What is a Work Package?

A work package is a group of activities for which work is estimated, scheduled, monitored, and controlled. A work package defines work at the lowest level for which cost and duration can be estimated and managed. It is essentially a sub-project. Tasks are commonly aggregated into work packages based on a common factor, such as whether they are located in the same geographic region or will be completed within roughly the same time frame.

How to Use Work Packages

A good way to measure the progress of a project is to set up many short-duration work packages. When each work package is clearly defined in this manner, one can easily determine whether it has started and finished on time. Conversely, if a work package is several months long, it is quite difficult to tell if the work package is really on track. In the latter case, a likely outcome is that the manager will only discover that there is a problem when the work package approaches its scheduled finish date.

Work Package Best Practices

One should only decompose projects down to the work package level at which the additional detail assists in the planning and management of a project. Greater levels of detail provide no incremental benefit to the project manager.