PMI-PBA

acceptance criteria

A set of conditions that is required to be met before deliverables are accepted

active listening

The act of listening completely with all senses so as to pick up all of the information that is being communicated.

activity

A distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during the course of a project.

adaptive life cycle

A project life cycle, also known as change-driven or agile methods, that is intended to facilitate change and requires a high degree of ongoing stakeholder involvement.

affinity diagram

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

approved change request

A change request that has been processed through the integrated change control process and approved.

architecture

A method to describe an organization by mapping its essential characteristics, such as people, locations, processes, applications, data, and technology.

as is process

A depiction of the current state of a process, representing how a process is currently performed in the organization.

assumption

A factor that is considered to be true, real, or certain, without proof or demonstration.

asynchronous interview

An interview in which the participants are not engaged in the interview at the same time.

backlog

A listing of product requirements and deliverables to be completed, written as stories, and prioritize by the business to manage and organize the project's work.

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.

benchmarking

The comparison of actual or planned practices, such as processes and operations, to those of comparable organizations to identify best practices, generate ideas for improvement, and provide a basis for measuring performance.

brainstorming

A general data gathering and creativity technique that is used to identify risks, ideas, or solutions to issues by using a group of team members or subject matter experts.

burndown

A visual chart depicting the number of backlog items remaining at any point in time in a project.

business analysis

The set of activities performed to identify business needs; recommend relevant solutions; and elicit, document, and manage requirements.

business analysis approach

A description of how the business analysis process will be conducted for the project or program.

business analysis center of excellence

an organizational structure created whereby business analysts are managed centrally or are provided membership centrally for the purpose of improving the business analysis discipline across the organization. (aka Center of Business Analysis Practice)

business analysis documentation

The set of business analysis information produced as an output of the business analysis work conducted on a program or project. Such output may be comprised of business analysis deliverables, business analysis work products, or a combination thereof.

business analysis plan

A subplan of the project management plan that defines the business analysis approach, including the tasks that will be performed, the deliverables that will be produced, the roles required to carry out the process, and process decisions regarding how requirement-related decisions will be made...

business analysis planning

The domain of business analysis that involves planning all of the business analysis activities and reaching the necessary process decisions required for running an effective business analysis process for a program or project.

business architechture

A collection of the business functions, organizational structures, locations, and processes of an organization, including documents and depictions of those elements.

business case

A documented economic feasibility study used to establish the validity of the benefits of a selected component lacking sufficient definition and used as a basis for the authorization of further project management activities.

business need

The impetus for a change in an organization, based on an existing problem or opportunity

business objective model

A business analysis model that relates the business problems, business objectives, and top-level features. This model encompasses the justification for a project.

business requirements

Requirements that describe the higher-level needs of the organization, such as the business issues or opportunities, and which provide the rationale for why a project is being undertaken.

business rule

Constraints about how the organization wants to operate. These constraints are usually enforced by data and/or processes and are under the jurisdiction of the business.

business rules analysis

A process for evaluating, designing, and implementing the rules that govern the organization, its processes, and its data.

business rules catalog

A business analysis model that details all of the business rules and their related attributes.

business value

The return in the form of time, money, goods, or intangibles in return for something exchanged.

capability

Ability to add value or achieve objectives in an organization through a function, process, service or other proficiency.

capability framework

A table that displays the capabilities needed to solve a problem or seize an opportunity. This tool can show the relationship between a situation, its root causes, and the capabilities needed to address the situation.

cause and effect diagram

A decomposition technique that helps trace an undesirable effect back to its root cause.

change control

A process whereby modifications to documents, deliverables, or baselines associated with the project are identified, documented, approved, or rejected.

change control board

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 tools

Manual or automated tools used to assist with change and/or configuration management. At a minimum, the tools should support the activities of the CCB.

change management plan

The plan that defines the process for managing change on a project.

change request

A formal proposal to modify any document, deliverable, or baseline.

closed-ended questions

A question that calls for a response form a limited list of answer choices. forced choice, limited choice, or confirmation

communication 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.

configuration management

A collection of formal documented processes, templates, and documentation used to apply governance to changes to the product, service, result, or subcomponent being developed.

configuration management system

A subsystem of the overall project management system. It is a collection of formal documented procedures used to apply technical and administrative direction and surveillance to: identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a product, result, service, or component; control any changes to such characteristics; record and report each change and its implementation status; and support the audit of the products, results, or components to verify conformance to requirements. It includes the documentation, tracking systems, and defined approval levels necessary for authorizing and controlling changes.

constraint

A limiting factor that affects the execution of a project, program, portfolio, or process.

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.

contextual questions

A question that can only be answered as it references the subject at hand; namely, the problem domain or the proposed solution.

context-free question

A question that can be asked in any situation.

cost-benefit analysis

A financial analysis tool used to determine the benefits provided by a project against its costs.

cost-effectiveness feasibility

The high-level economic feasibility of a potential project or program, taking into account both financial benefits and costs

data dictionary

A business analysis model that catalogs the attributes of specific data objects.

data flow diagram

A business analysis model that combines processes, systems, and data to show how data flows through a solution.

day in the life testing

A semiformal activity, conducted by someone with in-depth business knowledge. The results enable validation or evaluation of whether or not a product or service or solution provides the functionality for a typical day of usage by a role that interacts with the solution.

decision table

An analysis model that uses a tabular format to display complex business rules by representing decision points in the upper rows and outcomes in the bottom rows with the purpose of providing all combinations of choices.

decision tree

Model that shows business rules associated with complex branching logic. Rules are depicted by modeling the decisions and their outcomes in a tree structure.

decomposition model

A model that is used to divide and subdivide a high-level concept into lower-level concepts.

defect repair

An intentional activity to modify a nonconforming product or product component.

deliverable

Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is required to be produced to complete a process, phase, or project.

dependency analysis

A technique that is used to discover dependent relationships

display-action-response model

A business analysis model that dissects a screen mock-up into its display and behavior requirements at the page element level

document analysis

An elicitation technique that analyzes existing documentation and identifies information relevant to the requirements.

ecosystem map

A business analysis model that shows the systems involved in a project and how they interrelate with each other.

elicitation plan

An informal device used by a business analyst to prepare for the elicitation work

elicitation session

A session or activity conducted for the purpose of obtaining information from participants to define requirements.

enterprise architecture

A collection of the business and technology components needed to operate an enterprise. The business architecture is usually a subset of the enterprise architecture and is extended with the applications, information, and supporting technology to form a complete blueprint of an organization

entity relationship diagram

A business analysis model that shows the business data objects involved in a project and the relationships between those objects, including the cardinality of those relationships.

estimate

An approximation of a number based on reasonable assumptions

expert judgment

Judgment provided based upon expertise in an application area, knowledge area, discipline, industry, etc., as appropriate for the activity being performed. Such expertise may be provided by any group or person with specialized education, knowledge, skill, experience, or training.

exploratory testing

An unscripted, free-form validation or evaluation activity conducted by someone with in-depth business or testing knowledge to validate the product and discover product errors

facilitated workshops

An elicitation technique using focused sessions that bring key cross-functional stakeholders together to define product requirements.

feasibility analysis

A study that produces a potential recommendation to address business needs. It examines feasibility using one or more of the following variables: operational, technology/system, cost-effectiveness, and timeliness of the potential solution.

feature

A set of related requirements typically described as a short phase

feature model

Shows the first, second, and third level of features involved in a project.

fishbone diagram

A version of a cause-and-effect diagram that depicts problem and its root cause in a visual manner. It uses a fish image, listing the problem at the head, with causes and subcauses of the problem represented as bones of the fish.

five whys

A technique for conducting root cause analysis suggesting anyone trying to understand a problem needs to ask why it is occurring up to five times to thoroughly understand its causes

focus groups

An elicitation technique that brings together prequalified stakeholders and subject matter experts to learn about their expectations and attitudes about a proposed product, service, or result.

functional requirements

Requirements that describe the behaviors of a product.

gap analysis

A technique for understanding the gap between current capabilities and needed capabilities.

grooming the backlog

A process used on agile projects where the product team works with the product owner to gain more depth about the user stories in the backlog list.

high-fidelity prototyping

A method of prototyping that creates a functioning representation of the final finished product to the user.

impact analysis

A technique for evaluating a change in relation to how it will affect other requirements, the product, the program, and the project

iterative life cycle

A project life cycle where Iterations develop the product through a series of repeated cycles, while increments successively add to the functionality of the product.

interrelationship diagram

A special type of cause-and-effect diagram that depicts related cause and effects for a given situation.

internal rate of return

The projected annual yield of a project investment, incorporating both initial and ongoing costs into an estimated percentage growth rate a given project is expected to have.

interviews

A formal or informal approach to elicit information from a group of stakeholders by asking questions and documenting the responses provided by the interviewees.

ishikawa

fishbone and cause-and-effect diagram

issue

A point or matter in question or in dispute, or a point or matter that is not settled and is under discussion or over which there are opposing views or disagreements.

iterative life cycle

A project life cycle where the project scope is generally determined early in the project life cycle, but time and cost estimates are routinely modified as the project team's understanding of the product increases. Iterations develop the product through a series of repeated cycles, while increments successively add to the functionality of the product.

job analysis

A technique used to identify job requirements and the competencies needed to perform effectively in a specific job.

kanban

An adaptive life cycle in which project work items are pulled from a backlog and started when other project work items are completed

kanban board

A tool used within the continuousimprovement method of kanban to visually depict workflow and capacity and assist team members in seeing the work that is planned, in process or completed.

key performance indicator

Metrics usually defined by an organization's executives that are used to evaluate an organization's progress toward meeting its objectives or goals.

key stakeholders

A stakeholder who is identified as having a significant stake in the project or program and who holds key responsibilities such as approving requirements or approving changes to product scope.

lessons learned

The knowledge gained during a project which shows how project events were addressed or should be addressed in the future for the purpose of improving future performance.

low-fidelity prototype

A method of prototyping that provides fixed sketches, diagrams, and notes to provide a visual representation of what a screen will look like.

measure

A quantity of some element at a point in time or during a specific time period, the number of defects uncovered, or the number of customers responding to a survey stating that they were extremely satisfied.

metric

A set of quantifiable measures used to evaluate a solution or business.

model

A visual representation of information, both abstract and specific, which operates under a set of guidelines in order to efficiently arrange and convey a lot of information in an efficient manner.

modeling language

A set of models and their syntax. Examples include Requirements Modeling Language (RML), Unified Modeling Language (UML), Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), and System Modeling Language (SysML)

monitoring

The process of collecting project performance data, producing performance measures, and reporting and disseminating performance information.

MoSCoW

A technique used for establishing requirement priorities. The participants divide the requirements into four categories of must haves, should haves, could haves, and won't haves.

multivoting process

Participants are provided with a limited number of votes and are asked to apply those votes to a list of possible options. The options with the most votes is most favorable.