Glossary Flashcards
A set of conditions that is required to be met before deliverables are accepted.
Acceptance Criteria
Product, results, or capabilities produced by a project and validated by the project or customer or sponsor as meeting their specified acceptance criteria.
Accepted Deliverables
Within the quality management system, this is an assessment of correctness.
Accuracy
The process of confirming human resources availability and obtaining the team necessary to complete project activities.
Acquire Project Team
Obtaining human an material resources necessary to perform project activities. Acquisition implies a cost of resources, and is not necessarily financial.
Acquisition
A distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during the course of a project.
Activity
Multiple attributes associated with each schedule activity that can be included within the activity list. Include activity codes, predecessor activities, successor activities, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, imposed dates, constraints, and assumptions.
Activity Attributes
One or more numerical or text values that identify characteristics of the work or in some way categorize the schedule activity that allows filtering and ordering of activities within reports.
Activity Code
The projected cost of the schedule activity that includes the cost for all resources required to perform and complete the activity, including all cost types and cost components.
Activity Cost Estimates
The time in calendar units between the start and finish of a schedule activity. Also known as duration.
Activity Duration
A quantitative assessment of the likely amount or outcome for the duration of an activity.
Activity Duration Estimate
A short, unique numeric or text identification assigned to each schedule activity to differentiate that project activity from other activities. Typically unique within any one project schedule network diagram.
Activity Identifier
A documented tabulation of schedule activities that shows the activity description, activity identifier, and a sufficiently detailed scope of work description so project team members understand what work is to be performed.
Activity List
See project schedule network diagram.
Activity Network Diagrams
See precedence diagramming method (PDM)
Activity-on-Node (AON)
The types and quantities of resources required for each activity in a work package.
Activity Resource Requirements
The realized cost incurred for the work performed on an activity during a specific time period.
Actual Cost (AC)
The time in calendar units between the actual start date of the schedule activity and either the data date of the project schedule if the schedule activity is in progress or the actual finish date if the schedule activity is completed.
Actual Duration
A project life cycle, also known as change-driveen or agile method, that is intended to facilitate change and require a high degrees of ongoing stakeholder involvement. Adaptive life cycles are also iterative and incremental, but differ in that iterations are very rapid (usually 2-4 weeks in length) and are fixed in time and resources.
Adaptive Life Cycle
A set of tools used to define the quality requirements and to plan effective quality management activities. They include, but are not limited to: brainstorming, force field analysis, nominal group techniques and quality management and control tools.
Additional Quality Planning Tools
A technique used to find ways to bring project activities that are behind into alignment with plan during project execution.
Adjusting Leads and Lags
The process of calling public attention to a project or effort.
Advertising
A group creativity technique that allows large number of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis.
Affinity Diagrams
Any document or communication that defines the initial intentions of the project. This can take the form of a contract, memorandum of understanding (MOM), letters of agreement, verbal agreements, email, etc.
Agreements
A technique use to evaluate identified options in order to select which options or approaches to use to execute and perform the work of the project.
Alternative Analysis
A technique used to develop as many potential options as possible in order to identify different approaches to execute and perform the work of the project.
Alternatives Generation
A technique for estimating the duration of cost of an activity or a project using historical data from a similar activity or project.
Analogous Estimating
Various techniques used to evaluate, analyze, or forecast potential outcomes based on possible variations of project or environmental variables and their relationships with other variables
Analytical Techniques
A category of projects that have common components significant in such projects, but are not needed or present in all projects. Are usually defined in terms of either the product (i.e., by similar technologies or production methods) or the type of customer (i.e., interval vs. external, government vs. commercial) or industry sector (i.e., utilities, automotive, aerospace, information technologies, etc.) Area can overlap.
Application Area
A technique that is used to adjust the amount of time between predecessor and successor activities.
Applying Leads and Lags
An activity where effort is allotted proportionately across certain discrete efforts and not divisible into discrete efforts [Note: Apportioned effort is one of three earned value management (EVM) types of activities used to measure work performance]
Apportioned Effort
A change request that has been processed through the integrated change control process and approved.
Approved Change Request
A review of the change request to verify that these are implemented as approved.
Approved Change Request Review
A factor in the planning process that is considered to be true, real, or certain, without proof or demonstration.
Assumption
A technique that explores the accuracy of assumptions and identifies risks to the project from inaccuracy, inconsistency, or incompleteness of assumptions.
Assumption Analysis
Method of measuring quality that consists of noting the presence (or absence) of some characteristic (attribute) in each of the units under consideration. After each unit is inspected, the decision is made to accept a lot, reject it or inspect another unit.
Attribute Sampling
The right to apply project resources, expend funds, make decisions, or give approvals.
Authority
A listing of product requirements and deliverables to be completed, written as stories, and prioritized by the business to manage and organize the project’s work.
Backlog
A critical path method technique for calculating the late start and late finish dates by working backward through the schedule model from the project end date
Backward Pass
A graphic display of schedule-related information. In the typical bar chart, schedule activities or work breakdown structure components are listed down the left side of the chart, dates are show across the top, and activity durations are show as date-placed horizontal bars. See also Gantt Chart.
Bar Chart
The approved version of a work product that can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison
Baseline
Supporting documentation outlining the details used in establishing project estimates such as assumptions, constraints, level of detail, ranges, and confidence levels.
Basis of Estimates
The comparison of actual or planned practices, such as processes and operations, to those of comparable organizations to identify best practices, generate ideas for improvement, and provide a basis for measuring performance.
Benchmarking
The meeting with prospective sellers prior to the preparation of a bid or proposal to ensure all prospective vendors have a clear and common understanding of the procurement. Also known as contractor conferences, vendor conferences, or pre-bid conferences.
Bidder Conference
A method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower level components of the work breakdown structure (WBS)
Bottom-Up Estimating
A general data gathering and creativity technique that can be used to identify risks, ideas, or solutions to issues by using a group of team members or subject matter experts.
Brainstorming
The approved estimate for the project or any work breakdown structure component or any schedule activity.
Budget
The sum of all budgets established for the work to be performed
Budget at Completion (BAC)
See Reserve
Buffer
A documented economic feasibility study used to establish validity of the benefits of a elected component lacking sufficient definition and that is used as a basis for the authorization of further project management activities
Business Case
A concept that is unique to each organization and includes tangible and intangible elements. Through the effective use of project, program and portfolio management disciplines, organizations will possess the ability to employ reliable, established processes to meet enterprise objectives and obtain greater business value from their investments.
Business Value
The acquirer of products, services, or results for an organization.
Buyer
A decomposition technique that helps trace an undesirable effect back to its root cause. Also known as a FishBone Diagram.
Cause and Effect Diagram
A property whereby modifications to documents, deliverables, or baselines associated with the project are identified, documented, approved, or rejected.
Central Tendency
A process whereby modifications to documents, deliverables, or baselines associated with the projects are identified, documented, approved or rejected.
Change Control
A formally charted group responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, delaying, or rejecting changes to the project, and for recording and communicating such decisions.
Change Control Board (CCB)
A set of procedures that describe how modifications to the project deliverables and documentation are managed and controlled. Under Configuration Management System
Change Control System
Manual or automated tools to assist with change and/or configuration management. At a minimum, the tools should support the activities of the CCB.
Change Control Tools
A comprehensive list of changes made during the project. This typically includes dates of the change and impacts in terms of time, cost and risk.
Change Log
A formal proposal to modify any document, deliverable, or baseline.
Change Request
See Project Charter
Charter
A technique for systematically reviewing materials using a list for accuracy and completeness.
Checklist Analysis
A tally sheet that can be used as a checklist when gathering data.
Checksheets
A request, demand, or assertion of rights by a seller against a buyer, or vice vera, for consideration, compensation, or payment under the terms of a legally biding contract, such as for a disputed change.
Claim
The process of processing, adjudicating, and communicating contract claims
Claims Administration
The process of completing each project procurement
Close Procurement
The process of finalizing the all activities across all of the Project Management Process Groups to formally complete a project or phase.
Close Project or Phase
Project contracts or other procurement agreements that have been formally acknowledged by the proper authorizing agent as being finalized and signed off.
Closing Process Group
A numbering system used to uniquely identify each component of the WBS
Code of Accounts
The process of determining, documenting, and managing stakeholder needs and requirements to meet project objectives.
Collect Requirements
An organizational placement strategy where the project team members are physically located close to one another in order to improve communication, working relationships, and productivity.
Colocation
Restrictions on the content, timing, audience, or individual who will deliver a communication usually stemming from specific legislation or regulation, technology, or organizational policies.
Communication Constraints
A systematic procedure, technique, or process used to transfer information amount project stakeholders.
Communication Methods
A description, analogy or schematic used to represent how the communication process will be performed for the project.
Communication Models
An analytical technique to determine the information needs of the project stakeholders through interviews, workshops, study of lessons learned from previous projects, etc.
Communication Requirements Analysis
Specific tools, systems, computer programs, etc., used to transfer information among project stakeholders.
Communication Technology
A component of the project, program or portfolio management plan that describes how, when and by who information about the project will be administered and disseminated.
Communication Management Plan
A general concept of conforming to a rule, standard, law or requirement such that the assessment of compliance results in a binomial result stated as “complaint” or “noncompliant”
Compliance
The process of obtaining seller responses, selecting a seller, and awarding a contract.
Conduct Procurements
A subsystem of the overall project management system. It is a collection of formal documented procedures used to apply technical and administrative direction and surveillance to: identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a product, result, services, or component; control any changes to such characteristics; record and report each change and its implementation status; and support the audit of the products, results, or components to verify conformance to requirements. It includes the documentation, tracking systems, and defined approval levels necessary for authorizing and controlling changes. An umbrella - all changes are captured, analyzed and reported.
Configuration Management System
Handling, controlling, and guiding a conflictual situation to achieve a resolution.
Conflict Management
Within the quality management system, conformance is a general concept of delivering results that fall within the limits that define acceptable variations for a quality requirement.
Conformance
In the cost of quality framework, conformance work is done to compensate for imperfections that prevent organizations from completing planned activities correctly as essential first-time work. Conformance works consists of course of actions that are related to prevention and inspection.
Conformance Work
A limiting factor that affects the execution of a project, program, portfolio, or process.
Constraints
A visual depiction of the product scope showing a business system (process, equipment, computer system, etc.) and how people and other systems (actors) interact with it.
Context Diagram
An event or occurrence that could affect the execution of the project that may be accounted for with a reserve.
Contingency
See reserve
Contingency Allowance
Budget within the cost baseline or performance measurement baseline that is allocated for identified risks that are accepted and for which contingent or mitigating responses are developed.
Contingency Reserve
Responses provided which may be used in the event that a specify trigger occurs
Contingent Response Strategies
A mutually binding agreement that obligates the seller to provide the specified product or service or result and obligates the buyer to pay for it.
Contract
The system used to collect, track, adjudicate, and communicate changes to a contract.
Contract Change Control System
Comparing actual performance with planned performance, analyzing variances, assessing trends to effect process improvements, evaluating possible alternatives, and recommending appropriate corrective action as needed.
Control
A management control point where scope, budget, actual cost and schedule are integrated and compared to earned value for performance measurement.
Control Account
A graphic display of process data over time and against established control limits, which has a centerline that assists in detecting a trend of plotted value toward either control limit.
Control Chart
The process of monitoring and controlling communications throughout the entire project life cycle to ensure the information needs of the project stakeholders are met.
Control Communications
The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and managing changes to the cost baseline.
Control Costs
The area composed of three standard deviations on either side of the centerline or mean of a normal distribution of data plotted on a control chart, which reflects the expected variation in the data. See also specification limits.
Control Limits
The process of managing procurement relationships, monitoring contract performance, and making changes and corrections as appropriate.
Control Procurement
The process of monitoring and recording results of executing the quality activities to assess performance and recommend necessary changes.
Control Quality
The process of implementing risk response plans, tracking identified risks, monitoring residual risks, identifying new risks and evaluating risk process effectiveness throughout the project.
Control Risks
The process of monitoring the status of project activities to update project progress and manage changes to the schedule baseline to achieve the plan.
Control Schedule
The process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline.
Control Scope
The process of monitoring overall project stakeholder relationships and adjusting strategies and plans for engaging stakeholders.
Control Stakeholder Engagement
An intentional activity that realigns the performance of the project work with the project management plan.
Corrective Action
Summing the lower-level cost estimates associated with the various work packages for a given level within the project’s WBS or of a given cost control account.
Cost Aggregation
The approved versions of the time-phased project budget, excluding any management reserves, which can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison to actual results.
Cost Baseline
A component of a project or program management plan that describes how cost will be planned, structured, and controlled.
Cost Management Plan
A method of determining the costs incurred to ensure quality. Prevention and appraisal costs (cost of conformance) include costs for quality planning, quality control, and quality assurance to ensure compliance to requirements (i.e., training, quality control systems, etc.) Failure costs (cost of nonconformance) include costs to rework product, components, or processes that are non-compliant, costs of warranty work and waste, and lost of reputation.
Cost of Quality
A measure of the cost efficiency of budgeted resources expressed as the ratio of earned value to actual cost.
Cost Performance Index (CPI)
A category of contract that involves payments to the seller for all legitimate actual costs incurred for completed work, plus an award fee representing seller profile.
Cost Plus Award Fee Contracts (CPAF)
A type of cost reimbursable contract where the buyer reimburse the seller for the seller’s allowable costs (allowable costs are defined by the contract) plus a fixed amount of profit (fee)
Cost Plus Fixed Fee Contract (CPFF)
A type of cost-reimbursable contract where the buyer reimburse the seller for the seller’s allowable costs (allowable costs are defined by the contract) and the seller earns its profit if it meets defined performance criteria.
Cost Plus Incentive Fee Contract (CPIF)
The amount of budget deficit or surplus at a given point in time, expressed as the difference between the earned value and the actual cost.
Cost Variance (CV)
A financial analysis tool used to determine the benefits provided by a project against its costs.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
A type of contract involving payment to the seller for the seller’s actual costs, plus a fee typically representing seller’s profit. Cost-reimbursable contracts often include incentive clause where, if the seller meets or exceeds selected project objectives, such as schedule targets or total cost, then the seller receives from the buyer an incentive or bonus payment.
Cost-Reimbursable Contract
A technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources.
Crashing
The process of subdividing project deliverables and project work into smaller, more manageable components.
Create WBS
Standards, rules, or tests on which a judgement or decision can be baed or by which a product, service, result or process can be evaluated.
Criteria
A schedule method that allows the project team to place buffers on any project schedule path to account for limited resources and project uncertainties.
Critical Chain Method
The sequence of activities that represent the longest path through a project, which determines the shortest possible durations.
Critical Path
Any activity on the critical path in a project schedule.
Critical Path Activity
A method used to estimate the minimum project duration and determine the amount of scheduling flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model.
Critical Path Method.
The person(s) or organization(s) that will pay for the project’s product, service, or result. Can be internal or external to the performing organization
Customers
Within the quality management system, a state of fulfillment in which the needs of a customer are met or exceeded for the customer’s expected experiences as assessed by the customer at the moment of evaluation.
Customer Satisfaction
A point in time when the status of the project is recorded.
Data Date
A diagramming and calculation technique for evaluating the implication of a change of multiple options in the presence of uncertainty.
Decision Tree Analysis
A technique used for dividing and subdividing the project scope and project deliverables into smaller, more manageable parts.
Decomposition
An imperfection or deficiency in a project component where that component does not meet its requirements or specifications and needs to be either repaired or replaced.
Defect
An intentional activity to modify a nonconforming product or product component.
Defect Repair
The process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables.
Define Activities
The process of developing a detailed description of the project and product.
Define Scope
Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is required to be produced to complete a process, phase, or project.
Deliverable
An information gathering technique used as a way to reach consensus of experts on a subject. Experts on the subject participate in this technique anonymously. A facilitator uses a questionnaire to solicit ideas about the important project points related to the subject. The responses are summarized and are then recirculated to the experts for further comment. Consensus may be reached in a few rounds of this process. Helps reduce bias in data and keeps any one person from having undue influence on the outcome.
Delphi Technique
A logical relationship between two activities, or between an activity and a milestone.
Dependency
A technique used to identify the type of dependency that is used to create the logical relationship between predecessor and successor activities.
Dependency Determination
A statistical method fo identifying which factor may influence specific variables of a product or process under development or in production.
Design of Experiments
The process of aggregating the estimated cost of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline
Determine Budget
The process of developing a document that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.
Develop Project Charter
The process of defining, preparing, and coordinating all subsidiary plans and integrating them into a comprehensive project management plan.
Develop Project Management Plan
The process of improving competencies, team member interaction, and overall team environment to create the project schedule model.
Develop Project Team
The process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model
Develop Schedule
Approaches to presenting information with logical linkages that aid in understanding.
Diagramming Techniques
A group decision making technique in which one individual makes the decision for the group.
Dictatorship
The process of learning and performing the work defined in the project management plan and implementing approved changes to achieve the project’s objectives.
Develop and Manage Project Work
An activity that can be planned and measured and that yields a specific output. Is one of the three earned value management (EVM) types of activities used to measure work performance.
Discrete Effort
A relationship that is established based on knowledge of best practice within a particular application area or an aspect of the project where a specified sequence is desired.
Discretionary Dependency
An elicitation technique that analyzes existing documentation and identifies information relevant to the requirements.
Document Analysis
The process of gathering a corpus of information and reviewing it to determine accuracy and completeness.
Documentation Reviews
The total number of work periods (not including holidays or other nonworking periods) required to complete a schedule activity or work breakdown structure component. Usually expressed as workdays or work weeks. Sometimes incorrectly equated with elapsed time. Contrast with effort.
Duration (DU or DUR)
In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can finish based on the schedule network logic, the data date, and nay schedule constraints.
Early Finish Date (EF)
In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time when the uncompleted portion of a schedule activity can start based on the schedule network logic, the data date and any schedule constraints.
Early Start Date (ES)
The measure of work performed expressed in terms of the budget authorized for that work.
Earned Value (EV)
A methodology that combines scope, schedule and resource measurements to assess project performance and process.
Earned Value Management
The number of labor units required to complete a schedule activity or work breakdown structure component, often expressed in hours, days, or weeks.
Effort
The capability to identify, assess, an manage the personal emotions of oneself and other people, as well as the collective emotions of groups of people.
Emotional Intelligence
Conditions, not under the immediate control of the team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program or portfolio
Enterprise Environmental Factors
A quantitative assessment of the likely amount or outcome. Usually applied to project costs, resources, effort and durations and is usually preceded by a modifier (i.e., preliminary, conceptual, feasibility, order-of-magnitude, definitive) It should always include some indication of accuracy (e.g., + or - percent. See also budget and cost.
Estimate
The process of estimating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with estimated resources.
Estimate Activity Durations
The process of estimating the type and quantities of material, human resources, equipment, or supplies required to perform each activity.
Estimate Activity Resources
The expected total cost of completing all work expressed as the sums of the actual cost to date and the estimate to complete.
Estimate at Completion (EAC)
The process of developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project activities.
Estimate Cost
The expected cost to finish all the remaining project work.
Estimate to Complete (ETC)
Directing, managing, performing, and accomplishing the project work; providing the deliverables; and providing work performance information.
Execute
Those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project specifications.
Executing Process Group
A statistical technique that calculates the average outcome when the future includes scenarios that may or may not happen. A common use of this technique is within decision tree analysis.
Expected Monetary Value (EMV) Analysis
Judgment provided based upon expertise in an application area, knowledge area, discipline, industry, etc., as appropriate for the activity being performed. Such expertise may be provided by any group or person with specialized education, knowledge, skill, experience or training.
Expert Judgement
A relationship between project activities and non-project activities.
External Dependency
An elicitation technique using focused sessions that bring key cross-functinoal stakeholders together to define product requirements.
Facilitated Workshops
An analytical procedure in which each potential failure mode in every component of a product is analyzed to determine its effect on the reliability of that component and, by itself or in combination with other possible failure modes, on the reliability of the product or system and on the required function of the component; or the examination of a product (at the system and/or lower levels) for all ways that a failure may occur. For each potential failure, an estimate is made of its effect on the total system and of its impact. In addition, a review is undertaken of the action planned to minimize the probability of failure and to minimize its effects.
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
Include an alternative set of actions and tasks available in the event that the primary plan needs to be abandoned because issues, risks, or other causes.
Fallback Plan
A schedule compression technique in which activities or phases normally done in sequence are performed in parallel for at least a portion of their duration.
Fast Tracking
Represents profit as a component of compensation to a seller
Fee
A point in time associated with a schedule activity’s completion. Usually qualified by one of the following: actual, planned, estimated, scheduled, early, late, baseline, target, or current
Finish Date
A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has finished.
Finish-to-Finish (FF)
A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has finished.
Finish-to-Start (FS)
A type of fixed price contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount as defined by the contract, regardless of the seller’s cost.
Firm-Fixed-Price Contract (FFP)
A decomposition technique that helps trace an undesirable effect back to its root cause. Also known as Cause and Effect Diagram
Fishbone Diagram
An earned value method for assigning a specified percentage of budget value for a work package to the start milestone of the work package with the remaining budget value percentage assigned when the work package is complete.
Fixed Formula Method
A type of contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as defined by the contract) and the seller can each an additional amount if the seller meets defined performance criteria.
Fixed Price Incentive Fee Contract (FPIF)
A fixed price contract, but with a special provision allowing for predefined final adjustments to the contract price due to change conditions, such as inflation changes or increases or decreases for specific commodities.
Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment Contracts (FP-EPA)
An agreement that sets the fee that will be paid for a defined scope of work regardless of the cost or effort to deliver it.
Fixed-Price Contracts
The amount of time that a scheduled activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint.
Free Float
The depiction in a diagram format of the input, process actions, and outputs of one or more processes within a system.
Flowchart
An elicitation technique that brings together pre qualified stakeholders and subject matter experts to learn about their expectations and attitudes about a proposed project, service, or result.
Focus Group
An estimate or prediction of conditions and events in the project’s future based on information and knowledge available at the time of the forecast. The information is baed on the project’s past performance and expected future performances, and includes information that could impact the project in the future, such as estimate at completion and estimate to complete.
Forecast
A critical path method technique for calculating the early start and early finish dates by working forward through the schedule model from the project start date or a given point in time.
Forward Pass
Someone with management authority over an organizational unit within a functional organization. The manager of any group that actually makes a product or performs a service. Sometimes called a line manager.
Functional Manager
A hierarchical organization where each employee has one clear superior, and staff are grouped by areas of specialization and managed by a person with expertise in that area.
Functional Organization
The process of comparing the planned expenditure of project funds against any limits on the commitment of funds for the project to identify any variances between the funding limits and the planned expenditures.
Funding Limit Reconciliation
A bar chart of schedule information where activities are listed on the vertical axis, date are shown on the horizontal axis, and activity duration are show as horizontal bars placed according to start and finish dates.
Gantt Chart
A category or rank used to distinguish items that have the same functional use (e.g., “hammer”) but do not share the same requirements for quality (e.g., different hammers may need to withstand different amounts of force)
Grade
Expectations regarding acceptable behavior by project team members.
Ground Rules
Techniques that are used to generate ideas within a group of stakeholders.
Group Creativity Techniques
Techniques to assess multiple alternatives that will be used to generate, classify, and prioritize product requirements.
Group Decision-Making Techniques
An official recommendation or advice that indicates polices, standards, or procedures for how something should be accomplished.
Guideline
A group of related schedule activities aggregated and displayed as a single activity. Also known as Summary Activity
Hammock Activity
A relationship that is contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work. Also known as Mandatory Dependency.
Hard Logic
A special form of bar chat used to describe the central tendency, dispersion, and shape of a statistical distribution.
Histogram
Documents and data on prior projects including project files, records, correspondence, closed contracts, and closed projects.
Historical Information
A component of the project management plan that describes how the roles and responsibilities, reporting relationship and staff management will be addressed and structured.
Human Resource Management Plan
Technique used to consolidate ideas created through individual brainstorming sessions into a single map to reflect commonality and differences in understanding and to generate a new ideas.
Idea/Mind Mapping
The process of determining which risks may affect the project and documenting their characteristics.
Identify Risks
The process of identifying the people, groups, or organizations that could impact or be impacted by a decision, activity, or out of the project; and analyzing and documenting relevant information regarding their interests, involvement, interdependencies, influence and potential impact on project success.
Identify Stakeholders
A fixed date imposed on a schedule activity or schedule milestone, usually in the form of a “start no earlier than” and “finish no later than” date.
Imposed Date
A set of financial incentives related to cost, schedule, or technical performance of the seller.
Incentive Fee
A project life cycle where the project scope is generally determined early in the project life cycle, but time and cost estimates are routinely modified as the project team’s understanding of the product increases. Iterations develop the product through a series of repeated cycles, while increments successively add to the functionality of the project.
Incremental Life Cycle
A process of using a third party to obtain and analyze information to support prediction of cost, schedule, or other items.
Independent Estimates
A graphical representation of situations showing causal influence, time ordering of events, and other relationships among variables and outcomes.
Influence Diagram
Repeatable processes used to assemble and organize data across a spectrum of sources.
Information Gathering Techniques
Facilities, processes, and procedures used to collect, store, and distribute information between producers and consumers of information in physical or electronic format.
Information Management Systems
Those processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase.
Initiating Process Group
Any item, whether internal or external to the project that is required by a process before that process proceeds. May be an output from a predecessor process.
Input
Examining or measuring to verify whether an activity, component, product, result, or service conforms to specified requirements.
Inspection
A process to observe performance of contracted work or a promised product against agreed upon requirements.
Inspections and Audits
Ability to establish and maintain relationships with other people.
Interpersonal Skills
A quality management planning tool the interrelationship digraphs provide a process for creative problem solving in moderately complex scenarios that posses intertwined logical relationships.
Interrelationship Digraphs
A formal or informal approach to elicit information from stakeholders by talking to them directly.
Interviews
Generally, this term is equivalent to request for proposal. However, in some application areas, it may have a narrower or more specific meaning.
Invitation for Bid (IFB)
A point or matter in question or in dispute, or a point or matter that is not settled and is under discussion or over which there are opposing views or disagreements.
Issue
A project document used to document and monitor elements under discussion or in dispute between project stakeholders.
Issue Log
A project life cycle where the project scope is generally determined early in the project life cycle, but time and cost estimates are routinely modified as the project team’s understanding of the product increases. Iterations develop the product through a series of repeated cycles, while increments successively add to the functionality of the product.
Iterative Life Cycle
The amount of time whereby a successor activity is required to be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity.
Lag
In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can finish based on the schedule network logic, the project completion date, and any schedule constraints.
Late Finish Date (LF)
In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can start based on schedule network logic, the project completion date, and any schedule constraints.
Late Start Date (LS)
The amount of time whereby a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity.
Lead
The knowledge gained during a project which shows how project events were addressed or should be addressed in the future with the purpose of improving future performance.
Lessons Learned
A store of historical information and lessons learned about both the outcomes of previous project selection decisions and previous project performance.
Lessons Learned Knowledge Base
An activity that does not produce definitive end products and is measured by the passage of time. Is one of the 3 earned value management types of activities used to measure work performance
Level of Effort (LOE)
A document used to record and describe or denote selected items identified during execution of a process or activity. Usually used with a modifier, such as issue, quality control, action or defect.
Log
A dependency between two activities or between an activity and a milestone.
Logical Relationship
Support from more than 50% of the members of the group.
Majority
The process of gathering and organizing data about product requirements and analyzing them against available alternatives including the purchase or internal manufacture of the product.
Make-or-Buy Decisions
The process of creating, collecting, distributing, storing, retrieving and the ultimate disposition of project information in accordance with the communication management plan.
Manage Communications
The process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues and managing team changes to optimize project performance.
Manage Project Team
The process of communicating and working with stakeholders to meet their needs/expectations, address issues as they occur, and foster appropriate stakeholder engagement in project activities throughout the project life cycle.
Manage Stakeholder Engagement
An amount of project budget withheld for management control purposes. These are budgets reserved for unforeseen work that is within scope of the project. This is not included in the performance measurement baseline.
Management Reserve
The ability to plan, organize, direct and control individuals or groups of people to achieve specific goals.
Management Skills
A relationship that is contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work.
Mandatory Dependency
The process of gathering information at conferences, online reviews, and a variety of sources to identify market capabilities.
Market Research
A summary level project schedule that identifies the major deliverables and work breakdown structure components and key schedule milestones. Also known as milestone schedule.
Master Schedule
The aggregate of things used by an organization in any undertaking, such as equipment, apparatus, tools, machinery, gear, material and supplies
Material
A quality management and control tool used to perform data analysis within the organizational structure created in the matrix. The matrix diagram seeks to show the strength of relationships between factors, causes, and objectives that exist between the rows and columns that form the matrix
Matrix Diagram
Any organizational structure in which the project manager shares responsibility with the functional managers for assigning priorities and for directing the work of persons assigned to the project.
Matrix Organization
A system of practices, techniques, procedures and rules used by those who work in a discipline.
Methodology
A significant point or event in a projet, program or portfolio.
Milestone
A list identifying all project milestones and normally indicates whether the milestone is mandatory or optional.
Milestone List
A summary level schedule that identifies the major schedule milestones. Also known as Master Schedule.
Milestone Schedule
Collect project performance data with respect to a plan, produce performance measures, and report and disseminate performance information.
Monitor
The process of tracking, reviewing, and reporting the progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan.
Monitor and Control Project Work
Those processes required to track, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes.
Monitoring and Controlling Process Group
A process which generates hundreds or thousands of probable performance outcomes baed on probability distributions for cost and schedule on individual tasks. The outcomes are then used to generate a probability distribution for the project as a whole.
Monte Carlo Simulation
An estimate of the most probable activity duration that takes into account all of the known variables that could affect performance.
Most Likely Duration
This technique utilizes a decision matrix to provide a systematic analytical approach for establishing criteria, such as risk levels, uncertainty, and valuation, to evaluate and rank many ideas.
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis
A schedule activity that has low total float. The concept is equally applicable to a schedule activity or schedule network path. The limit below which total float is considered near critical is subject to expert judgement and varies from project to project.
Near-Critical Activity
The process of reaching final equitable settlement of all outstanding issues, claims, and disputes through negotiation.
Negotiated Settlements
The process and activities to resolve disputes through consultation between involved parties.
Negotiation
The collection of schedule activity dependencies that make up a project schedule network diagram.
Network Logic
Any continuous series of schedule activities connected with logical relationships in a project schedule network diagram.
Network Path
Establish connections and relationships with other people from the same or other organizations.
Networking
One of the defining points of a schedule network; a junction point joined to some or all of the other dependency lines.
Node
A technique that enhances brainstorming with a voting process used to rank the most useful ideas for further brainstorming or for prioritization.
Nominal Group Technique
In the cost of quality framework, nonconformance work is done to deal with the consequences of errors and failures in doing activities correctly on the first attempt. In efficient quality management systems, the amount of nonconformance work will approach zero.
Nonconformance Work
Something toward which work is to be directed, a strategic position to be attained, a purpose to be achieved, a result to be obtained, a product to be produced, or a service to be performed.
Objective
A technique that provides a direct way of viewing individuals in their environment performing their jobs or tasks and carrying out processes.
Observations
A risk that would have a positive effect on one or more project objectives
Opportunity
An estimate of the shortest activity duration that takes into account all of the known variables that could affect performance.
Optimistic Duration
A hierarchical representation of the project organization that illustrates the relationship between project activities and the organizational units that will perform those activities.
Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)
Plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases that are specific to and used by the performing organization.
Organizational Process Assets
The level of an organization’s ability to deliver the desired strategic outcomes in a predictable, controllable, and reliable manner.
Organizational Project Management Maturity
A product, result, or service generated by a process. May be in input to a successor process.
Output
An estimating technique in which an algorithm is used to calcite cost or duration based on historical data and project parameters.
Parametric Estimating
A histogram, ordered by frequency of occurrence, that shows how many results were generated by each identified cause.
Pareto Diagram
A relationship in which a schedule activity has more than one predecessor.
Path Convergence
A relationship in which a schedule activity has more than one successor.
Path Divergence
The system used to provide and track supplier’s invoices and payments for services and products.
Payment Systems
An estimate expressed as a percent of the amount of work that has been completed on an activity or work breakdown structure component.
Percent Complete
The process of reviewing all change requests; approving change and managing changes to deliverables, organizational process assets, project documents, and the project management plan; and communicating their disposition.
Perform Integrated Change Control
The process of prioritizing risks for further analysis or action by assessing and combining their probability of occurrence and impact.
Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
The process of auditing the quality requirements and the results from quality control measurements to ensure the appropriate quality standards and operational definitions are used.
Perform Quality Assurance
The process of numerically analyzing the effect of identified risks on the overall project objectives.
Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
An approved, integrated scope schedule change plan for the project work against which project execution is compared to measure and manage performance. Includes contingency reserve, but excludes management reserve.
Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB)
A technique that is used to measure, compare, and analyze actual performance of work in progress on the project against the baseline.
Performance Reviews
An enterprise whose personnel are most directly involved in doing the work of the project or program.
Performing Organization
Estimate the longest activity duration that takes into account all of the known variables that could affect performance.
Pessimistic Duration
A review at the end of a phase in which a decision is made to continue to the next phase, to continue with modification, or to end a project or program.
Phase Gate
The process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for project communications based on stakeholder’s information needs and requirements and available organizational assets
Plan Communication Management
The process that establishes the policies and procedures and documentation for planning, managing, expending and controlling project costs.
Plan Cost Management
The process of identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities, required skills, reporting relationships and creating a staff management plan.
Plan Human Resource Management
The process of documenting procurement decisions, specifying the approach, and identifying potential sellers.
Plan Procurement Management
The process of identifying quality requirements and/or standards for the project and its deliverables and documenting how the project will demonstrate compliance with quality requirements
Plan Quality Management
The process of defining how to conduct risk management activities for a project.
Plan Risk Management
The process of developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and to reduce threats to project objectives.
Plan Risk Responses
The process of establishing the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning developing managing, executing and controlling the project schedule
Plan Schedule Management
The process of creating a scope management plan that documents how the project scope will be defined, validated, and controlled.
Plan Scope Management
The authorized budget assigned to scheduled work.
Planned Value (PV)
A work breakdown structure component below the control account with known work content but without detailed schedule activities. See also control account.
Planning Package
Those processes require to establish the scope of the project, refine objectives, and define the course of action required to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to achieve.
Planning Process Group
Decisions made by the larger block in a group, even if a majority is not achieved.
Plurality
A structure pattern of actions adopted by an organization such that the organization’s policy can be explained as set of basic principles that govern the organization’s conduct.
Policy
Projects, programs, and sub portfolios and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives.
Portfolios
The centralized management of one or more portfolios to achieve strategic objectives.
Portfolio Management
A specific type of professional or management activity that contributes to the execution of a process and that may employ one or more techniques and tools.
Practice
A technique used for constructing a schedule model in which activities are represented by nodes and are graphically linked by one or ore logical relationships to show the sequence in which the activities are to be performed.
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
The term used in the precedence diagramming method for a logical relationship. In current usage, however, precedence relationship, logical relationship and dependency are widely used interchangeably regardless of the diagramming method used. See also logical relationship
Precedence Relationship
Within the quality management system this is a measure of exactness.
Precision
An activity that logically come before a dependent activity in a schedule
Predecessor Activity
A form of project life cycle in which the project scope, and the time and cost required to deliver that scope, are determined as early in the life cycle as possible.
Predictive Life Cycle
An intentional activity that ensures the future performance of the project work is aligned with the project management plan
Preventive Action
A quality management planning tool used to identify key issues and evaluate suitable alternatives to define a set of implementation priorities.
Prioritization Matrices
A grid for mapping the probability of each risk occurrence and its impact on project objectives if that risk occurs.
Probability and Impact Matrix
An established method for accomplishing a consistent performance or result, a procedure typically can be described as the sequence of steps that will be sued to execute a process.
Procedure
A systematic series of activities directed toward causing an end result such that one or more inputs will be acted upon to create one or more outputs.
Process
Follows the steps outlined in the process improvement plan to identify needed improvements
Process Analysis
Used to understand a goal in relation to the steps for getting to the goal.
Process Decision Program Charts
A subsidiary plan of the project management plan. It details the steps for analyzing process to identify activities that enhance their value.
Process Improvement Plan
The review of contracts and contracting processes for completeness, accuracy, and effectiveness
Procurement Audits
The documents utilized in bid and proposal activities which include the buyer’s Invitation for Bid, Invitation for Negotiations, Request for Information, Request for Quotation, Request for Proposal, and seller’s responses.
Procurement Documents
A component of the project or program management plan that describes how a project team will acquire goods and services from outside the performing organizations.
Procurement Management Plan
A structured review of the seller’s progress to deliver project scope and quality, within cost and on schedule, as compared to the contract.
Procurement Performance Reviews
Describes the procurement item in sufficient detail to allow prospective sellers to determine if they are capable of providing the product, services, or results.
Procurement Statement of Work
An artifact that is produced, is quantifiable and can be either an end item in itself or a component item. Also known as material and goods. Contrast with results. See also deliverables.
Product
For projects that have a product as a deliverable, it is a tool to define scope that generally means asking questions about a product and forming answers to describe the use, characteristics and other relevant aspects of what is going to be manufactured.
Product Analysis
The series of phases that represent the evolution of product, from concept through delivery, growth, maturity, and to retirement.
Product Life Cycle
The features and function that characterize a product, service, or result.
Product Scope
The documented narrative description of the product scope.
Product Scope Description
A group of related projects, subprograms, and program activities managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.
Program
A technique for estimating that applies a weighted average of optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely estimates when there is uncertainty with the individual activity estimates.
Program Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT)
The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to a program to meet the program requirements and to obtain benefits and control not available by managing projects individually.
Program Management
The iterative process of increasing the level of detail in a project management plan as greater amounts of information and more accurate estimates become available.
Progressive Elaboration
A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.
Project
A variety of organizational forms that involve the creation of temporary systems for the performance of projects. Conduct a majority of their activities as projects and/or provide project over functional approaches
Project Based Organization (PBO)
A calendar that identifies working days and shifts that are available for schedule activities.
Project Calendar
A document issues by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.
Project Charter
Includes the processes that are required to ensure timely and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitoring, and the ultimate disposition of project information.
Project Communication Management
Includes the process involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget.
Project Cost Management
Forecast project costs to be paid that are derived from the cost baseline for total or periodic requirements including projected expenditures plus anticipated liabilities.
Project Funding Requirements
The alignment of project objectives with the strategy of the larger organization by the project sponsor and project team. A project’s governance is defined by and is required to fit within the larger context of the program or organization sponsoring it, but is separate from organizational governance.
Project Governance
Includes the process that organize, manage, and lead the project team.
Project Human Resource Management
Launching a process that can result in the authorization of a new project
Project Initiation
Includes the processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities within the Project Management Process Group.
Project Integration Management
The series of phases that a project passes through from its initiation to its closure.
Project Life Cycle
The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to mer the project requirements.
Project Management
An inclusive term that describes the sum of knowledge within the profession of project management. As with other professions, such as law, medicine, and account, the body of knowledge rest with the practitioners and academics that apply and advance it. The complete project management body of knowledge includes proven traditional practice that are widely applied and innovative practices that are emerging in the profession. The body of knowledge included both published and unpublished materials. This body of knowledge is constantly evolving. PMI’s PMBOK Guide identifies a subset of the project management body of knowledge that is generally recognized as good practice.
Project Management Body of Knowledge
An information system consisting of tools and techniques used to gather, integrate and disseminate the outputs of project management processes. It is used to support all aspects of the project from initiating through closing, and can include both manual and automated systems.
Project Management Information System
An identified area of project management defined by its knowledge requirements and described it term of its component processes, practices, inputs, output, tools and techniques.
Project Management Knowledge Area
An organizational structure that standardizes the project related governance process and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tool and techniques.
Project Management Office (PMO)
The document that describes how the project will be executed monitored and controlled.
Project Management Plan
A logical grouping of project management inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs. Includes initiating processes, planning processes, executing processes, monitoring and controlling processes, and closing processes. Not project phases.
Project Management Process Group
The members of the project team who perform project management activities such as schedule, communication, risk management, etc.
Project Management Staff
The aggregation of the processes, tools, techniques, methodologies, resources and procedures to manage a project.
Project Management System
The members of the project team who are directly involved in project management activities. On some smaller projects, the project management team may include virtually all of the project team members.
Project Management Team
The person assigned by the performing organization to the lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives.
Project Manager (PM)
A document that graphically depicts that project team members and their interrelationships for a specific project.
Project Organization Chart
A collection of logically related project activities that culminates in the completion of one or more deliverables.
Project Phase
Includes the processes necessary to purchase or acquire products, services, or results needed from outside the project team.
Project Procurement Management
Includes the processes and activities of performing organization that determine quality polices, objectives, and responsibilities so that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken.
Project Quality Management
Includes the processes of conducting risk management, planning, identification, analysis, response planning, and controlling risk on a project.
Project Risk Management
An output of schedule model that present linked activities with planned dates, durations, milestone, and resources.
Project Schedule
A graphical representation of the logical relationship amount the project schedule activities.
Project Schedule Network Diagram
The work performed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions.
Project Scope
Includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required and only the work required to complete the project successfully
Project Scope Management
The description of the project scope, major deliverables, assumptions, and constraints.
Project Scope Statement
Include the processes required to identify the people, groups, or organizations that could impact or be impacted by the project, to analyze stakeholder expectations and their impact on the project, and to develop appropriate management strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in project decision and execution.
Project Stakeholder Management
A narrative description of products services, or results to be delivered by the project.
Statement of Work or Project Statement of Work
SOW
A set of individuals who support the project manager in performing the work of the project to achieve the objectives.
Project Team
A documented list of project team members, their project roles, and communication information.
Project Team Directory
Include the process required to manage the timely completed of the project.
Project Time Management
Any organization structure in which the project manager has full authority to assigned priorities, apply resources, and direct the work of persons assigned to the project.
Projectized Organization
The process of reviewing proposals provided by suppliers to support contract award decisions.
Proposal Evaluation Techniques
A method of obtaining early feedback on requirements by providing a working model of the expected product before actually building it.
Prototypes
The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements.
Quality
Is a structured, independent process to determine if project activities comply with organizational and project policies, processes, and procedures.
Quality Audit
A structure tool used to verify that a set of required steps have been performed
Quality Checklists
The documented results of control quality activities.
Quality Control Measurements
A facilitate workshop technique that helps to determine critical characteristics for new product development.
Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
The are types of quality planning tools used to link and sequence the activities identified.
Quality Management and Control Tools
A component of the project or program management plan that describes how an organization’s quality policies will be implemented.
Quality Management Plan
The organizational framework whose structure provides the policies, processes, procedures, and resources required to implement the quality management plan. The typical project quality management plan should be compatible to the organization’s quality management system.
Quality Management System
A description of a project or product attribute and how to measure it.
Quality Metrics
A policy specific to the Project Quality Management Knowledge Area, it establishes the basic principles that should govern the organization’s actions as it implements its system for quality management.
Quality Policy
A condition or capability that will be used to assess conformance by validating the acceptability of an attribute for the quality of a result.
Quality Requirement
Commonly used technique for both event oriented and project oriented analyze approaches.
Quantitative Risk Analysis and Modeling Technique
Written set of questions designed to quickly accumulate information from a larger number of respondents.
Questionnaires
A common type of responsibility assignment matrix that uses responsible, accountable, consult and inform statuses to define the involvement of stakeholders in project activities.
RACI
A specific set of processes, related control functions, and tools that are consolidated and combined to record and retain information about the project.
Records Management System
An analytic technique where a series of input variables are examined in relation to their corresponding output results in order to develop a mathematical or statistical relationship.
Regression Analysis
Requirements imposed by a governmental body, These requirements can establish product, process, or service characteristics, including applicable administrative provisions that have government mandated compliance.
Regulation
Facilities, processes, and procedures used to generate or consolidate reports fro one or more information management systems and facilitate report distribution to the project stakeholders.
Reporting Systems
A type of procurement document whereby the buyer requests a potential seller to provide various pieces of information related to a produce or service or seller capability.
Request for Information (RFI)
A type of procurement document used to request proposals from prospective sellers of products or services. In some application areas, it may have a narrower or more specific meaning.
Request for Proposal (RFP)
A type of procurement document used to request price quotations from prospective sellers of common or standard products or services. Sometimes used in place of request for propose and in some application areas, it may have a narrower or more specific meaning.
Request for Quotation (RFQ)
A formally documented change request that is submitted for approval to the integrated change control process.
Requested Change
A condition or capability that is required to be present in a product, service or result to satisfy a contract or other formally imposed specification.
Requirement
A description of how individual requirements mer the business need for the project.
Requirements Documentation
A component of the project or program management plan that describes how requirements will be analyzed, documented, and managed.
Requirements Management Plan
A grid that links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them.
Requirements Traceability Matrix
A provision in the project management plan to mitigate cost and/or schedule risk. Often used with a modifier (e.g., management reserve, contingency reserver) to provide further detail on what types of risk are meant to be mitigated.
Reserver
An analytical technique to determine the essential features and relationship of components in the project management plan to establish a reserve for the schedule duration, budget, estimated cost, or funds for a project.
Reserve Analysis
A risk that remains after risk response have been implemented.
Residual Risk
Skilled human resources (specific disciplines either individually or in crews or teams), equipment, services, supplies, commodities, materials, budgets or funds.
Resource
A hierarchical representation of resource by category or type.
Resource Breakdown Structure
A calendar that identifies the working days and shifts on which each specific resource is available.
Resource Calendar
A bar chart showing the amount of time that a resource is scheduled to work over a series of time periods. Resource availability may be depicted as a line for comparison purposes. Contrasting bars may show actual amount of resources used as the project progresses.
Resource Histogram
A technique in which start and finish dates are adjusted based on resource constraints with the goal of balancing demand for resources with the available supple.e
Resource Leveling
A technique that is used to adjust the start and finish dates of activities that adjust planned resource used to be equal to or less than resource availability.
Resource Optimization Techniques
A technique which adjusts the activities of a schedule model such that the requirements for resources on the project do not exceed certain predefined resource limits.
Resource Smoothing
An assignment that can be delegated within a project management plan such that the assigned resource incurs a duty to perform the requirements of the assignment.
Responsibility
A grid that shows that project resource assigned to each work package.
Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)
An output from performing project management processes and activities. Results include outcomes - integrated systems, revised process, restructured organizations, test, trained personnel and documents - polices, plans, studies, procedures, specifications, reports. Contrast with product. See also delivertables
Result
Action taken to bring a defective or nonconforming component into compliance with requirements or specifications.
Rework
An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on one or more project objectives.
Risk
A risk response strategy whereby the project team decides to acknowledge the risk and not take any action unless the risk occurs.
Risk Acceptance
The degree of uncertainty an entity is will to take on, in anticipation of a reward.
Risk Appetite
Examination and documentation of the effectiveness of risk responses in dealing with identified risk and their root causes, as well as the effectiveness of the risk management plan.
Risk Audits
A risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to eliminate the threat or protect the project from its impact.
Risk Avoidance
A hierarchical representation of risks according to their risk categories.
Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)
Organization by source of risk (using the RBS), the area of the project affected (using the WBS) or other useful category (project phase) to determine the areas of the project most exposed to the effects of uncertainty.
Risk Categorization
A group of potential causes of risk.
Risk Category
Technique to evaluate the degree to which the data about risks is useful for risk management.
Risk Data Quality Assessment
A component of the project, program, or portfolio management plan that describes how risk management activities will be structured and performed.
Risk Management Plan
A risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to reduce the probability of occurrence or impact of a risk.
Risk Mitigation
The identification of new risks, reassessment of current risks, and the closing of risks that are outdated.
Risk Reassessment
A document in which the results of risk analysis and risk response planning are recorded.
Risk Register
Measure the level of uncertainty or the level of impact at which a stakeholder may have a specific interest. Below that risk threshold, the organization will accept the risk. About that risk threshold, the organization will not tolerate the risk.
Risk Threshold
The degree, amount, or volume of risk that an organization or individual will withstand.
Risk Tolerance
A risk response strategy whereby the project team shifts the impact of a threat to a third party, together with ownership of the response.
Risk Transference
Review and determination of the timing of actions that may need to occur sooner then other risk items.
Risk Urgency Assessment
A define function to be performed by a project team member, such as testing, filing, inspecting or coding.
Role
An iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while the work in the future is planned at a higher level.
Rolling Wave Planning
An analytical technique to determine the basic underlying reason that causes a variance or defect or risk. A root cause may under lie more than one variance or defect or risk.
Root Cause Analysis
A correlation chart that uses a regression line to explain or to predict how the change in an independent variable will change a dependent variable.
Scatter Diagram
The approved version of a schedule model that can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison to actual results.
Schedule Baseline
Techniques used to shorten the schedule durations without reducing the project scope.
Schedule Compression
The collection of information for describing and controlling the schedule.
Schedule Data
Estimates or predictions of conditions and events in the project’s future based on information and knowledge available at the time the schedule is calculated.
Schedule Forecast
A component of the project management plan that establishes the criteria and the activities for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule.
Schedule Management Plan
A representation of a the plan for executing the project’s activities including durations, dependencies, and other planning information, used to produce a project schedule along with other scheduling artifacts.
Schedule Model
The technique of identifying early and late start dates, as well as early and late finish dates, for the uncompleted portion of the project schedule activities. See also backward pass, critical path method, critical chain method, and resource leveling.
Schedule Network Analysis
A set of activities and relationships that have been established that can be used repeatedly for a particular application area or an aspect of the project where a prescribed sequence is desired.
Schedule Network Templates
A measure of schedule efficiency expresses as the ratio of earned value (EV) to planned value (PV)
Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
A measure of schedule performance expressed as the difference between the earned value and the planned value.
Schedule Variance (SV)
A told that provides schedule component names, definitions, structural relationships, and formats that support the application of scheduling method.
Scheduling Tool
The sums of products, services, and results to be provided as a project. See also project scope and product scope.
Scope
The approved version of a scope statement, work breakdown structure (WBS) and its associated WBS dictionary, that can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison.
Scope Baseline
Any change to the project scope. A scope change almost always requires an adjustment to the project cost or schedule.
Scope Change
The uncontrolled expansion to product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources.
Scope Creep
A component of the project or program management plan that describes how scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled, and verified.
Scope Management Plan
A risk that arises as a direct result of implementing a risk response
Secondary Risk
The sellers which have been selected to provide a contracted set of services or products.
Selected Sellers
A provider or supplier of products, services, or results to an organization
Seller
Formal responses from seller to a request for proposal or other procurement document specifying the price, commercial terms of sale, and technical specifications or capabilities the seller will do for the requesting organization that, if accepted, would bind the seller to perform the resulting agreement.
Seller Proposal
A quantitative risk analysis and modeling technique used to help determine which risks have the most potential impact on the project. It examines the extent to which the uncertainty of each project element affects the objectives being examined when all other uncertain elements are held at their baselines values. The typical display of results in in the form of a tornado diagram.
Sensitivity Analysis
The process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities.
Sequence Activities
A standard toolkit used by quality management professionals who are responsible for planning, monitoring and controlling the issues related to quality in an organization.
Seven Basic Quality Tools
Uses a project model that translates the uncertainties specified at a detailed level into their potential impact on objectives that are expressed at the level of the total project. Uses computer models and estimates of risk usually expressed as a probability distribution of possible costs or durations at a detailed work level and are typically performed using Monte Carlo analysis.
Simulations
A set attributes desired by the buyer which a seller is required to meet or exceed to be selected for a contract.
Source Selection Criteria
A document that specifies, in a complete, precise, verifiable manner, the requirements, design, behavior or other characteristics of a system, component, product, result, or service and the procedures for determining whether these provisions have been satisfied. Examples are: requirement specification, design specification, product specification, and test specification.
Specification
The area, on either side of the centerline, or mean, of data plotted on a control chart that meets the customer’s requirements for a product or service. This area may be greater than or less than the area defined by the control limits. See also control limits.
Specification Limits
A person or group who provides resources and support for the project, program or portfolio and it accountable for enabling success
Sponsor
The entity responsible for providing the project’s sponsor and a conduit for project funding or other project resources.
Sponsoring Organization
A component of the human resource plan that describes when and how project team members will be acquired and how long they will be needed.
Staffing Management Plan
An individual, group, or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity or outcome of a project.
Stakeholder
A technique of systematically gathering and analyzing quantitative and qualitative information to determine whose interests should be taken into account throughout the project.
Stakeholder Analysis
A subsidiary plan of the project management plan that defines the processes, procedures, tools and techniques to effective engage stakeholders in project decisions and execution based on the analysis of their needs, interests and potential impacts.
Stakeholder Management Plan
A project document including the identification, assessment and classification of project stakeholders.
Stakeholder Register
A document that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities for their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree in a given context.
Standard
A point in time associated with a schedule activity’s start, usually qualified by one of the following: actual, planned, estimated, scheduled, early, late, target, baseline, or current
Start Date
A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has started
Start-to-Finish
A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has started.
Start-to-Start
A narrative description of products, services, or results to be delivered by the project.
Statement of Work (SOW)
Choosing part of a population of interest for inspection.
Statistical Sampling
A subdivision (fragment) of a project schedule network diagram, usually representation a subproject or a work package. Often used to illustrate or study some potential or proposed schedule conditions, such as changes in preferential schedule logic or project scope.
Subnetwork
A smaller portion of the overall project created when a project is subdivided into more manageable components or pieces.
Subproject
A dependent activity that logically comes after another activity in a schedule.
Successor Activity
A group of related schedule activities aggregated and displayed as a single activity.
Summary Activity
Analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an organization, project, or option
SWOT Analysis
The act of carefully selecting process and related inputs and outputs contained with the PMBOK Guide to determine a subset of specific processes that will be included within a project’s overall management approach.
Tailor
A defined systematic procedure employed by a human resource to perform an activity to produce a product or result or deliver a service and that may employe one or more tools.
Technique
A partially completed document in a predefined format that provides a defined structure for collecting, organizing, and presenting information and data.
Templates
A risk that would have a negative effect on one or more project objectives.
Threat
A technique used to estimate cost or duration by applying an average of optimistic, pessimistic and most likely estimates when there is uncertainty with the individual activity estimates.
Three-Point Estimates
A cost, time, quality, technical or resource value used as a parameter and which may be included in product specifications. Crossing the threshold should trigger some actin, such as generating an exception report.
Threshold
A type of contract that is a hybrid contractual arrangement containing aspects of both cost-reimbursable and fixed-price contracts. Time and material contracts. No definitive end, because the full value of the arrangement is not defined at the time of the award. Can grow in contract value.
Time and Materials Contract
Any project schedule network diagram drawn in such a way that the positioning and length of the schedule activity represents its duration. Essentially, it is a bar chart that includes schedule network logic.
Time-Scaled Schedule Network Diagram
A measure of the cost performance that is required to be achieved with the remaining resources in order to meet a specified management goal, expressed as the ratio of the cost to finish the outstanding work to the remaining budget.
To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI)
The quantified description of acceptable variation for a quality requirement.
Tolerance
A special type of bar chart used in sensitivity analysis for comparing the relative importance of the variables.
Tornado Diagram
Something tangible, such as a template or software program, used in performing an activity to produce a product or result.
Tool
The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or extended from its early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a schedule constraint.
Total Float
A systematic diagram of a decomposition hierarchy used to visualize as parent-to-child relationship a systematic set of rules.
Tree Diagram
An analytical technique that uses mathematical models to forecast future outcomes baed on historical results. It is a method of determining the variance from a baseline of a budget, cost, schedule, or scope parameter by using prior progress reporting periods data and projecting how much that parameter’s variance from baseline might be at some future point in the project if no changes are made in executing the project.
Trend Analysis
An event of situation that indicates that a risk is about to occur.
Trigger
Agreement by everyone in the group on a single course of action.
Unanimity
The process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables.
Validate Scope
The assurance that a product, service, or system meets the needs of the customer and other identified stakeholders. It often involves acceptance and suitability with external customers. Contrast with verification.
Validation
An approach used to optimize project life cycle costs, save time, increase profits, improve quality, expand market share, solve problems, and/or use resources more effectively.
Value Engineering
A quantifiable deviation, departure, or divergence away from a known baseline or expected value.
Variance
A technique for deterring the cause and degree of difference between the baseline and actual performance.
Variance Analysis
A projection of the amount of budget deficit or surplus, expressed as the difference between the budget at completion and the estimate at completion.
Variance at Completion (VAC)
An actual condition that is different from the expected condition that is contained in the baseline plan.
Variation
A measure of a team’s productivity rate at which the deliverables are produced, validated, and accepted within a predefined internal. Is a capacity planning approach frequently used to forecast future project work.
Velocity
The evaluation of whether or note product, service, or system complies with a regulation, requirement, specification or imposed condition. It is often an internal process. Contracts with validation
Verification
Completed project deliverables that have been checked and confirmed for correctness through the Control Quality process.
Verified Deliverables
A planning technique used to provide products, services, and results that truly reflect customer requirements by translating those customer requirements into the appropriate technical requirements for each phase of project product development.
Voice of Customer
A document that provides detailed deliverable, activity, and scheduling information about each component in the work breakdown structure.
WBS Dictionary
An earned value method that divides a work package into measurable segments each ending with an observable milestone, and then assigns a weighted value to the achievement of each milestone.
Weighted Milestone Method
The process of evaluating scenarios in order to predict their effect on project objectives.
What-If Scenario Analysis
A permission and direction, typically written, to begin work on a specific schedule activity or work package or control account. It is a method for sanctioning project work to ensure that the work id one by the identified organization, at the right time and in the proper sequence.
Work Authorization
A subsystem of the overall project management system. It is a collection of formal documented procedures that defines how project work will be authorized (committed) to ensure that the work is done by the identified organization, at the right time, and in the proper sequence. It includes the steps, documents, tracking system, and defined approval levels needed to issue work authorizations.
Work Authorization System
A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
An entry in the work breakdown structure that can be at any level.
Work Breakdown Structure Component
The work defined at the lowest level of the work breakdown structure for which cost and duration can be estimated and managed.
Work Package
The raw observations and measurements identified during activities being performed to carry out the project work
Work Performance Data
The performance data collected from various controlling processes, analyzed in context and integrated based on relationship across areas.
Work Performance Information
The physical or electronic representation of work performance information complied in project documents, intended to generate decisions, actions, or awareness
Work Performance Reports
A response to a threat that has occurred, for which a prior response had not been planned or was not effective.
Workaround
