PMP PMI Study Hall Plus Glossary

Acceptance Criteria

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

Accuracy

Within the quality management system, it is an assessment of correctness

Actual Cost (AC)

The realized cost incurred for the work performed on an activity during a specific time period

Adaptive Approach

A development approach in which the requirements are subject to a high level of uncertainty and volatility and are likely to change throughout the project

Agile Coach

An individual with knowledge and experience in agile who can train, mentor, and guide organizations and teams through their transformation

Agile Manifesto

The original and official definition of agile values and principles

Agile

A term used to describe a mindset of values and principles as set forth in the Manifesto for Agile Software Development

Ambiguity

A state of being unclear, having difficulty in identifying the cause of events, or having multiple options from which to choose

Artifact

A document or other item created during a portfolio, program, or project to help manage it and provide information to the project team, stakeholders, and management

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The programming of machines with patterns and processes similar to those observed in—and by—humans and human interactions

Assumption

A factor in the planning process that is considered to be true, real, or certain, without proof or demonstration

Authority

The right to apply project resources, expend funds, make decisions, or give approvals

Backlog

An ordered list of work to be done, often written as user stories, and prioritized by the business to manage and organize an adaptive or agile project’s work

Backlog Refinement

Progressive elaboration of content in the backlog and the prioritization and reprioritization of it to identify the work that can be accomplished in an upcoming iteration

Baseline

The approved version of a work product that can be changed using formal change control procedures and is used as the basis for comparison to actual results

Benefit

A gain or asset realized by the organization and other stakeholders as the result of outcomes delivered

Bidder Conference

The meetings with prospective sellers prior to the preparation of a bid or proposal to ensure all prospective vendors have a clear and common understanding of the procurement. Also known as contractor conferences, vendor conferences, or pre-bid conferences

Bid Documents

All documents used to solicit information, quotations, or proposals from prospective sellers

Blocker

An obstacle that prevents the team from achieving its objectives. Also known as an impediment

Budget at Completion (BAC)

The sum of all budgets established for the work to be performed

Budget

The approved estimate for the portfolio, program, or project, or any work breakdown structure component or schedule activity/p>

Burn Chart

A graphical representation of the work remaining in a timebox or the work completed toward the release of a product or project deliverable

Business Value

The net quantifiable benefit derived from a business endeavor that may be tangible, intangible, or both

Cadence

A rhythm of activities conducted throughout the project

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

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

Change Log

A comprehensive list of changes submitted during the project and their current status

Change Management

A comprehensive, cyclic, and structured approach for transitioning individuals, groups, and organizations from a current state to a future state with intended business benefits

Change

A modification to any formally controlled deliverable, project management plan component, or project document

Change Request

A formal proposal to modify a document, deliverable, or baseline

Closing Focus Area

Processes performed to formally complete or close a project, phase, contract, or, in some cases, to terminate a project before completion

Collective Ownership

A project acceleration and collaboration technique whereby any team member is authorized to modify any project work product or deliverable

Colocation

An organizational placement strategy where the project team members are physically located close to one another in order to improve communication, working relationships, and productivity

Communications Management Plan

A component of the portfolio, program, or project management plan that describes how, when, and by whom information about the project will be administered and disseminated

Complexity

A characteristic of a program or project or its environment that is difficult to manage due to human behavior, system behavior, and ambiguity

Confirmation Bias

A type of cognitive bias that confirms preexisting beliefs or hypotheses

Conformance

The degree to which the results meet the set quality requirements

Constraint

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

Contingency

An event or occurrence that could affect the execution of the project, which may be accounted for with a reserve

Contingency Reserve

Time or money allocated in the schedule or cost baseline for known risks with active response strategies

Continuous Delivery

The practice of delivering feature increments immediately to customers, often through the use of small batches of work and automation technology

Contract

A mutually binding agreement that obligates the seller to provide the specified product, service, or result and obligates the buyer to pay for it

Control

The process of comparing actual performance with planned performance, analyzing variances, assessing trends to effect process improvements, evaluating possible alternatives, and recommending appropriate corrective action as needed

Cost Baseline

The approved version of the time-phased project budget, excluding any management reserves, which can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison to actual results

Cost Performance Index (CPI)

A measure of the cost efficiency of budgeted resources expressed as the ratio of earned value to actual cost

Cost-Reimbursable Contract

A type of contract involving payment to the seller for the seller’s actual costs, plus a fee typically representing the seller’s profit

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

Crashing

A schedule compression technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources

Criteria

Standards, rules, or tests on which a judgment or decision can be based or by which a product, service, result, or process can be evaluated

Critical Path

The sequence of activities that represents the longest path through a project, which determines the shortest possible duration

Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD)

A chart indicating features completed over time, features in other states of development, and those in the backlog

Daily Coordination Meeting

A brief, daily collaboration meeting in which the team reviews progress from the previous day, declares intentions for the current day, and highlights any obstacles encountered or anticipated (Previously, this was commonly referred to as a standup meeting)

Dashboard

A set of charts and graphs showing progress or performance against important measures of the project

Definition of Done (DoD)

A checklist of all the criteria required to be met so that a deliverable can be considered ready for customer use

Design Thinking

A nonlinear, iterative process that teams use to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems, and create innovative solutions to prototype and test

Disciplined Agile® (DA®)

A process decision framework that enables simplified process decisions around incremental and iterative solution delivery

Duration

The total number of work periods required to complete an activity or work breakdown structure component, expressed in hours, days, or weeks

Earned Value (EV)

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

Effort

The number of labor units required to complete a schedule activity or work breakdown structure component, often expressed in hours, days, or weeks

Enterprise Agility

The ability of an organization to quickly sense and respond to change across strategy, structures, processes, and people, extending agile principles beyond software and individual teams

Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF)

Conditions, not under the immediate control of the team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program, or portfolio

Epic

A large, related body of work intended to hierarchically organize a set of requirements and deliver specific business outcomes

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

A quantitative assessment of the likely amount or outcome of a variable, such as project costs, resources, effort, or durations

Estimate to Complete (ETC)

The expected cost to finish all the remaining project work

Executing Focus Area

Consists of those processes performed to complete the work in a manner consistent with the integrated baseline, which can and should be changed whenever such a change would enhance the value proposition of the project

Expected Monetary Value (EMV)

The estimated value of an outcome expressed in monetary terms

Explicit Knowledge

Knowledge that can be codified using symbols such as words, numbers, and pictures

External Dependency

A relationship between project activities and non-project activities

Fast Tracking

A schedule compression method in which activities or phases normally done in sequence are performed in parallel for at least a portion of their duration

Feature

A set of related requirements or functionalities that provides value to an organization

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

Flow Metrics

Quantitative measures such as throughput, work in progress, and cycle time that indicate how efficiently work items move through a process

Flow

The measure of how efficiently work moves through a given process or framework

Forecast

An estimate or prediction of conditions and events in the project’s future based on information and knowledge available at the time of the forecast

Function Point

An estimate of the amount of business functionality in an information system, used to calculate the functional size measurement of a software system

Gantt Chart

A bar chart of schedule information where activities are listed on the vertical axis, dates are shown on the horizontal axis, and activity durations are shown as horizontal bars placed according to start and finish dates

Governance

The framework for directing and enabling an organization through its established policies, practices, and other relevant documentation

Histogram

A bar chart that shows the graphical representation of numerical data

Hybrid Approach

A combination of elements from both adaptive and predictive approaches that is useful when there is uncertainty or risk around the requirements

Impact Mapping

A strategic planning technique that acts as a roadmap to the organization while building new products

Impediment

An obstacle that prevents the team from achieving its objectives. Also known as a blocker

Incremental Approach

An adaptive development approach in which the deliverable is produced successively, adding functionality until the deliverable contains the necessary and sufficient capability to be considered complete

Increment

A functional, tested, and accepted deliverable that is a subset of the overall project outcome

Information Radiator

A visible, physical display that provides information to the rest of the organization, enabling timely knowledge sharing

Initiating Focus Area

Those processes performed to define a new project or new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase

Internal Dependency

A relationship between two or more project activities

Issue

A current condition or situation that may have an impact on one or more objectives

Iteration

A short cycle of development during which a product or deliverable is released or further matured

Iteration Planning

A meeting to clarify the details of the backlog items, acceptance criteria, and work effort required to meet an upcoming iteration commitment

Iteration Plan

A detailed plan for the current iteration

Iteration Review

A meeting held at the end of an iteration to demonstrate the work that was accomplished during the iteration

Iterative Approach

A development approach that focuses on an initial, simplified implementation then progressively elaborates, adding to the feature set until the final deliverable is complete

Kanban Board

A visualization tool that shows work in progress to help identify bottlenecks and overcommitments, thereby allowing the team to optimize the workflow

Knowledge

A mixture of experience, values and beliefs, contextual information, intuition, and insight that people use to make sense of new experiences and information

Lead Time

The total elapsed time between a customer’s request and the delivery of a usable product or feature that fulfills that request

Lessons Learned

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

Log

A document used to record and describe or denote selected items identified during execution of a process or activity. Usually used with a modifier, such as issue, change, or assumption

Machine learning (ML)

A subfield of AI that uses data to train neural network models, which can predict outputs based on previous inputs

Management Reserve

Time or money that management sets aside in addition to the schedule or cost baseline and releases for unforeseen work that is within the scope of the portfolio, program, or project