1 - 4 - Phase of Project Management

120 English vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from Project Management Fundamentals lectures.

Project Management

The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.

Project

A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.

Strategic Planning (Role of Projects)

Using projects as vehicles to achieve an organization’s strategic objectives beyond normal operations.

Portfolio

A collection of programs, projects, sub-portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives.

Program

A group of related projects, subprograms, and activities managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.

Operations

Ongoing, repetitive work that produces the same outputs and follows institutionalized procedures.

Project Management Office (PMO)

A management structure that standardizes project governance and facilitates sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques.

Project Manager

The person assigned to lead the team responsible for achieving the project objectives and managing constraints such as scope, schedule, and cost.

Scope

The work required to deliver a product, service, or result with specified features and functions.

Schedule

The planned dates for starting and finishing project activities and deliverables.

Budget/Cost

The approved financial resources allocated to complete the project.

Quality

The degree to which project deliverables fulfill requirements and fitness-for-use.

Risk

An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on project objectives.

Resources

Personnel, equipment, materials, or funds required to perform project activities.

Change

Any modification to a project’s deliverables, processes, or baselines that must be controlled through formal procedures.

Iterative Process

A cyclical approach in which processes are repeated to progressively elaborate and improve project outputs.

Project Management Process Groups

Five logical groupings of processes:

1. Initiating,

2. Planning,

3. Executing,

4. Monitoring & Controlling,

5. Closing.

Initiating Process Group

Processes that define a new project or phase and obtain formal authorization to start it.

Planning Process Group

Processes that establish total project scope, define objectives, and develop the course of action to attain them.

Executing Process Group

Processes used to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy project requirements.

Monitoring and Controlling Process Group

Processes that track, review, and regulate progress and performance, identifying areas where plan changes are needed.

Closing Process Group

Processes that formally complete or close a project or phase and hand off deliverables.

Project Life Cycle

A series of phases a project passes through from initiation to closure, often sequential but sometimes overlapping.

Project Phase

A collection of related project activities that results in completion of one or more deliverables.

Sequential Relationship

A phase can start only after the previous phase is complete.

Overlapping Relationship

A phase starts before the prior phase finishes, allowing parallel work.

Iterative Relationship

Only the current phase is planned in detail; future phases are planned as the project progresses.

Project Governance

An oversight framework aligned with organizational governance, providing structure and decision-making for the project life cycle.

Functional Organization

A hierarchical structure where staff are grouped by specialty and each has one clear supervisor.

Projectized Organization

An organization where most resources are dedicated to projects and project managers have high authority.

Matrix Organization

A blend of functional and projectized characteristics with shared authority between functional and project managers.

Weak Matrix

Matrix structure where the project manager acts mainly as a coordinator and functional managers hold authority.

Balanced Matrix

Matrix structure providing a project manager but without full authority over resources or budget.

Strong Matrix

Matrix structure with a full-time project manager who has significant authority and dedicated staff.

Functional Manager

Leader responsible for policy, procedures, and technical oversight within a functional department, lending resources to projects.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

A hierarchical decomposition of project work into smaller, more manageable components called work packages.

Work Package

The lowest level of the WBS where work is defined and cost and duration can be estimated and managed.

Control Account

A management control point where scope, cost, and schedule are integrated for performance measurement.

WBS Dictionary

Supporting document that provides detailed information about each WBS element, including descriptions and milestones.

Decomposition

Breaking down project deliverables into smaller, detailed components for better planning and control.

Rolling Wave Planning

Progressive elaboration technique where near-term work is planned in detail and future work at a higher level until closer.

Scope Baseline

Approved version of the project scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary used for comparison during execution.

Schedule Baseline

Approved version of the project schedule used to measure and control time performance.

Cost Performance Baseline

Approved time-phased budget used to measure and monitor cost performance on the project.

Performance Measurement Baseline

Integrated scope-schedule-cost plan against which project execution is compared to measure performance.

Project Charter

Document that formally authorizes a project, names the project manager, and gives authority to apply resources.

Business Case

Analysis that justifies a project by evaluating benefits, costs, and alignment with business needs.

Statement of Work (SOW)

Narrative description of products or services to be delivered by the project.

Preliminary Scope Statement

High-level definition of project scope created during Initiating to guide detailed planning.

Project Management Plan

Comprehensive document that describes how the project will be executed, monitored, controlled, and closed.

Subsidiary Plan

Component plan within the project management plan (e.g., risk, quality, procurement management plans).

Decision Matrix

Weighted scoring tool used by teams to evaluate and prioritize multiple options against set criteria.

Corrective Action

Documented instruction to bring expected future project performance in line with the plan by addressing past variances.

Preventive Action

Documented instruction to ensure anticipated future project performance aligns with the plan by avoiding potential issues.

Defect Repair

Formally documented recommendation to modify or replace a component that is non-conforming.

Acquire Project Team

Process of confirming resource availability and assigning needed personnel to the project.

Develop Project Team

Process of improving competencies, interaction, and overall team environment to enhance performance.

Manage Project Team

Process of tracking performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing changes affecting the team.

Manage Stakeholder Expectations

Communication and work with stakeholders to meet needs, address issues, and foster project acceptance.

Administrative Closure

Procedure documenting all activities needed to formally conclude project processes and archive information.

Monitor and Control Project Work

Tracking, reviewing, and regulating progress to meet performance objectives defined in the project management plan.

Integrated Change Control

Process of reviewing all change requests, approving changes, and managing their impact on project documents and baselines.

Change Request

Formal proposal to modify a document, deliverable, or baseline.

Configuration Management for Change

System for identifying and controlling changes to project documents, deliverables, and baselines.

Scope Creep

Uncontrolled expansion of project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources.

Variance Analysis

Technique of comparing planned versus actual performance to identify deviations.

Accepted Deliverables

Products, results, or services formally signed off by the customer or sponsor as meeting requirements.

Requirements Traceability Matrix

Table linking requirements to their origin and tracking them throughout the project life cycle.

Define Scope

Developing a detailed description of the project and product, resulting in the project scope statement.

Project Scope Statement

Document describing project scope, major deliverables, assumptions, constraints, and acceptance criteria.

Product Scope

• Features and functions that characterize a product, service, or result

• The work that must be performed to deliver a product with specified features and functions.

Validate Scope

Process of formalizing acceptance of completed deliverables with the customer or sponsor.

Control Scope

Monitoring status of project scope and managing changes to the scope baseline.

Plan Schedule Management

Process of establishing policies, procedures, and documentation for planning and controlling the schedule.

Activity List

Comprehensive catalog of all schedule activities required on the project.

Activity Attributes

Additional details about schedule activities such as predecessors, successors, leads, lags, and resource needs.

Milestone

A significant, zero-duration point or event in the project, marking completion of major deliverables or phases.

Sequence Activities

Identifying and documenting logical relationships among schedule activities.

Network Diagram

Graphical representation of activities and their dependencies in the project schedule.

Precedence Relationship

Logical dependency between two schedule activities (FS, FF, SS, or SF).

Finish-to-Start (FS)

Successor activity cannot begin until the predecessor activity finishes.

Finish-to-Finish (FF)

Successor activity cannot finish until the predecessor activity finishes.

Start-to-Start (SS)

Successor activity cannot start until the predecessor activity starts.

Start-to-Finish (SF)

Successor activity cannot finish until the predecessor activity starts.

Mandatory Dependency

Relationship that is contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work (hard logic).

Discretionary Dependency

Preferred relationship based on best practices or desired sequencing (soft logic).

External Dependency

Relationship between project activities and non-project activities beyond the team’s control.

Internal Dependency

Relationship between project activities within the project team’s control.

Lead

Amount of time a successor activity can be advanced with respect to its predecessor, accelerating the schedule.

Lag

Amount of time a successor activity is delayed with respect to its predecessor, inserting waiting time.

Estimate Activity Resources

Determining the types and quantities of resources required for each activity.

Resource Breakdown Structure

Hierarchical decomposition of resources by category and type used in the project.

Activity Resource Requirement

Document detailing the type and number of resources needed for each activity.

Resource Calendar

Schedule identifying when specific resources are available or committed to project work.

Estimate Activity Durations

Estimating the number of work periods needed to complete each activity with given resources.

Analogous Estimating

Using actual durations from a similar previous project to estimate future activity durations.

Parametric Estimating

Using statistical relationships between historical data and variables to calculate activity durations.

Activity Duration Estimate

Quantitative assessment of likely work periods required for an activity, often expressed as a range.

Critical Path Method

Schedule network analysis technique that identifies the longest path of activities determining project duration.

Critical Chain Method

Schedule technique that adds resource availability constraints to the critical path to create a feasible schedule.