Susan and Steve have decided to tie the knot, but they don’t have much time to plan their wedding. They want the big day to be unforgettable. They want to invite many people and provide a great time. They’ve always dreamed of a June wedding, but it’s already January. Just thinking about all of the details involved is overwhelming. Susan has been dreaming of the big day since she was 12, but it seems that there’s so little time for all the tasks to be completed. When they were choosing the paper for the invitations, the couple realized that they needed help.
Much work has to be done before June. First, Sally figures out what work needs to be done. She starts to put together a to-do list:
- Invitations
- Flowers
- Wedding cake
- Dinner menu
- Band
Since many different people are involved in the making of the wedding, it takes much planning to coordinate all the work in the right order by the right people at the right time. Initially, Sally was worried that she didn’t have enough time to make sure that everything would be done properly. However, she knew that she had some powerful time management tools on her side when she took the job, and these tools would help her to synchronize all the required tasks.
To get started, Sally arranged all the activities in a work breakdown structure. The exercise presents part of the WBS Sally made for the wedding.
Arrange the following activities into the WBS to show how the work items decompose into activities, be as detailed as possible.
- Shop for shoes
- Create guest list
- Have the tailoring and fitting done
- Shop for dress
- Find caterer
- Cater the wedding
- Wait for RSVPs
- Mail the invitations
- Finalize the menu
- Print the invitations
- Choose the bouquet