100+ Project Management Terms You Should Know

If you’re starting out in project management, learning essential project management terms is like unlocking the secret code to success. If you're prepping for an interview, stepping into a new role, or just brushing up your knowledge, knowing these terms will help you feel more confident and sound like a total pro.

From classic concepts like milestone and stakeholder to newer terms like Agile release train and Kanban cadence, we’ve added everything for quick reference. This isn’t just a glossary, it’s your go-to guide for making project management a whole lot less overwhelming and a lot more exciting. So grab your coffee, bookmark this post, and let’s get you fluent in the language of project managers!

100+ Project Management Terms

A

A/B Testing

A marketing approach used to determine user preferences by showing different sets of users' similar services—an ‘Alpha’ and a ‘Beta’ version—with one independent variable.

Acceptance Criteria

 Acceptance criteria are a set of predefined requirements that a product or feature must meet to be accepted by a user, customer, or stakeholder. For example, for a login feature, acceptance criteria could include "User must be able to log in using email and password," and "System must lock after 3 failed attempts."

Accepted Deliverables

Deliverables that meet the acceptance criteria and have been formally signed off and approved by the customer or sponsor as part of the scope validation process.

Active Listening

A communication technique that involves acknowledging the speaker’s message and the recipient clarifying the message to confirm that what was heard matches the message that the sender intended.

Activity

A distinct portion of work, scheduled with a beginning and an end, that must be performed to complete work on the project. Also known as a schedule activity. See also “Task”.

Activity Attributes

Multiple attributes associated with each activity that can be included within the activity list.

Activity Cost Estimates

Each task is assigned a budget, and the aggregate of these estimates results in the project budget. Activity cost estimates include labor, materials, equipment, and fixed cost items like contractors, services, facilities, financing costs, etc. This information can be presented in a detailed or summarized form.

Actual Cost (AC)

Earned Value Management term for the realized cost incurred for the work performed on an activity during a specific time.

Adaptive

A type of project life cycle or methodology that values responding to change over following a set plan. Adaptive methodologies seek solutions that deliver maximum value to the customer.

Affinity Diagram

A technique that allows large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis

Affinity Estimating

Technique designed to rapidly estimate large stories (epics or features) in the backlog. For example, T-Shirt sizing, coffee cup sizes, or Fibonacci sequence.

Agile

 A flexible project management approach based on iterative development, collaboration, and responsiveness to change. For example, using Scrum to deliver software in 2-week sprints with constant feedback loops.

Agile Manifesto

In 2001, a group of 17 software developers met in Snowbird, Utah to discuss lightweight software development. Based on their experience, they came up with the four core values of agile software development as stated by the Agile Manifesto are: individuals and interactions over processes and tools; working software over comprehensive documentation; customer collaboration over contract negotiation; and responding to change over following a plan.

Agile Modeling

A representation of the workflow of a process or system that the team can review before it is implemented in code.

Agile Principles

A set of 12 agile principles that support the Agile Manifesto and which practitioners and teams should internalize and act upon.

1. Customer satisfaction by early and continuous delivery of valuable software

2. Welcome changing requirements, even in late development

3. Deliver working software frequently (weeks rather than months)

4. Close, daily cooperation between business and technical people

5. Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted

6. Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (colocation)

7. Working software is the primary measure of progress

8. Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace

9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design

10. Simplicity is essential

11. Best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams

12. Regularly, the team reflects on how to become more effective, and adjusts accordingly

Agile Release Planning

Agile release planning is a process in which a team determines the number of iterations or Sprints that are needed to complete each release, the features that each iteration will contain, and the target dates of each release.

Agile Space

Team space that encourages colocation, collaboration, communication, transparency, and visibility.

Agreements

Any documents or communication that defines the initial intentions of a project. Examples include contracts, memorandums of understanding (MOUs), service-level agreements (SLAs), letters of agreement, letters of intent, verbal agreements, email, or other written agreements.

Allowable Costs

Costs that are allowed under the terms of the contract. Typically, allowable costs become relevant under certain types of cost-reimbursable contracts in which the buyer reimburses the seller’s allowable costs.

Analogous Estimating

A technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity on a project using historical data from a similar activity or project. Also known as “Top-Down Estimating”.

Analytical Techniques

Logical approach that looks at the relationship between outcomes and the factors that can influence them.

Artifact

Any project management workflow, inputs, tools, techniques, outputs, EEFs, and OPAs that the project management team uses on their specific project. They are subject to configuration management and are maintained and archived by the team.

Assumption

Anything considered to be true while planning. Assumptions should be documented and validated and are often closely linked to constraints.

Assumption and Constraint Analysis

A process that explores the validity of the project assumptions within the constraints and identifies risks from any incompleteness or inaccuracy of these project assumptions.

Assumption Log

A list of all uncertainties that are treated as true for the purpose of planning.

Attribute Sampling Data

Data that is counted such as the number of product defects or customer complaints.

Audit

An examination of a project’s goals and achievements, including adequacy, accuracy, efficiency, effectiveness, and the project’s compliance with applicable methodologies and regulations. It tends to be a formal, one-sided process that can be extremely demoralizing to team members.

B

Backlog

 A prioritized list of work items or features to be delivered in a project. For example, A product backlog may include items like "Create registration page," "Add search functionality," and "Fix login bug."

Burn-down Chart

 A graphical representation of work left to do versus time in Agile projects. For example, A burn-down chart shows the remaining story points decreasing daily during a sprint.

Backlog Refinement (Grooming)

Product backlog refinement is an ongoing process where the team and product owner review, update, and prioritize backlog items. For example, The team spends 1 hour each sprint refining stories for future planning.

Burnup Chart

Shows progress toward a goal by visualizing work completed against total work. For example, The burnup chart shows the team completed 60 story points out of 100.

Business Case

 A document justifying the need for a specific business initiative by outlining its potential benefits and return on investment. For example, The operations lead submits a business case to justify the purchase of a new CRM platform for sales teams.

Backward Pass

Technique for calculating the late start and late finish dates of the schedule activities. This is part of the critical path method and is paired with forward pass to determine activity and schedule float along with the critical path.

Bar Chart

A graphic display of schedule-related information. In the typical bar chart, schedule activities or WBS 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

Original objectives plus approved change requests for scope, schedule, cost, and resources required to finish the project. Baselines represent the approved plan, and they are useful for measuring how actual results deviate from the plan.

Benchmarking

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.

Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR)

The ratio of the expected benefits and the anticipated costs.

Benefits Management Plan

The documented explanation defining the processes for creating, maximizing, and sustaining the benefits provided by a project or program. It also describes how and when the benefits of a project will be derived and measured. Both the business case and the benefits management plan are developed with the benefits owner prior to the project being initiated. Additionally, both documents are referenced after the project has been completed. Therefore, they are considered business documents rather than project documents or components of the project management plan.

Bottom-Up Estimating

A method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower- level components of the WBS.

Brainstorming

A simple technique used to generate a list of ideas. It should be led by a facilitator with a group consisting of stakeholders, team members, and subject matter experts. After quickly generating a list of alternatives, the group then performs analysis of the alternatives and generally chooses a particular option for action.

Budget

A time-phased plan for when funds will be disbursed on a project. It helps the organization anticipate when money will be coming in and/or going out, for the duration of the project. Budget accuracy is dependent upon a well-defined project scope and schedule. The total project budget is the cost baseline plus management reserves. See also “Cost Baseline”.

Budget at Completion (BAC)

The sum of all budgets established to provide financial support for the work to be performed.

C

Cadence

The regular rhythm or cycle of activities in Agile, such as sprint planning, sprint reviews, and sprint retrospectives. It ensures predictability in planning and execution. For example, In Scrum, a team may follow a 2-week sprint cadence with reviews and retros scheduled every other Friday.

Cause and Effect Diagram

This diagram shows the relationship between causes and effects. Primarily used in root cause analysis (risk and quality) to uncover the causes of risks, problems, or issues. See also “Fishbone Diagram” and “Ishikawa Diagram”.

Change Control

Purposeful management of changes to the project (scope, schedule, cost, or quality). In change control, a change request goes through a formal process before a decision (approve/deny) is made.

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 Form

A document used to request a project change. They can also be recommendations for taking corrective or preventive actions. See also “Change Request”.

Change Control System

A set of procedures that describes how modifications to the project deliverables and documentation are managed and controlled.

Change Log

A living list of all project change requests (CR). This log is used to track and provide accurate status of each CR (requester, owner, details, impact analysis, decision, etc.)

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 Management

Change management is a systematic approach to managing transitions in project scope, processes, tools, or people. For example, A team uses the ADKAR model to implement a new CRM across departments.

Change Request (CR)

Request for change sent to upper management or the Change Control Board (CCB) for its evaluation and approval. See also “Change Control Form”.

Charter

A shortened name for the project charter. A formal document that starts the project. Typically used by the project sponsor and the project manager, this document provides the reason for the project (based on business case) and may include high-level requirements, assumptions, constraints, milestone(s), and preliminary budget. See also “Project Charter”.

Close-Out Meetings

Sessions held at the end of a project or phase during which teams discuss work and capture lessons learned.

Closing Process Group

One of the five Project Management Process Groups. It consists of those processes performed to formally complete or close the project, phase, or contract.

Conduct Procurement Process

The process of obtaining seller responses, selecting a seller, and awarding a contract.

Cone of Uncertainty

Agile term describing the difficulty of estimating early due to unknowns and how that should improve over time.

Configuration Item

Any component or project element that needs to be managed to ensure the successful delivery of the project, services, or result.

Critical Path Method (CPM)

A technique used to identify the longest sequence of dependent tasks and calculate the shortest possible project duration. For example, If task A → B → C is the longest chain and takes 10 days, it forms the project’s critical path.

Configuration Management

A tool used to manage changes to a product or service being produced as well as changes to any of the project documents—for example, schedule updates.

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.

Conflict Management

The application of one or more strategies for dealing with disagreements that may be detrimental to team performance.

Context Diagram

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 Plan

A backup plan created to manage risks and unforeseen events that could derail the original project plan. For example, The team prepares a contingency plan in case a third-party integration fails during launch week.

Continuous Improvement (CI)

Continuous improvement is the ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes.

Continuous Integration

Continuous integration is the practice of regularly merging all software code into a shared environment, several times a day, to check code quality and functionality.

Control Charts

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. These charts are often associated with control limits, specification limits, means, and standard deviation. Control charts are used to analyze and communicate the variability of a process or project activity over time. See also “Variability Control Charts”.

Control Procurement Process

Part of the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group, this process is performed by the buyer to ensure compliance by the seller and the other party; it compares the terms in the agreement/contract.

Cost Forecast

Cost estimates adjusted based on performance—i.e., Estimate at complete, budget at completion, estimate to complete, etc.

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 (CPAF) contract

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 (CPFF) contract

A type of cost-reimbursable contract in which 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 (CPIF) contract

A type of cost-reimbursable contract in which 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 cost-benefit analysis allows project managers to compare if the benefits of an action outweigh the costs or, conversely, if the costs outweigh the benefits. This can be an important criterion in decision making.

Critical Path Method (CPM)

A technique of schedule analysis in which the schedule activities are evaluated to determine the float or slack for each activity and the overall schedule. To calculate critical path, use the forward and backward pass along with float analysis to identify all network paths, including critical.

D

Daily Stand-up

A short daily meeting (usually 15 minutes) for team members to sync up on progress, plans, and blockers.For example, In a Scrum project, the team gathers every morning at 9 AM for a stand-up to share updates.

Data Analysis

The act of scrutinizing facts and numbers for typical purposes of decision-making, verification, validation, or assessment.

Data Gathering

Techniques used to solicit and document ideas—i.e., brainstorming, interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, surveys, and so on.

Data Representation

A way of depicting data visually to aid in its communication/comprehension to various audiences.

Decision Making

The process of selecting a course of action from among multiple options.

Decision Tree Analysis

A diagramming and calculation technique for evaluating the implications of a chain of multiple options in the presence of uncertainty.

Decomposition

A technique used for dividing and subdividing the project scope and project deliverables into smaller, more manageable parts

Definition of Done (DoD)

Definition of Done is a shared understanding among the team of what it means for work to be considered complete. For example, For a feature to be “done,” it must be coded, peer-reviewed, tested, and documented.

Dependencies

Tasks that rely on the completion of other tasks before they can begin or finish. For example, The “Test Login Feature” task depends on the “Develop Login Feature” being completed.

Definition of Ready (DoR)

A team’s checklist for a user-centric requirement that has all the information the team needs to be able to begin working on it.

Delphi Technique

A form of gathering expert opinions in which members of a group are asked or polled anonymously.

Demo

A review at the end of each iteration with the product owner and other customer stakeholders to review the progress of the product, get early feedback, and review an acceptance from the product owner of the stories delivered in the iteration. See also “Sprint Review”.

Dependency

A relationship between one or more tasks/activities. A dependency may be mandatory or discretionary, internal or external. See also “start-to-start”; “start-to-finish”; “finish-to-start”; and “finish-to-finish”.

Deliverables

Measurable outputs or outcomes of a project, typically provided to a client or stakeholder. For example, A final report, software product, or training manual are all examples of deliverables.

Design Thinking

A human-centered approach to innovation and problem-solving involving empathy, ideation, and experimentation. For example, A product manager uses design thinking to understand user pain points and brainstorm features.

DevOps

A collection of practices for creating a smooth flow of delivery by improving collaboration between development and operations staff.

Duration

Amount of time needed to complete an activity/task or work package.

E

Early Finish

Used in a networking diagram, this represents the earliest date that the activity can finish.

Early Start

Used in a networking diagram, this represents the earliest date that the activity can start.

Earned Value (EV)

A measure of work performed expressed in terms of the budget authorized for that work.

Earned Value Management (EVM)

Earned value management is a technique to measure project performance by comparing planned vs. actual work and costs. For example, If your project is 50% done but only 30% of the budget has been used, it’s performing well.

EEF

Any or all environmental factors either internal or external to the project that can influence the project's success. Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs) include culture, weather conditions, government regulations, political situation, market conditions, and so on.

Effort

The number of labor units required to complete a scheduled activity or WBS component, often expressed in hours, days, or weeks.

Elapsed Time

The actual calendar time required for an activity from start to finish.

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

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. EQ (emotional quotient) is also a commonly used abbreviation.

Empathy Part of emotional intelligence (EQ or EI). The ability to understand others’ viewpoints and be a team player. It enables us to connect with others and understand what moves them.

Empowerment

An essential attribute of agile teams to enable localized decision-making capabilities. The quality of granting or being granted, nurturing, or motivating a team member or team to exercise one’s own knowledge, skill, and ability—or that of a team.

Engagement Roadmap

Another name for “stakeholder engagement roadmap” - a guideline based on the stakeholder analysis that sets forth processes for engaging with stakeholders at current and all future states of the project.

Enhance

A strategy for managing positive risks or opportunities that involves increasing the probability that the opportunity will happen, or the impact it will have by identifying and maximizing enablers of these opportunities.

Epic

A large body of work that can be broken down into smaller tasks (stories). Common in Agile frameworks. For example, “Build Mobile App” is an epic, broken into stories like login, search, and notifications.

Escalate

The act of seeking helpful intervention in response to a threat that is outside the scope of the project or beyond the project manager’s authority.

Estimate

An approximation of the time, effort, or cost needed to complete a task or project. For example, The team estimates it will take 8 hours to complete the login page. To learn more, check out this video on what is estimation.

Estimate at Completion (EAC)

The expected total cost of completing all work expressed as the sum of the actual cost to date and the estimate to complete.

Estimate Costs Process

Part of the Planning Process Group, this process determines the financial estimate for each work package and/or activity.

Estimate to Complete (ETC)

The expected cost of finishing all the remaining project work.

Executing Process Group

One of the five Project Management Process Groups. It consists of those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project requirements.

Exit Gate

Logical point at the end of a project phase at which an independent party and/or relevant stakeholders reviews that phase’s deliverables to determine whether or not they were completed successfully, and the subsequent project phase should be initiated. Used in predictive or traditional projects. See also “Kill Point”.

Expectancy Theory

Motivational theory which proposes that the team makes choices based on the expected outcome.

Expected Monetary Value (EMV)

A quantitative method of calculating the average outcome when the future is uncertain. The calculation of EMV is a component of decision tree analysis. Opportunities will have positive values and threats will have negative values.

Execution Phase

The stage of a project where plans are put into action and deliverables are developed.  For example, In this phase, developers code, testers test, and designers design per the plan.

F

Facilitation

The act of guiding team discussions or meetings to ensure effectiveness and collaboration. For example, The Scrum Master facilitates the retrospective so everyone can share feedback.

Fast Tracking

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. See also “Crashing”.

Fibonacci Sequence

A mathematical sequence in which the value of each number is derived from the sum of the two preceding numbers. Used in agile estimating or relative estimating techniques, such as planning poker. 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144... Simplified sequence: 0,1,2,35,8,13,20,40,100.

Final Report

A summary of the project’s information on performance, scope, schedule, quality, cost, and risks.

Finish-to-Finish (FF)

A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has finished.

Finish-to-Start (FS)

A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has finished.

Firm Fixed Price Contract (FFP)

A type of fixed price contract in which the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as defined by the contract), regardless of the seller’s costs.

Fixed Price Contract

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 Incentive Fee (FPIF) contract

A type of contract in which 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.

Float (Slack)

The amount of time a task can be delayed without affecting the overall project timeline. For example, Task B has a float of 3 days, meaning it can start up to 3 days late without impact.

Forward Pass

Technique for calculating the early start and early finish dates of the schedule activities. This is part of the critical path method and is paired with backward pass to determine activity and schedule float along with the critical path. See also “Backward Pass”.

Free Float

The amount of time that a scheduled activity can be delayed without impacting the early start date of any subsequent scheduled activity.

Functional Requirements

Describes what the system should do—features, behavior, or services. For example, “Users must be able to reset their password via email.”

Functional Organization

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.

Funding Limit Reconciliation

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.

G

Gantt Chart

A visual timeline that shows tasks, durations, and dependencies. Common in traditional project management (Waterfall). For example, A Gantt chart shows that “Design UI” happens before “Implement UI.”

Governance

The framework that ensures projects are managed in alignment with policies and objectives. For example, PMO reviews every project for risk compliance and reporting accuracy.

Gold Plating

Adding more scope than the customer requested and/or that the team planned for.

Group Decision Techniques

Team working techniques to move a group towards consensus or decision. Examples are unanimity, majority, plurality, and dictatorship.

Growth Mindset

A growth mindset, as conceived by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck and colleagues, is the belief that a person's capacities and talents can be improved over time.

Ground Rules

Expectations regarding acceptable behavior by project team members.

H

Hybrid Project Management

Combines aspects of Agile and traditional Waterfall approaches. Useful when projects need structure and flexibility. For example, Use Waterfall for planning and Agile for development.

Huddle

A quick meeting (often used interchangeably with “stand-up”) to realign on goals or blockers. For example, A 10-minute afternoon huddle helps realign after a sudden scope change.

I

Ideal Time

An project estimation technique that refers to the time it would take to complete a given task assuming neither interruptions nor unplanned problems arise

Identify Risks

Performed throughout the project, this is the process of identifying individual project risks as well as sources of overall project risk and documenting their characteristics. The key benefit of this process is the documentation of existing individual project risks and the sources of overall project risk. It also brings together information so the project team can respond appropriately to identified risks.

Identify Stakeholders

Performed periodically, throughout the project as needed, this is 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. The key benefit of this process is that it enables the project team to identify the appropriate focus for engagement of each stakeholder or group of stakeholders.

Increment

Increment is a functional and usable piece of the product delivered at the end of each iteration in Scrum. It must meet the team's Definition of Done and be potentially shippable.

For example, After Sprint 1, the team delivers a working login module complete with UI and backend validation. This login functionality is an increment that could be released if needed.

Incremental Life Cycle

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.

Independent Estimates

Estimates generated by experts outside the project for the purposes of comparing them with those made by the team.

Indirect Costs

A cost usually tracked as part of a contract, that is not expended directly for the project’s benefit.

Inspection

Reviewing the functionality or suitability of a product, service, or result against the plan (requirements/story).

INVEST

An acronym describing the desirable attributes of a good story. Stands for: Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small and Testable.

Iteration

A timeboxed cycle of development on a product or deliverable in which all the work needed to deliver value is performed.

Iteration Backlog

The work that is committed to be performed during a given iteration and is expected to burn down the duration. The work does not carry over to the next iteration.

Iterative Life Cycle

A project life cycle in which 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/service increases. Iterations progressively develop the product/service through a series of repeated cycles, while increments successively add to the functionality of the product/service.

Initiation Phase

The formal start of a project where the overall scope, objectives, key stakeholders, and deliverables are defined. Budget approval and team formation may also begin here.

For example, During the initiation phase of a CRM upgrade project, stakeholders agree on business goals, assign a project manager, and define success criteria during a kickoff meeting.

Issue Log

A centralized tool or document used to record and monitor issues that could impact the project’s objectives or timeline. It includes the issue, owner, priority, and resolution steps. For example, The project team logs a delay in hardware delivery due to vendor issues, assigning it to the procurement lead with a deadline for follow-up.

K

Kanban

 A visual project management method focused on improving workflow efficiency by limiting WIP (Work In Progress) and visualizing task status. For example, A Kanban board in a software team has columns like “Backlog,” “To Do,” “In Progress,” “Testing,” and “Done,” helping teams track progress.

Kaizen

A management concept adapted by the project management community which refers to project activities that continuously improve all project processes. It usually involves all stakeholders. The concept originated in Japan and generally involves “change for the better” or “continuous improvement”.

Kano Model

A mechanism, derived from the customer marketing industry, to understand and classify all potential customer requirements or features into four categories

Knowledge Area

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. The knowledge areas intersect with the five respective Project Management Process Groups. Although the Knowledge Areas are interrelated, ten are defined separately in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®).

Kanban Cadence

Regular meetings and rhythms used in Kanban systems to support workflow such as replenishment, service delivery review, and flow review meetings. For example, The team meets every Thursday for a replenishment meeting to pull the next batch of work items into the Kanban board.

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

Quantifiable measures used to evaluate the success of an individual, team, or project in meeting objectives. For example, “Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)” and “Sprint Velocity” are used to measure delivery performance and user satisfaction.

Kick-off Meeting

A preliminary project meeting that aligns all stakeholders on the project plan, roles, and expectations before work begins. For example, The team holds a virtual kick-off to review the product roadmap and resolve any ambiguities before development starts.

L

Lag

Refers to the amount of time whereby a successor activity will be delayed with respect to a preceding activity on the critical path.

Late Finish

The latest date an activity can finish, without delaying the finish of the project.

Late Start

The latest that a project activity can start without having to reschedule the calculated early finish of the project.

Lead

The amount of time whereby a successor activity can be advanced with respect to predecessor activity.

Leadership

The ability to guide others to achieve results. Leadership abilities are gained through experience, building relationships, and taking on initiatives.

Leading

The act of establishing direction, aligning the team to a vision, and inspiring/motivating them to achieve a project’s objectives.

Lead Time

Refers to the period from the time the team places a task on the board until delivery. Because the order of the items in the Ready column can be changed, this can be unpredictable. See also “cycle time.”

Lean Six Sigma

A collaborative team method that provides an enhanced ability to target customer needs and measure performance during project execution and monitoring. It was introduced by American engineer Bill Smith while working at Motorola in 1986.

Lean

A philosophy and methodology focused on reducing waste, improving flow, and delivering value to the customer as efficiently as possible.For example, A Lean team identifies and removes unnecessary approval steps from their process, speeding up feature releases.

Lessons Learned

A documented summary of what went well, what didn’t, and what could be improved in future projects, typically reviewed at project closeout.For example, After completing an ERP implementation, the team notes in the lessons learned that unclear initial requirements led to rework and recommends better stakeholder alignment next time.

M

Majority

A group decision-making method in which a course of action is agreed upon by a pre-defined quorum.

Make-or-Buy Analysis

The process of gathering and organizing data about product/service requirements and analyzing data against available alternatives including the purchase or internal manufacture of the project.

Make-or-Buy Decisions

Decisions made regarding the external purchase versus internal manufacture of a product.

Market Research

Market research is the process of evaluating the feasibility of a new product or service, through research conducted directly with potential consumers.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

A theory of psychology explaining human motivation based on the pursuit of different levels of needs. The theory states that humans are motivated to fulfill their needs in a hierarchical order. This order begins with the most basic needs before moving on to more advanced needs. The ultimate goal, according to this theory, is to reach the fifth level of the hierarchy: self-actualization.

Matrix Organization

An organizational structure in which the project manager shares responsibility with the functional managers for assigning priorities and for directing the work of individuals assigned to the project.

Milestone

A key event or achievement in a project schedule that marks the completion of a significant phase or deliverable. For example, “Beta Launch Complete” is a milestone indicating that the product is ready for external testing.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

A Minimum Viable Product is a product version with just enough core features to satisfy early adopters and gather feedback for future development. For example, A startup builds an MVP of their ride-sharing app with only location matching and ride booking—leaving out chat and ratings.

Mitigate

A strategy for managing negative risks or threats and that involves taking action to reduce the probability of occurrence or the impact of a risk.

Modeling

An approach used in schedule management and risk management. This can assist in identification of problems or areas of risk with the project before they actually occur. See also “What-If Scenario” and “Monte Carlo Analysis”.

Monitor and Control Project Work

Performed throughout the project, this the process of tracking, reviewing, and reporting the overall progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan. The key benefits of this process are that it allows stakeholders to understand the current state of the project, to recognize the actions taken to address any performance issues, and to have visibility into the future project status with cost and schedule forecasts.

Monitor and Controlling Process Group

One of five Project Management Process Groups. Monitoring and controlling processes measure work results against the plan and make adjustments where variance exists.

Monitor Communications Process

This process determines if the planned communications artifacts and activities have had the desired effect of increasing or maintaining stakeholders’ support for the project’s deliverables and expected outcomes.

MoSCoW Prioritization

MoSCoW Prioritization is a method for ranking requirements as Must-Have, Should-Have, Could-Have, and Won’t-Have (this time). For example, In a project to build a shopping cart, “Checkout Functionality” is marked as Must-Have, “Product Recommendations” as Could-Have.

N

Negotiation

An approach used by more than one individual or group to come to an agreement or resolution that is mutually agreed by all parties.

Net Present Value (NPV)

The difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows over a period of time. NPV is used in capital budgeting and investment planning to analyze the financial viability of a projected investment or project.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Measures a customer’s willingness to recommend a provider’s products or services to another on a scale of -100 to 100.

Network Diagram

A graph that shows the activities, duration, and interdependencies of tasks within a project.

Non-Functional Requirements (NFRs)

Requirements that define system qualities and constraints such as performance, security, and usability rather than specific behaviors. For example, “The mobile app should load within 2 seconds over 4G” is a performance NFR.

O

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) is a goal-setting framework that connects high-level objectives with measurable key results to track progress and alignment. For example, Objective: Increase mobile user retention.
Key Result 1: Improve 30-day retention from 20% to 35%.
Key Result 2: Reduce onboarding time from 5 minutes to 2 minutes.

Opportunity

A risk that, if developed, could create a positive effect on one or more project objectives.

Opportunity Cost

A concept applied to quantify the missed opportunity when deciding to use a resource (e.g., investment dollars) for one purpose versus another. Alternately opportunity cost is the loss of potential future return from the second-best unselected project. In other words, it is the opportunity (potential return) that will not be realized when one project is selected over another.

Organizational Chart

A diagram that shows the structure of an organization and the relationships and relative ranks of its parts and positions/jobs. It is typically a diagram that visually conveys a company's internal structure by detailing the roles, responsibilities, and relationships between individuals within an entity.

Organizational Culture

The underlying beliefs, assumptions, values, and behaviors that contribute to and define the unique social and psychological environment of an organization.

Organizational Process Assets (OPA)

Refers to all the implicit input or assets on processes used by an organization in operating a business. This may include business plans, processes, policies, protocols, and knowledge.

Organizational Change Management (OCM)

A structured approach to managing the people side of change to achieve desired business outcomes, minimize resistance, and ensure adoption.For example, During a digital transformation project, the OCM plan includes communication strategy, training sessions, and feedback channels for all impacted employees.

Osmotic Communication

Communication which occurs informally or indirectly and through means such as overhearing, as a result of people sitting in the same room/environment.

Output

A product, result, or service generated by a process. May be an input to a successor process.

Outsourcing

Moving beyond the organization to secure services and expertise from an outside source on a contract or short-term basis.

P

Parametric Estimating

An estimating technique in which an algorithm is used to calculate cost or duration based on historical data and project parameters. This technique is scalable and linear.

Pareto Chart

A histogram that is used to rank causes of problems in a hierarchical format. See also “80/20 Rule”.

Payback Period

The interval required to amass (via profit or value) the initial investment made for a project.

Persona

An imaginary person or identity created by the team to model interactions with the system to gather requirements.

Phase

Refers to a collection of activities within a project. Each project phase is goal oriented and ends at a milestone.

Phase Gate

A point 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.

Plan Communications Management

Performed periodically, as needed, throughout the project, this is the process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for project communications activities based on the information needs of each stakeholder or group, available organizational assets, and the needs of the project. The key benefit of this process is a documented approach to engage stakeholders effectively and efficiently by presenting relevant information in a timely manner.

Planned Value (PV)

The approved value of the work to be completed for a specific period of time.

Planning package

A WBS component below the control account with known work content but without detailed schedule activities.

Planning Poker

Agile exercise to help the team estimate work.

Planning Process Group

One of the five Project Management Process Groups. It consists of 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.

PMBOK®

PMBOK® stands for Project Management Body of Knowledge, and it is the entire collection of processes, best practices, terminologies, and guidelines that are accepted as standard within the project management industry.

PMBOK® Guide

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) is the Project Management Institute’s flagship publication representing standards in the business area of project management. It is currently in its Seventh Edition.

Portfolio

Projects, programs, subsidiary portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives.

Power/Influence Grid

A classification model that groups stakeholders on the basis of their levels of authority and involvement in the project.

Power/Interest Grid

A classification model that groups stakeholders on the basis of their levels of authority and interest in the project.

Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)

A technique used to create the network diagram. It constructs 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.

Predictive Life Cycle

Project management approach in which activities are completed in a distinct or linear fashion and a new phase begins only when the previous phase is completed. Value is delivered at the completion of the project in the form of deliverables. Also known as “Waterfall”.

Present Value (PV)

The current value of a future sum of money or stream of cash flows given a specific rate of return.

Preventative Action

Action taken to proactively prevent or avoid anticipated future problems. This is closely tied to risk management.

Prevention

A concept in quality management that indicates that quality cannot be inspected into a product but should be planned for from the start to avoid problems.

Probability and Impact Matrix

A grid for mapping the probability of occurrence of each risk and its impact on project objectives if that risk occurs.

Probability Distribution

The scattering of values assigned to likelihood in a sample population. It can be visually depicted in the form of a probability density function (PDF).

Product Backlog

A prioritized list of features, bug fixes, technical tasks, and enhancements that make up the to-do list for a product team. For example, Items like “Add payment gateway,” “Fix mobile layout bug,” and “Improve onboarding tutorial” are included in the product backlog.

Program Increment (PI)

A timeboxed planning interval in the SAFe framework (typically 8–12 weeks) during which an Agile Release Train delivers incremental value in the form of working software. For example, A PI planning consists of five Sprints, with a planning event at the beginning and a system demo at the end to showcase integrated value.

Project Charter

A formal document that authorizes the existence of a project, outlines objectives, identifies stakeholders, and gives the project manager authority to use organizational resources. For example, The project charter for a new mobile app defines the target market, project timeline, team roles, and expected ROI.

Project Life Cycle

The sequence of phases a project goes through from initiation to closure, typically: Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring/Controlling, and Closing. For example, A web application project begins with stakeholder interviews (Initiation), defines milestones and timelines (Planning), develops features (Execution), tracks performance (Monitoring), and concludes with handover (Closing).

Project Budget

A set amount of financial or time-based resources assigned to complete a specific project. For example, A marketing team receives a $25,000 budget to launch a product campaign.

Project Plan

A comprehensive roadmap detailing all tasks, timelines, stakeholders, resources, and goals needed to complete a project. For example, The brand campaign project plan in Asana outlines milestones, task owners, and deadlines in a list view.

Project Objectives

 The defined outcomes or goals a team aims to achieve by the end of a project. For example, “Increase product signups by 25% in Q2” is a measurable objective tied to a product growth initiative.

Project Scope

A documented outline of the work, deliverables, timeline, and goals required for a project. It ensures everyone is aligned on what's included—and what’s not. For example, A website redesign project scope includes updating the homepage, product pages, and mobile layout—but excludes backend development.

Product Owner

Product owner is an individual or an organization who is responsible for gathering inputs about a product from the customer and translating the requirements into the product vision for the team and stakeholders.

Product Life Cycle

Product life cycle is a series of phases that represent the evolution of a product, from concept through delivery, growth, maturity, and to retirement.

Progressive Elaboration

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.

Project Sponsor

A person or group who provides resources and support for the project, program, or portfolio and is accountable for enabling success. See also “Sponsor”.

Project Team

A set of individuals performing the work of the project to achieve its objectives.

Projectized Organization

A structure in which a project manager and a core project team operate as a separate organizational unit within the parent organization.

Prompt List

A checklist for a specific category of risk. This tool is a simple series of broad risks, for example environmental or legal, rather than specific risks, such as flooding or regulatory changes. The idea is to push (prompt) the team to think and brainstorm the risks in groups and eventually prioritize the same.

Prototypes

A method of obtaining early feedback on user requirements by building a working model of the expected product. Prototypes can be used to solicit aesthetics, functionalities etc. Several iterations maybe displayed.

Pull Communications

Messages that require the interested people to access the information based on their own initiative.

Push Communications

Messages that are sent out to people who need to receive the information.

Q

Qualitative Risk Analysis

A technique used to determine the probability of occurrence and the impact of identified risk.

Quality

The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements.

Quality Audit

A structured, independent process to determine if project activities comply with organizational and project policies, processes, and procedures.

Quality Assurance (QA)

The proactive process of ensuring a product meets quality standards through systematic activities like test planning, code reviews, and process audits.For example, QA engineers write and execute test cases for the new login module, catching three bugs before the  sprint demo.

Quality Management Plan

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 Metric

A description of a project or product attribute and how to measure it.

Quality Policy

The basic principles that should govern the organization’s actions as it implements its system for quality management.

Quality Report

A project document that includes quality management issues, recommendations for corrective actions, and a summary of findings from quality control activities and may include recommendations for process, project, and product improvements.

Quantitative Risk Analysis

Technique used to assess the risk exposure events to overall project objectives and determine the confidence levels of achieving the project objectives.

Questionnaires

Written sets of questions designed to quickly gather information from many respondents.

R

RACI Chart

Stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. A common type of responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) that uses responsible, accountable, consult, and inform statuses to define the involvement of stakeholders in project activities.

RAID Log

A project management tool that tracks Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies, helping teams monitor and manage key project elements. For example, A RAID log entry includes “Assumption: Cloud service will be available without delay,” and “Dependency: Vendor delivery by June 1.”

Recognition

A more personalized, intangible, and experiential event that focuses on behavior rather than outcome.

Refactoring

Refers to software development. Improving the design of the code so that it is easier to test, debug, and maintain.

Resource Management

 The process of planning, scheduling, and managing the resources required for a project, including time, personnel, tools, and equipment. It ensures optimal utilization of available resources. For example, A project manager plans design tasks for two UX designers to ensure they’re not overbooked across multiple projects.

Regulations

Requirements imposed by a governmental body. These requirements can establish product, process, or service characteristics, including applicable administrative provisions that have government-mandated compliance.

Relative Authority

The project manager’s authority relative to the functional manager’s authority over the project and the project team.

Relative Estimating

Also called sizing. The process of estimating stories or backlog tasks in relation to each other instead of in units of time.

Request for Information (RFI)

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 Proposal (RFP)

RFP is 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 Quotation (RFQ)

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.

Requirement

A measurable condition or capability that must be present in a product, service, or result to satisfy a business need.

Requirements Management Plan

A component of the project or program management plan that describes how requirements will be analyzed, documented, and managed.

Reserve

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 risks are meant to be mitigated. See also “Buffer”.

Reserve Analysis

A method used to evaluate the amount of risk on the project and the amount of schedule and budget reserve to determine whether the reserve is sufficient for the remaining risk.

Resource

A skilled individual or team, equipment, services, supplies, commodities, materials, budgets, or funds required to accomplish the defined work.

Resource Breakdown Structure

A hierarchical representation of resources by category and type.

Resource Calendar

A calendar that identifies the working days and shifts for which each specific resource is available.

Resource Histogram

A bar chart that represents when a resource will be needed in the project.

Resource Levelling

A resource optimization technique in which adjustments are made to the project schedule to optimize the allocation of resources and which may affect the critical path.

Resource Management Plan

A component of the project management plan that describes how project resources are acquired, allocated, monitored, and controlled.

Resource Optimization Techniques

A technique in which activity start and finish dates are adjusted to balance demand for resources with the available supply. See also “Resource Levelling” and “Resource Smoothing”.

Resource requirements

The types and quantities of resources required for each activity in a work package.

Resource Smoothing

A resource optimization technique in which free and total float are used without affecting the critical path. See also “Resource Levelling” and “Resource Optimization Technique”.

Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)

A grid that shows the project resources assigned to each work package.

Resource Allocation

The process of assigning available resources—such as budget, time, or team members—to specific tasks in a project. For example, Allocating 40 developer hours and a $10,000 budget to the MVP release phase.

S

Salience Model

A classification model that groups stakeholders according to level of authority, immediate needs, and how appropriate their involvement is in terms of the project.

Schedule Baseline

The approved version of a schedule model that can be changed using formal change control procedures and is used as the basis of comparison to actual results. It is one of the main project documents that should be created before the project starts.

Schedule Compression

A method used to shorten the schedule duration without reducing the project scope.

Schedule Forecast

Estimates or predictions of conditions and events in the project’s future based on information and knowledge available at the time the schedule is calculated.

Schedule Management Plan

A component of the project or program management plan that establishes the criteria and the activities for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule.

Schedule Performance Index (SPI)

A measure of schedule efficiency, expressed as the ratio of earned value to planned value.

Schedule Variance (SV)

A measure of schedule performance is expressed as the difference between the earned value and the planned value.

Scope Baseline

The approved version of a scope statement, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and its associated WBS dictionary can be changed using formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison to actual results.

Scope Creep

The uncontrolled expansion of a project's scope without adjustments to time, cost, or resources, often leading to delays or budget overruns. For example, Originally tasked with building a website, the team is later asked to add a mobile app and chatbot without extending the deadline—this is scope creep.

Scrum

An Agile framework that promotes iterative development, cross-functional teamwork, and regular feedback through events like Sprints, Daily Scrums, and Retrospectives.

For example, A team follows Scrum by working in two-week sprints, holding daily standup meetings, and reviewing progress with stakeholders during Sprint Reviews.

Scrum Master

A servant leader who facilitates Scrum practices, removes impediments, and helps the team stay aligned with Agile principles. For example, The Scrum Master notices low participation in retrospectives and experiments with different formats to encourage more feedback from the team.

Scrum of Scrums (SoS)

A technique to operate Scrum at scale for several teams working on the same product, coordinating discussions of progress on their interdependencies, and focusing on how to integrate the delivery of software, especially in areas of overlap.

Scrum Team

Dedicated, self-managing, cross-functional, fully empowered individuals who deliver the finished work required by the customer.

Self-Organizing Team

A cross-functional team in which people fluidly assume leadership as needed to achieve the team’s objectives. See also “cross-functional team.”

Sensitivity Analysis

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.

Spike 

An agile term emerging from Extreme Programming (XP). Refers to timeboxed work for the purpose of answering a question or gathering information, rather than producing a viable product.

Sprint

A fixed timebox (usually 1–4 weeks) during which a Scrum team delivers a potentially shippable product increment. For example, In a two-week sprint, the team builds a feature allowing users to upload profile pictures and ensures it meets the Definition of Done.

Sprint Planning

Sprint Planning is a Scrum event where the team collaborates to define the Sprint Goal, select Product Backlog items to work on, and create a plan for delivering them. It sets the direction and scope for the upcoming Sprint based on team capacity and priorities.

Sprint Review

Sprint Review is held at the end of the Sprint to inspect the completed work and gather feedback. The Scrum Team presents the Increment to stakeholders, discusses what was accomplished, and updates the Product Backlog based on insights gained during the session.

Sprint Retrospective

Sprint Retrospective is a team-focused meeting held after the Sprint Review to reflect on the Sprint process. The team identifies successes, challenges, and opportunities for improvement to enhance collaboration, effectiveness, and overall performance in future Sprints.

Stakeholder

Any individual, group, or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a project’s outcome. For example, A marketing manager who will use the new CRM platform is a key stakeholder and is regularly consulted during development.

Stakeholder Analysis

A technique of systematically gathering and analyzing quantitative and qualitative information to determine whose interests should be considered throughout the project.

Stakeholder Cube

A three-dimensional classification model that builds on the previous two-dimensional grids to group stakeholders.

Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix

A matrix that compares current and desired stakeholder engagement levels.

Stakeholder Engagement Plan

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. Used to understand stakeholder communication requirements and the level of stakeholder engagement in order to assess and adapt to the level of stakeholder participation in requirements activities.

Stakeholder Register

A project document including the identification, assessment, and classification of project stakeholders.

Standard

A document established by an authority, custom or general consent as a model or example.

Standard Deviation (SD)

Statistical concept that gives a measure of the duration uncertainty and risk in project time estimation. SD represented by the Greek letter sigma (σ). A low value for the SD indicates that that data points are close to the mean or the expected value of the set, while a high value indicates that the data points are spread out over a wider range.

Start-to-Finish (SF)

A logical relationship in which a predecessor activity cannot finish until a successor activity has started.

Start-to-Start (SS)

A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has started.

Statement of Work (SOW)

A formal document that outlines the scope, deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities for a specific project or contract. For example, The SOW for a new software build includes feature specs, design requirements, and a phased delivery schedule.

Story

Describes the smallest unit of work in an agile framework. An informal, general explanation of a product, service, or software feature written from the end-user's perspective. Its purpose is to articulate how the feature will provide value to the customer. See also “User Story”.

Story Card

One unit of delivery for an agile team.

Story Map

A visual model of all the features and functionality desired for a given product, created to give the team a holistic view of what they are building and why.

Story Points

Story points are used in agile practice to estimate the amount of time it will take to complete a story item from the project backlog.

Storyboarding

The prototyping method that uses visuals or images to illustrate a process or represent a project outcome. Storyboards are useful to illustrate how a product, service, or application will function or operate when it is complete.

Supportive PMO

The type of PMO that provides a consultative role to projects by supplying templates, best practices, training, access to information, and lessons learned from other projects.

Sustainability

The planning, monitoring, and controlling of project delivery and support processes with consideration to environmental, economic, and social aspects of project-based working to meet the current needs of the stakeholders without compromising future generations.

Swarming

Act of all development team members working on only one requirement at a time during the sprint. Team members focus collectively to resolve a specific problem.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a grid used to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an organization, project, or option.

System

The rules, processes, procedures, people, and other elements that support an outcome or process. A project can have one or many systems, for example, work authorization system, change control system, information system, etc.

System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Typically used with software development projects, SDLC depicts the group of phases which encompass the entire project life cycle from start to finish. How the project is executed is defined by the methodology—waterfall, agile, iterative, incremental, etc.

T

Tacit Knowledge

Personal knowledge that can be difficult to articulate and share such as beliefs, experience, and insights.

Tailoring

The mindful selection and adjustment of multiple factors. Determining the appropriate combination of processes, inputs, tools, techniques, outputs, and life cycle phases to manage a project.

Task

An activity to be accomplished with a specific purpose within a defined period of time. See also “Activity”.

Task Board

Used to visualize the work and enable the team and stakeholders to track their progress as work is performed during an iteration. Examples of task boards include Kanban boards, to-do lists, procedure checklists, and Scrum boards.

Team Charter

A document that records the team values, agreements, and operating guidelines as well as establishes clear expectations regarding acceptable behavior by project team members.

Team Resource Management

The processes necessary to organize, manage, and lead the people on the project team as well as the processes needed to procure and manage physical resources for a project.

Timeboxing

 Timeboxing is the practice of allocating a fixed, maximum unit of time for an activity and completing it within that time. For example, The team allocates 2 hours to conduct sprint planning and moves on when the time is up, even if not everything is finalized.

Triple Constraint

 The triangle of scope, time, and cost that defines project constraints. Changing one affects the others. For example, Reducing project time may increase cost due to needing more resources.

Test-Driven Development (TDD)/Test-First Development

Derived from a software development practice, TDD helps in the design process by using repeated short development cycles. First the developer writes an (initially failing) automated test case that defines a desired improvement or new function. The team then produces the minimum amount of code to pass that test before finally refactoring the new code to acceptable standards.

Theory X

Refers to Theory X by Douglas McGregor which proposes that managers micro-manage their employees or team members because they assume their workers are unmotivated and dislike work. See also “Theory Y”.

Theory Y

Refers to Theory Y by Douglas McGregor which proposes that managers have an optimistic and positive opinion of their employees or team members, so this type of manager encourages a more collaborative, trust-based relationship between employees. See also “Theory X”.

Three-Point Estimating

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. Also called “triangular estimating”.

Time and Material (T&M) Contract

A type of contract that is a hybrid contractual arrangement containing aspects of both cost- reimbursable and fixed-price contracts.

To Complete Performance Index (TCPI)

The estimate of the future cost performance that may be needed to complete the project within the approved budget.

Tornado Diagram.

A special type of bar chart used in sensitivity analysis for comparing the relative importance of the variables.

Total Float

The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or extended from its early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a schedule constraint.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

An approach to improve business results through an emphasis on customer satisfaction, employee development, and processes rather than on functions.

U

Unique Identification Code

A specific configuration of a code of accounts that assigns a particular alphanumeric sequence of characters to each element of a WBS.

Use Case

A detailed description of a system’s behavior in response to a user’s interaction. For example, “User logs into the banking app and transfers funds” is a use case scenario.

User Story

A User story is a short, simple description of a feature from the perspective of the end user. For example, “As a user, I want to reset my password so that I can regain access to my account.”

V

Validate Scope

The process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables.

Validation

The assurance that a product, service, or result meets the needs of the customer and other identified stakeholders. See also “Verification”.

Value Stream

The full lifecycle of a product or service from concept to delivery that provides value to the customer. For example, From idea generation, design, development, and testing to deployment—each step adds value to the final product.

Value Stream Mapping

Value stream mapping is a Lean enterprise technique used to document, analyze, and improve the flow of information or materials required to produce a product or service for a customer.

Variability Control Charts

Used to analyze and communicate the variability of a process or project activity over time. See also “Control Charts”.

Variable Sampling Data

Data from a sample that is measured on a continuous scale such as time, temperature, or weight.

Variance

A quantifiable deviation, departure, or divergence away from a known baseline or expected value.

Variance Analysis

A technique for determining the cause and degree of difference between the baseline and the actual performance.

Variance at Completion (VAC)

A formula that measures a project’s actual cost, compared with the budgeted amount. It is the difference from the budget at completion (BAC) and the estimate at completion (EAC). The formula is VAC = BAC – EAC.

Velocity

Velocity is the amount of work a team completes during a sprint, measured in story points or work items. For example, the team’s average velocity over the last three sprints is 30 story points.

Version Control

A system that records changes to a file, in a way that allows users to retrieve previous changes made to it.

Vision Statement

A concise description of the long-term mission and direction of a product or project. For example, “To simplify personal finance management for millennials” is the vision behind a new fintech app.

W

Warranty

A promise, explicit or implied, that goods or services will meet a predetermined standard. Usually limited to a specific period of time.

Waterfall Model

 A traditional project management methodology where work is done sequentially from requirements to deployment.

WBS Dictionary

A document that provides detailed deliverable, activity, and scheduling information about each component in the work breakdown structure (WBS).

What-If Scenario

Used in the Develop Schedule process, this technique evaluates different scenarios to predict their effects–both positive and negative–on the project objectives.

Wideband Delphi Estimating

Consensus-based estimation technique for estimating effort.

Wireframe

A non-functional interface design (not written in code) that shows the key elements and how they would interact to give the user an idea of how the system would function.

Work Authorization System

Used to ensure that work gets performed at the right time, in the right sequence, and with the right resources. This can be formal or informal. For example, in a Waterfall approach, the team finishes all design before starting development.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 

WBS or Work Breakdown Structure is a hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work into manageable tasks. For example, a software project WBS includes categories like “UI Design,” “Backend Development,” and “Testing.”

Work In Progress (WIP)

Tasks that have been started but not yet completed. Managing WIP helps control flow in Agile and Lean systems. For example, a Kanban board limits WIP in the “In Progress” column to 3 items to avoid overloading the team.

X

XP Metaphor

A common Extreme Programming (XP) technique that describes a common vision of how a program works.

Z

Zero Defects

A quality management philosophy focused on doing things right the first time to prevent defects rather than fixing them later. For example, the QA team promotes a zero-defects mindset through pair testing and early bug triaging.