Task Breakdown and Work Allocation
Decompose complex projects into manageable tasks. Use AI to create work breakdown structures, estimate effort, and assign work effectively.
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The Art of Breaking Things Down
In the previous lesson, we explored project planning and scoping with ai. Now let’s build on that foundation. You know that feeling when a project seems overwhelming? When the deliverable is so big and complex that you don’t know where to start?
That feeling is information. It’s telling you that you haven’t broken the work down enough.
A project plan that says “Build new customer portal” is useless. A plan that breaks it down to “Create login page wireframe (4 hours), implement authentication API (6 hours), write password reset flow (3 hours)” is actionable.
The difference between a manager who’s in control and one who’s drowning is usually the quality of their task breakdown. AI makes this decomposition faster, more thorough, and harder to get wrong.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A WBS is the backbone of project execution. Here’s how to generate one with AI:
Create a Work Breakdown Structure for this project:
PROJECT: [Name and description]
DELIVERABLES: [What needs to be produced]
TEAM: [Available roles and skills]
TIMELINE: [Overall deadline]
Generate a hierarchical WBS with:
LEVEL 1: Major phases (3-6)
LEVEL 2: Deliverables within each phase (2-5 per phase)
LEVEL 3: Work packages (groups of related tasks)
LEVEL 4: Individual tasks
For each individual task (Level 4):
- Clear, action-oriented description
- Estimated effort (hours)
- Required skill/role
- Dependencies (what must be done first)
- Definition of done (how do we know it's complete)
RULES:
- Every task should take 2-8 hours of effort
- Tasks over 8 hours should be broken down further
- Include tasks people forget: testing, documentation,
review cycles, deployment, handoffs
- Include buffer/contingency tasks (10-20% of total)
Example: Breaking Down a Website Redesign
Let’s walk through a real breakdown.
Project: Redesign company marketing website Team: 1 designer, 2 developers, 1 copywriter, 1 PM Timeline: 8 weeks
AI-generated WBS (abbreviated):
PHASE 1: Discovery & Planning (Week 1-2)
├── 1.1 Audit current site
│ ├── Content inventory (4h, copywriter)
│ ├── Analytics review (3h, PM)
│ ├── Technical audit (4h, developer)
│ └── Competitive analysis (4h, designer)
├── 1.2 Define requirements
│ ├── Stakeholder interviews (6h, PM)
│ ├── User requirements document (4h, PM)
│ └── Technical requirements document (3h, developer)
└── 1.3 Project plan finalization
├── Detailed timeline (3h, PM)
├── Resource allocation (2h, PM)
└── Kickoff meeting prep and execution (3h, PM)
PHASE 2: Design (Week 2-4)
├── 2.1 Information architecture
│ ├── Sitemap creation (4h, designer)
│ ├── Navigation structure (3h, designer)
│ └── Stakeholder review and approval (2h, PM)
├── 2.2 Visual design
│ ├── Moodboard and style exploration (4h, designer)
│ ├── Homepage design (8h, designer)
│ ├── Interior page templates (6h, designer)
│ ├── Mobile responsive designs (6h, designer)
│ └── Design review and revisions (4h, designer + PM)
└── 2.3 Content creation
├── Homepage copy (4h, copywriter)
├── About page copy (3h, copywriter)
├── Service pages copy (6h, copywriter)
└── Copy review and revisions (3h, copywriter + PM)
PHASE 3: Development (Week 4-7)
...
Notice what’s included that many PMs forget: review cycles, revision time, stakeholder approval meetings, deployment tasks, and buffer.
The “What Are We Forgetting?” Prompt
After generating a WBS, ask AI to audit it:
Here's my project WBS:
[PASTE WBS]
Review this breakdown and identify:
1. MISSING TASKS: What common tasks for this type of
project are not listed?
Think about:
- Testing and QA
- Documentation
- Training/onboarding
- Data migration
- Review and approval cycles
- Deployment and go-live
- Post-launch monitoring
- Rollback planning
2. UNDERESTIMATED TASKS: Which tasks are likely to take
longer than estimated? Why?
3. MISSING DEPENDENCIES: What task relationships are
not captured?
4. RISK AREAS: Which tasks have the highest risk of
delay or failure?
5. FORGOTTEN STAKEHOLDERS: Are there people who need
to review or approve work that aren't accounted for?
This “audit the plan” step catches 80% of the surprises that would hit you during execution.
Quick Check
Look at your current project plan. Find the biggest task (the one with the most hours). Could it be broken down further? If a task is over 8 hours, it’s almost certainly hiding complexity. Break it down until every piece is something one person could finish in a day.
Estimating Effort Realistically
AI generates reasonable estimates, but they need calibration. Here’s the framework:
For each task in this WBS, provide three estimates:
OPTIMISTIC: Everything goes perfectly, no interruptions
REALISTIC: Normal conditions, some minor issues
PESSIMISTIC: Significant challenges or rework needed
Present as a table:
| Task | Optimistic | Realistic | Pessimistic | Suggested |
The "Suggested" estimate should be:
(Optimistic + 4*Realistic + Pessimistic) / 6
This is the PERT formula for weighted estimation.
Also flag:
- Tasks where the optimistic-to-pessimistic range is
very wide (high uncertainty)
- Tasks that are hard to estimate because they depend
on unknowns
Critical rule: Always validate AI estimates with the person doing the work. A task that AI estimates at 4 hours might take your junior developer 12 hours, or your senior developer 2 hours. Context matters.
Prioritization: RICE Framework
When you have more tasks than capacity, use the RICE framework to prioritize:
Prioritize these tasks/features using the RICE framework:
TASKS TO PRIORITIZE:
[List tasks or features]
For each task, score:
- REACH: How many users/stakeholders are affected? (number)
- IMPACT: How much will it improve the outcome? (3=massive, 2=high, 1=medium, 0.5=low, 0.25=minimal)
- CONFIDENCE: How confident are we in the estimates? (100%=high, 80%=medium, 50%=low)
- EFFORT: Person-months to complete (or person-days for smaller items)
RICE Score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort
Present as a ranked table with scores and brief
justification for each rating.
Assigning Work Effectively
Task breakdown is only useful if the right people are assigned to the right work:
Here's my project WBS with task estimates:
[PASTE WBS]
Here's my team:
[List team members with their skills, availability,
and current workload]
Create a task assignment plan:
1. ASSIGNMENT TABLE
| Task | Assigned To | Reason for Assignment |
| Start Date | End Date | Dependencies |
2. WORKLOAD ANALYSIS
For each team member:
- Total hours assigned
- Week-by-week utilization (%)
- Overload periods (>80% utilization)
3. BOTTLENECKS
- Where is one person a single point of failure?
- What happens if [person] is unavailable for a week?
- Which skills have no backup?
4. RECOMMENDATIONS
- Suggested workload adjustments
- Tasks that could be parallelized
- Skills gaps that might need external help
Dependency Mapping
Dependencies determine your critical path. Miss one, and the whole schedule slides:
From this task list:
[PASTE TASKS]
Create a dependency map:
1. DEPENDENCY TABLE
| Task | Depends On | Type | Lag |
Types:
- FS: Finish-to-Start (most common)
- SS: Start-to-Start
- FF: Finish-to-Finish
2. CRITICAL PATH
Identify the longest chain of dependent tasks.
These are the tasks that, if delayed, delay
the entire project.
3. PARALLEL TRACKS
Identify tasks that can run simultaneously
to compress the timeline.
4. RISK DEPENDENCIES
Which dependencies are most likely to cause delays?
What can we do to de-risk them?
From WBS to Sprint Backlog (Agile)
If you’re working in sprints, convert the WBS into a prioritized backlog:
Convert this WBS into a sprint backlog:
[PASTE WBS]
SPRINT LENGTH: [1 week / 2 weeks]
TEAM VELOCITY: [Story points or hours per sprint]
For each task:
1. Convert to a user story format
"As a [role], I want to [action] so that [benefit]"
2. Assign story points (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13)
3. Write acceptance criteria (3-5 per story)
Then group into sprint recommendations:
- Sprint 1: [Stories] (total points: X)
- Sprint 2: [Stories] (total points: X)
- ...
Respect dependencies: don't schedule a task in
Sprint 2 if its dependency is also in Sprint 2.
Practical Exercise
Take a project you’re working on and generate a complete WBS using the prompts from this lesson. Then run the “What Are We Forgetting?” audit prompt. Compare what AI found with what your current plan covers. Identify at least three tasks that need to be added or broken down further.
Key Takeaways
- Good task breakdowns are the difference between in-control and drowning–break everything into 2-8 hour tasks
- A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) decomposes projects hierarchically: phases, deliverables, work packages, tasks
- Always audit your WBS with the “What Are We Forgetting?” prompt: testing, documentation, review cycles, and deployment are commonly missed
- Use three-point estimation (optimistic, realistic, pessimistic) for uncertain tasks
- Validate every AI estimate with the person who’ll actually do the work
- RICE framework helps prioritize when you have more work than capacity
- Map dependencies to find your critical path–these are the tasks that can’t slip
- Single points of failure in your assignment plan are the risks that will hit you hardest
Next lesson: risk management and mitigation–spotting problems before they become problems.
Knowledge Check
Complete the quiz above first
Lesson completed!