What is Task Breakdown? (Its definition, formats, and purposes)

Project Task Breakdown (also called WBS, or work decomposition) is a practice of creating a hierarchical structure (representation) of interconnected project deliverables or tasks that need to be performed to accomplish a project. It shows the scope of work decomposed from general to specific matters. Correctly composed breakdown gives a clear-cut work scope overlook and better understanding of activities to be done.

There are two formats: Activity-oriented and Deliverable-oriented, where the first one means a work breakdown in terms of verbs (assignable actions or tasks) and the second one is a nouns-based way (products and sub-products of the project). The practice of task breakdown appears vitally important, because the following purposes are covered in projects:

• WBS assists on developing a rational view of resources and labor required to accomplish the job (the amount, scope and character of work demanded);
• It helps to understand the skills, qualifications and experience required;
• It provides a framework for assigning clear-cut work definitions (work packages) to the project participants;
• It assists on determining the inter-dependencies between project tasks or deliverables;
• It gives the basis for scheduling the actual project milestones (enables composing a schedule);
• It locates isolated functional areas for determination and managing connected project risks;

VIP Task Manager is designed to help you in managing projects and tasks within your team. This application can be used to decompose projects into smaller tasks and deliverables.