Office Relocation Work Breakdown Structure
This is a practical guide to building a work breakdown structure for an office relocation project — a deliverable-oriented decomposition of the whole scope into manageable work packages, adapted to the realities of moving an office to new premises.
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 an office relocation project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for an Office Relocation project
Office Relocation projects live or die on moving an office to new premises. 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 office relocation 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
Office Relocation-specific considerations
Tailor the work breakdown structure to the risks that most often derail office relocation projects:
- Minimising downtime
- IT and telephony cutover
- Staff communication
Example
On a real office relocation project, the work breakdown structure would be shaped by moving an office to new premises. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — minimising downtime, IT and telephony cutover, staff communication — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.