the + symbol in your vertical toolbars, see figure 4 for how to find the + symbol using the main menu.

Figure 4

Once you click the + symbol, the system automatically generates a WBS level.

Step 3: Naming the WBS level

You can enter the name of your new WBS level by typing directly in the WBS Name Column or using the details pane at the bottom of your screen. For the purposes of demonstration, I’ve assumed the first level 2 WBS is named “Key Milestones” and have entered that as shown below.

Figure 5

Step 4: Creating Additional WBS Levels

To create additional WBS's repeat the above steps by clicking on the plus button again. I've named the next several WBS as shown below:

Figure 6

Step 5: Adjust location or level of WBS

If you need to indent one WBS under another one, and it doesn’t automatically go where you need it, use the blue arrow icons on either your right- or left-hand toolbars (shown in Figure 7) to set the position. These serve to indent, outdent or move up or down within the structure. In this example I would the “Site Design” WBS to nest under “Design & Engineering as a level 3 WBS”

Figure 7

Another way to adjust the position of a WBS level is to go the far left of the WBS element until you see a small white rectangle. The white rectangle is a bit elusive and only appears when you hover your mouse in the white space shown in the location circled (Figure 8). In the image below you can see that I’ve dragged “Site Design” to nest under “Design & Engineering”.

Figure 8

To fully build your WBS continue in this manner until you've populated all levels required to describe the project's scope.

Be sure to use the contract documents to ensure alignment with scope requirements. You should always get concurrence and input from the project manager and stakeholders before considering the WBS built and finalized.

Once you've finished building your project's WBS you are now ready to create detailed activities that further define the scope of each WBS level.

Stay tuned for a future post explaining how to do this!