Activity List
Decompose high-level project work packages into a definitive schedule of discrete, executable activities.
In this resource
§1 Purpose of the Activity List
The Activity List is the bridge between project scope and the project schedule, translating deliverable-oriented work packages into action-oriented tasks.
While the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) defines what the project will produce (the deliverables), the Activity List defines exactly how the project team will produce it. This document takes the lowest level of the WBS (the work package) and decomposes it into discrete schedule activities. This list becomes the absolute baseline for sequence logic, resource estimating, and timeline calculation.
§2 Blank Template
A streamlined table for listing project activities prior to assigning them network logic and resource estimates.
ACTIVITY LIST
| ID | Activity | Description of Work |
|---|---|---|
| [A001] | [Verb-Noun Task Name] | [Brief description of what must occur to complete this task.] |
| [A002] | [Verb-Noun Task Name] | [Brief description of what must occur to complete this task.] |
| [A00n] | [Verb-Noun Task Name] | [Brief description of what must occur to complete this task.] |
§3 Worked Example: Mary's Consulting
A completed example demonstrating the decomposition of a mid-sized digital implementation project into 40 distinct schedule activities.
This example showcases the master activity list for a website implementation project. Notice how every activity title begins with an action verb, clearly distinguishing the task from the static deliverable it produces.
ACTIVITY LIST
| ID | Activity | Description of Work |
|---|---|---|
| A001 | Develop Project Charter | Draft, review, and obtain sponsor signature on the charter. |
| A002 | Identify Stakeholders | Build the stakeholder register and stakeholder analysis. |
| A003 | Develop Subsidiary Plans | Author scope, schedule, cost, quality, resource, comms, risk, and procurement subsidiary plans. |
| A004 | Establish Baselines | Approve scope, schedule, and cost baselines with the sponsor. |
| A005 | Project Closeout | Lessons learned, formal acceptance, archival. |
| A006 | Conduct Requirements Interviews | Interview Mary, Marketing Lead, Sales Lead, IT, and Legal. |
| A007 | Run Requirements Focus Groups | Two facilitated focus groups with the project team. |
| A008 | Distribute Consultant Questionnaire | Send to consultant sample; allow 1 week for responses. |
| A009 | Document Requirements & RTM | Compile Requirements Documentation and the RTM. |
| A010 | Develop Information Architecture | Sitemap, user flows, wireframes for top 10 templates. |
| A011 | Develop Visual / Brand Design | Brand system; high-fidelity mockups; component library. |
| A012 | Sponsor Design Review & Approval | Sponsor walks through design package and signs off. |
| A013 | Develop Content Strategy | Voice and tone guide; editorial calendar. |
| A014 | Write Marketing Page Copy | Final copy for ~25 marketing pages. |
| A015 | Produce Case Studies | Develop ≥ 20 case studies with client clearance. |
| A016 | Collect Consultant Bios | Outreach to 500+ consultants; format bios consistently. |
| A017 | Write Blog Seed Content | Draft and edit ≥ 10 thought-leadership articles. |
| A018 | Source / License Imagery | License stock imagery; collect consultant headshots; alt-text. |
| A019 | Draft Legal Pages | Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Terms of Use. |
| A020 | Marketing & Legal Content Review | Final approval of all content by Marketing Lead and Legal. |
| A021 | Set Up Dev / Staging / Prod Environments | Provision and configure all environments and CI/CD. |
| A022 | Configure CMS | Content types, roles, and editor workflow in the CMS. |
| A023 | Build Component Library | Reusable components per the design system. |
| A024 | Build Page Templates | Home, services, case study, directory, blog templates. |
| A025 | Develop Backend APIs | Form handling; consultant-directory search; admin endpoints. |
| A026 | Implement CRM Integration | Form-to-CRM connector with logging and retry. |
| A027 | Configure Search & Analytics | Site search; Google Analytics; tag manager; dashboards. |
| A028 | Develop Test Plan | Test plan and test cases mapped to RTM. |
| A029 | Execute Functional Tests | Run all functional test cases; log defects. |
| A030 | Execute Performance Tests | Lighthouse / WebPageTest performance test report. |
| A031 | Conduct Accessibility Audit | Third-party WCAG 2.1 AA audit. |
| A032 | Resolve Defects | Close all Sev-1 / Sev-2 defects; regression test. |
| A033 | Conduct UAT | Sponsor and Marketing Lead-led acceptance testing. |
| A034 | Final UAT Sign-off | Sponsor signs Formal Acceptance for UAT. |
| A035 | Develop Launch Communications Plan | Internal announcement and external press / social assets. |
| A036 | Migrate Content from Legacy Site | Move case studies and selected blog content into new CMS. |
| A037 | Pre-Launch Internal Communications | Notify internal stakeholders of cutover plan. |
| A038 | Production Cutover (Go-Live) | DNS update, SSL validation, smoke tests on production. |
| A039 | Post-Launch Hypercare | Two-week active monitoring and rapid-fix support. |
| A040 | CMS Training for Marketing | Four-hour CMS training session; quick-reference guide. |
| A045 | Operations Handoff | Runbooks, monitoring config, signed handoff document. |
Verb-Noun Format
Every activity name must start with a verb (e.g., "Develop," "Conduct," "Build"). If it is a noun (e.g., "Test Plan"), it belongs on the Work Breakdown Structure, not the Activity List.
100% Rule Compliance
The total sum of activities must represent 100% of the work required to produce the deliverables. If an activity is not listed here, it cannot be scheduled or funded.
Unique Identification
The alphanumeric ID (A001) serves as a unique key. When these activities are plotted into a network diagram or scheduling tool, this ID tracks dependencies reliably.