PMP

The work breakdown structure (WBS) for project management: What it is and how to use it

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A work breakdown structure (WBS) visually organizes project deliverables into different levels based on dependencies. It’s essentially your project plan in a visual form, with your project objective at the top, then dependencies and sub-dependencies below. In this article, we describe the different parts of a work breakdown structure and how to create one for your next project—along with a detailed example to get you started.

Using stretch work assignments to help engineers grow

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Stretch work assignments are tasks or projects that are a bit beyond an engineer’s current skill or knowledge level and that allow them to improve and learn new things. When done correctly these assignments serve a dual purpose of providing learning opportunities for your engineers, while at the same time completing a project or task that will help your company.

BUFFER VS. “PADDING”: WHICH TERM SHOULD YOU USE?

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Curious about the difference between buffer vs padding in project mangement? Coming from a risk management background, I have always been offended and felt that little chill go down my spine when someone would ask if I had “padded” my numbers referring to my adding a contingency amount to scheduled tasks or budget items. Here is how I teach people not to replace the word “padding” with the word buffer.