CRM Implementation Work Breakdown Structure
This is a practical guide to building a work breakdown structure for a crm implementation project — a deliverable-oriented decomposition of the whole scope into manageable work packages, adapted to the realities of deploying a customer relationship management system to improve sales and service.
What a Work Breakdown Structure is
A work breakdown structure is a deliverable-oriented decomposition of the whole scope into manageable work packages. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Work Breakdown Structure. On a crm implementation project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a CRM Implementation project
CRM Implementation projects live or die on deploying a customer relationship management system to improve sales and service. A well-built work breakdown structure gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how crm implementation projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Top-level deliverables
- Sub-deliverables
- Work packages (8–80 hours)
- WBS numbering
- WBS dictionary entries
CRM Implementation-specific considerations
Tailor the work breakdown structure to the risks that most often derail crm implementation projects:
- Poor data quality on migration
- Low user adoption
- Integration with existing tools
Example
On a real crm implementation project, the work breakdown structure would be shaped by deploying a customer relationship management system to improve sales and service. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — poor data quality on migration, low user adoption, integration with existing tools — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.