Module 5 of 12 · Async + Virtual · 1.5 hours
Project Planning 1
Module 6 resources. Start with the video, keep the quick reference open while you work.
Module 5 throughline — You cannot manage what you have not broken down — the Work Breakdown Structure turns a promise into a plan you can control.Module Videos
The recorded walkthrough that teaches the module — watch first.
In productionModule Overview
The full illustrated module overview — a continuous, visual read.
Available Open →Quick Reference Guides
The interactive companion — calculators, diagnostics, and checklists to keep open on the job.
Available Open →Additional Materials
Templates, worksheets, and source documents that support the module.
In productionWhat you’ll be able to do
- ✓Define scope, schedule, budget, and constraints based on client goals.
- ✓Build a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
- ✓Identify QA/QC requirements and checkpoints within the project plan.
Tools & resources
Tools & resources you’ll use
- Project Planning Process
- WBS Template for Standard Projects
- Project Decision Matrix
Listed items are the governance and operational tools tied to this section. Items marked “Participant generated” are built during the work.
The Archetype Lens
Before the design starts, two archetypes skip the breakdown.
Breaking down the work is exactly the discipline the Obsessed Designer rushes past and the Coordinator over-documents.
Competent Coordinator
Logs and documents instead of intervening — trusts the meeting cadence over the timely call.
Obsessed Designer
Optimizes for the design — treats budget, client ops, and team load as someone else’s problem.
People Pleaser
Leads with relationship — says yes, softens bad news, absorbs cost to dodge the hard conversation.
Accountable Owner
Owns the intersections — reads signals early, stops work, presents options, protects the outcome.
A new phase starts and the design is exciting.
Dives into design without breaking the work down or pricing it.
Decomposes the scope into a WBS and prices it before the first sketch — design gets the runway a real budget buys.
Estimating who should do a routine task.
Builds a tidy plan but never soft-resources to the right level.
Assigns each task to its lowest competent role and defends the margin task by task.
Meet the four archetypes in depth →