As the structure changes, people are reassigned and roles are added and deleted, as appropriate. Cite Typical project management tools to accomplish this include a work breakdown structure, an organizational breakdown structure and a responsibility assignment matrix. How to Prepare a Work Breakdown Structure, Privacy Notice/Your California Privacy Rights. In other words, creating unarguable accountability for the key organizational functions must also be matched with an information-sharing and decision-making process that creates radical transparency and rapid execution across the organization. See our, The 5 Classic Mistakes in Organizational Structure: Or, How to Design Your Organization the Right Way, Organizational Physics: The Science of Growing a Business, A “role-centric” human resource management system (HRMS) that mirrors the structure. Assign each team member a position in the structure. This structure above is a simple representation of a $15M Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company that I helped to redesign as part of my strategic execution coaching program. Its immediate impact is better management ofthe various departments/teams as it becomes easier to supervise, track and expedite planning and execution across a sizeable range of resources. Through a WBS, it is also easier to keep track of the performance of individual project sectors. [4], http://www.projectteamblog.com/index.php/define-resource-breakdown-structure-rbs/, https://support.office.com/en-au/article/RBS-fields-5d08f8c1-be86-4ea7-b93e-27ba5112427b, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Resource_breakdown_structure&oldid=959766752, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 30 May 2020, at 14:16. A resource breakdown structure is a list of the resources that will be required to execute your project. OBS Basics. The following are the key points that define either of the structures. An Organizational Breakdown Structure is an intermediate level of a different chart that many of you are already familiar with: The Work Breakdown Structure.The OBS displays organizational relationships and then uses them for assigning work to resources in a project. Every hierarchical level lists a number of resources that are needed for carrying-out various kind of project-related activities. When the WBS includes a task such as the purchase of accounting software, the OBS must have an organizational unit for purchasing. If there are additional resources, assign those resources so that all resources and positions are accounted for. The organizational breakdown structure is an intermediate step in this process. : Having a role-centric HRMS based on the design of the structure gives you the best of both worlds. WBS is a visual representation of the entire scope of the work to be done, broken down into smaller segments that each member of the project team is able to understand. If these estimates are skewed, it might be impossible to achieve the objectives of the project, or as a whole, the project could fail. Rather than trying to translate the structure into a classic org chart with names, titles and lines of reporting, keep the HR stuff in your human resources management system (HRMS). Good organizational design has some minimum requirements. A WBS, therefore, is a map/outline of a specific project. Calling out the KPIs in the structure helps to bring clarity and focus to the structural discussion and ultimate adoption of new roles by the individuals involved. An org chart needs to be updated frequently as people come and go. In most cases, if you’re entering a new stage for your business—scaling beyond start-up mode or embarking on a new growth strategy—you’ll need a new organizational design. © 2019 www.azcentral.com. One of the key project management functions is to assign responsibility for tasks to particular employees, departments or teams. One more thing before we move on. Supervision becomes much easier and a lot of time is saved in the process. The short answer is this. Through the WBS, the project manager is in a good position to categorize the work that the team needs to accomplish into small sections that can be managed easily whereas RBS is considered an important part of efficiency when it comes to project management. It shows different parts of the project that are to be carried out and provides more information about the budget needed for them, and the level of completion. These resources must also be listed based on their availability over the long term. That seems sort of old-fashioned. Resource Breakdown Structure or RBS is an integral part of any effective project management in geneal and resource management in particular. Much of this has to do with getting the structure right. • Categorized under Management,Planning & Activities | Difference between Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS). Any number of staff who are currently playing that role would show up in the Role Entry. In common practice, only non-expendable (i.e., durable goods) resources are listed in an RBS. On the other side, talking about RBS, you must know that it functions using some of the important tools. The second and a slightly unconventional RBS type is the **Geographical RBS_._**. Such risks are supposed to be tracked properly, and a careful review provided as the project goes on. Yes, your organizational design will have a hierarchy. By using this site, you agree to this use. If you are using any project management program, you can log in and check the availability of the resources you need, and more importantly how they are classified. Note that every structure is unique. What Organizational Structure Should Be Used in a Construction Project? You start with a blank slate and think through the functions the business must perform to succeed in its chosen growth strategy now and over time. These are as follows: This is a list of all the activities that are key to the completion of the project. It’s also a clear win for your culture. When this happens, it sounds something like this…, “OK, so what if we have Sally and Mike report to Jeff, Jeff report to Ron and Ron and Helen will split reporting responsibilities? and updated on August 7, 2017, Difference Between Similar Terms and Objects, Difference between Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS), The Difference between Cash Flow and Fund Flow, The Difference Between HR Generalist and HR Manager, The Difference between Evaporation and Distillation, Difference Between Issue and Risk Project Management, Difference Between Supervisor and Manager, Difference Between Management and Business Administration Degrees, Difference Between EHR Optimization and Digital Health, Difference Between Unilateral Contract and Bilateral Contract, Difference Between Unilateral and Bilateral Contract, Difference Between Training and Development, Difference Between Shipping and Billing Address, Difference Between Pension and Retirement, Difference Between Basic Research and Applied Research, Difference between Analyzing and Evaluating, Difference Between Vitamin D and Vitamin D3, Difference Between LCD and LED Televisions, Difference Between Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, Difference Between Civil War and Revolution, o Helps in project progress supervision, o Resource groups can depend on each other, The project/final deliverable is always at the top level, You do not always have to define all the elements at the same level, There should be no duplication in the work groups all through the structure. Instead I’m using functional descriptions like “Strategic Execution” or “Sales.” This is because job titles shift the focus to individual egos rather than the role requirements of each function. Copyright © 2020 Bright Hub PM. The project manager will need a list of all the resources that are needed to complete the project. Two years after the redesign, revenues were up 40% and net profits up 30%, the culture was restored, and the organization is now much easier (not to mention more a lot more fun) to manage. The main concern of a geographical RBS is the distribution and/or location of the resources in question, and how they are allocated in different locations, depending on the needs of the organization. The process works backward from the work that is required to achieve the project goals. That could work. In short, you’re answering, “Who is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of this particular function?”, Also, notice that each function in the structure has a PSIU code. An organizational structure and an org chart can often appear similar on the surface, but there are some profound distinctions: To repeat, you don’t need an org chart to scale your business, but you do need a well-designed organizational structure. In project management, the resource breakdown structure (RBS) is a hierarchical list of resources related by function and resource type that is used to facilitate planning and controlling of project work. As I’ve written in “The 5 Classic Mistakes in Organizational Structure: Or, How to Design Your Organization the Right Way,” everything has a design to it. (Figure 2). The Disadvantages of PERT in Project Management, Project Management Techniques in Planning & Controlling Construction Projects, Department of Energy: Work Breakdown Structure, Berkeley Lab: Project Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS), Resource Allocation vs. Resource Leveling, How to Compare & Contrast Organizational Structure. Project management creates a responsibility assignment matrix for this purpose. RBS users can just log-in the software and view the availability of resources and the way in which they have been classified. The blue boxes under each major function capture some of the high-level KPIs for that functional area. This information is important for the project manager to ascertain whether the resources needed will be available during a specific time, so the project does not stall.