Definitions Flashcards
Acceptance
The formal act of acknowledging that the project has met agreed acceptance criteria and thereby met the requirements of its stakeholders
Acceptance criteria
A prioritised list of criteria that the project product must meet before the user will accept it. For example, measurable definitions of the attributes required for the set of products to be acceptable to key stakeholders
Accountable
The single person who ‘owns’ a task. Unlike responsibility, accountability cannot be delegated
Activity
Each Prince2 process comprises a set of activities, which may be performed in sequence or in parallel during the project. Prince2 activities comprise a set of recommended actions designed to achieve a particular result
Agile and agile methods
A broad term for a collection of behaviours, frameworks, concepts and techniques that go together to enable teams and individuals to work in an agile way that is typified by collaboration, prioritization, iterative and incremental delivery, and timeboxing. Scrum and Kanban.
Approval
The formal confirmation that a product is complete and meets its requirements (less any concessions) as defined by its product description
Approver (in quality context)
The person or group (for example, a project board) who is identified as qualified and authorised to approve a (management or specialist) product as being complete and fit for purpose
Assumption
A statement that is taken as being true for the purposes of planning but which could change later
Authority
The right to allocate people and resources and make decisions (applies to project, stage and team levels)
Authorisation
The point at which authority is granted
Baseline management product
A type of management product that defines aspects of the project and, when approved, is subject to change control
Benefit
The measurable improvement resulting from an outcome that is perceived as an advantage by the investing organisation and contributes towards one or more business objectives
Benefits tolerance
The permissible deviation in the benefit performance targets that is allowed before the deviation needs to be escalated to the next level of management. Documented in the business case
Business
The organisation that provides the project mandate and the structure within which the project is governed.
Business case
The purpose of the business case is to document the business justification for undertaking a project, based on the estimated costs against the expected benefits to be gained and offset by any associated risks. It should outline how and when the expected benefits can be measured
Business layer
The layer of governance outside the project team that sets the overall objectives and tolerance levels for the project and holds the project board accountable for meeting them
Business objective
The measurable outcomes that demonstrate progress in relation to the organisations strategy and to which the project should contribute
Business opportunity
An issue that represents previously unanticipated positive consequences for the project or user organisation
Capability
The completed set of project outputs required to deliver an outcome
Change
A change is defined as a modification to any of the approved management products that constitute the project baseline
Change authority
A person or group to which the project board may delegate responsibility for the consideration of requests for change or off-specifications. The change authority may be given a change budget and can approve changes within that budget
Change budget
The money or authorised constraints set aside in a plan to cover changes. It is allocated by those with delegated authority to deliver authorised changes.
Change control
The process by which changes that may affect the project baseline are identified, assessed, and then approved, rejected or deferred
Change management
The means by which an organisation transitions from the current state to the target state
Checkpoint
A team-level, time-driven review of progress
Checkpoint report
A report to the project manager by a team manager of the status of the work package at a frequency defined in the work package description
Closure recommendation
A recommendation prepared by the project manager for the project board to send as a project closure notification to the business when the board is satisfied that the project can be closed
Co-creation
A specific form of collaboration involving users and key influencers in the design or products and agreed ways of working to ensure they are adopted by the project and organisational ecosystems
Collaboration
People from across the project ecosystem working together to achieve the project’s objectives
Communication management approach
This explains how team members will actively engage with and support each other and how relationships will be developed between different groups within the wider project ecosystem
Concern
An issue whose timeliness and impact need to be assessed
Concession
An off-specification that is accepted by the project board without corrective action
Constraints
The restrictions or limitations by which the project is bound
Corrective action
A set of actions to resolve a threat to a plans tolerances or a defect in a product
Cost tolerance
The permissible deviation in a plan’s cost that is allowed before it needs to be escalated to the next level of management
Culture
The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and ways of working that characterise a group of people
Customer
The person or group from the business who commissioned the work and will benefit from the end results. The term ‘customer’ is only used where there is a commercial relationship between the business and the supplier
Daily log
A log used to record problems/concerns that can be handled by the project manager informally
Dashboard
A way of representing vast amounts of decision-support data that gives a current summary, usually in graphic, easy-to-read form, of key information relating to progress and performance
Data analytics
The means of using and analysing data to support effective decision making or to bring efficiency through the automation of tasks
Delivery method
The may in which the work of the project is to be delivered. The project may rely on one or more delivery methods to create the required products. Typical delivery methods include iterative-incremental, linear-sequential, or hybrid
Delivery model
The organisational and commercial arrangements to be deployed to meet the project objectives given the project constraints and capabilities of the user, business, and supplier organisations. It is described in the commercial management approach and reflected in the project management team structure
Dependency
A dependency means that one products is dependent on another. There are at least two types of dependency relevant to a project: internal and external
DevOps
An organisational culture that aims to improve the flow of value to customers. DevOps focuses on culture, automation, Lean, measurement and sharing (CALMS)
Dis-benefit
The measurable decline resulting from an outcome perceived as negative by the investing organisation and which detracts from one or more business objectives
Early warning indicators
Describe indicators to be used to track critical aspects of the project so that if certain predefined levels are reached, corrective action will be triggered. They will be selected for their relevance to the project objectives
End project report
A report given by the project manager to the project board, confirming the handover of all products. It includes a review of the performance of the project, any subsequent recommendations, and request approval to close the project.
End stage report
A report given by the project manager to the project board at the end of each stage. This provides information about the project’s performance during the stage and the project status at the end stage
Event-driven control
A control that takes place when a specific event occurs. This could be, for example, the end of a stage, the completion of the project initiation documentation, or the creation of an exception report. It could also include organisational events that may affect the project, such as the setting of annual budgets
Exception
A situation where it can be forecast that there will be a deviation beyond the tolerance levels agreed between the project manager and the project board (or between the project board and business layer)
Exception plan
A plan that follows an exception report and explains how the project will respond to the exception within the stage
Exception report
A report from the project manager to the project board to explain where tolerances have or are forecast to be breached for the stage or project and to request direction from the project board
External dependency
An external dependency is one between a project product and a product or activity outside the scope of the project. In these circumstances, the project team does not have complete control over the dependency
External products
Are products developed or provided outside of the project’s control but which the project is dependent on, for example, the publication of a new standard
Follow-on action recommendations
Actions to be taken by the business following the phased handover of any products during the stage
Forecast
A prediction made by studying historical data and past patterns
Governing
The ongoing activity of maintaining a sound system of internal control by which the directors and officers of an organisation ensure that effective management systems, including financial monitoring and control systems, have been established to protect assets, earning capacity, and the reputation of the organisation
Handover
The transfer of ownership of a set of products to the respective user(s). The set of products is known as a release
Highlight report
A time-driven report from the project manager to the project board on stage progress
Initiation stage
The period from when the project board authorises initiation to when it authorises the project (or decides not to proceed with it). The detailed planning and establishment of the project management infrastructure is covered by the ‘initiating a project’ process
Internal dependency
An internal dependency is one between two products of a project. In these circumstances, the project team has control over the dependency.
Issue
An event relevant to the project that requires project management consideration
Issue register
A register used to capture and maintain information on all of the issues that are being managed formally. The issue register should be monitored by the project manager on a regular basis.
Issue report
A report containing the description, impact assessment, and recommendations for a response to an issue. It is created only for those issues that need to be handled formally
Leadership
Motivating people to achieve a project’s objectives.
Lesson
A lesson is information to facilitate the future of the project or other projects and actively promote learning from experience. The experience may be positive or negative
Lessons log
An informal repository for lessons that apply to this project or future projects
Log
An informal repository managed by the project manager that does not require any agreement by the project board on its format and composition. Prince2 has two logs: the daily log and the lessons log
Management
Instructing the execution of tasks in line with agreed ways of working. Co-creating ways of working with project team members (and stakeholders) significantly improves people’s willingness to be managed in line with them
Management approaches
The procedures, techniques, and standards to be applied and the responsibilities for: benefit management, change management, commercial management, communication management, data management, issue management, quality management, risk management, and sustainability management
Management product
A product that will be required as part of managing the project and establishing and maintaining quality (for example, highlight report and end stage report). The management products are constant, whatever the type of project, and can be used as described, or with any relevant modifications, for all projects. There are three types of management product: baselines, records and reports.
Milestone
A significant event in a plan’s schedule, such as completion of key work packages, a development step, or a stage.
Minimum viable product
Used in agile development methods to describe a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, who can then provide feedback for future product development
Off-specification
A product that will not meet its quality specification
Operational and maintenance acceptance
A specific type of acceptance by the person or group that will support the product after it has been delivered to the operational environment
Organisational ecosystem
The internal elements of an organisation (including staff, board, owners, and other stakeholders) together with the organisations external relationships such as customers, partners, suppliers, regulators, and competitors
Outcome
The result of change, normally affecting real-world behaviour and circumstances. Changes are implemented to achieve outcomes, which are achieved as a result of the activities undertaken to facilitate the change