DC37_APM_Glossary Flashcards
Accountability
Feedback of consequences to people based on their performance.
Activities plan
A table that lists planned project activities with their start and end dates
Activities Report
A table that lists project activities with their planned start and end dates and their actual start and end dates.
Activity
The work required to move from one event to the next in a project
Activity-in-the-box diagram
A network diagram format in which boxes represent events and arrows represent activities.
Assumption
A statement about uncertain information that you take as fact as you conceive, plan, and perform a project.
Backing in
The process of identifying activities and estimates of duration that equal the project’s allotted time by starting at the end of a project and working back toward the beginning.
backward pass
The process of calculating the latest allowable start and finish dates for each activity by beginning at the end of a project and moving back along each path toward the start of the project.
baseline
The plan that guides project activities and supports project performance assessments.
budget
A detailed , time-phased estimate of the costs to perform a project.
benefit-cost analysis
A comparative assessment of a project’s anticipated benefits with respect to its estimated costs.
business-requirements document
A description of the business needs that a requested product, service, or system must address.
centralized-organization structure
An organizational approach in which individual units in an organizationmhandle the specialty work for all projects.
champion
A person in a high position in the organization who strongly supports a project; will advocate for the project in disputes, planning meetings, and review sessions; and will take the necessary actions to help ensure the project’s successful completion.
confirmation of purchase order
A reply from a vendor agreeing to provide a requested item and reconfirming the price and associated costs.
constraint
A restriction that limits what your project must achieve, how and when you can do it, and for what cost.
cost report
A table listing activities with their planned costs and their actual expenditures.
critical path
A sequence of activities in a project that takes the longest time to complete.
delegation
Assigning some or all of your authority to someone else.
dependency
A relationship between activities in which one avctivity must finish before the other can start.
detailed budget estimate
An itemization of estimated costs for each project activity.
direct costs
Expenditures for resources used solely for a particular project.
distribution list
List of people who receive a written project-communication.
driver
A person who has some authority in defining the results of a project; a person for whom you perform the project.
duration
The actual calendar time to perform an activity; also called span time.
earliest finish date
The earliest possible date to finish an activity.
earliest start date
The earliest possible date to start an activity.
Earned Value Mangement
An analysis approach based solely on resource expenditures to determine whether a project is over or under budget and whether the project is ahead of or behind schedule.
efficiency
The proportion of time a person spends solely on project work, not includiing organizational tasks not realted to specific projects.
event
A significant occurrence in the life of a project; a milestone.
fast tracking
Performing two or more activities at the same time to reduce the overall project time.
feasibility study
A formal investigation to determine the likelihood of successfully performing certain work or achieving certain results.
forward pass
The process of calculating earliest start and finish dates for all activities by beginning at the start of a project and moving along each path toward the end of the project.
functional manager
A person responsibile for the business and technical performance of activities in a specialized, organizational function (such as finance or engineering).
functional organization structure
An organizational approach in which separate units address the same specialty in various functional groups.
Gantt chart
Named after Henry Gantt, a graph comprised of bars on a timeline that depict when each activity starts, is performed, and ends.
Human Resources Matrix
A table depicting the people who work on each lowest level project activity and the total effort each person invests in each activity.
Indirect costs
Expenditures for personnel, materials, equipment, facilities, and services that support projects but aren’t tracked by the projects.
Initiator
The person who had the original idea leading to a project.
Key-events list
A table that lists planned project events and their dates.
