Terms (pt 1) Flashcards
Acceptance Criteria
A set of conditions that is required to be met before deliverables are accepted.
Accepted Deliverables
Products, results, or capabilities produced by a project and validated by the project customer or sponsors as meeting their specified acceptance criteria.
Accuracy
Within the quality management system, accuracy is an assessment of correctness.
Acquire Resources
The process of obtaining team members, facilities, equipment, materials, supplies, and other resources necessary to complete project work.
Acquisition
Obtaining human and material resources necessary to perform project activities. Acquisition implies a cost of resources, and is not necessarily financial.
Activity Attributes
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 Duration Estimates
The quantitative assessments of the likely number of time periods that are required to complete an activity.
Activity Duration
The time in calendar units between the start and finish of a schedule activity. See also duration.
Activity List
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
A distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during the course of a project.
Activity-on-Node (AON)
See precedence diagramming method (PDM).
Actual Cost (AC)
The realized cost incurred for the work performed on an activity during a specific time period.
Actual Duration
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.
Adaptive Life Cycle
A project life cycle that is iterative or incremental.
Affinity Diagrams
A technique that allows large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis.
Agreements
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.
Alternative Analysis
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.
Analogous Estimating
A technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical data from a similar activity or project.
Analytical Techniques
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.
Assumption Log
A project document used to record all assumptions and constraints throughout the project life cycle.
Assumption
A factor in the planning process that is considered to be true, real, or certain, without proof or demonstration.
Attribute Sampling
Method of measuring quality that consists of noting the presence (or absence) of some characteristic (attribute) in each of the units under consideration.
Authority
The right to apply project resources, expend funds, make decisions, or give approvals.
Backward Pass
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.
Bar Chart
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.
Baseline
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.
Basis of Estimates
Supporting documentation outlining the details used in establishing project estimates such as assumptions, constraints, level of detail, ranges, and confidence levels.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is 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.
Benefits Management Plan
The documented explanation defining the processes for creating, maximizing, and sustaining the benefits provided by a project or program.
Bid Documents
All documents used to solicit information, quotations, or proposals from prospective sellers.
Bidder Conference
The meetings with prospective sellers prior to the preparation of a bid or proposal to ensure all prospective vendors have a clear and common understanding of the procurement. Also known as contractor conferences, vendor conferences, or pre-bid conferences.
Bottom-Up Estimating
A method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower-level components of the work breakdown structure (WBS).
Budget at Completion (BAC)
The sum of all budgets established for the work to be performed.
Budget
The approved estimate for the project or any work breakdown structure component or any schedule activity.
Buffer
See reserve.
Business Case
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 Value
The net quantifiable benefit derived from a business endeavor. The benefit may be tangible, intangible, or both.
Cause and Effect Diagram
A decomposition technique that helps trace an undesirable effect back to its root cause.
Change Control Board (CCB)
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 System
A set of procedures that describes how modifications to the project deliverables and documentation are managed and controlled.
Change Control Tools
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
A process whereby modifications to documents, deliverables, or baselines associated with the project are identified, documented, approved, or rejected.
Change Log
A comprehensive list of changes submitted during the project and their current status.
Change Management Plan
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 Request
A formal proposal to modify a document, deliverable, or baseline.
Change
A modification to any formally controlled deliverable, project management plan component, or project document.
Charter
See project charter.
Checklist Analysis
A technique for systematically reviewing materials using a list for accuracy and completeness.
Checksheets
A tally sheet that can be used as a checklist when gathering data.
Claim
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.
Claims Administration
The process of processing, adjudicating, and communicating contract claims.
Close Project or Phase
The process of finalizing all activities for the project, phase, or contract.
Closing Process Group
The process(es) performed to formally complete or close a project, phase, or contract.
Code of Accounts
A numbering system used to uniquely identify each component of the work breakdown structure (WBS).
Collect Requirements
The process of determining, documenting, and managing stakeholder needs and requirements to meet project objectives.
Colocation
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.
Communication Methods
A systematic procedure, technique, or process used to transfer information among project stakeholders.
Communication Models
A description, analogy, or schematic used to represent how the communication process will be performed for the project.
Communication Requirements Analysis
An analytical technique to determine the information needs of the project stakeholders through interviews, workshops, study of lessons learned from previous projects, etc.
Communication Styles Assessment
A technique to identify the preferred communication method, format, and content for stakeholders for planned communication activities.
Communication Technology
Specific tools, systems, computer programs, etc., used to transfer information among project stakeholders.
Communications Management Plan
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.
Conduct Procurements
The process of obtaining seller responses, selecting a seller, and awarding a contract.
Configuration Management Plan
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 System
A collection of procedures used to track project artifacts and monitor and control changes to these artifacts.
Conformance
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.
Constraint
A limiting factor that affects the execution of a project, program, portfolio, or process.
Context Diagrams
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.
Contingency Reserve
Time or money allocated in the schedule or cost baseline for known risks with active response strategies.
Contingency
An event or occurrence that could affect the execution of the project that may be accounted for with a reserve.
Contingent Response Strategies
Responses provided which may be used in the event that a specific trigger occurs.
Contract Change Control System
The system used to collect, track, adjudicate, and communicate changes to a contract.
Contract
A contract is 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.
Control Account
A management control point where scope, budget, actual cost, and schedule are integrated and compared to earned value for performance measurement.
Control Chart
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 Costs
The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and manage changes to the cost baseline.
Control Limits
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 Procurements
The process of managing procurement relationships, monitoring contract performance, making changes and corrections as appropriate, and closing out contracts.
Control Quality
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 Resources
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 Schedule
The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project schedule and manage changes to the schedule baseline.
Control Scope
The process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baaseline.
Control
Comparing actual performance with planned performance, analyzing variances, assessing trends to effect process improvements, evaluating possible alternatives, and recommending appropriate corrective action as needed.
Corrective Action
An intentional activity that realigns the performance of the project work with the project management plan.
Cost Aggregation
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 Baseline
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 Management Plan
A component of a project or program management plan that describes how costs will be planned, structured, and controlled.
Cost of Quality (CoQ)
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 Performance Index (CPI)
A measure of the cost efficiency of budgeted resources expressed as the ratio of earned value to actual cost.
Cost Plus Award Fee Contract (CPAF)
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 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) plus a fixed amount of profit (fee).
Cost Plus Incentive Fee Contract (CPIF)
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 Variance (CV)
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-Benefit Analysis
A financial analysis tool used to determine the benefits provided by a project against its costs.
Cost-Reimbursable 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.
Crashing
A technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources.
Create WBS
The process of subdividing project deliverables and project work into smaller, more manageable components.
Criteria
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.
Critical Path Activity
Any activity on the critical path in a project schedule.
Critical Path Method (CPM)
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
The sequence of activities that represents the longest path through a project, which determines the shortest possible duration.
