work breakdown structure

An arrangement of work elements and their relationship to each other and to the end product or service.

A managed set of people and other assigned resources that delivers one or more products or services to a customer or end user. (See also “project.”)
A work group can be any organizational entity with a defined purpose, whether or not that entity appears on an organization chart. Work groups can appear at any level of an organization, can contain other work groups, and can span organizational boundaries.
A work group together with its work can be considered the same as a project if it has an intentionally limited lifetime.

A plan of activities and related resource allocations for a work group.
Work planning includes estimating the attributes of work products and tasks, determining the resources needed, negotiating commitments, producing a schedule, and identifying and analyzing risks. Iterating through these activities can be necessary to establish the work plan.

A useful result of a process.
This result can include files, documents, products, parts of a product, services, process descriptions, specifications, and invoices. A key distinction between a work product and a product component is that a work product is not necessarily part of the end product. (See also “product” and “product component.”)
In CMMI models, the definition of “work product” includes services, however, the phrase “work products and services” is sometimes used to emphasize the inclusion of services in the discussion.

Characteristics of products, services, and tasks used to help in estimating work. These characteristics include items such as size, complexity, weight, form, fit, and function. They are typically used as one input to deriving other resource estimates (e.g., effort, cost, schedule).

When a set of interrelated resources for a work group is directed to develop or deliver one or more products or services for a customer or end user. (See also “work group.”)