I would like to share a question I received via Twitter and my answer. You are welcome to contribute your thoughts!
Tracy O
Question:
I hope you are okay with me coming to you for advice and assistance in Project Management. This is the one question I am still pondering. What do you think monitoring, planning and controlling project costs with a budget and organizing and plan a project using WBS support each other?
Thanks!
My response:
We are glad we connected via Twitter! The WBS is a key tool that I use to plan and monitor costs in my projects. The WBS is a prerequisite. A WBS is a prerequisite. I can see it and see which charge codes should be set up for project staff and where I should report project costs. There is usually a level of detail that is relevant for different people. Sponsors may only want to see costs at Level 3 of the WBS. I may be interested at Level 4, while the other project managers working with me might be interested at Level 5. There may be stakeholders who only care for level 3 cost reporting on a specific element of the project.
It is important to have a clear understanding of your scope before you begin to put together estimates. This information can be found in the WBS. You can then start to build your estimates. The iron triangle is a combination of scope, cost, schedule, and budget.
Monitoring and controlling your projects via status reports, EVM, and other means. It is possible to monitor and control your projects only by being in sync with your WBS structure.
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