Accept – A project management term denoting the decision to not act against a potential threat. This usually happens when a risk falls below the defined thresholds or when the team decides to respond only if and when the threat arises. This is commonly referred to as risk acceptance.
Acceptance Criteria – These are the precise requirements that project deliverables must meet to be formally accepted.
Acceptance Test – A testing method where a team of end users puts a product through its complete range of use to detect any potential issues.
Acquisition Process – This is the process of obtaining the necessary personnel and resources for project execution. Acquisition is closely coordinated with project budgets and schedules.
Action Item – This term refers to a task or activity that needs to be accomplished.
Action Item Status – A tracking method for an action item’s progression from creation to closure. As multiple action items make up work packages, it is crucial to keep action item statuses updated for tracking project progress.
Activity – The smallest unit of work needed to complete a project work package. Resources, time, and finances are needed to accomplish each activity.
Activity Code – A unique alphanumeric value assigned to each activity, enabling activities to be grouped and filtered.
Activity Identifier – A distinctive alphanumeric value assigned to each activity for easy identification.
Activity Label – A brief descriptor for an activity. These labels are often placed below arrows symbolizing activities in Activity-On-Arrow (AOA) diagrams.
Activity List – A document that outlines all the activities required to complete a project, each accompanied by its activity identifier and a description of the work it entails.
Activity-On-Arrow (AOA) – A type of network diagram where arrows represent activities and nodes signify events or milestones. AOA diagrams can only indicate finish-to-start relationships.
Activity-On-Node (AON) – Another type of network diagram where nodes represent activities and arrows illustrate the logical relationships between these activities. AON diagrams can illustrate start-to-start, start-to-finish, finish-to-start, and finish-to-finish relationships.
Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) – A term denoting the total cost incurred for the work completed within a given time frame.
Actual Duration – The actual time taken to complete an activity.
Actual Effort – The amount of labor required to complete an activity, usually expressed in person-hours or similar units of work.
Actual Expenditure – The total of costs paid from a budget.
Actual Progress – A measure of the amount of work completed on a project, used to evaluate the comparison between project progress and project baselines. It’s often expressed as a percentage.
Adaptive Project Framework (APF) – An innovative approach to project management that embraces changing requirements and allows projects to adapt to external business environments. APF emphasizes flexibility and stages-based project execution to allow room for replanning due to changing business goals, objectives, and requirements.
Administrative Closure – A term referring to the set of formal requirements needed to close a project. This involves documenting the formal acceptance of deliverables and ensuring that all relevant information is forwarded to a project’s sponsor and stakeholders.
Aggregate Planning – A strategy that uses demand forecasts to manage scheduling and planning for project activities between three and 18 months in advance. This helps to efficiently acquire or assign the necessary resources and personnel.
Agile – A collection of iterative development approaches designed to meet fluctuating customer requirements. Agile development is implemented as a series of iterations, or sprints, with incremental improvements made in each sprint. Agile methodologies are adaptive and guide iterative work based on user stories and customer involvement.
Agile Project Management – This approach draws from concepts of agile software development. It focuses on teamwork, collaboration, stakeholder involvement, and the use of iterative development methods.
Agile Software Development – This method, originating from the Agile Manifesto, emphasizes meeting changing requirements through collaborative development and ongoing improvements through iteration. It underscores the importance of being responsive to rapid changes in external environments.
Allocation – The process of assigning resources for scheduled activities in the most efficient way possible. This is also referred to as resource allocation.
Alternative Analysis – The evaluation of possible action paths for project work to determine the most suitable approach.
Analogous Estimating – A technique that uses historical project data to make time and cost estimates. It’s often considered the least accurate estimation technique.
Analytical Estimating – A technique that calculates total project time and cost estimates by preparing estimates for each project activity and adding them together. It’s considered the most accurate estimation technique.
Application Area – The specific project category to which the project belongs. Application areas can be defined based on the characteristics or applications of the project products, or by the project’s customers or stakeholders.
Apportioned Effort – The project work linked to components of a work breakdown structure and performed in proportion to discrete effort. It’s one of three types of activities used to measure work performance as part of earned value management.
Approach Analysis – An analysis type used during the project planning phase to examine the various methods through which a project’s objectives may be accomplished.
Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) – A method of creating a network diagram that uses arrows to represent activities and nodes to represent events or milestones. The ADM is used to create Activity-On-Arrow (AOA) diagrams.
Artifact – Items that support software development. Artifacts can be process-associated items like project plans or items used to support actual aspects of development, such as use cases and requirements.
Assignment Contouring – The process of assigning people to project work for varying hours per day as the project progresses through different stages. This is typically done using project management software.
Assumption – Factors assumed to be true during the project planning process, though proof of their validity is not available. Assumptions can impact project risks and outcomes, so they must be considered carefully.
Authorization – In general, authorization is the authority given by management to make decisions. The specific scope of authorization varies from case to case.
Authorized Work – Work that has been approved by management or other authorities.
Avoid – A response to a negative risk that aims to prevent the risk from occurring or, if the risk cannot be eliminated, to protect the project objectives from the negative risk’s impact.
B – Project Management Terms
Backward Pass – A project scheduling process that calculates the latest start and finish dates for project activities by working backward from the project’s planned end date.
Balance – A phase in the portfolio life cycle aiming to balance a portfolio’s components considering aspects such as risk, costs, and resource utilization. This is a part of organizational project management.
Balanced Scorecard – A strategic planning and management tool used to align business activities with the vision and strategy of the organization.
Bar Chart – A graphic representation that schedules project activities against time. Also known as a Gantt chart, it displays activities’ start and end dates in a logical order.
Baseline – The approved version of a project’s schedule and cost at the beginning of a project. It serves as a reference point for monitoring and measuring project performance.
Benefits Realization – The process of ensuring that the outcomes of a project deliver the expected benefits to customers and stakeholders.
Blueprint – A document that outlines a program’s objectives and explains its contribution towards the organizational goals.
BOSCARD – A method that details the background, objectives, scope, constraints, assumptions, risks, and deliverables of new projects.
Bottom-Up Estimating – An estimation method that involves estimating each individual task and then adding these estimates together to obtain the total project time and cost. It is considered one of the most accurate estimating techniques.
Brief – A document produced during the concept phase of a project that outlines the project’s requirements.
Budget – The total sum allocated for a particular project or a detailed list of expected income and expenses.
Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) – The budget allocation associated with work that has been completed on a project during a specific time period. Also known as earned value.
Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) – The budget allocation associated with work that has been scheduled to be completed on a project during a specific time period. Also known as planned value.
Burn Down Chart – A graphical representation that shows the relationship between the amount of work remaining and the time left for project completion.
Burst Point – A point in a network diagram where multiple successor activities depend on a single predecessor activity.
Business Analysis – The practice of identifying and addressing business problems by determining and implementing effective solutions.
Business Case – A formal document that outlines the justification for initiating a project, including estimated costs, benefits, and impacts.
Business Imperative – A circumstance or situation that is crucial to the operations or success of a business.
Business Model – A conceptual structure that supports the viability of a business and details how it operates, creates, and delivers value.
Business Operations – The day-to-day activities of a business that are necessary for generating value for customers and earning revenue.
Business Process – A set of coordinated tasks and activities that a business performs to deliver a specific product or service to a customer.
Business Process Modeling (BPM) – The activity of representing processes of an enterprise to analyze or improve current processes.
Business Requirements – The critical activities that a product must fulfill to meet its purpose in a business context.
Business Value – The tangible and intangible benefits a project provides to a business.
C – Project Management Terms
Calendar Unit: This refers to the smallest duration of time, usually hours or days, used to measure project activities.
Capability Maturity Model (CMM): A model designed to evaluate business process maturity. Initially created for software development, it’s now used across various industries.
CAPEX: Also known as Capital Expenditure, it’s the funds a company uses to acquire or upgrade its fixed physical assets for long-term use.
Case Study: This is a comprehensive and detailed research method focusing on specific aspects of a company, situation, or event, contributing to knowledge advancement.
Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM): An entry-level certification offered by the Project Management Institute, designed to enhance knowledge of project management processes and terms.
Champion: An informal role in project management, the Champion is personally responsible for ensuring the success of the project, pushing the team, liaising with stakeholders, and supporting the project manager.
Change Control: This process involves identifying, evaluating, approving, and implementing changes to a project in a controlled and effective manner.
Change Control Board: A designated group of stakeholders responsible for evaluating and deciding on proposed changes to the project.
Change Control System/Process: This is the process through which project changes are evaluated before approval, implementation, and documentation.
Change Freeze: The point at which no further changes to the project scope are allowed.
Change Management Plan: A plan detailing the change control process, designed to ensure all project changes are managed correctly.
Change Request: A formal document submitted to the change control board proposing changes to the finalized project management plan.
Client/Customer: These are the individuals who directly benefit from a project, with the team executing the project based on their specific requirements.
Closing Phase: The final phase of the project management life cycle, where all project aspects are officially completed and closed.
Code of Accounts: An alphanumeric system for assigning unique identifiers to all components of the work breakdown structure.
Collaborative Negotiation: A negotiation approach where all negotiating parties strive to achieve at least some of their goals.
Communications Log: A document tracking all project-related communications, maintained and organized by the project manager.
Communications Management Plan: A plan outlining who will be sending and receiving project information, what details will be communicated, and when.
Communities of Practice: Groups of individuals sharing a common interest in project management, meeting regularly to share and develop knowledge in their area of interest.
Competence: The necessary knowledge and skills required to perform tasks associated with a specific role.
Competence Framework: A set of competence expectations used to assess an individual’s suitability for a particular role.
Concept: The initial phase of the project management life cycle, where the team presents the problem or opportunity along with possible solutions, examining the project’s general feasibility.
Conceptual Project Planning: This involves the development of documentation from which the project’s organization and control system will originate.
Concurrent Engineering: A product development approach where design and development activities occur simultaneously to shorten the development lifecycle and release products more quickly.
Configuration: The process of customizing a product’s functions and characteristics to make it suitable for customer use.
Configuration Management: This ensures that the project product meets all necessary specifications and stipulations, providing standards for the management and team to guarantee quality and functional requirements are met.
Consensus: A group decision that all members agree upon.
Constraint: A limitation on a project, which could be financial, time-based, or based on the availability of resources.
Constructability: A concept used in complex hard projects to assess and examine the entire construction process before beginning construction, aimed at reducing errors, setbacks, and delays.
Construction: The process through which a team builds infrastructure, supervised by engineers and architects, and managed by a project manager.
Consumable Resource: A non-renewable resource that cannot be reused once consumed.
Contingency Plan: An alternative or additional course of action planned in anticipation of specific risks occurring.
Contingency Reserve: A time or money allocation set aside for known possibilities that could delay a project or increase its costs.
Contract Administration: The process of managing a relationship with a contracting party, establishing protocols for dealings between contracting parties.
Contract Closeout: The process of determining whether the terms of a contract were successfully completed and settling any remaining terms.
Control Account: A tool in the work breakdown structure used for aggregating costs of work packages in earned value management calculations.
Control Chart: These charts compare process results with historical averages and process control limits to evaluate whether a process meets expectations.
Core Process: A process that follows an established order and is central to the performance of the process system or project it is a part of.
Corrective Action: A step taken to realign work with performance expectations after a failure to meet these expectations. It’s reactive rather than proactive, unlike a preventive action.
Cost Baseline: The total of work package estimates, contingency reserve, and other associated costs, used as the standard for assessing project performance.
Cost Benefit Analysis: A method used to weigh the costs of a project against its anticipated tangible benefits.
Cost Engineering: The application of scientific and engineering principles to aspects of cost management. It can contribute to estimation procedures and project cost management.
Cost Management Plan: This plan outlines how project costs will be planned, funded, and controlled.
Cost of Quality: The cost associated with ensuring project quality, often making the difference between acceptable and unacceptable project results.
Cost Overrun: This occurs when unexpected costs cause a project’s actual cost to exceed its budget.
Cost Performance Index (CPI): An index measuring the cost efficiency of a project by calculating the ratio of earned value to actual cost.
Cost Plus Fixed Fee Contract (CPFC): A contract where the seller is reimbursed for costs incurred and paid a predetermined fixed fee.
Cost Plus Incentive Fee Contract (CPIF): A contract where the seller is reimbursed for costs incurred and paid an additional fee for meeting specified performance criteria.
Cost Plus Percentage of Cost Contract (CPPC): A contract where the seller is reimbursed for costs incurred and paid an additional amount equal to a percentage of the costs if they meet specified performance criteria.
Cost Reimbursable Contract: A contract where a seller is reimbursed for costs incurred and paid an additional sum as per a predetermined agreement. Typically used for projects with undefined or uncertain costs.
Cost Variance: A measure of a project’s earned value minus its actual cost. A negative cost variance indicates the project is over budget, while a positive cost variance indicates it’s under budget.
Cost/Schedule Impact Analysis: An analysis method to determine the effects of a particular change on a project’s cost or schedule.
Crashing: A schedule compression technique used to speed up project work by increasing the rate at which critical path activities are completed, typically by adding more resources. This technique increases project costs.
Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM): A project management approach emphasizing the resources needed to complete project activities over activity order and durations. This approach uses resource optimization techniques like resource leveling.
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD): A psycho-educational exercise for small groups who have experienced a traumatic event, sometimes used in project management to help teams cope with trauma and rebuild team cohesion.
Critical Path Activity: A scheduled activity that is part of a project’s critical path.
Critical Path Method: A method used to estimate the shortest time needed to complete a project and determine the amount of float for non-critical path activities.
Critical Success Factor: An aspect of a project that is crucial to the success of the project.
Criticality Index: An assigned percentage to each project activity, representing how frequently it is a critical activity in project simulations. Activities with high criticality indexes can prolong project duration if delayed.
Current Finish Date: The most up-to-date estimate of when an activity will finish.
Current Start Date: The most up-to-date estimate of when an activity will start.
Current State: A detailed representation of current business processes, used as a point of comparison for efforts to analyze and improve processes’ efficiency, effectiveness, and outputs.
D – Project Management Terms
Data Date: Also called an as-of date, it’s a point at which a project’s status is measured and documented. This date separates actual data from scheduled data.
Decision Tree Analysis: A diagrammatic technique used to examine the implications of multiple decision-making or situational outcomes and illustrate a chain of decisions.
Decomposition: The process of breaking down project deliverables into smaller components that are easier to manage and plan.
Defect Repair: An action taken to fix a product that is nonfunctional or does not match expectations or requirements.
Define: The phase in the portfolio life cycle in which projects, programs, and organizational changes needed to realize strategic objectives are identified and examined.
Definitive Estimate: A total project cost estimate reached by computing cost estimates for all a project’s work packages. This is considered a highly accurate estimation technique, with estimates falling within a ten-percent range of the actual budget.
Deflection: The process of transferring risk to another party, usually through a contract.
Deliverable: A final product or product component that must be provided to a client or stakeholder as per contractual stipulations.
Delphi Technique: An estimation method based on expert consensus. The process is repeated until a consensus is reached, with the pool of estimates typically becoming narrower after each round of review.
Dependency: A logical relationship between project activities in a network diagram that determines when a dependent activity may begin.
Discrete Effort: Project work directly associated with components of a work breakdown structure. It is directly measurable and is used to measure work performance as part of earned value management.
Discretionary Dependency: The preferred way to sequence activities when there is no logical limitation on how they must be ordered.
Do Nothing Option: An element of a project business case that states the consequences, if any, of not undertaking the project.
Drawdown: A method used to control the release of project funds. Instead of making the entire project budget available from the outset, management may choose to release funds at specific times.
Dummy Activity: In activity-on-arrow diagrams, dummy activities show logical relationships between activities. They are not actual activities themselves and are represented by broken lines to differentiate them from regular activity arrows.
Duration: The amount of time taken to complete an activity or task from start to finish.
Duration Compression: Techniques used to shorten a project’s duration without reducing its scope. This typically requires additional expenditure. The two main duration compression techniques are crashing and fast tracking.
Dynamic Systems Development Method: An agile product development methodology that conducts development in a series of iterations, with user-story-based improvements made in increments. It operates with fixed cost and time constraints and uses the MoSCoW prioritization method to identify desired product requirements.
E – Project Management Terms
Early Finish Date: The earliest time by which a scheduled project activity can logically finish.
Early Start Date: The earliest time by which a scheduled project activity can logically start.
Earned Schedule: A method of measuring schedule performance that uses the same data as traditional earned value management but tracks schedule performances separately with respect to money and time.
Earned Value: A concept used to gauge project schedule and cost performance, with the successful completion of a work breakdown structure component understood as value earned through work.
Earned Value Management: A method of measuring project performance and progress with regard to scope, time, and costs.
Effort: The amount of labor needed to complete a task, measured in person-hours or similar units.
Effort Estimate: A calculated approximation of the effort — measured in staff-hours or similar units — needed to complete an activity.
Effort Management: The most efficient allocation of time and resources to project activities.
End User: The person or persons who will eventually use the product of a project.
Enhancement, Maintenance, and Upgrade (EMU): Project classifications used in the software development industry.
Enterprise Environmental Factors: Internal and external factors that can impact projects, such as climate, available resources, and organizational structure.
Enterprise Modeling: The creation of a model to represent an organization’s structure, processes, and resources.
Epic: A set of similar or related user stories.
Estimate at Completion (EAC): The estimated total cost for all project work, calculated as the sum of the actual cost and the estimate to complete.
Estimate to Complete (ETC): The estimate of the cost of the work that still needs to be completed at a given point in a project.
Estimating Funnel: A metaphor for the increased accuracy in estimation made possible as a project progresses.
Estimation: The use of estimating techniques to reach approximations of unknown values.
Event Chain Diagram: A visual representation of a schedule network based on event chain methodology.
Event Chain Methodology: A schedule network analysis method that enables uncertainty modeling and is used to identify risk events’ impact on a schedule.
Event-Driven: An adjective describing an action that is prompted by the occurrence of an event.
Execution Phase: The phase in which the team executes the project plan, typically the longest and most expensive phase in the project management life cycle.
Executive Sponsor: Typically a member of the organization’s board who provides high-level direction to project managers and is accountable to the board for project success.
Expert Judgment: The practice of using expert opinion to guide decision making.
External Dependency: An outside relationship that affects the completion of a project activity.
Extreme Programming (XP): An agile software development methodology that emphasizes a high degree of responsiveness to evolving customer demands.
Extreme Project Management (XPM): An approach to project management used mostly for complex projects with a high degree of uncertainty. It emphasizes continual learning over deterministic planning.
F – Project Management Terms
Fallback Plan: A predetermined alternative course of action adopted if a risk occurs and a contingency plan proves unsuccessful in avoiding the risk’s impact.
Fast Tracking: A schedule compression technique in which the duration of a critical path is shortened by performing sections of some critical path activities concurrently instead of consecutively.
Feasibility Study: An evaluation of how likely a project is to be completed effectively, taking resources and requirements into consideration.
Finish-To-Start: A relationship where a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has finished.
Finish-To-Finish: A relationship where a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has finished.
Fishbone Diagram: A diagram used in project management to identify and categorize the possible causes of an effect. (Also known as Ishikawa Diagram)
Fixed Duration: A task where the time required for completion is fixed.
Fixed Formula Method: A method that calculates earned value by splitting a work package budget between the start and completion milestones of a work package.
Fixed Price Contract (FPC): A contract that pays an agreed-upon fee and does not incorporate other variables, such as time and cost.
Fixed Units: A task where the number of resources used is fixed.
Fixed Work: A task where the amount of effort required is fixed.
Float: A measure of the schedule flexibility involving a particular task.
Flowchart: A diagram that lays out the complete sequence of steps in a process or procedure.
Focused Improvement: An improvement strategy based on the theory of constraints.
Fordism: A manufacturing system in which mass-produced goods are priced affordably.
Forecast: A prediction or estimation of future project status based on available information.
Formal Acceptance: The step at which authorized stakeholders sign off on a product, indicating that it meets their expectations.
Forward Pass: A technique used to calculate early start and finish dates by working forwards from a point in a project schedule model.
Free Float: The amount of time by which an activity can be postponed without affecting the early start dates of a successor activity.
Functional Manager: The individual in charge of all activities carried out by a particular functional department within an organization.
Functional Organization: An organization that organizes and manages staff members in groups based on specialty areas.
Functional Requirements: The working characteristics of a product. These are based on how end users will use the product.
Future State: A detailed representation of the ideal condition of a company’s business processes after improvement.
G – Project Management Terms
Gantt Chart: A type of bar chart that shows all the tasks constituting a project.
Gate: An end-of-phase checkpoint at which decisions are made regarding whether and how to continue with the project.
Go/No Go: A point in a project at which it is decided whether to continue with the work.
Goal: An objective set by an individual or an organization.
Goal Setting: The process of creating specific, measurable, and attainable goals and of setting deadlines for these goals if desired.
Gold Plating: The practice of incorporating features and improvements that go beyond a product’s agreed-upon characteristics.
Governance: The structure by which roles and relationships between project team members and an organization’s high-level decision makers are defined.
Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT): A network analysis technique that uses Monte Carlo simulation to bring a probabilistic approach to network logic and the formation of duration estimates.
H, I, and K – Project Management Terms
Hammock Activity: A type of summary activity that represents a number of grouped but unrelated smaller activities that occur between two dates.
Handover: The point in the project life cycle at which deliverables are given to users.
Hanger: An unplanned break in a network path, usually due to oversights regarding activities or dependent relationships between activities.
HERMES: A project management method created by the Swiss government and used by IT and business organizations. It provides document templates to expedite project-related work.
High-Level Requirements: The major requirements and characteristics of the final product, including its purpose as a product and within the company.
Historical Information: Data from past projects used in the planning of future projects.
Human Resource Management Plan: A plan that details the roles of and relationships between personnel working on a project, as well as how personnel will be managed.
Hypercritical Activities: Critical path activities with negative slack time. They occur when a sequence of critical path activities leading up to another activity is too long to be completed in the stated duration.
Information Distribution: The channels used to provide stakeholders with timely information and updates regarding a project.
Initiation Phase: The formal start of a new project. It involves receiving proper authorization and creating a clear definition for the project.
Inputs: The information required to start the project management process.
Inspection: The process of reviewing and examining the final product to assess compliance to initial requirements and expectations.
Integrated Assurance: The process of coordinating assurance activities across a number of assurance providers.
Integrated Change Control: The coordination of changes throughout all aspects of a project, including scope, budget, and schedule.
Integrated Master Plan (IMP): A project management tool used to break down project work in large, complex projects.
Integrated Master Schedule (IMS): A list of all project tasks represented as a networked schedule, produced from an integrated master plan.
Integration Management Plan: A document that explains integration planning and details how changes to project aspects will be managed.
Integration Planning: The process of deciding how project elements will be integrated and coordinated and how changes will be addressed throughout the project management process.
Integrative Management: Management processes that coordinate a number of project aspects including cost, schedule, and resources (among others).
Invitation for Bid: An invitation for expressions of interest that a procuring organization extends.
Ishikawa Diagram: A diagram used in project management to identify the possible causes of an effect.
ISO 10006: A set of quality-management guidelines for projects, created by the International Organization for Standardization.
Issue: Anything that can cause problems for a project. The term typically refers to major problems that cannot be tackled by the project team on their own.
Issue Log: A log of project issues and the persons responsible for resolving them. It may also include issue status, plans for resolution, and resolution deadlines.
Iteration: A concept from iterative software development that specifies a fixed time cycle for development work, typically a few weeks long.
Iterative Development: A development approach that focuses on developing products in a series of repeated fixed-time iterations.
Iterative and Incremental Development: A combination of the iterative and incremental development approaches. It passes through a number of development cycles, with an improved version of the product, called an increment, produced at the end of each iteration.
K – Project Management Terms
Kanban: A visual communication approach to the project management process. It uses visual tools like sticky notes or virtual cards in an online bulletin board to represent project tasks and to track and indicate progress throughout a project.
Kickoff Meeting: The first meeting between a project team and stakeholders. It serves to review project expectations and to build enthusiasm for a project.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI): A metric for measuring project success. Key performance indicators are established before project execution begins.
L – Project Management Terms
Lag/Lag Time: A necessary break or delay between activities.
Late Finish Date: The latest possible date a scheduled activity can be completed without delaying the rest of the project.
Late Start Date: The latest possible date a scheduled activity can be started without delaying the rest of the project.
Lateral Thinking: A method to inspire new ideas or solutions by using a roundabout method. It can be done in a variety of ways, from using a random word to choosing an object in a room as a basis for thought.
Lead/Lead Time: The amount of time an activity can be brought forward with respect to the activity it is dependent upon.
Lean Manufacturing: A production methodology based on the idea of streamlining and doing more with less, such as by providing customers with the same product value while eliminating waste and thus reducing production costs.
Lean Six Sigma: A methodology that combines the no-waste ideals of lean manufacturing with the no-defects target of six sigma. The goal of Lean Six Sigma is to eliminate waste and defects so that projects cost less and deliver more consistent quality.
Lessons Learned: The sum of knowledge gained from project work, which can be used as references and points of interest for future projects.
Level of Effort: Work that is not directly associated with components of a work breakdown structure but can be thought of as support work, such as maintenance and accounting. It is one of three types of activities used to measure work performance as part of earned value management.
Life Cycle: The entire process used to build project deliverables, divided into several phases. A variety of life cycle models are used in project management.
Line of Balance: A graphical technique used to illustrate relationships between repetitive tasks in projects. It is used where tasks repeat, such as in building identical housing units.
Linear Sequential Model: A model that moves through a project life cycle’s phases systematically and sequentially. It is typically used for small projects with straightforward requirements. Also known as the waterfall model.
Linear Scheduling Method: A graphical scheduling technique used to assign resources when project work consists of repetitive tasks. It focuses on maximizing resource use and reducing time wastage due to interruptions.
Logic Network: A chronologically arranged diagram that shows relationships between project activities.
Logical Relationship: A dependency between project activities or between project activities and milestones.
M – Project Management Terms
Management: The act of overseeing planning, personnel, and resources to achieve a goal.
Management Process: The act of planning and executing a project or process to meet a defined set of objectives or goals. Management processes may be carried out at multiple levels within organizations, with the scale and scope of activities typically increasing up the organizational hierarchy.
Management Reserve: An allocation of money or time (or both) to address unforeseeable circumstances that might delay or increase the costs of a project. The senior management must typically approve any release of funds from a management reserve.
Management Science (MS): A field of study that seeks to improve organizational decision making through the use of quantitative and scientific research methods. Also known as operations research.
Master Project: A master project file comprises a number of smaller projects, called subprojects, arranged hierarchically.
Matrix Organization: Employees in a matrix organization report to more than one boss, with different lines of reporting representing different organizational projects or functions.
Maturity Model: A maturity model assesses one or more of these aspects against a set of external benchmarks to determine an organization’s maturity level.
Megaproject: A complex, large-scale, and high-investment project. Only hard projects may be termed megaprojects.
Merge Point: A point in a network diagram at which multiple predecessor activities culminate in a single successor activity.
Milestone: Milestones indicate specific progress points or events in project timelines. They mark progress needed to complete projects successfully.
Milestone Schedule: A milestone schedule details the time relationships associated with project milestones.
Mission Statement: A concise enunciation of the goals of an activity or organization. Mission statements are usually a short paragraph, and can be created for entire organizations or for individual projects.
Modern Project Management: An umbrella term for a number of contemporary management strategies. Modern project management emphasizes quality, scope variation, frequent process refinement, collective knowledge, and team consensus.
Monte Carlo Simulation/Technique: A computer-based technique that performs probabilistic forecasting of possible outcomes to facilitate decision making.
MoSCoW: The MoSCoW prioritization method allows project managers to communicate with stakeholders on the importance of delivering specific requirements. The acronym indicates four categories of priority and importance for project requirements: Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have.
Most Likely Duration: An estimate of the most probable length of time needed to complete an activity. It may be used to compute expected activity duration through a technique called three-point estimation.
Motivation: A reason or stimulus that makes a person behave in a certain manner. In management, motivation refers to the desire to pursue personal or organizational goals and is positively associated with productivity.
Murphy’s Law: A principle often cited in project management, which states “What can go wrong, will go wrong”. It is used as a reason to plan adequately for contingencies.
N – Project Management Terms
Near-critical Activity: A near-critical activity has only a small amount of total float, or slack time. Near-critical activities have a high chance of becoming critical since their float is easily exhausted.
Near-critical Path: A series of activities with only small amounts of total float, called near-critical activities. A near-critical path may become a critical path if its float is exhausted.
Negative Variance: The amount by which actual project performance is worse than planned project performance. Negative variances in time and budget show the project is taking longer and is more expensive than planned, respectively.
Negotiation: A discussion to resolve an issue between parties. Negotiations can take place at any point during an activity and may be formal or informal.
Net Present Value (NPV): Net present value is a concept that compares the present value of a unit of currency to its inflation-adjusted possible value in the future. It allows organizations to determine the financial benefits, or lack thereof, of long-term projects.
Network Path: In a schedule network diagram, a network path is a logically connected continuous series of activities.
Node: In a network diagram, a node is a point at which dependency lines meet. In activity-on-node diagrams, nodes represent activities. In activity-on-arrow diagrams, they represent events or stages.
Nonlinear Management (NLM): Nonlinear management refers broadly to management practices which emphasize flexibility, self-organization, and adaptation to changing circumstances. It runs counter to concepts in linear management, which seek to impose structure on organizations. The defining characteristics of nonlinear management include encouragement of out-of-the-box thinking, proactivity in responding to challenges, and flexible working arrangements for employees.
O – Project Management Terms
Objective: A clear, concise statement about what an activity is meant to accomplish. Objectives are written to be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. A successful project meets all its stated objectives.
Operations and Maintenance: The stage at which a project or system is handed over to staff who will put it into full operation and carry out routine maintenance.
Operations Management: The duty of ensuring that an organization’s operations are functioning optimally. Operations managers maintain and improve the efficacy and efficiency of business processes. They seek to develop operations which deliver high-quality outputs while keeping costs low.
Operations Research (OR): A field of study that uses mathematical, statistical, and scientific methods to aid and optimize decision making. It uses techniques such as mathematical modeling and optimization to enable better decision making. (See also management science)
Opportunity: In project management, an opportunity is a possibility that can contribute to project objectives. Opportunities in project management are classified as a type of risk.
Opportunity Cost: The opportunity cost of a particular course of action is the loss of potential gains from all alternative courses of action.
Optimistic Duration: An estimate of the shortest length of time needed to complete a specific activity or task. It may be used to compute expected activity duration through a technique called three-point estimation.
Order of Magnitude Estimate: An order of magnitude estimate provides an early, imprecise idea of the time and money required to complete a project. It uses historical data from completed projects to form adjusted estimates for similar new projects, usually presenting these estimates as ranging from -25 percent to +75 percent of the actual budget to indicate the levels of uncertainty involved.
Organization: A formally structured arrangement of parties that actively pursues a collective purpose. Organizations can be affected by external factors, and they in turn can affect the external environment.
Organization Development: Broadly, organization development involves strategic efforts to improve aspects of organizational performance such as efficacy, efficiency, and sustainability, as well as aspects of organizational health such as employee satisfaction and engagement. The term may also refer to a field of study focusing on the characteristics of organizations and their growth and evolution.
Organizational Breakdown Structure: A hierarchical model of an organization’s units and all its activities. It shows relationships between activities and organizational units and indicates the responsibilities of each unit, thus providing a holistic perspective of how an organization operates.
Organizational Enabler: Any practice, tool, knowledge, or skill base that facilitates an organization’s pursuit of its objectives may be termed an organizational enabler.
Organizational Planning: The strategic process of defining roles, responsibilities, and reporting hierarchies for parties within an organization, keeping the organization’s objectives in mind. It is carried out based on the principles and strategies by which an organization manages its members.
Organizational Process Assets: The specific set of formal and informal plans and processes in use at an organization. They also constitute the sum of knowledge and experience accumulated from past efforts. Organizational process assets are essentially the unique knowledge and processes that facilitate an organization’s operations.
Organizational Project Management: A strategic approach that emphasizes the effective management of projects, programs, and portfolios as the best way to pursue organizational objectives. It focuses on aligning an organization’s activities with its objectives and on managing these activities collectively, so they contribute to objectives.
Organizational Project Management Maturity: A measure of an organization’s ability to meet its objectives by effectively managing all its activities. It can be assessed with a maturity model called the OPM3, which, like other maturity models, provides comparisons and recommendations for improvement.
Output: In project management, an output is the (usually physical) end product of a process.
Overall Change Control: The evaluation, coordination, and management of project-related changes. It concerns both the effective integration of changes to benefit the project and the management of adverse changes or emergencies, so that project activities are not disrupted.
P – Project Management Terms
P3 Assurance: A mechanism in project management to reassure stakeholders that the objectives of projects, programs, and portfolios are being achieved as planned.
P3 Management: The umbrella term for managing projects, programs, and portfolios collectively.
Parallel Life Cycle: A project life cycle approach where certain phases run simultaneously rather than sequentially.
Parametric Estimating: An estimation technique that leverages historical data to predict the cost and duration of future activities.
Pareto Chart: A dual-purpose visual tool showcasing frequencies of categories in descending order and their cumulative total.
Path Convergence: A point on a schedule network diagram where multiple activities converge into a single successor activity.
Path Divergence: A point on a schedule network diagram where a single predecessor activity diverges into multiple successor activities.
Percent Complete: A metric showing the completed portion of an activity in relation to the total work required, represented as a percentage.
Performance Measurement Baseline: An aggregated baseline composed of the scope, schedule, and cost baselines, which serves as a standard for comparing actual project performance.
Performance Reporting: A formal communication process to keep stakeholders informed about the current and future performance of the project.
Performing Organization: The entity whose members and resources are directly involved in the execution of the project work.
Pessimistic Duration: The longest estimated time needed to accomplish an activity or task, often used in three-point estimation.
PEST Analysis: A strategic tool to analyze the impact of political, economic, social, and technological factors on a project.
Phase: A distinctive segment within a project life cycle, often characterized by a specific set of activities.
Phase Gate: A decision point at the end of each project phase where project progress is evaluated before moving forward.
Planned Value (PV): The budget assigned to the work that is planned to be accomplished.
Planning: The process of establishing a course of action to achieve the project’s goals or objectives.
Planning Phase: A specific stage in the project life cycle dedicated to devising the plans for project execution and control.
Planning Poker: A consensus-driven estimating technique that aims to prevent the anchoring effect by allowing team members to make estimates independently.
Portfolio: A collection of programs and projects managed collectively to achieve strategic objectives.
Portfolio Balancing: The process of strategically aligning and adjusting the portfolio’s components to ensure alignment with organizational objectives.
Portfolio Charter: A document that formally establishes a portfolio’s structure and its objectives, and authorizes its creation.
Portfolio Management: The overarching process of managing a portfolio of programs and projects to achieve strategic goals.
Portfolio Manager: The professional tasked with overseeing and controlling a portfolio to ensure alignment with strategic goals.
Portfolio, Program, and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3): A tool for assessing an organization’s effectiveness in managing portfolios, programs, and projects, offering actionable insights for improvement.
Positive Variance: A situation where the actual project performance exceeds the planned performance, indicating a faster or less expensive execution than anticipated.
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM): A technique for creating a project schedule network diagram, illustrating the logical sequence and dependencies of project activities.
Precedence Network: A visual representation of the relationships and sequencing among project activities.
Predecessor Activity: An activity in the project schedule that logically precedes another activity on which it is dependent.
Preventive Action: Proactive steps taken to prevent deviations from planned performance in future project work.
PRINCE2: A project management methodology that emphasizes clear project roles, responsibilities, and business justifications, and promotes stage-wise project execution.
PRiSM: A project management methodology focusing on sustainable methods to minimize adverse impacts on society and the environment.
Probability and Impact Matrix: A visual tool used for risk categorization based on the likelihood of occurrence and potential impact.
Problem Statement: A concise description of an issue that needs resolution, serving as the focal point for problem-solving efforts.
Process: A series of repeatable activities with known inputs and outputs that consume resources.
Process Architecture: The comprehensive layout of a process system, including the structural elements and their relationships.
Process Management: The practice of planning, coordinating, and overseeing processes to improve efficiency and outcomes.
Process-Based Project Management: A methodology that aligns project objectives with the organization’s mission and values, ensuring project objectives serve organizational goals.
Procurement Management Plan: A comprehensive document outlining the strategy for acquiring necessary external resources for a project.
Product Breakdown Structure (PBS): A hierarchical diagram used in project management to catalog and communicate all project deliverables. Essentially, a detailed list of project outputs.
Product Description: A detailed summary defining a project’s product and its purpose. This corresponds to high-level requirements.
Product Verification: The process of inspecting a deliverable to ensure it fulfills the set requirements, quality standards, and expectations. This check is conducted before the product is presented to the customer for approval.
Professional Development Unit (PDU): A unit of continued education that project management professionals undertake to maintain their certification.
Program: A group of related projects managed in a coordinated manner.
Program Charter: An approved document that grants permission to use resources for a program and links its management to the goals of the organization.
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT): A statistical approach used to analyze project durations. PERT takes into consideration optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely durations to estimate expected durations for project tasks and identify critical paths.
Program Management: The organized management of programs and their components, aligned with the principles of organizational project management.
Program Manager: The individual with the formal authority to manage a program, responsible for meeting its objectives as part of the organizational project management methods. They oversee all projects within a program.
Progress Analysis: The process of measuring project progress against performance baselines. It involves collecting information about the status of an activity that could trigger corrective actions.
Progressive Elaboration: The iterative process of continuously adding and updating details in a project management plan. It focuses on increasing the level of detail as new information becomes available and estimates are revised.
Project: A temporary, goal-oriented endeavor aimed at producing a unique result or output. A project is composed of clearly defined stages and its success is evaluated by whether it achieves its stated objectives.
Project Accounting: The aspect of project management that focuses on the financial status of projects. It compares the actual costs and financial performance against budgeted figures or baselines.
Project Baseline: The budget and schedule set during the initiation and planning phases of a project. It serves as a reference for determining any variances from the budget or schedule, given the scope remains unchanged.
Project Calendar: A tool that denotes the timeframe designated for project work.
Project Charter: A formal document that details the scope, organization, and objectives of a project. It serves as the authorization for the project manager’s use of organizational resources for the project.
Project Cost Management (PCM): The application of an information system to estimate, monitor, and control costs throughout the project life cycle. The goal is to complete projects within the allocated budgets.
Project Definition: A document, also known as the project charter, created and approved by the project manager and sponsor detailing the scope, organization, and objectives of a project.
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK): A comprehensive collection of project management-related knowledge maintained by the Project Management Institute.
Project Management Office: A dedicated department within an organization responsible for overseeing project management-related activities. It facilitates project work through standard procedures and serves as a knowledge repository for project-related information and resources.
Project Management Process: A comprehensive process that covers all project phases, from initiation to the meeting of objectives.
Project Management Professional (PMP): An individual certified by the Project Management Institute after completing a course of formal education, an examination, and a set number of hours managing projects.
Project Management Simulators: Software training tools designed to teach project management skills through interactive learning. They provide real-time feedback and help trainees improve their decision-making skills.
Project Management Software: A set of tools used to manage complex projects. These tools aid in creating and managing schedules and budgets, tracking and overseeing project activities, assigning resources, and facilitating collaboration within the project team.
Project Management Triangle: A graphical representation showing the relationship between scope, cost, and schedule. It illustrates the principle that changes to any one of these three aspects impact the others.
Project Manager: The individual responsible for initiating, planning, executing, and closing a project. They manage all aspects of project performance and serve as the primary point of contact for sponsors, program managers, and stakeholders.
Project Network: A graphical depiction of the tasks and dependencies necessary for the successful completion of a project.
Project Performance Indicators: Metrics used to assess the performance of a project, typically in reference to project or performance baselines.
Project Phase: A distinct stage in a project management life cycle consisting of a set of related project activities.
Project Plan: A formally approved document outlining the approved cost, schedule, and scope baselines. It serves as a guide for project execution and performance assessment.
Project Planning: The process of determining cost, schedule, and scope baselines and creating a detailed plan for executing project activities and delivering outcomes.
Project Portfolio Management (PPM): A method of managing a portfolio’s programs and projects collectively to achieve organizational objectives. It involves optimizing the mix and scheduling of projects for maximum effectiveness.
Project Schedule Network Diagram: A visual tool depicting the order and relationships among scheduled project activities.
Project Scope Statement: A document detailing what a project aims to achieve and the expected deliverables. It serves as the foundation for measurable objectives by which project success is assessed.
Project Stakeholders: Individuals or parties that can be impacted by a project or have an interest in its successful completion.
Project Team: The group of individuals responsible for collectively managing a project and its activities throughout the project’s life cycle.
Project Tiers: A method of categorizing projects based on size, duration, and staff involvement to determine the most suitable project management practices.
Projectized Organization: An organization that structures all its activities into a series of projects, programs, and portfolios, typically for external clients or customers.
Proof of Concept: The result of a pilot project or experiment that tests the feasibility of an idea or concept.
Proport: A term used to describe the unique skills that each team member.
Q – Project Management Terms
Qualitative Risk Analysis: A subjective project management methodology that evaluates the probability and impact of risks. This approach categorizes risks on a matrix of probability and impact, with significant risks potentially subjected to further quantitative risk analysis.
Quality: In the context of project management, ‘Quality’ refers to the level of excellence of a deliverable. It also denotes a predefined set of stakeholder requirements against which the outcomes are evaluated.
Quality Assurance: A collection of practices aimed at overseeing processes to provide confidence that deliverables will meet quality expectations. These practices can encompass quality audits and the mandatory use of best practices.
Quality Control: The process of utilizing standardized methods to ascertain that deliverables align with stakeholder expectations. This includes the definition and recognition of unsatisfactory outcomes, as well as managing processes to optimize results.
Quality Management Plan: A document that identifies stakeholders’ quality expectations and outlines quality assurance and control measures to monitor outcomes and meet these expectations. This plan is part of the overall project management plan.
Quality Planning: The process of determining anticipated quality standards and establishing mechanisms to ensure these standards are achieved. This may also involve suggesting corrective measures if quality standards are not met.
Quality, Cost, Delivery (QCD): A management approach focusing on the assessment of production processes in terms of three aspects: quality, cost, and delivery. QCD aims to simplify process management and aid decision making by providing objective data on these three aspects, with the understanding that alterations to one aspect will likely impact the others.
Quantitative Risk Analysis: A mathematical process for examining the probability and impact of risks. In project management, it complements rather than replaces qualitative risk analysis. Quantitative analysis is typically conducted after qualitative analysis and assesses risks identified as significant through the qualitative process.
R – Project Management Terms
RAID Log: RAID stands for Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies. The RAID log is a tool used in project management to keep track of these four key areas of a project for the benefit of stakeholders and for end-of-project reviews.
RASCI/RACI Chart: A chart developed during the project initiation stage to clarify who is Responsible for project tasks, Accountable for making sure tasks are done, consulted regarding task activities, and Informed about task progress. This can be abbreviated to RACI.
Reengineering: A process involving the comprehensive redesign or rethink of core business processes with the aim of major performance improvements. This often includes reorganizing teams so they can manage processes from start to finish.
Release: In IT project management, a ‘release’ is a completed piece of software delivered to a client as agreed upon, usually after several iterations.
Remote Team: A group of individuals working together electronically from various geographical locations.
Repeatable: A term used to describe a process or series of actions that can be replicated easily and efficiently. Repeatable processes can reduce negative variances and have established operations.
Request for Proposal (RFP): A formal invitation for potential suppliers to submit a proposal for providing goods or services, issued by an organization looking to procure those services or goods.
Request for Quotation (RFQ): After receiving proposals via a Request for Proposal, an organization may issue a Request for Quotation to the shortlisted potential suppliers, asking them to provide detailed cost estimates for the goods or services specified.
Requirements Management Plan: This plan details how project requirements will be defined, managed, and delivered. It’s part of a project management plan and is used to guide project execution and control, ensuring the delivery of requirements.
Requirements Traceability Matrix: A table that tracks requirements throughout the project lifecycle and product testing, ensuring that a project is able to meet the specified requirements during the verification process.
Requirements: The specific stipulations regarding the deliverables of a project. These detailed specifications are a key part of the project scope and describe stakeholders’ expectations for the project.
Residual Risk: Risks that have not been addressed or cannot be addressed by risk mitigation or avoidance procedures.
Resource Allocation: The process of assigning and scheduling resources for project tasks, ideally in the most efficient manner possible. It’s generally handled by a project manager, though a program manager may overrule them if resources are shared across multiple projects.
Resource Availability: Indicates whether a specific resource is available for use at a given time.
Resource Breakdown Structure: A hierarchical list of resources required for a project, categorized by type and function.
Resource Calendar: A calendar that displays when resources are available, typically broken down by shift over a period of time.
Resource Leveling: A technique for adjusting the project schedule to ensure resource usage doesn’t exceed a specified limit. This can affect a project’s critical path.
Resource Loading Profiles: These profiles show the number and type of personnel required to work on a project over a certain period.
Resource Optimization Techniques: Techniques used to reconcile supply and demand for resources. Depending on the priority (project duration or limiting resource use), these techniques can adjust activity start and end dates in a way that does or doesn’t affect the project’s critical path.
Resource Smoothing: A technique used when allocating resources that uses float so as not to impact total project duration. It’s used when project time constraints are important. Resource leveling doesn’t affect a project’s critical path.
Resource-Limited Schedule: A schedule whose start and end dates have been adjusted based on the predicted availability of resources.
Resources: The components required for a project to successfully achieve its objectives, such as equipment, staff, locations, facilities, and money.
Responsibility Assignment Matrix: This matrix identifies those who are Responsible for project activities, Accountable for making sure tasks are done, Consulted about task activities, and Informed about task progress.
Retainage: The amount of money that is withheld from a contract payment until the contract is completed according to the terms.
Return on Investment (ROI): The projected financial return of a project, expressed as a percentage of the total project investment. It’s used to evaluate the profitability of a project.
Risk: The likelihood of a specific event occurring that impacts the achievement of objectives. Risks can be positive (opportunities) or negative.
Risk Acceptance: The acknowledgment of a risk without taking any preventive action against it.
Risk Appetite: The level and type of risk an organization is willing to accept in order to achieve gains. This is distinct from risk tolerance, which is the amount of variation in performance measures an organization is willing to accept.
Risk Assessment: The process of identifying potential project risks and analyzing how these risks, if they occur, would affect the project objectives.
Risk Avoidance: A focus on avoiding threats that can damage an organization, its projects, or assets. This approach aims to address vulnerabilities and prevent the occurrence of these events.
Risk Breakdown Structure: A hierarchically arranged representation of all risks, grouped categorically.
Risk Category: A group of risks, sorted by cause.
Risk Efficiency: A management concept aiming to maximize the return-to-risk ratio. This can either be achieved by minimizing the risk for a specific level of expected return or by maximizing the expected return for a certain level of risk.
Risk Enhancement: A strategy that involves increasing the likelihood of occurrence of an opportunity, also known as a positive risk.
Risk Exploitation: A proactive strategy to ensure the realization of an opportunity, or positive risk, to its full potential.
Risk Identification: The systematic process of detecting and examining potential risks and their potential effects on project goals.
Risk Management: A comprehensive strategy that involves identifying, assessing, and acting on risks to minimize their likelihood or impact, thereby ensuring that they do not negatively affect the organization or project objectives.
Risk Mitigation: A management approach that focuses on reducing the probability of a negative risk occurring and shielding project objectives from the risk’s impact.
Risk Monitoring and Control: The ongoing process that utilizes a risk management plan to identify potential risks and implement appropriate risk responses.
Risk Owner: An individual or entity responsible for determining and implementing suitable responses to a specific risk. Also referred to as a risk response owner.
Risk Register: Also known as a risk log, this tool is used to record and track risky situations and corresponding risk responses as they emerge.
Risk Response Planning: A strategic process, typically conducted following risk analyses, to determine the appropriate courses of action for significant risks.
Risk Sharing: A strategy that involves transferring the ownership of a positive risk to a third party, typically specialized and better equipped to realize the opportunity.
Risk Threshold: The point at which a risk’s likelihood or impact becomes significant enough to warrant a response from the risk manager.
Risk Tolerance: The acceptable level of variation in performance measures that an organization is willing to endure. It is different from risk appetite, which is the level and type of risk an organization is willing to accept for potential gains.
Risk Transference: A risk management strategy that involves transferring the ownership of a risk to a third party, typically more specialized and better equipped to handle or absorb its impact.
Risk Trigger: An event or condition that causes a risk to occur. A trigger can serve as a warning sign that a risk has happened or is about to happen.
Rolling Wave Planning: A progressive planning approach that focuses on detailed planning of work to be completed in the near future with decreasing detail for work scheduled further ahead. This approach assumes that future work is more prone to change and, thus, less worth planning in detail.
Root Cause: The fundamental reason or underlying factor causing an event or issue.
Run Book: A comprehensive guide containing all the necessary information to conduct operations and respond to any emergencies during operations. It typically includes step-by-step procedures for regular operational tasks and emergency responses.
S – Project Management Terms
S-Curve Analysis: A method that tracks the total expenditure or labor usage over time. S-Curve analysis helps to contrast the total costs of a project at any given time with an initial cost baseline developed during the planning stage, aiding in evaluating project performance and progress.
Schedule: A detailed timetable of project tasks and milestones, sequenced logically, each with designated start and completion dates.
Schedule Baseline: The initial, approved schedule of the project that acts as a benchmark for assessing project performance. Typically, this schedule remains unchanged, unless alterations are made through a formal change control procedure.
Schedule Compression Technique: A method used to expedite project timelines without modifying the scope, by reducing the duration of activities on the project’s critical path. Crashing and fast tracking are two primary techniques for schedule compression.
Schedule Model: A logically organized, temporal plan of project activities that serves as the foundation for creating a project schedule.
Schedule Model Analysis: An examination of the project schedule derived from the schedule model, aiming to optimize the schedule, usually with the help of scheduling software.
Schedule Network Analysis: An approach employing various techniques to identify early and late start and end dates for project tasks, aiding in the creation of project schedules.
Schedule Performance Index (SPI): A ratio representing the earned value to the planned value at a particular point in the project. It provides insights into whether the project is on schedule. An SPI less than one indicates a delay, whereas an SPI greater than one suggests the project is ahead of schedule.
Schedule Variance: The discrepancy between the earned value and the planned value at a specific point during the project.
Scientific Management: An early methodology attempting to apply scientific principles to process management, initiated by Frederick W. Taylor in 1911, aimed at enhancing economic efficiency by analyzing and optimizing labor processes.
Scope: The totality of outcomes, deliverables, or features a project is set to accomplish.
Scope Baseline: The established set of deliverables, expectations, and work packages, approved for the project, used as a benchmark for evaluating project performance.
Scope Change Management: The process of managing modifications to the project scope as outlined in the scope baseline and project management plan. As scope changes can impact cost and schedule estimates, it involves revising estimates, informing stakeholders, and procuring the necessary resources to meet new scope requirements.
Scope Creep: The gradual, unauthorized changes in project scope, affecting cost and schedule without allowing for corresponding adjustments. Scope creep is generally undesirable as it can jeopardize project outcomes.
Scrum: An iterative development methodology predominantly used in software development projects, focusing on prioritizing requirements and achieving clear goals within set time periods, known as sprints. The project team meets daily for updates, and there’s typically no designated project manager.
Secondary Risk: A risk that arises as a result of implementing a risk response.
Security: Broadly refers to measures taken to protect individuals, data, and resources involved in a project from risks.
Six Sigma: A process management strategy aimed at virtually eliminating defects in products or services. It employs quality management techniques to improve and optimize processes so that 99.99966 percent of all outcomes are free from defects.
Slack Time: The timeframe within which an activity can be delayed without impacting the overall project duration.
Slip Chart: A graphical representation comparing anticipated activity completion dates with the initially planned completion dates.
Slippage: The negative variance between the planned and actual completion dates of an activity. It may also refer to the tendency of a project to extend beyond its planned completion dates.
Soft Project: A type of project that does not result in a physical output.
Software Engineering: The practice of applying engineering principles to software development, using scientific and technical approaches systematically in the design, operation, and modification of software.
Spiral Life Cycle: An IT system development model that learns from experience, drawing from both iterative development and the waterfall model. It comprises four phases: identification, design, construction, and evaluation and risk analysis. Each cycle concludes with customer feedback and begins anew. Suitable for long-term projects or those with varying requirements.
Sponsor: The person with ultimate authority over a project. They provide high-level guidance, approve project funding, approve any deviations from cost and schedule, and determine project scope. Sponsors are typically part of senior management.
Sprint: A fixed time period during which a complete development lifecycle is executed in iterative project development.
Stakeholder: Any individual or group with an interest in the successful completion of a project. This term generally refers to anyone affected by the project.
Standards: A set of standardized rules, guidelines, and specifications for processes or products approved by a recognized body. These are usually adopted by consensus and may be enforced as a requirement for certain market participation, but are not necessarily obligatory.
Start-To-Finish: In a start-to-finish relationship, the dependent task cannot finish until the task it depends upon has started.
Start-To-Start: In a start-to-start relationship, the dependent task cannot start until the task it depends upon has started.
Statement of Work (SoW): A comprehensive list of expected deliverables under a contract, along with their respective deadlines.
Steering Committee: A group providing strategic guidance on a project, typically consisting of individuals from various stakeholder organizations. It provides a consensus-based direction for projects with a large number or diversity of stakeholders.
Story Point: In sprint-based projects, a unit measuring the amount of work required to implement a specific user story. Assigning and totaling story points helps project teams to realistically target a number of user stories for action during a sprint or iteration.
Successor Activity: In a project schedule, a task that logically follows and is dependent on a preceding task.
Summary Activity: In a network diagram, a task that combines a set of related activities, representing them as a single activity.
Sunk Cost: A cost that has been incurred and cannot be recovered.
Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC): In systems engineering, the process of creating, deploying, and maintaining an information system, potentially including hardware, software, or both. It usually consists of six sequential phases: planning, analysis, design, implementation, testing,
Systems Engineering: An engineering discipline that applies system thinking principles to develop complex systems. It aims to optimize such systems not as isolated components, but as interactive wholes, given the intricacy and interconnectedness of both human and technical elements. This approach makes systems engineering inherently interdisciplinary.
T – Project Management Terms
Task: In the context of project management, a task is defined as a work unit necessary for reaching project goals. Each task has a specified deadline and may be further subdivided into assignments or subtasks.
Task Analysis: A detailed examination of the actions or resources required to complete a task. It aids in better understanding the intricacies involved in task completion.
Testing: The stage of assessing the developed product to measure its quality, performance, and compliance with requirements.
Theory of Constraints: A concept suggesting that any process’s optimum performance is restricted by its weakest element(s), known as constraints. The theory focuses on identifying and enhancing these constraints until they no longer impede performance.
Threat: A negative risk that poses potential harm to project objectives.
Three-Point Estimating: An array of estimating methods that generate final estimates based on averages or weighted averages of the most likely, optimistic, and pessimistic costs and duration estimates.
Time and Material Contract: A contract type that compensates per time unit and reimburses the cost of materials for the contracted work.
Time Chainage Diagram: A graphical representation of sequentially scheduled activities for a hard project extended over a geographical distance, offering both a schedule and a relative geographical location for each activity.
Time Limit: The deadline or the specified duration within which a task needs to be accomplished.
Time-Scaled Network Diagram: A network diagram with activities drawn to scale to illustrate their expected durations.
Timebox: A project management technique where emphasis is placed on adhering to deadlines rather than fulfilling scope requirements. Specific time durations, called timeboxes, are allocated to project activities, and the project team addresses as many requirements as feasible within each timebox.
Timeline: A visual, chronological representation of project activities.
To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI): The cost performance required for a project to finish within budget. TCPI is calculated as the ratio of work remaining to budget remaining.
Tolerance: The level of acceptable variance in project performance. It is common practice to inform the project sponsor if tolerance levels are exceeded.
Top-Down Estimating: An estimation approach using historical data from similar projects to derive time and cost estimates.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): A measure that estimates the overall direct and indirect costs involved in the procurement, operation, and maintenance of an asset throughout its life cycle.
Total Float: The maximum duration an activity can be postponed from its early start date without affecting the project’s end date.
Trigger Condition: A circumstance that leads to a risk event. These conditions can serve as indicators that risks have happened or are imminent.
U, V, W, and X – Project Management Terms
Unified Process: Refers to any member of a family of iterative software development frameworks. These processes involve four stages: inception, elaboration, construction, and transition, each comprising timeboxed iterations. Every iteration results in an enhanced system increment.
Use Case: In software development, a sequential list of actions that end users perform to achieve specific objectives. Use cases aid in end user-centric software testing.
User Story: A single-sentence project requirement usually identifying users, their needs from the software, and the reasons behind these needs. User stories are prioritized by assigning story points.
V Life Cycle: Also known as verification and validation life cycle. It is a sequential software development process aligning a corresponding testing phase to each development phase. The process starts with requirement identification and design, followed by software development (verification phase), and then validation.
Value Engineering: An approach aiming to enhance the functionality-to-cost ratio of a product by delivering improved functionality at a reduced cost. It can be controversial if cost reduction compromises product quality.
Value for Money Ratio: A metric used in project management, calculated as the ratio of financial and other benefits to the resources spent on a project.
Value Tree: A hierarchical representation of the attributes of a product or service that determine its value.
Variance Analysis: The method of exploring discrepancies between planned and actual performance.
Variance at Completion (VAC): The difference between a project’s budget at completion and its estimate at completion.
Vertical Slice: A performance indicator reflecting progress across all project components or performance areas at a particular moment in time.
Virtual Design and Construction (VDC): A technique employing technology in design and construction projects. It uses building information modeling (BIM) tools to create integrated models predicting project performance.
Virtual Team: A team comprising individuals from different organizations, locations, or hierarchical levels. It differs from a remote team, which consists of individuals working together from various locations.
Waterfall Model: A software development life cycle model characterized by sequential, non-overlapping, non-iterative development phases. It’s typically used for small projects with clearly defined requirements.
Weighted Milestone Method: A method allowing project managers to estimate earned value by dividing work packages into weighted segments, each ending with a milestone. Completion of a segment milestone signifies that a portion of the total work package value has been earned.
What-If Scenario Analysis: A simulation technique enabling project managers to examine and compare the impacts of specific conditions on project schedules and objectives.
Wideband Delphi: An estimation technique reliant on expert consensus. Experts individually provide anonymous effort estimates for each project element or work package, followed by group reviews, subsequent rounds of estimates, and finally, consensus.
Work: In project management, work is the amount of effort required to complete a task.
Work Authorization System: A formal system ensuring that project work is conducted in a timely and logical manner.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): A comprehensive, hierarchical depiction of the deliverables within the project scope. It outlines everything that a project team is expected to deliver and achieve. It categorizes all project elements, or work packages, into a set of groups.
Work Breakdown Structure Dictionary: A document providing detailed descriptions and scheduling information for every element in a work breakdown structure. It functions as a dictionary and schedule of work packages.
Work Package: The lowest-level deliverables of a project, detailed in a work breakdown structure dictionary.
Work Stream: A logically sequenced series of activities that must be accomplished to meet project objectives. The term typically refers to the entire sequence of work activities from project initiation to closure.
Workaround: A temporary solution to a problem without a permanent fix or for which no adequate response has been planned.
X-Bar Control Charts: These charts display means and sample ranges for several periodically collected, same-size samples. The sampled data reflects a product or process characteristic.
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