PMBOK Flashcards
A set of conditions that is required to be met before deliverables are accepted
Acceptance criteria
Products, results, or capabilities produced by a project and validated by the project customer or sponsors as meeting their specified acceptance criteria
Accepted deliverables
Within the quality management system, accuracy is an assessment of correctness
Accuracy
The process of obtaining team members, facilities, equipment, materials, supplies, and other resources necessary to complete project work
Acquire resources
Obtaining human and 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. Activity attributes include activity codes, predecessor activities, successor activities, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, imposed dates, constraints and assumptions
Activity attributes
The time in calendar units between the start and finish of a schedule activity.
Activity duration
The quantitative assessments of the likely number of time periods that are required to complete an activity
Activity duration estimates
A document 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
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 complete
Actual Duration
A project life cycle that is iterative or incremental
Adaptive Life Cycle
A technique that allows large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis.
Affinity Diagrams
Any document or communication that defines the initial intentions of a project. this can take the form of a contract, memorandum of understanding (MOU), letters of agreement, verbal agreements, email, etc
Agreements
A technique used to evaluate identified options in order to select the options or approaches to use to execute and perform the work of the project
Alternative Analysis
A technique for estimating the duration or 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 variable.
Analytical Techniques
A factor in the planning process that is considered to be true, real, or certain, without proof or demonstration
Assumption
A project document used to record all assumptions and constraint throughout the project life cycle
Assumption Log
Method of measuring quality that consists of noting the presence (or absence) of some characteristic (attribute) in each of the units under consideration
Attribute Sampling
The right to apply project resources, expend funds, make decisions, or give approvals
Authority
A critical path method technique or 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 shown across the top, and activity durations are shown 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 to actual results.
Baseline
Supporting documentation outlining the details used in establishing project estimates such as assumptions, constraints, level o detail, ranges, and confidence levels.
Basis of Estimates
The comparison of actual or planned products, processes, and practices to those of comparable organizations to identify best practices, generate ideas for improvements, and provide a basis for measuring performance.
Benchmarking
The documented explanation defining the processes for creating, maximizing, and sustaining the benefits provided by a project or program.
Benefits Management Plan
All documents used to solicit information, quotations, or proposals from prospective sellers.
Bid Documents
The meetings with prospective sellers prior to the preparation of a bid or proposal to ensure al prospective vendors have a clear and common understanding of the procurement. Also known as contractor conferences, vendor conferences, or pre-bid conference .
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
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.
Buget at Completion (BAC)
A documented economic feasibility study used to establish validity of the benefits of a selected component lacking sufficient definition and that is used as a basis for the authorization of further project management activities.
Business Case
The net quantifiable benefit derived from a business endeavor. The Benefit may be tangible, intangible, or both.
Business Value
A decomposition technique that helps trace an undesirable effect back to its root cause.
Cause and Effect Diagram
A modification to any formally controlled deliverable, project management plan component, or project document.
Change
A process whereby modifications to documents, deliverables, or baselines associated with the project are identified, documented, approved, or rejected.
Change Control
A formally chartered group responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, delaying, or rejecting changes to the project, and for recoding and communicating such decisions.
Change Control Board (CCB)
A set of procedures that describes how modifications to the project deliverables and documentation are managed and controlled.
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 submitted during the project and their current status.
Change Log
A component of the project management plan that establishes the change control board, documents the extent of its authority, and describes how the change control system will be implemented.
Change Management Plan
A formal proposal to modify a document, deliverable, or baseline.
Change Request
A technique for systematically reviewing materials using a list for accuracy and completeness.
Checlist 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 versa, for consideration, compensation, or payment under the terms of a legally binding contract, such as for a disputed change.
Claim
The process of processing, adjudicating, a communicating contract claims.
Claims Administration
The process of finalizing all activities for the project, phase, or contract.
Close Project or Phase
The process(es) performed to formally complete or close a project, phase, or contract.
Closing Process Group
A numbering system used to uniquely identify each component of the work breakdown structure(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.
Colocaiton
A systematic procedure, technique, or process used to transfer information among 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
A component of the project, program, or portfolio management plan that describes how, when, and by whom information about the project will be administered and disseminated.
COmmunications Mangement Plan
A technique to identify the preferred communication method, format, and content for stake holders for planned communication activities.
Communication Styles Assesment
Specific tools, systems, computer programs, etc., used to transfer information among project stakeholders.
Communication Technology
The process of obtaining seller responses, selecting a seller, and awarding a contract.
Conduct Procurements
A component of the project management plan that describes how to identify and account for project artifacts under configuration control, and how to record and report changes to them.
Confirguration Management Plan
A collection of procedures used to track project artifacts and monitor and control changes to the artifacts.
Configuration Mangement System
Within the quality management system, conformance is a general concept of delivering results that fall within the limits that define acceptable variation for a quality requirement.
Conformance
A limiting factor that affects the execution of a project, program, portfolio, or process.
Constraint
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 Diagrams
An event or occurrence that could affect the execution of the project that may be accounted for with a reserve.
Contingency
Time or money allocated in the schedule or cost baseline for known risks with active response strategies.
Contingency Reserve
Responses provided which may be used in the even that a specific trigger occurs.
Contingent Response Strategies
Amutually 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 values toward either control limit.
Control Chart
The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and manage 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, making changes and corrections as appropriate, and closing out contracts.
Control Procurements
The process of monitoring and recording results of executing the quality management activities to assess performance and ensure the project outputs are complete, correct, and meet customer expectations.
Control Quality
The acquisition of ensuring that the physical resources assigned and allocated to the project are available as a planned, as well as monitoring the planned versus actual utilization of resources and performing corrective action as necessary.
Control Resources
The process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline.
Control Scope
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 for a given cost control account.
Cost Aggregation
The approved version 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 financial analysis tool used to determine the benefits provided by a project against its cost.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
A component of a project or program management plan that describes how costs will be planned, structured, and controlled.
Cost Management Plan
All costs incurred over the life of the product by investment in preventing nonconformance to requirements, appraisal of the product or service for conformance to requirements, and failure to meet requirements.
Cost of Quality (CoQ)
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 profit.
Cost Plus Award Fee Contract (CPAF)
A type of cost-reimbursable contract where the buyer reimburses 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 reimburses 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)
A type of contract involving payment to the seller for the seller’s actual costs, plus a fee typically representing the seller’s profit.
Cost-Reimbursable Contract
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 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 judgment or decision can be based or by which a product, service, result, or process can be evaluated.
Criteria
The sequence of activities that represents the longest path through a project, which determines the shortest possible duration.
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 schedule flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model.
Critical Path Method (CPM)
Discrete, unorganized, unprocessed measurements or raw observations.
Data
Techniques used to organize, assess, and evaluate data and information.
Data Analysis Techniques
A point in time when the status of the project is recorded
Data Date
Techniques used to collect data and information from a variety of sources.
Data Gathering Techniques
Graphic representations or other methods used to convey data and information.
Data Representation Techniques
Techniques used to select a course of action from different alternatives.
Decision-Making Techniques
A Diagramming and calculation technique for evaluating the implications of a chain 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 of 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
The process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline.
Determine Budget
The method used to create and evolve the product, service, or result during the project life cycle, such as predictive, iterative, incremental agile, or a hybrid method.
Development Approach
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 plan components and consolidating them into an integrated project management plan.
Develop Project Management Plan
The process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model for project execution and monitoring and controlling.
Develop Schedule
The process of improving competences, team member interaction, and overall team environment to enhance project performance.
Develop Team
Approaches to presenting information with logical linkages that aid in understanding.
Diagramming Techniques
The process of leading and performing the work defined in a project management plan and implementing approved changes to achieve the project’s objectives.
Direct and Manage Project Work
An activity that can be planned and measured and that yields a specific output.
Discrete Effort
A relationship that is established based on knowledge of best practices within a particular application area or an aspect of the project where a specific sequence is desired.
Discretionary Dependency
The process of gathering a corpus of information and reviewing it to determine accuracy and completeness.
Documentation Reviews
The total number of work periods required to complete an activity or work breakdown structure component, expressed in hours, days, or weeks. Contrast with effort.
Duration
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 any schedule constraints.
Early Finish Date (EF)
In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions 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 progress.
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. Contrast with duration.
Effort
The ability to identify, assess, and 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 of a variable, such as project costs, resources, effort, or durations.
Estimate
The process of estimating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with the estimated resources.
Estimated Activity Durations
The process of estimating team resources and the type and quantities of material, equipment, and supplies necessary to perform project work.
Estimate Activity Resources
The expected total cost of completing all work expressed as the sum 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 work.
Estimate Costs
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 requirements.
Executing Process Group
Judgement 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 Judgment
Knowledge that can be codified using symbols such as words, numbers, and pictures.
Explicit Knowledge
A relationship between project activities and non-project activities.
External Dependency
Include an alternative set of actions and tasks available in the event that the primary plan needs to be abandoned because of 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 which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has finished.
Finish-to-Finish (FF)
A logical relationship 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 costs
Firm Fixed Price Contract (FFP)
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 Contract
A type of contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as defined by the contract), and the seller can earn 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 changed conditions, such as inflation changes, or cost increases (or decreases) for specific commodities.
Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment Contract (FPEPA)
The depiction in a diagram format of the inputs, process actions, and outputs of one or more processes within a system
Flowchart
An elicitation technique that brings together prequalified stakeholders and subject matter experts to learn about their expectations and attitudes about a proposed product, service, or result.
Focus Groups
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.
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
The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint
Free Float
An organizational structure in which staff is grouped by areas of specialization and the project manager has limited authority to assign work and apply resources.
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, dates are shown on the horizontal axis, and activity durations are shown 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 but do not share the same requirements for quality.
Grade
Expectations regarding acceptable behavior by project team members
Ground Rules
A bar chart that shows the graphical representation of numerical data
Histogram
Documents and data on prior projects including project files, records, correspondence, closed contracts, and closed projects.
Historical Information
The process of identifying individual risks as well as sources of overall risk and documenting their characteristics
Identify Risks
The process of identifying project stakeholders regularly and analyzing and documenting relevant information regarding their interests, involvement, interdependencies, influence, and potential impact on project success.
Identify Stakeholders
The process of implementing agreed-upon risk response plans
Implement Risk Reponses
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
An adaptive project life cycle in which the deliverable is produced through a series of iterations that successively add functionality within a predetermined time frame. The deliverable contains the necessary and sufficient capability to be considered complete only after the final iteration.
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 influences, time ordering of events, and other relationships among variables and outcomes.
Influence Diagram
Organized or structured data, processed for a specific purpose to make it meaningful, valuable, and useful in specific contexts.
Information
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, which is required by a process before that process proceeds. May be an output from a predecessor process.
Input
Examination of a work product to determine whether it conforms to documented standards.
Inspection
Skills used to effectively lead and interact with team members and other stakeholders
Interpersonal and Team Skills
Skills used to establish and maintain relationships with other people
Interpersonal Skills
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 current condition or situation that may have an impact on the project objectives.
Issue
A project document where information about issues is recorded and monitored.
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. develops the product through a series of repeated cycles, while increments successively add to the functionality of the product.
Iterative Life Cycle
A mixture of experience, values and beliefs, contextual information, intuition, and insight that people use to make sense of new experiences and information.
Knowledge
The amount of time whereby a successor activity will 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 the 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 for the purpose of improving future performance.
Lessons Learned
A project document used to record knowledge gained during a project so that it can be used in the current project and entered into the lessons learned repository.
Lessons Learned Register
A store of historical information about lessons learned in projects.
Lessons Learned Repository
An activity that does not produce definitive end products and is measured by the passage of time.
Level of Effort (LOE)
A document used to record and describe or denote selected items identified during execution of the process or activity. Usually used with a modifier, such as issue, change, issue, or assumption.
Log
A dependency between two activities, or between an activity and a milestone.
Logical Relationship
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 Analysis
Decisions made regarding the external purchase or internal manufacture of a product.
Make-or-Buy Decisions
The process of ensuring timely and appropriate collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval , management, monitoring, and the ultimate disposition of project information.
Manage Communications
An amount of the project budget or project schedule held outside of the performance measurement baseline (PMB) for management control, that is reserved for unforeseen work that is within scope of the project.
Management Reserve
The ability to plan, organize, direct, and control individuals or groups of people to achieve specific goals.
Management Skills
The process of using existing knowledge and creating new knowledge to achieve the project’s objectives and contribute to organizational learning.
Management Project Knowledge
The process of translating the quality management plan into executable quality activities that incorporate the organization’s quality policies into the project.
Manage Quality
The process of communicating and working with stakeholders to meet their needs and expectations, address issues, and foster appropriate stakeholder involvement.
Manage Stakeholder Engagement
The process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing team changes to optimize project performance.
Manage Team
A relationship that is contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work.
Mandatory Dependency
A summary-level project schedule that identifies the major deliverables and work breakdown structure components and key schedule milestones.
Master Schedule
A quality management and control tool used to perform data analysis within the organizational structure created in the matrix. Seeks to show the strength of relationships between factors, causes, and objectives that exist between the rows and columns that form the matrix.
Matrix Diagrams
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 even t in a project, program, or portfolio
Milestone
A type of schedule that presents milestones with planned dates. See also master schedule
Milestone Schedule
A technique used to consolidate ideas created through individual brainstorming sessions into a single map to reflect commonality and differences in understanding and to generate new ideas
Mind-Mapping
Collect project performance data, produce performance measures, and report and disseminate performance information
Monitor
The process of tracking, reviewing and reporting overall progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan.
Monitor and Control Project Work
The process of ensuring that the information needs of the project and its stakeholders are met
Monitor Communications
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
The process of monitoring the implementation of agreed-upon risk response plans, tracking identified risks, identifying and analyzing new risks, and evaluating risk process effectiveness throughout the project.
Monitor Risks
The process of monitoring project stakeholder relationships, and tailoring strategies for engaging stakeholders through the modification of engagement strategies and plans.
Monitor Stakeholder Engagement
An analysis technique where a computer model is iterated many times, with the input values chosen at random for each iteration driven by the input data including probability distributions and probabilistic branches. Outputs are generated to represent the range of possible outcomes for teh project.
Monte Carlo Simulation
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.
Multicriteria Decision Analysis
All activity dependencies in a project schedule network diagram
Network Logic
A sequence of activities connected by logical relationships in a project schedule network diagram
Network Path
Establishing connections and relationships with other people from the same or other organizations
Networking
A point at which dependency lines connect on a schedule network diagram
Node
A technique that enhance brainstorming with a voting process used to rank the most useful ideas for further brainstorming or for prioritization.
Nominal Group Technique
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 risk that would have a positive effect on one or more project objectives
Opportunity
A hierarchical representation of the project organization, which illustrates the relationship between project activities and the organizational units that will perform those activities.
Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)
A discipline concerned with the way individuals, groups, and organizations develop knowledge.
Organizational Learning
Plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases that are specific to and used by the performing organization.
Organizational Process Assets
A product, result, or service generated by the process. May be an input to a successor process.
Output
The effect of uncertainty on the project as a whole, arising from all sources of uncertainty including individual risks, representing the exposure of stakeholders to the implications of variations in project outcome, both positive and negative.
Overall Project Risk
An estimating technique in which an algorithm is used to calculate cost or duration based on historical data and project parameters.
Parametric Estimating
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
An estimate expressed as a percent of the amount of work that has been completed on an activity or a work breakdown structure component.
Percent Complete
Integrated scope, schedule, and cost baselines used for comparison to manage, measure, and control project execution.
Performance Mesaurement 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
The process of reviewing all change requests; approving changes and managing changes to deliverables, organizational process assets, project documents, and the project management plan; and communicating the decisions.
Perform Integrated Change Control
The process of prioritizing individual project risks for further analysis or action by assessing their probability of occurrence and impact as well as other characteristics.
Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
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 communication activities based on the information needs of each stakeholder or group, available organizational assets, and the needs of the project.
Plan Communications Management
The process of defining how the project costs will be estimated, budgeted, managed, monitored, and controlled.
Plan Cost 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 required to establish the scope of the project, refine the objectives, and define the course of action required to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to achieve.
Planning Process Group
The process of documenting project 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 and/or standards.
Plan Quality Management
The process of defining how to estimate, acquire, manage, and utilize physical and team resources.
Plan Resource Management
The process of defining how to conduct risk management activities for a project.
Plan Risk Management
The process of developing options, selecting strategies, and agreeing on actions to address overall project risk exposure, as well as to treat individual project risks.
Plan Risk Reponses
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 and product scope will be defined, validated, and controlled.
Plan Scope Management
The process of developing approaches to involve project stakeholders, based on their needs, expectations, interests, and potential impact on the project
Plan Stakeholder Engagement
Decisions made by the largest block in a group, even if a majority is not achieved.
Plurality
A structured pattern of actions adopted by an organization such that the organization’s policy can be explained as a set of basic principles that govern the organization’s conduct.
Policy
Projects, programs, subsidiary portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives.
Portfolio
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 more logical relationships to show the sequence in which the activities are to be performed.
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
A logical dependency used in the precedence diagramming method.
Precedence Relationship
An Activity that logically comes before a dependent activity in a schedule.
Predecessor Activity
A form of project life cycle in which the project scope, time, and cost are determined in the early phases of the life cycle.
Predicitve Life Cycle
An intentional activity that ensures the future performance of the project work is aligned with the project management plan.
Preventive Action
A grid for mapping the probability of occurrence of each risk and its impact on project objectives if that risk occurs.
Probability and Impact Matrix
An established method of accomplishing a consistent performance or result. Typically can be described as the sequence of steps that will be used to execute a process.
Procedure
A systematic series of activities directed towards causing an end result such that one or more inputs will be acted upon to create one or more outputs.
Process
The review of contracts and contracting processes for completeness, accuracy, and effectiveness
Procurement Audits
The documents utilized in bid and proposal activites, 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
All documents used in signing, executing, and closing an agreement. May include documents predating the project.
Procurement Documentation
A component of the project or program management plan that describes how a project team will acquire goods and services from outside of the performing organization.
Procurement Management Plan
Describes the procurement item in sufficient detail to allow prospective sellers to determine if they are capable of providing the products, services, or results.
Procurement Statement of Work
The approach by the buyer to determine the project delivery method and the type of legally binding agreement(s) that should be used to deliver the desired results.
Procurement Strategy
An artifact that is produced, is quantifiable, and can be either an end item in itself or a component item. Additional words for products are material and goods. See also deliverable.
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 a product, from concept through delivery, growth, maturity, and to retirement.
Product Life Cycle
The features and functions that characterize a product, service, or result
Product Scope
The documented narrative description of the product scope.
Product Scope Description
Related projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities that are managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.
Program
The application of knowledge, skills, and principles to a program to achieve the program objectives and obtain benefits and control not available by managing program components 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 calendar that identifies working days and shifts that are available for scheduled activities.
Project Calendar
A document issued 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 required to ensure timely and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitoring, and ultimate disposition of project information.
Project Communications Management
Includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so 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 framework, functions, and processes that guide project management activities in order to create a unique product, service, or result to meet organizational, strategic, and operational goals.
Project Governance
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 Groups.
Project Integration Mangement
The series of phases that a project passes through from its start to its completion.
Project Life Cycle
The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.
Project Management
A term that describes the knowledge within the profession of project management. The project management body of knowledge includes proven traditional practices that are widely applied as well as innovative practices that are emerging in the profession.
Project Management Body of Knowledge
An information system consisting of the tools and techniques used to gather, integrate, and disseminate the outputs of project management processes.
Project Management Information System
An identified area of project management defined by its knowledge requirements and described in terms of its component processes, practices, inputs, outputs, tools, and techniques.
Project Mangement Knowledge Area
A management structure that standardizes the project-related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques.
Project Management Office (PMO)
The document that describes how the project will be executed, monitored and controlled, and closed.
Project Management Plan
A logical grouping of project management inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs. Include initiating processes, planning processes, executing processes, monitoring and controlling processes, and closing processes.
Project Management Process Group
The aggregation of the processes, tools, techniques, methodologies, resources, and procedures to manage a project.
Project Mangement System
The members of the project team who are directly involved in project management activities. .See also Project team.
Project Mangement Team
The person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives.
Project Manager (PM)
A document that graphically depicts the 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 process for incorporating the organization’s quality policy regarding planning managing, and controlling project and product quality requirements, in order to meet stakeholders’ expectations.
Project Quality Management
Includes the processes to identify, acquire, and manage the resources needed for the successful completion of the project.
Project Resource Management
Includes the processes of conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, response planning, response implementation, and monitoring risk on a project.
Project Risk Management
An output of a schedule model that presents linked activities with planned dates, durations, milestones, and resources.
Project Schedule
Includes the processes required to manage the timely completion of the project
Project Schedule Management
A graphical representation of the logical relationship among 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
Includes 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 decisions and execution.
Project Stakeholder Mangement
A set of individuals who support the project manager in performing the work of the project to achieve its objectives. See all Project Management Team
Project Team
A documented list of project team members, their project roles, and communication information
Project Team Directory
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 fulfills requirements
Quality
A structured, independent process to determine if project activities comply with organizational and project policies, processes, and procedures.
Quality Audits
A structured tool used to verify that a set of required steps has been performed.
Quality Checklists
The documented results of control quality activities
Quality Control Measurements
A component of the project or program management plan that describes how applicable policies, procedures, and guidelines will be implemented to achieve the quality objectives.
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 organizations quality management system.
Quality Management System
A description of a project or product attribute and how two measure it.
Quality Metrics
A policy specific to the Project Quality Management Knowledge Area, it establishes the basic principles that should govern the organizations actions as it implements its system for quality management.
Quality Policy
A project document that includes quality management issues, recommendations for corrective actions, and a summary of findings from quality control actives and may include recommendations for process, project, and product improvements.
Quality Report
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
Written sets of questions designed to quickly accumulate information from large number of respondents
Questionnaires
A common type of responsibility assignment matrix that uses responsible, accountable, consult, and inform states to define the involvement of stakeholders in project activities.
RACI Chart
An analytical technique where a series of input variables are examined in relation to their corresponding output results in order to develop 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.
Regulations
A type of procurement document whereby the buyer requests a potential seller to provide various pieces of information related to a product 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 proposal and, in some application areas, it may have a narrower or more specific meaning.
Request for Quotation (RFQ)
A condition or capability that is necessary to be present in a product, service, or result to satisfy a business need.
Requirement
A description of how individual requirements meet 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 reserve) to provide further detail on what types of risk are meant to be mitigated.
Reserve
An analytical technique to determine the essential features and relationships 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
The risk that remains after risk responses have been implemented.
Residual Risk
A team member or any physical item needed to complete the project
Resource
A hierarchical representation of resources by category and type.
Resource Breakdown Structure
A calendar that identifies the working days and shifts upon 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 Histogram
A resource optimization technique in which adjustments are made to the project schedule to optimize the allocation of resources and which may affect critical path. See also resource optimization technique and resource smoothing.
Resource Leveling
A component of the project management plan that describes how project resources are acquired, allocated, monitored, and controlled.
Resource Management Plan
An individual with management authority over one or more resources
Resource Manager
A technique in which activity start and finish dates are adjusted to balance demand for resources with the available supply. See also resource leveling and resource smoothing.
Resource Optimization Technique
The types and quantities of resources required for each activity in a work package.
Resource Requirement
A resource optimization technique in which free and total float are used without affecting the critical path. See also resource leveling and resource optimization technique.
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 the project resources assigned to each work package.
Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)
An output from performing project management processes and activities. Results include outcomes (e.g., integrated systems, revised process, restructured organization, tests, trained personnel, etc.) and documents (e.g., policies, plans, studies, procedures, specifications, reports, etc.) See also deliverable.
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 organization or individual is willing to accept in anticipation of a reward.
Risk Appetite
A type of audit used to consider the effectiveness of the risk management process.
Risk Audit
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 potential sources of risks.
Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)
Organization by sources of risk (e.g., using the RBS), the area of the project affected (e.g., using the WBS), or other useful category (e.g., 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 risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to increase the probability of occurrence or impact of an opportunity.
Risk Enhancement
A risk response strategy whereby the team acknowledges that a risk is outside of its sphere of influence and shifts the ownership of the risk to a higher level of the organization where it is more effectively managed.
Risk Escalation
A risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to ensure that an opportunity occurs.
Risk Exploiting
An aggregate measure of the potential impact of all risks at any given point in time in a project, program, or portfolio.
Risk Exposure
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 decrease the probability of occurrence or impact of a threat.
Risk Mitigation
The person responsible for monitoring the risks and for selecting and implementing an appropriate risk response strategy.
Risk Owner
A repository in which outputs of risk management processes are recorded.
Risk Register
A project document developed progressively throughout the Project Risk Management processes, which summarizes information on individual project risks and the level of overall project risk.
Risk Report
A meeting to examine and document the effectiveness of risk responses in dealing with overall project risk and with identified individual project risks.
Risk Review
A risk response strategy whereby the project team allocates ownership of an opportunity to a third party who is best able to capture the benefit of that opportunity.
Risk Sharing
The level of risk exposure above which risks are addressed and below which risks may be accepted.
Risk Threshold
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
A defined 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 used to determine the basic underlying reason that causes a variance or a defect or a risk. A root cause may underlie more than one variance or defect or risk.
Root Cause Analysis
The approved version of a schedule model that can be changed using formal change control procedures and is used as the basis for comparison to actual results.
Schedule Baseline
A technique used to shorten the schedule duration 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 projects future based on information and knowledge available at the time the schedule is calculated.
Schedule FOrecasts
A component of the project or program management plan that establishes the criteria and the activities for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule.
Schedule Management Plan
A representation of 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
A technique to identify early and late start dates, as well as early and late finish dates, for the uncompleted portions of project activities.
Schedule Network Analysis
A measure of schedule efficiency expressed as the ratio of earned value to planned value.
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 tool that provides schedule component names, definitions, structural relationships, and formats that support the application of a scheduling method.
Scheduling Tool
The sum of the 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 using formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison to actual results.
Scope Baseline
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 the scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled, and validated.
Scope Management Plan
A risk that arises as a direct result of implementing a risk response
Secondary Risk
A team formation where the team functions with an absence of centralized control.
Self-organizing Teams
A provider or supplier of products, services, or results to an organization.
Seller
Formal responses from sellers 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 Proposals
An analysis technique to determine which individual project risks or other sources of uncertainty have the most potential impact on project outcomes, by correlating variations in project outcomes with variations in elements of a quantitative risk analysis model.
Sensitivity Analysis
The process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities.
Sequence Activiteis
A contract between a service provider (either internal or external) and the end user that defines the level of service expected from the service provider.
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
An analytical technique that models the combined effect of uncertainties to evaluate their potential impact on objectives.
Simulation
A set of attributes desired by the buyer which a seller is required to meet or exceed to be selected for a contract.
Source Selection Criteria
A precise statement of the needs to satisfied and the essential characteristics that are required.
Specification
The area, on either side of the centerline, or mean, of data plotted on a control chart that meets the customers 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 is accountable for enabling success.
Sponsor
The entity responsible for providing the projects sponsor and a conduit for project funding or other project resources
Sponsoring Organization
An individual, group, or organization that may affect, be affected b, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project, program, or portfolio.
Stakeholder
A technique of systematically gathering and analyzing quantitative and qualitative information to determine whose interests should be take into account throughout the project.
Stakeholder Analysis
A matrix that compares current and desired stakeholder engagement levels.
Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix
A component of the project management plan that identifies the strategies and actions required to promote productive involvement of stakeholders in project or program decision making and execution.
Stakeholder Engagement Plan
A project document including the identification, assessment, and classification of project stakeholders.
Stakeholder Register
A document established by an authority, custom, or general consent as a model or example.
Standard
A point in time associated with a schedule activities 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 (SF)
A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has started.
Start-to-Start (SS)
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 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 potion.
SWOT Anaylsis
Personal knowledge that can be difficult to articulate and share such as beliefs, experience, and insights.
Tacit Knowledge
Determining the appropriate combination of processes, inputs, tools, techniques, outputs, and life cycle phases to manage a project.
Tailoring
A document that records the team values, agreements, and operating guidelines, as well as establishing clear expectations regarding acceptable behavior by project team members.
Team Charter
A component of the resource management plan that describes when and how team members will be acquired and how long they will be needed.
Team Management Plan
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 employ one or more tools.
Technique
A partially complete document in a predefined format that provides a defined structure for collecting, organizing, and presenting information and data.
Templates
Project documents that describe the activities used to determine if the product meets the quality objectives stated in the quality management plan.
Test and Evaluation Documents
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 or weighted average of optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely estimates when there is uncertainty with the individual activity estimates.
Three-Point Estimating
A predetermined value of a measurable project variable that represents a limit that requires action to be taken if it is reached.
Threshold
A type of contract that is a hybrid contractual arrangement contains aspects of both cost-reimbursable and fixed-price contracts.
Time and Material Contract (T&M)
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 a 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
Something tangible, such as a template or software program, used in performing an activity to produce a product or result.
Tool
A special type of bar chart used in sensitivity analysis for comparing the relative importance of the variables.
Tornado Diagram
The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or extended from it’s early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a schedule constraint.
Total Float
An analytical technique that uses mathematical models to forecast further outcomes based on historical results.
Trend Analysis
An event or situation that indicates that a risk is about to occur.
Trigger Condition
Agreement by everyone in the group on a single course of action
Unanimity
A modification to any deliverable, project management plan component, or project document that is not under formal change control.
Update
The process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables.
Validate Scope
The assurance that a product, service, or result meets the needs of the customer and other identified stakeholders. Contrast with verification.
Validation
A quantifiable deviation, departure, or divergence away from a known baseline or expected value.
Variance
A technique for determining 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
The evaluation of whether or not a product, service, or result complies with a regulation, requirement, specification, or imposed condition. Contrast with Validation.
Verification
Completed project deliverables that have been checked and confirmed for correctness through the Control Quality process.
Verified Deliverables
Groups of people with a shared goal who fulfill their roles with little or no time spent meeting face to face.
Virtual Teams
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 the Customer
A document that provides detailed deliverable, activity, and scheduling information about each component in the work breakdown structure.
WBS Dictionary
The process of evaluating scenarios in order to predict their effect on project objectives.
What-If Scenario Analysis
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 are 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 controlling processes, analyzed in comparison with project management plan complines, project documents, and other work performance information.
Work Performance Information
The physical or electronic representation of work performance information compiled in project document, intended to generate decisions, actions, or awareness.
Work Performance Reports
