Project Management Vocabulary (A-Z) – PMBOK & Agile Essentials

135 key terms distilled from the extensive lecture glossary provide concise definitions to reinforce PMBOK and Agile exam preparation. Use these vocabulary flashcards to drill concepts spanning risk, scope, schedule, cost, quality, leadership, contracts, Agile practices, and stakeholder management.

A Guide to the PMBOK

PMI publication that defines widely accepted project-management practices; basis for CAPM & PMP exams.

Abusive manner

Conduct that harms, humiliates, manipulates, or exploits others (e.g., berating a team member).

Acceptance

Risk response that takes the risk as is; used for both positive and negative, usually smaller, risks.

Active listening

Receiver restates & confirms message through feedback, questions, and prompts to ensure clarity.

Activity list

Primary output from decomposing WBS work packages into scheduled activities.

Actual Cost (AC)

Total project monies spent to date.

Adaptive leadership

Style that helps teams thrive and overcome challenges throughout a project.

Affinity diagram

Diagram that clusters similar ideas for analysis; useful after brainstorming lots of ideas.

Agile manifesto

Statement valuing individuals/interactions, working software, customer collaboration, and responding to change.

Agile planning

Multi-level planning (strategic, release, iteration, daily) that starts up-front but adapts throughout the project.

Analogous estimating

Top-down cost/time estimate using historical data; least accurate of estimating approaches.

Assumption log

Record of assumptions to be tested; wrong assumptions can become project risks.

Authority power

Decision-making power a team member holds over others, including approvals and sign-offs.

Autocratic

Decision-making method where one individual decides for the group.

Avoidance (risk)

Risk response that eliminates the threat entirely.

Balanced matrix

Org structure where project and functional managers share power.

Benchmarking

Comparing two similar entities to measure performance.

Benefit/Cost Ratio (BCR)

Model that compares expected benefits to costs.

Bidder conference

Meeting with potential vendors to clarify statement of work before proposals are submitted.

Bottom-up estimating

Most detailed & accurate estimating; sums estimates for every activity or WBS component.

Brainstorming

Group technique encouraging many ideas without judgment; common for risk identification.

Budget estimate

Early broad estimate (–10% to +25%).

Burn-down chart

Graphic showing remaining backlog versus time during an iteration.

Burn rate

Rate at which project resources/costs are being consumed per iteration.

Business value

Quantifiable return (tangible or intangible) delivered by the project.

Cause-and-effect diagram

Fishbone/Ishikawa chart showing relationships that lead to quality problems.

Change Control Board (CCB)

Committee that reviews, approves, or rejects proposed project changes.

Charter

Document that formally authorizes the project, outlines justification, milestones, budget, and authority.

Checklist (quality)

Simple tool to ensure work meets policy or required steps.

Collaboration

Cooperative method among individuals to achieve a common goal.

Communication channels formula

N(N-1)/2 – calculates possible stakeholder communication paths.

Communications management plan

Subsidiary plan defining who gets what information, when, and in what format.

Configuration management plan

Defines how product features and changes are monitored and controlled.

Control chart

Quality tool plotting performance over time against upper/lower control limits.

Cost baseline

Time-phased budget of aggregated work-package costs against which performance is measured.

Cost Performance Index (CPI)

EV / AC; measures cost efficiency.

Crashing

Schedule compression by adding resources to critical-path activities, usually increasing costs.

Critical path

Longest path through network; activities with zero float that determine project duration.

Cumulative flow diagram

Agile chart showing backlog, work-in-progress, and completed features over time.

Cycle time

Time required to complete a feature or user story.

Daily stand-up

Short meeting for team to share yesterday’s work, today’s plan, and impediments.

Decision tree

Graphic model evaluating choices, probabilities, and expected monetary value (EMV).

Definitive estimate

Late-planning estimate (–5% to +10%) produced via bottom-up techniques.

Delphi technique

Anonymous expert surveys used to reach consensus on risks or estimates.

Design of experiments

Statistical method to identify factor combinations yielding best outcomes.

Earned Value (EV)

Budgeted value of work actually completed to date.

Eight/80 Rule

WBS heuristic: work package should take between 8 and 80 labor hours.

Emotional intelligence

Ability to recognize & manage one’s own and others’ emotions to lead effectively.

Enterprise environmental factors (EEF)

Internal/external conditions influencing project management (policies, market, laws, culture).

Epic

Large user story spanning multiple iterations; later broken into smaller stories.

Estimate To Complete (ETC)

Forecast of funds still required to finish the project.

Expected Monetary Value (EMV)

Probability × Impact; quantifies risk exposure.

Exploit (risk)

Strategy to ensure opportunity definitely occurs, maximizing positive impact.

Fast tracking

Schedule compression by overlapping activities normally done in sequence; increases risk.

Fibonacci sequence

0,1,2,3,5,8,13… numeric series used for Agile story-point sizing.

Finish-to-start (FS)

Logical relationship where successor can start only after predecessor finishes.

Five Whys

Root-cause technique asking “why” repeatedly to dig into underlying issues.

Fixed-price contract

Seller agrees to deliver product for a set total price (lump-sum).

Flowchart

Diagram illustrating process steps and relationships; helps spot quality issues.

Forming

First team-development stage where members learn roles and goals.

Functional structure

Organization divided by specialties; project manager has little authority.

Future value (FV)

FV = PV(1+I)^n; calculates value of money in future periods.

Gantt chart

(Implicit) Bar chart showing schedule activities over time; widely used for tracking.

Governance framework

Policies & procedures guiding portfolios, programs, and projects for alignment & control.

Ground rules

Team-created norms guiding behavior and interaction.

Hard logic

Mandatory dependency where activities must occur in specific order.

Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

Job satisfaction driven by motivators; dissatisfaction by hygiene factors (salary, conditions).

Influence/impact grid

Tool mapping stakeholders by level of influence versus impact to prioritize engagement.

Integrated change control

Process for assessing overall impact of proposed changes across project areas.

Iteration

Time-boxed development cycle (e.g., 1–4 weeks in Agile).

Iteration retrospective

Agile meeting after iteration to reflect and improve process and teamwork.

Kaizen

Philosophy of continuous, incremental improvement.

Kanban

Visual signal system limiting work-in-progress to improve flow and transparency.

Kano analysis

Technique classifying product features into must-have, performance, and delight categories.

Lag

Positive time delay inserted between dependent activities.

Lead

Negative lag allowing successor to start before predecessor finishes.

Lessons learned

Documented successes & failures captured throughout project for organizational learning.

Management reserve

Budget set aside for unknown-unknowns; not part of cost baseline.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Motivational theory: physiological, safety, social, esteem, self-actualization.

Milestone

Significant event or point in project progress with zero duration.

Mind mapping

Visual idea-mapping tool to explore and relate requirements or solutions.

Mitigation (risk)

Reducing risk probability and/or impact to acceptable threshold.

Minimal Viable Product (MVP)

Earliest product version with core features for early user feedback.

Monte Carlo analysis

Simulation generating probability distribution of outcomes based on varied inputs.

MoSCoW prioritization

Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, Would-like to have ranking of requirements.

Murder board

Committee posing challenging questions to test a project’s viability.

Net Present Value (NPV)

Present value of future cash flows minus initial investment; higher NPV preferred.

Opportunity cost

Benefit foregone by choosing one option over another.

Organizational Process Assets (OPA)

Plans, policies, templates, and knowledge bases from the performing organization.

Parametric estimating

Uses statistical relationships (e.g., cost per meter) to project overall cost/time.

Pareto diagram

Histogram ordering causes of problems; 80/20 rule helps focus on vital few.

Parking lot

List capturing off-topic ideas during meetings to keep focus.

Parkinson’s Law

Work expands to fill time available; counters with tight estimates.

Payback period

Time needed for project to recoup its investment.

Planned Value (PV)

Authorized budget for scheduled work up to a point in time.

Poker planning

Consensus-based Agile estimating using card values (often Fibonacci numbers).

Power/interest grid

Stakeholder mapping tool by power level and interest in project.

Present value (PV$)

FV divided by (1+I)^n; value today of future money.

Probability-Impact matrix

Grid ranking risks by likelihood and consequence for prioritization.

Product backlog

Ordered list of all desired product features maintained by Product Owner.