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211 Project Management
The following chapters will describe the creation of individual plans in detail.
2.2.1 PROJECT BREAKDOWN
After the kick-off meeting, the project planning phase begins with structural planning.
The goal of the project breakdown (PSP) is:
– to recognize a hierarchical and results-oriented classification of the project contents
– to break the whole project into manageable project sections and work packets
– to ensure a minimum number of transparent interfaces
– to form a basis for following schedules and cost planning
– to ensure the assignment of staff and responsibilities
Fig. 15 shows the schematic construction of a project breakdown. A project (level 0) should not
be shown as a monolith, but rather broken into individual project sections and work packets. The
project sections (level 1) are only used in larger projects. A project section manager is named
for each section. At this level, sectional tasks are defined for smaller projects. Work packets are
stand-alone tasks, and can be assigned to an implementing person or group. The scope of a work
packet should contain between 20 and 100 person-days, depending on the experience of the
workers. Work packets are the lowest detail level of the PSP (level 2).
One can divide project breakdowns according to their orientation into:
Object-oriented project breakdowns
Figure 15 | Diagram of a project breakdown
These are structured with a separation of components, assemblies, parts and modules (Fig. 16).
An object-oriented PSP gives a good overview of the physical composition of a total system. The
ability to delegate project sections and work packets and therefore allocate responsibility and the