Hi,

another question from one of my Blog Readers:

“Hello;

I have a question about “work package”. Is work package the same as “activity” or “activity” is more detailed than a work package?

Thank you”

Theory first. Suppose that you are going to build a wall. Than the Work Package will be Wall. Work Package is the Lowest branch in WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) for which you can estimate Costs, Resources, and Activities. Remember this: Work Package is always noun. So, in my example it will be The wall. Here is the Picture of WBS, and Work Package in it:

Inside of red rectangles you can see Work Packages. One important thing! You can not see dependencies in WBS, and that means that you san not say how long will take for Project to finish. For that, you should use Activity diagram. Activity is always verb. Activities are explanation of what do you have to do to finish Work Package. In PMBOK, WBS is made in Scope Management, and Activities are created in Time Management. Here is the Picture of Activity Diagram:

So for my example, Work Package is The wall. Activities can be: Find the cheapest Bricks, Build the wall, and Paint the Wall.

I’ll show that in MS PROJECT 2013:

I will put Activities:

1. Find the cheapest Bricks – 1 day
2. Build the Wall – 2 days
3. Paint the Wall – 2 day

I will select all Activities for Work Package The Wall, and I’ll Indent them:

and I’ll get:

As you can see Work Package: The wall will have 5 days of Duration, because in network Diagram the longest duration for Activities will take 5 days (together).

Hope that helps1

Regards!