Templates & Examples / Project Templates
WBS Dictionary
Expand your Work Breakdown Structure by defining the exact scope, effort, quality requirements, and acceptance criteria for every work package.
6 min read
3 sections
Document Template
Worked Example
Doc № KEV-TPL-092
Sec 4
Sheet 1/1
Drawn KEVOS®
10 Jul 2026
In this resource
§1 Purpose of the WBS Dictionary
The WBS Dictionary provides detailed deliverable, activity, and scheduling information about each component in the Work Breakdown Structure.
While a graphical WBS tree is excellent for showing the structural hierarchy of a project, it lacks the depth required to actually execute the work. A box simply labelled "1.4.3 Frontend Development" is ambiguous. The WBS Dictionary solves this by acting as the encyclopaedia for the visual tree.
For every work package (the lowest level of the WBS), the dictionary records exactly what is being produced, who owns it, how much it should cost, and the strict acceptance criteria that define its completion. It acts as a formal work authorization tool, ensuring team members know exactly what the boundaries of their package are.
Contents§2 Blank Template
A standardized framework consisting of a high-level summary table, followed by detailed profiles for each work package.
WBS DICTIONARY
Project Title
[Insert Project Name]
Date Prepared
[YYYY-MM-DD]
Summary Table
| Code | Work Package | Owner | Effort | Key Deliverable | Acceptance Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1.1.1] | [Package Name] | [Name] | [Hrs] | [Primary Output] | [Definition of Done] |
| [1.1.2] | [Package Name] | [Name] | [Hrs] | [Primary Output] | [Definition of Done] |
Detailed Entry Profile
Code of Account: [1.1.1]
Work Package Name: [Insert Name]
Description of Work
[Detailed description of what is actually being produced within this package.]
Responsible Party
[Owner Name]
Assumptions & Constraints
[Specific limitations or assumptions applying to this package]
Milestones & Due Dates
| # | Milestone | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Key Event] | [Date] |
| 2 | [Key Event] | [Date] |
Resources & Cost Estimate
| Activity / Resource | Hours / Units | Rate ($/hr) | Cost ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Resource Name/Role] | [Qty] | [$] | [$ Total] |
| Total | [$ Sum] |
Quality Requirements
[Applicable standards, audits, or regulations]
Acceptance Criteria
[The exact condition that must be met to close this package]
Technical Information
[Tools, tech stack, or engineering info]
Agreement Information
[Contracts or SOWs tied to this work]
§3 Worked Example: Mary's Consulting
A completed example demonstrating the structural decomposition and detailed specifications for a website implementation project.
WBS DICTIONARY - SUMMARY
Project Title
Mary's Consulting - New Company Website
Date Prepared
May 10, 2026
Summary table of all work packages. Detailed entries for representative work packages follow.
| Code | Work Package | Owner | Effort | Key Deliverable | Acceptance Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 Project Management | |||||
| 1.1.1 | Project Initiation | Andrew (PM) | 40 hrs | Approved Project Charter; Stakeholder Register; Assumption Log | Charter signed by Mary (Sponsor); register & log baselined. |
| 1.1.2 | Project Planning | Andrew (PM) | 80 hrs | Subsidiary management plans; Scope, Schedule, Cost baselines; Risk Register | PM Plan approved by Sponsor; baselines locked. |
| 1.1.3 | Execution & Control | Andrew (PM) | 200 hrs | Weekly status reports; Change Log; Issue Log; updated Risk Register | Reports delivered weekly through Go-Live; no open Sev-1 issues at launch. |
| 1.1.4 | Project Closeout | Andrew (PM) | 40 hrs | Lessons Learned; Formal Acceptance form; archived project records | Sponsor signs Formal Acceptance; lessons filed in OPA. |
| 1.2 Requirements & Design | |||||
| 1.2.1 | Requirements Elicitation | Andrew (PM) | 60 hrs | Interview notes; focus group output; questionnaire responses | ≥ 90% of identified stakeholders consulted; raw data archived. |
| 1.2.2 | Requirements Documentation & RTM | Andrew (PM) | 40 hrs | Requirements Documentation; Requirements Traceability Matrix | All Must/Should reqs have acceptance criteria and verification method. |
| 1.2.3 | Information Architecture | Bill (UX) | 50 hrs | Sitemap; user flows; wireframes for top 10 templates | Sponsor and Marketing Lead sign off on IA. |
| 1.2.4 | Visual / Brand Design | Bill (UX) | 120 hrs | Brand system; high-fidelity mockups; component library | Mary (CEO) personally signs off on brand fit. |
| 1.2.5 | Design Approval | Andrew (PM) | 16 hrs | Approved design package; signed approval record | Sponsor signature on final design package. |
| 1.3 Content Development | |||||
| 1.3.1 | Content Strategy | Christine | 30 hrs | Content strategy doc; voice and tone guide; editorial calendar | Marketing Lead approves strategy. |
| 1.3.2 | Page Copywriting | Christine | 100 hrs | Final copy for ~25 marketing pages (home, services, about, contact) | Marketing Lead and Legal review and approve all copy. |
| 1.3.3 | Case Study Production | Christine | 80 hrs | ≥ 20 case studies with consistent format | Each case study client-cleared (anonymised where required). |
| 1.3.4 | Consultant Bio Collection | Christine | 60 hrs | Bios for ≥ 500 consultants in directory format | ≥ 95% of active consultants represented; bios edited for consistency. |
| 1.3.5 | Blog Seed Content | Christine | 40 hrs | ≥ 10 thought-leadership articles ready to publish | Marketing Lead approves; SEO keywords mapped. |
| 1.3.6 | Imagery & Photography | Bill (UX) | 40 hrs | Licensed image library; consultant headshots where available | All images licensed; alt-text drafted for accessibility. |
| 1.3.7 | Legal Pages | Andrew (PM) | 16 hrs | Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Terms of Use | Legal/Compliance sign-off on all three pages. |
| 1.4 Build & Integration | |||||
| 1.4.1 | Environment Setup | Bob (Dev) | 40 hrs | Dev, staging, and production environments; CI/CD pipeline | All three environments deployable; CI build passes. |
| 1.4.2 | CMS Configuration | Bob (Dev) | 60 hrs | Configured CMS with content types, roles, and editor workflow | Marketing can author and publish a sample page end-to-end. |
| 1.4.3 | Frontend Development | Bob (Dev) | 180 hrs | Built page templates and components per design system | Frontend matches approved designs across responsive breakpoints. |
| 1.4.4 | Backend/API Development | Bob (Dev) | 120 hrs | Form handling; consultant directory search API; admin endpoints | All endpoints documented; integration tests pass. |
| 1.4.5 | CRM Integration | Bob (Dev) | 60 hrs | Form-to-CRM connector with logging and retry; field mapping | 100% of test submissions reach CRM in < 5 minutes. |
| 1.4.6 | Search & Analytics | Bob (Dev) | 40 hrs | Site search; Google Analytics & tag manager configured; dashboards | Analytics dashboard validated by Marketing Lead. |
| 1.5 Test & Quality Assurance | |||||
| 1.5.1 | Test Planning | Andrew (PM) | 20 hrs | Test plan; test cases mapped to requirements via RTM | Test plan reviewed by team; coverage ≥ 95% of Must/Should requirements. |
| 1.5.2 | Functional Testing | Bob (Dev) | 60 hrs | Test execution log; defect list | 100% of Must-priority test cases executed; no open Sev-1 defects. |
| 1.5.3 | Performance Testing | Bob (Dev) | 30 hrs | Performance test report (Lighthouse / WebPageTest) | 75th-percentile LCP < 2.5s on top 10 pages. |
| 1.5.4 | Accessibility Audit | Bill (UX) | 40 hrs | Third-party WCAG 2.1 AA audit report | Zero Severity-1 accessibility findings. |
| 1.5.5 | User Acceptance Testing | Andrew (PM) | 40 hrs | UAT execution log; sign-off forms | Sponsor and Marketing Lead sign off; no Sev-1 or Sev-2 defects open. |
| 1.5.6 | Defect Resolution | Bob (Dev) | 60 hrs | Closed defects; regression test results | All Sev-1/Sev-2 defects closed and re-tested before launch. |
| 1.6 Launch & Transition | |||||
| 1.6.1 | Pre-Launch Communications | Christine | 16 hrs | Internal announcement; external press and social assets | Marketing Lead approves communications plan. |
| 1.6.2 | Content Migration | Christine | 40 hrs | Migrated case studies and selected blog content from legacy site | 100% of in-scope content migrated and QA-verified. |
| 1.6.3 | Production Cutover | Bob (Dev) | 24 hrs | DNS updated; SSL active; production deployment completed | Site live on marysconsulting.com with no downtime errors during cutover window. |
| 1.6.4 | Post-Launch Hypercare | Bob (Dev) | 60 hrs | 2-week active monitoring; rapid-response fixes | All Sev-1 issues resolved in < 4 hours during hypercare. |
| 1.6.5 | Operations Handoff | Andrew (PM) | 20 hrs | Runbooks; monitoring config; signed handoff document | IT/Hosting Operations signs handoff form. |
| 1.6.6 | CMS Training | Christine | 16 hrs | 4-hour training session held; quick-reference guide | Marketing team can independently publish a page after training. |
Detailed Entry Profiles
Code of Account: 1.1.2
Work Package Name: Project Planning
Description of Work
Develop the integrated Project Management Plan, subsidiary management plans, and the Scope, Schedule, and Cost baselines for the website project.
Responsible Party
Andrew (PM)
Assumptions & Constraints
Sponsor turnaround on plan review ≤ 5 business days.
Milestones & Due Dates
| # | Milestone | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charter approved (input received) | May 5, 2026 |
| 2 | Subsidiary plans drafted | May 25, 2026 |
| 3 | Baselines approved by Sponsor | Jun 15, 2026 |
Resources & Cost Estimate
| Activity / Resource | Hours / Units | Rate ($/hr) | Cost ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Manager | 80 | 75 | $6,000 |
| Subject-matter expert (Marketing) | 8 | 65 | $520 |
| Subject-matter expert (Legal) | 4 | 90 | $360 |
| Total | $6,880 |
Quality Requirements
PMI/PMBOK 8 alignment. All baselines subject to Integrated Change Control after approval.
Acceptance Criteria
Sponsor (Mary) signs Project Management Plan; all subsidiary plans complete; baselines locked.
Technical Information
MS Project for schedule; Excel for cost; company SharePoint for plan storage.
Agreement Information
No external contracts at this stage.
Code of Account: 1.4.3
Work Package Name: Frontend Development
Description of Work
Build the website's user interface including all page templates and reusable components in line with the approved design system. Implement responsive behaviour across desktop, tablet, and mobile breakpoints.
Responsible Party
Bob (Web Developer / Tech Lead)
Assumptions & Constraints
Design system finalised before this package starts; CMS environment available.
Milestones & Due Dates
| # | Milestone | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Component library complete | Aug 10, 2026 |
| 2 | All page templates built | Sep 5, 2026 |
| 3 | Frontend handed to QA | Sep 15, 2026 |
Resources & Cost Estimate
| Activity / Resource | Hours / Units | Rate ($/hr) | Cost ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead Developer (Bob) | 120 | 95 | $11,400 |
| Frontend contractor | 60 | 80 | $4,800 |
| Image / icon assets (license) | 1 | $1,200 | |
| Total | $17,400 |
Quality Requirements
Code adheres to firm's frontend coding standards; passes ESLint & accessibility linter; ≥ 80% unit-test coverage on components.
Acceptance Criteria
Frontend matches approved designs; responsive at 320px, 768px, 1280px; Lighthouse Performance ≥ 90 on top 10 pages.
Technical Information
Stack: HeadlessCMS + React/Next.js + Tailwind (per firm's approved tech list). Hosted in approved cloud provider.
Agreement Information
Contractor SOW for frontend support, $4,800 fixed.
Code of Account: 1.6.3
Work Package Name: Production Cutover
Description of Work
Execute the Go-Live cutover: deploy final build to production, update DNS to point marysconsulting.com to the new infrastructure, verify SSL, and validate site availability.
Responsible Party
Bob (Web Developer / Tech Lead)
Assumptions & Constraints
All UAT defects resolved before cutover; comms plan executed (stakeholders notified).
Milestones & Due Dates
| # | Milestone | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cutover plan approved | Oct 25, 2026 |
| 2 | DNS updated | Nov 7, 2026 |
| 3 | Go-Live confirmed | Nov 7, 2026 |
Resources & Cost Estimate
| Activity / Resource | Hours / Units | Rate ($/hr) | Cost ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead Developer (Bob) | 16 | 95 | $1,520 |
| IT/Hosting Operations support | 8 | 110 | $880 |
| Total | $2,400 |
Quality Requirements
Zero-error cutover window; HTTPS enforced; Core Web Vitals within target on top 10 pages immediately after cutover.
Acceptance Criteria
Site live on marysconsulting.com; SSL validated; smoke tests pass; rollback plan validated and documented.
Technical Information
DNS managed via firm's registrar; cutover runbook in SharePoint.
Agreement Information
Hosting vendor SLA in effect from cutover.
Code of Account
Every node in the WBS corresponds to a specific numerical identifier. The "1.4.3" code ensures cost, scheduling, and risk tools automatically map back to the correct branch of the work breakdown.
Work Packages vs. Activities
A work package represents a deliverable (e.g., "Frontend Development"), not an action. In the scheduling phase, this package will be further decomposed into specific verb-noun activities (e.g., "Build CSS layout").
Control Accounts
For large projects, multiple work packages are rolled up into a Control Account (e.g., all 1.4 packages roll into the 1.4 Build account). This allows management to track earned value at a higher level than individual tasks.