Child’s Birthday Party Project

By Christina Jones, Elizabeth Wright and Matthew Olson

Birthday Party Work Breakdown Structure

Description: This overall project will consist of putting together a party for a child. The project
will be completed by Saturday March 23rd, 2019 at 3:00PM EST. The birthday party will have a
theme and decorated from the theme of the child’s choice. This project will be completed and
hosted at the parents' home inside the family area and backyard space. This project will
include obtaining supplies such as invitations, decoration, piñata, bouncy house, party favors,
cake, food, and balloons. The project will conclude with clean-up of all trash and vendor pick
up of supplies.
Major Task
1-Obtain Party Supplies
1.1 Sub Task
Purchase Invitations
Purchase Thank you cards
Purchase Balloons
Purchase Piñata
Order Bouncy House
Purchase Themed décor (centerpieces and tablecloths)
Sub Task Duration
10 days
Major Task
2-Party Beginning Preparation
2.1-Sub Task
Create Guest List
Edit Invitations for each guests name
Send Invitations in Mail
Sub Task Duration
2 days
Major Task
3- Party Validations
3.1- Sub Task
Check Mail for incoming mail for RSVP
Create count for RSVP guests
Sub Task Duration
14 days
Major Task
4- Party Final Preparation:
4.1- Sub Task
Final Talley of all guests
Provide final count for vendors and stakeholders
Sub Tasks Duration
2 days
4.2- Sub Task
Order Cake Size for final guest count
Order Party Platters for final guest count
Purchase Party favors for final guest count
Sub Task Duration
6 days
Major Tasks
5- Preplan Party Day Events
5.1- Sub Task
Conduct loose schedule for party
Sub Task Duration
1 day
Major Task
6- Party Day Set-Up
6.1- Sub Task
Set Up Decorations of Center Pieces and Tablecloths
Blow up Balloons and place around yard
Set up piñata in tree
Retrieve incoming bounce house and tell vendor where to set up
6.2 Sub Task
Pick up Party Platters and deliver to home
Pick Up cake and deliver to home
Sub Level Duration
5 hours
Major Task
7- Conduct Host of Birthday Party
7.1- Sub Task
Greet all incoming guests
Ensure all guests questions are answered
Be Social
Conduct schedule of party as loosely planned on previous task
Complete all events( opening presents, cutting cake, and bashing piñata)
Provide supervision of children guests in bouncy house and home
Acknowledge departing guests and thank them for attending
Ensure all guests leave with party favors
Sub Tasks Duration
4 hours
Major Task
8- Party Clean-Up – Mother and Father of Child
8.1-Sub Task
Discard all trash and spoiled food in garbage bins
Retain an store left over food if applicable
Take down decorations and discard if needed
Retain all decoration needing to be kept
Meet with vendor for bouncy house departure
Sub Task Duration
1 day
Major Task
9- Thank you Cards
9.1 Sub Task
Sign Thank you Cards
Send Thank you Cards
Sub task Duration
7 days

Birthday Party Work Breakdown Structure Dictionary

1-Obtain Party Supplies
1.1 Sub Task
Description: Task will be to purchase and acquire all needing supplies including the following:
Themes décor, Invitations, Balloons, Thank You Cards, Piñata, and Bouncy House. All of these
items will be required for the party to be successful and will be sure the objectives are met.
Assigned to: Mother of Child
Assigned: 01/19/2019 Due: 01/29/2019
2-Party Beginning Preparation
2.1-Sub Task
Description: Organizing and creating the guests list is important to ensure all wanted guests
will possibly attend. This will require consultation and approval from Child and Father.
Assigned to: Mother of Child
Assigned: 01/29/2019 Due: 01/31/2019
3- Party Validations
3.1- Sub Task
Description: This task will require tracking and counting how many quests will be attending.
May require follow up to guests to verify quality on who will attend. This task will also require
checking of mail daily and placing a tally of how many RSVP responses arrive.
Assigned to: Mother of Child
Assigned: 02/23/2019 03/09/2019
4- Party Final Preparation
4.1- Sub Task
Description: This task will require to o a final count of all RSVP received in mail. Will also need
to verbally communicate the count to stakeholder and speak to vendors to see how many
items for food and beverages will need to be ordered (size and quantity).
4.2- Sub Task
Description: Now that the final RSVP’s are in, this task must require calls to food and beverage
vendor for final food order. Must require call to bakery for final cake order. Must require final
purchases of proper quantity for party favors.

Assigned to: Mother of Child

Assigned: 03/11/2019 03/19/2019
5- Preplan Party Day Events
5.1- Sub Task
Description: This task will require the Mother of Child to do an outline of Birthday Day events.
Must right down timeslots of day by deciding and writing down when presents should be
opened, piñata to be broken, and cake to be cut. Due to circumstances beyond control, must
have flexibility in schedule so it will be a draft and final day will go as needed. May Require
approval from Father of child.

Assigned to: Mother of Child

Assigned: 03/20/2019 Due: 03/21/2019
6- Party Day Set-Up
6.1- Sub Task
Description: This task will utilize the materials bought previously on 1.1. Father of child will be
in charge of setting up the décor and piñata for the birthday on implementation day. This must
be completed prior to guests arriving.
Assigned to : Father of Child
6.2- Sub Task
Description: While Father of child is setting up, mother of child will be in charge of pickup up
the final food order from allocated vendors and bringing them back to the party for
completion of set up. This will done prior to guest’s arrival.

Assigned to: Mother of Child

Assigned: 03/23/2019 Due: 03/23/2019
7- Conduct Host of Birthday Party
7.1- Sub Task
Description: Mother and Father of child will have the responsibilities of greeting guests and
thanking them upon departure for attending. Both stakeholders will answer questions of
guests if need and will ensure that they are completing the outlined list of the day per
previous sub task 5.1. Additional responsibilities will be as required per guests needs and
supervision of child will be necessary.
Assigned to: Mother and Father of Child
Assigned: 03/23/2019 Due: 03/23/2019
8- Party Clean-Up
8.1-Sub Task
Description: Upon all guests departing the Mother and Father of child will start the process of
clean up. They will remove all garbage and waste as needed. This will included taking down
decorations. Mother and Father will need to meet with vendor to take down bouncy house
and remove off property. This task will require both stakeholders to ensure all of the party
space will be clear of any party décor and food.

Assigned to: Mother and Father of Child

Assigned: 03/23/2019 Due: 03/24/2019
9- Thank You Cards
9.1-Sub Task
Description: This task will be to utilize the materials bought previously on 1.1 and create
individualized cards for all gusts who attended the party. Will required approval from child.
This will show appreciation to the guests who attended.
 Assigned to: Mother and Father of Child
Assigned: 03/23/2019 Due: 03/30/2019

Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)

Project Team Members Other Stakeholders

WBS Element Mother Father The Child The Child Relatives Attendees' Vendors
Guests Parents
1.1 R S C N
2.1 R C, A C, A N N N
3.1 R S N N N N
4.1 R S N N N N
4.2 R S N
5.1 R S, A
6.1 S R
6.2 R S
7.1 R R S S
8.1 R R S
9.1 R R A N N N
Key: R = Responsible, S = Support Required, C = Must Be Consulted, N = Must Be Notified, A = Approval
Required

Milestones & Deliverables

 Decide on a theme - January 19, 2019

 Obtain party supplies - January 29, 2019
 Come up with guest list (up to 35 guests) - January 31, 2019
 Procure vendors (give estimated guest count) - February 1, 2019
 Invitations sent out - February 23, 2019
 Get RSVP's and get final guest count - March 9, 2019
 Give vendors final guest count - March 19, 2019
 Clean the venue - March 22, 2019
 Set up decorations - March 23, 2019 (3 hours before party start-time)
 Pick up food - March 23, 2019 (2 hours before party start-time)
 Clean the venue after the party - March 24, 2019
 Send out Thank You notes - March 30, 2019
Task Dependencies: For our project to be successful the first thing that needs to happen before
anything else can happen is that we need to need to purchase supplies to be able to send out
invitations to the party and have the supplies to be able to decorate for the party. Without
doing either of these things we will not have any guests attending and no celebration. The next
task that is required for things to be able to proceed is that we need to order the cake, party
platters and party favors. Without these things we are not able to set up for the party. The next
task that needs to be completed before anything can proceed is that there needs to be a loose
schedule set up for the party. Without this we do not have any idea of how to set up or any plan
of what is going on. After this we need to be able to set up for the party, we have to have this
done in order for the party to be successful.

Critical Path: The critical path for our project would be as a last resort that could only be done
within a few days of the date of the party. The one thing that slows the process down is mail
takes time to arrive at its destination. We need a couple of days for the mail to arrive and for
people to be aware of the party. We would have to skip the RSVP stage of the plan and estimate
how many guests are going to show up. We would have to order cake, party platters and party
favors almost simultaneously as we sent out the invitations and hope that we do not run out of
food and have enough supplies for everyone that is attending. We would also have to buy the
supplies for the party and set them up after we have obtained them instead of waiting for a
schedule to be made. We would be able to complete all our tasks but as is the case with most
critical paths it increases the chance for error and our party could run into problems very easily.