CAPM Glossary Pt. 3

Question 1

A market condition where the market is so tight that the actions of one vendor affect the actions of all the others.

Answer 1

Oligopoly

Question 2

The total cost of the opportunity that is refused to realize an opposing opportunity.

Answer 2

Opportunity cost

Question 3

A ranking approach that identifies and ranks the risks from very high to very unlikely or to some other value.

Answer 3

Ordinal scale

Question 4

A loosely organized business or organization, likely with no big, formal departments, where people work alongside one another regardless of roles and titles. The project manager likely has little control over the project resources and may not be called a project manager.

Answer 4

Organic, or simple

Question 5

A traditional chart that depicts how the organization is organized by department and disciplines. This chart is sometimes called the organizational breakdown structure (OBS) and is arranged by departments, units, or teams.

Answer 5

Organization chart

Question 6

The databases, files, and historical information you can use to help better plan and manage your projects. This organizational process asset is created internally to your organization through the ongoing work of operations and other projects.

Answer 6

Organizational knowledge repositories

Question 7

Organizational processes, policies, procedures, and items stored as a corporate knowledge base. These are grouped into two categories: process, policies and procedures, and organizational knowledge bases.

Answer 7

Organizational process assets (OPA)

Question 8

The performing organization can contribute to the project’s risks through unreasonable cost, time, and scope expectations; poor project prioritization; inadequate funding or the disruption of funding; and competition with other projects for internal resources.

Answer 8

Organizational risks

Question 9

A system can create things by working with multiple components that the individual components could not crate if they worked alone. The structure of the organization and the governance framework creates constraints that affect how the project manager makes decisions within the project. This system directly affects how the project manager utilizes her power, influence, leadership, and even political capital, to get things done in the environment.

Answer 9

Organizational system

Question 10

A theory based on the participative management style of Japanese business. This theory states that workers are motivated by a sense of commitment, opportunity, and advancement.

Answer 10

Ouchi’s Theory Z

Question 11

The pitch, tone, and inflections in the sender’s voice that affect the message being sent.

Answer 11

Paralingual

Question 12

A quantitatively based duration estimate that uses mathematical formulas to predict how long an activity will take based on the quantities of work to be completed. It can include variables and points based on conditions.

Answer 12

Parametric estimate

Question 13

A histogram that illustrates and ranks categories of failure within a project (from high to low)

Answer 13

Pareto diagram

Question 14

A theory that states that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. It is considered with time estimating, because bloated or padded activity estimates will fill the amount of time allotted to the activity.

Answer 14

Parkinson’s Law

Question 15

The observer, sometimes called the invisible observer, records information about the work being completed without interrupting the process.

Answer 15

Passive observation

Question 16

An estimate to predict how long it will take a project to pay back an organization for the project’s investment of capital.

Answer 16

Payback period

Question 17

A report that depicts how well a project is performing. Often, this report is based on earned value management and may include cost or schedule variance reports.

Answer 17

Performance report

Question 18

If a project team can reach this stage of team development, they trust one another, work well together, and issues and problems get resolved quickly and effectively.

Answer 18

Performing stage

Question 19

The project manager has a warm personality that others like.

Answer 19

Personal or charismatic power

Question 20

A prompt list used for risk identification. It examines risks in the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental domains.

Answer 20

PESTLE

Question 21

The physical structure and surroundings that affect a project’s work.

Answer 21

Physical environment

Question 22

The work scheduled and the budget authorized to accomplish that work. It is the percentage of the BAC that reflects where the project should be at this point in time.

Answer 22

Planned Value (PV)

Question 23

A WBS entry located below a control account and above the work packages. It signifies that more planning needs to be completed for this specific deliverable.

Answer 23

Planning package

Question 24

A group-decision method whereby the largest part of the group makes the decision when it’s less than 50 percent of the total. (Consider three or four factions within the stakeholders.)

Answer 24

Plurality

Question 25

Anyone, whether certified as a project manager or not, who has joined the Project Management Institute

Answer 25

PMI member

Question 26

Defines three areas of professional development units (PDUs) for PMI certified professionals to maintain their certification. This entity includes technical project management, leadership, and strategic and business management.

Answer 26

PMI Talent Triangle

Question 27

The hidden goals, personal agendas, and alliances among the project team members and the stakeholders.

Answer 27

Political interfaces

Question 28

The project manager’s power is a result of their position as the project manager. Also known as formal, authoritative, and legitimate power.

Answer 28

Positional power

Question 29

A stakeholder who sees the benefits of the project and is in favor of the change the project is to bring about.

Answer 29

Positive stakeholder

Question 30

A person who is serving in the capacity of a project manager or contributing to the management of a project, portfolio of projects, or program. For example, a program manager would fall into this category under this definition.

Answer 30

Practitioner

Question 31

A network diagram that shows activities in nodes and the relationship between each activity. Predecessors come before the current activity, and successors come after the current activity.

Answer 31

Precedence diagramming method

Question 32

An approach that requires the project scope, the project schedule, and project costs to be defined early in the project timeline. This approach has defined phases, where each phase completes a specific type of work and usually overlaps other phases in the project.

Answer 32

Predictive life cycle

Question 33

A benefit comparison model to determine the present value of a future amount of money. The formula to calculate this is PV = FV / (1 + I)^n, where FV is future value, I is the given interest rate, and n is the number of periods.

Answer 33

Present value

Question 34

A communication technique in which the presenter’s oral and body language, visual aids, and handouts all influence the message being delivered.

Answer 34

Presentation

Question 35

The project manager can restrict choices to get the project team to perform the project work.

Answer 35

Pressure-based power

Question 36

The contractual relationship between the buyer and the seller is often considered confidential and secret.

Answer 36

Privity

Question 37

A matrix that ranks the probability of a risk event occurring and its impact on the project if the event does happen; used in qualitative and quantitative risk analyses.

Answer 37

Probability and impact matrix

Question 38

A collection of related processes in project management. There are 5 of these (initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing) and 49 project management processes.

Answer 38

Process groups

Question 39

A project management subsidiary plan that documents the decisions made in the procurement planning process.

Answer 39

Procurement management plan

Question 40

A project scope statement component that works with the project requirements, but focuses specifically on the product and what the conditions and processes are for formal acceptance of the product.

Answer 40

Product acceptance criteria

Question 41

A scope definition technique that breaks down a product into a hierarchical structure, much like a WBS breaks down a project scope.

Answer 41

Product breakdown

Question 42

A narrative description of what the project is creating as a deliverable for the project customer.

Answer 42

Product scope description

Question 43

Educational and experiential credits earned after the PMP to maintain the PMP certification. PMPs are required to earn 60 of these per three-year certification cycle. Of the 60, a minimum of 35 hours must come from educational opportunities.

Answer 43

Professional development units (PDUs)

Question 44

A meeting to examine and document the roles in the project. Each role’s interests, concerns, influence, project knowledge, and attitude are documented.

Answer 44

Profile analysis meeting

Question 45

A collection of related projects working in unison toward a common deliverable.

Answer 45

Program

Question 46

The process of gathering project details. This process uses deductive reasoning, logic, and a series of information-gathering techniques to identify details about a project, product, or solution.

Answer 46

Progressive elaboration

Question 47

A temporary endeavor to create a unique product, service, or result. The end result is called a deliverable.

Answer 47

Project

Question 48

A factor in the planning process that is held to be true, but not proven to be true.

Answer 48

Project assumption

Question 49

A document created and maintained by the project sponsor and the project manager. It defines what benefits the project will create, when the benefits will be realized, and how the benefits will be measured.

Answer 49

Project benefits management plan

Question 50

A statement that indicates clearly what’s included with the project and what’s excluded from the project. This helps to eliminate assumptions between the project management team and the project customer.

Answer 50

Project boundaries

Question 51

A document created and maintained by the project sponsor that shows the financial validity regarding why a project is chartered and launched within the organization. Typically it is created before the launch of the project and may be used as a go/no-go decision point.

Answer 51

Project business case

Question 52

A calendar that identifies when phases of the project work will occur.

Answer 52

Project calendar

Question 53

A document that authorized the project and defines the initial requirements of the project stakeholders. It is endorsed by an entity outside of the project boundaries.

Answer 53

Project charter

Question 54

Anything that limits the project manager’s options. Consider a predetermined budget, deadline, resources, or materials the project manager just use within the project – these are all examples.

Answer 54

Project constraints

Question 55

The location and culture of the environment in which the project work will reside. It includes the social, economic, and environmental variables the project must work with or around.

Answer 55

Project environment

Question 56

The total time the project can be delayed without passing the customer-expected completion date.

Answer 56

Project float

Question 57

The phases that make up the project. These are unique to the type of work being performed and are not universal to all projects.

Answer 57

Project life cycle

Question 58

A business unit that centralizes the operations and procedures of all projects within the organization. It support the project manager through software, training, templates, policies, communication, dispute resolution, and other services. This entity can be supportive, controlling, or directive.

Answer 58

Project management office (PMO)

Question 59

A documented approach of how a project will be planned, executed, monitored and controlled, and then closed. This document is a collection of subsidiary management plans and related documents.

Answer 59

Project management plan

Question 60

Risks that deal with faults in the management of the project: the unsuccessful allocation of time, resources, and scheduling; unacceptable work results; and poor project management.

Answer 60

Project management risks

Question 61

The role of leading the project team and managing the project resources to effectively achieve the objectives of the project.

Answer 61

Project manager

Question 62

A diagram that visualizes the flow of the project activities and their relationships to other project activities.

Answer 62

Project network diagram

Question 63

The measurable goals that determine a project’s acceptability to the project customer and the overall success of the project. These often include the cost, schedule, technical requirements, and quality demands.

Answer 63

Project objectives

Question 64

The management and selection of projects that support an organization’s vision and mission. It is the balance of project priority, risk, reward and return on investment. This is a senior management process.

Answer 64

Project portfolio management

Question 65

Communication method that is useful in providing information to customers, management, the project team, and other stakeholders.

Answer 65

Project presentation

Question 66

All the project communications that are also part of the organizational process assets. They include emails, memos, letter, and faxes.

Answer 66

Project records

Question 67

Formal written communications regarding project activities, their status, and conditions.

Answer 67

Project report

Question 68

The demands set by the customer, regulations, or the performing organization that must exist for the project deliverables to be acceptable. These are often prioritized in a number of ways, from “must have,” to “should have”, to “would like to have.”

Answer 68

Project requirements

Question 69

Defines all of the work, and only the required work, to complete the project objectives.

Answer 69

Project scope

Question 70

A project management subsidiary plan that controls how the scope will be defined, how the project scope statement will be created, how the WBS will be created, how scope validation will proceed, and how project scope will be controlled throughout the project.

Answer 70

Project scope management plan

Question 71

The final variance, which is discovered only at the project’s completion. The formula is VAR = BAC - AC.

Answer 71

Project variance

Question 72

An organization that assigns a project team to one project for the duration of the project life cycle. The project manager has high to almost complete project power.

Answer 72

Project-oriented structure

Question 73

A document the seller provides to the buyer. It includes more than just a fee for the proposed work. It also includes information on the vendor’s skills, the vendor’s reputation, and ideas on how the vendor can complete the contracted work for the buyer.

Answer 73

Proposal

Question 74

A communication approach that requires stakeholders to pull information from a central repository, such as a database of information. These are good for large groups of stakeholders who want to access project information at their discretion. Consider a project website where stakeholders can periodically visit for a quick update on the project status.

Answer 74

Pull communication

Question 75

The project manager can punish the project team.

Answer 75

Punitive or coercive power

Question 76

A form or unilateral contract that the buyer provides to the vendor showing that the purchase has been approved by the buyer’s organization.

Answer 76

Purchase order

Question 77

A risk that has only a negative outcome. Examples include risks that cause loss of life or limb, fire, theft, natural disasters, and the like.

Answer 77

Pure risk

Question 78

A communication approach that pushes the information from the sender to the receiver without any real acknowledgement that the information was received or understood. Consider letters, faxes, voicemail messages, emails, and other modalities that the sender packages and sends to receivers through some intermediary network.

Answer 78

Push communication

Question 79

An analysis approach that qualifies the risks that have been identified in the project. Specifically, this type of analysis examines and prioritizes risks based on their probability of occurring and their impact on the project should they occur.

Answer 79

Qualitative risk analysis

Question 80

According to the American Society for Quality (ASQ), the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements

Answer 80

Quality

Question 81

A management process that defines the quality system or quality policy that a project must adhere to. It aims to plan quality into the project rather than to inspect quality into a deliverable.

Answer 81

Quality assurance (QA)

Question 82

Documents the quality objectives for the project, including the metrics for stakeholder acceptance of the project deliverable.

Answer 82

Quality baseline

Question 83

A plan that defines what quality means for the project, how the project will achieve quality, and how the project will map to organizational procedures pertaining to quality. This plan defines how the project team will implement and fulfill the quality policy of the performing organization.

Answer 83

Quality management plan

Question 84

The operational definitions that specify the measurements within a project and the expected targets for quality and performance.

Answer 84

Quality metrics

Question 85

The process of first determining which quality standards are relevant to your project and then finding out the best methods of adhering to those quality standards.

Answer 85

Quality planning

Question 86

An approach that attempts to numerically assess the probability and impact of the identified risks. It also created an overall risk score for the project. This method is more in depth than its counterpart and relies on several different tools to accomplish its goal.

Answer 86

Quantitative risk analysis

Question 87

A document that the seller provides to the buyer that lists an estimate of the cost providing a project resource. Price is the determining factor in the decision-making process.

Answer 87

Quotation

Question 88

A matrix chart that uses only the activities of responsible, accountable, consult, and inform

Answer 88

RACI chart

Question 89

An ordinal scale that uses red, amber and green to capture the probability, impact, and risk score.

Answer 89

RAG rating

Question 90

The person who receives a message

Answer 90

Receiver

Question 91

The project manager is respected or admired because of the team’s past experiences with the project manager. This is about the project manager’s credibility in the organization. The project tem personally knows the project manager. It can also mean that the project manager refers to the person who assigned them the position.

Answer 91

Referent power

Question 92

An update to the work breakdown structure

Answer 92

Refinement

Question 93

A statistical approach to predicting what future values may be, based on historical values. It created quantitative predictions based on variables within one value to predict variables in another. This form of estimating relies solely on pure statistical math to reveal relationships between variables and to predict future values.

Answer 93

Regression analysis

Question 94

A software program to store and analyze project data for reporting. It will commonly store project data, enable the project manager to pass the data through earned value management, for example, and then create forecasting reports about the project costs and schedule.

Answer 94

Reporting system

Question 95

A document that the buyer provides to the seller that requests that the seller provide a proposal to complete the procured work or to provide the procured product.

Answer 95

Request for proposal (RFP)

Question 96

A document that the buyer provides to the seller that requests that the seller provide a price for the procured product or service.

Answer 96

Request for quote (RFQ)

Question 97

Documentation of what the stakeholders expect in the project. It defines all of the requirements that must be present for the work to be accepted by the stakeholders.

Answer 97

Requirements documentation

Question 98

A subsidiary plan that defines how changes to the project requirements will be permitted, how requirements will be tracked, and how changes to the requirements will be approved.

Answer 98

Requirements management plan

Question 99

A table that maps the requirements throughout the project all the way to their completion.

Answer 99

Requirements traceability matrix (RTM)

Question 100

An analysis of possible unknown unknowns within a project and their associated costs. The management reserve is not part of the project cost baseline but is included as part of the project budget.

Answer 100

Reserve analysis

Question 101

Risks that are expected to remain after a risk response.

Answer 101

Residual risks

Question 102

Part of stakeholder analysis classification. This type of stakeholder is aware of your project but does not support the changes your project will create.

Answer 102

Resistant stakeholder status

Question 103

A hierarchical breakdown of the project resources by category and resource type. For example, you could have a category of equipment, a category of human resources, and a category of materials. Within each category, you could identify the types of equipment your project will use, the types of human resources, and the types of materials.

Answer 103

Resource breakdown structure (RBS)

Question 104

A calendar that identifies when project resources are available for the project work.

Answer 104

Resource calendar

Question 105

A plan that defines staff acquisition, the timetable for staff acquisition, the staff release plan, training needs for the project team, any organizational compliance issues, rewards and recognitions, and safety concerns for the project team doing the project work.

Answer 105

Resource management plan

Question 106

A method to flatten the schedule when resources are over-allocated. It can be applied using different methods to accomplish different goals. One of the most common methods is to ensure that works are not overextended on activities.

Answer 106

Resource-leveling heuristic

Question 107

The work that a role performs.

Answer 107

Responsibility

Question 108

A chart that shows the correlation between project team members and the work they’ve been assigned to complete.

Answer 108

Responsibility assignment matrix (RAM)

Question 109

The project manager has the authority to reward the project team.

Answer 109

Reward power

Question 110

Defines the product or service that will come about as a result of completing the project. It defines the features and functions that characterize the product.

Answer 110

Product scope