PMBOK Definitions 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. It 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. These 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 and activity.
Activity Duration Estimates
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
Another name of precedence diagramming method.
Activity-on-Node
The realized cost incurred for the work performed on an activity during a specific time period.
Actual Cost
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, letters of agreement, verbal agreements, email, etc.
Agreements
A technique used to evaluate identified options in order to select the options or approached 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 variables.
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 constraints 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 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 example, 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.
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 of 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 improvement, and provide a basis for measuring performance.
Benchmarking
The documented explanation defining the processes for crating, 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 of proposal to ensure all prospective vendors have a clear and common understanding of the procurement.
Bidder Conference
A method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower-level components of the work breakdown structure.
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.
Budget at Completion
TBD
Buffer
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 my 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 recording and communicating such decisions.
Change Control Board
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 Change Control Board.
Change Control Tools
A comprehensive list of changes submitted during the project and their current state.
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.
Checklist Analysis
A tally sheet that can be used as a checklist when gathering data.
Check Sheet
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 charge.
Claim
The process of processing, adjudicating, and 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 loaded close to one another in order to improve communication, working relationships, and productivity.
Colocation
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 technique to identify the preferred communication method, format, and content for stakeholders for planned communication activities.
Communication Styles Assessment
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.
Configuration Management Plan
A collection of procedures used to track project artifacts and monitor and control changes to these artifacts.
Configuration Management 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 event that a specific 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
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 management 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.
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 process of ensuring that the physical resources assigned and allocated to the project are available as 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 to update the project schedule and manage changes to the schedule baseline.
Control Schedule
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 projects 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 or against its costs.
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 incorrect 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
A measure of the cost efficiency of budgeted resources expressed as the ratio of earned value to actual cost.
Cost Performance Index
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
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
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
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
A technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources.
Crashing
The process of subdividing 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
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
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 management 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 project component 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 completed a process, phase, or project.
Deliverable
TBD
Dependency
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 he project life cycle, such as predictive, iterative, agile, or a hybrid method.
Development Approach
The process of developing a document that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides that 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 the 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 the project management plan and implementing approved changes to achieve the projects 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 the best practices within a particular application are 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.
Duration
In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can be finished based on the schedule network logic, the data date, and any schedule constraints.
Early Finish Date
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
The measure of work performed expressed in terms of the budget authorized for that work.
Earned Value
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.
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 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 project work; providing the deliverables; and providing work performance information.
Execute
Those processes performed to compete the work defined in the project management plan to justify 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, experience, or training.
Expert Judgement
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
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 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
A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has finished.
Finish-to-Start
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
TBD
Fishbone Diagram
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
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
Also called slack.
Float
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 that time.
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 state date of any successor or violating a scheduling restraint.
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 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 Response
A fixed date imposed on a schedule activity or 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 successfully 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 estimate of situations showing purpose to make it meaningful, valuable, and useful in specific contexts.
Influence Diagram
Organized or structured data, processed for a specific purpose to make it meaningful variable, 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 confirms 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.
Invitation for Bid
A current condition or situation that may have an impact on the project objectives.
Issue
