Project Management Midterm Vocab

best practice

an optimal way recognized by industry to achieve a stated goal or objective

DevOps

a fairly new term used to describe a culture of collaboration between software development and operations teams to build, test, and release reliable software more quickly

enterprise project management software

software that integrates information from multiple projects to show the status of active, approved, and future projects across an entire organization; also called portfolio project management software

ethics

a set of principles that guide decision making based on personal values of what is considered right and wrong

interactional

this leadership style is a combination of transactional, transformational, and charismatic

manager

a person who deals with the day to day details of meeting specific goals

leader

a person who focuses on long term goals and big picture objectives while inspiring people to reach those goals

organizational project management

a framework in which portfolio, program, and PM are integrated with organizational enables in order to achieve strategic objectives

portfolio

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

program

a group of projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control that are not available from managing projects individually

program manager

a person who provides leadership and direction for the project managers heading the projects within a program

project

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

project and portfolio project management software

software that integrates information from multiple projects to show the status of active, approved, and future projects across an entire organization; also called enterprise project management software

project management

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

project management institute

an international professional society for project managers

project management knowledge areas

project integration management, scope, time, cost, quality, human resource, communications, risk, procurement, and stakeholder management

project management office

an organizational group responsible for coordinating the project management functions throughout an organization

project manager

the person responsible for working with the project sponsor, the project team, and the other people involved to meet project goals

project portfolio management

when organizations group and manage projects as a portfolio of investments that contribute to the entire enterprise’s success

project sponsor

the person who provides the direction and funding for a project

servant leader

people using this approach focus on relationships and community first and leadership is secondary

stakeholders

people involved in or affected by project activities

transactional

this management by exception approach focuses on achieving goals or compliance by offering team members appropriate rewards and punishments

transformational

by working with others to identify needed changes, these leaders empower others and guide changes through inspiration

triple constraint

balancing scope, time, and cost goals

adaptive software development

a software development approach used when requirements cannot be clearly expressed early in the life cycle

agile

quick and coordinated in movement; a methodology based on iterative and incremental development, in which requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration

agile software development

a method for software development that uses new approaches, focusing on close collaboration between programming teams and business experts

champion

a senior manager who acts as a key proponent for a project

deliverable

a product or service, such as a technical report, a training session, a piece of hardware, or a segment of software code, produced or provided as part of a project

executive steering committee

a group of senior executives from various parts of the organization who regularly review important corporate projects and issues

functional organization structure

an organizational structure that groups people by functional areas such as IT, manufacturing, engineering, and HR

HR frame

a frame that focuses on producing harmony between the needs of the organization and the needs of the people

IT governance

the authority and control for key IT activities in organizations, including IT infrastructure, IT use, and project management

kill point

a management review that should occur after each project phase to determine if projects should be continued, redirected, or terminated; also called a phase exit

matrix organizational structure

an organizational structure in which employees are assigned both to functional and project managers

offshoring

outsourcing from another country

outsourcing

an organization’s acquisition of goods and services from an outside source

phase exit

a management review that should occur after each project phase to determine if projects should be continued, redirected, or terminated; also called a kill point

political frame

a. frame that addresses organizational and personal politics

predictive life cycle

a software development approach used when the scope of the project can be articulated clearly and the schedule and cost can be predicted accurately

project acquisition

the last two phases in a project (implementation and close out) that focus on delivering the actual work

project feasibility

the first two phases in a project (concept and development) that focus on planning

project life cycle

a collection of project phases, such as concept, development, implementation, and close out

project organizational structure

an organizational structure that groups people by major projects

scrum

the leading agile development methodology for completing projects with a complex, innovative scope of work

structural frame

a frame that deals with how the organization is structured (usually depicted in an organizational chart) and focuses on different groups roles and responsibilities to meet the goals and policies set by top management

symbolic frame

a frame that focuses on the symbols, meanings, and culture of an organization

systems

sets of interacting components working within an environment to fulfill some purpose

systems analysis

a problem solving approach that requires defining the scope of the system to be studied, and then dividing it into component parts for identifying and evaluating its problems, opportunities, constraints, and needs

systems approach

a holistic and analytical approach to solving complex problems that include using a systems philosophy, systems analysis, and systems management

systems development life cycle

a framework for describing the phases involved in developing and maintaining information systems

systems management

addressing the business, technological, and organizational issues associated with creating, maintaining, and modifying a system

systems thinking

a holistic view of an organization to effectively handle complex situations

agile methods

an approach to managing projects that includes an iterative workflow and incremental delivery of software in short iterations

artifact

a useful object created by people

burndown chart

a chart that shows the cumulative work remaining in a spring on a day by day basis

closing processes

formalizing acceptance of the project or project phase and ending it efficiently

daily scrum

a short meeting in which the team shares progress and challenges

executing processes

coordinating people and other resources to carry out the project plans and create the products, services, or results of the project or project phase

initiating processes

defining and authorizing a project or project phase

methodology

a description of how things should be done

product backlog

a single list of features prioritized by business value

product owner

the person responsible for the business value of the project and for deciding what work to do and in what order when using a scrum method

projects in controlled environments (PRINCE2)

a project management methodology developed in the UK that defines 45 separate subprocesses and organizes these into eight process groups

rational unified process framework

an iterative software development process that focuses on team productivity and delivers software best practices to all team members

scrum master

a person who ensures that the team is productive, facilitates the daily scrum, enables close cooperation across all roles and functions, and removes barriers that prevent the team from being effective

six sigma methodologies

DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is used to improve an existing business process, and DMADV (define, measure, analyze, design, verify) is used to create new product or process designs

sprint

a set period of time, normally two to four weeks, during which specific work must be completed and made ready for review when using scrum methods

sprint backlog

the highest priority items from the product backlog to be completed in a sprint

stakeholder register

a document that includes details related to the identified project stakeholders

user stories

short descriptions written by customers of what they need a system to do for them

balanced scorecard

a methodology that converts an organization’s value drivers to a series of defined metrics

business service management tools

tools that help track the execution of business process flows and expose how the state of supporting IT systems and resources affects end to end business process performance in real time

capitalization rate

the rate used in discounting future cash flow; also called the discount rate or opportunity cost of capital

change control board

a formal group of people responsible for approving or rejecting changes on a project

change control system

a formal, documented process that describes when an how official project documents may be change

configuration management

a process that ensures that the description of a project’s products are correct and complete

discount factor

a multiplier for each year based on the discount rate and year

discount rate

the rate used in discounting future cash flow; also called the capitalization rate or opportunity cost of capital

integrated change control

identifying, evaluating, and managing changes throughout the PLC

interface management

identifying and managing the points of interaction between various elements of a project

internal rate of return

the discount rate that results in an NPV of zero for a project

mind mapping

a technique that uses branches radiating from a core idea to structure thoughts and ideas

NPV analysis

a method of calculating the expected net monetary gain or loss from a project by discounting all expected future cash inflows and outflows to the present point in time

organizational process assets

formal and informal plans, policies, procedures, guidelines, information systems, financial systems, management systems, lessons learned, and historical information that can influence a project’s sucess

payback period

the amount of time needed to recoup the total dollars invested in a project, in terms of net cash inflows

project charter

a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides direction on the project’s objectives and management

project integration management

processes that coordinate all project management knowledge areas throughout a project’s life, including developing the project charter, developing the preliminary project scope statement, developing the PM plan, directing and managing the project, monitoring and controlling the project, providing integrated change control, and closing the project

project management plan

a document used to coordinate all project planning documents and guide project execution and control

strategic planning

determining long term objectives by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, studying opportunities and threats in the business environment, predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services

analogy approach

creating a WBS by using a similar project’s WBS as a starting point

benchmarking

generating ideas by comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to those of other projects or products inside or outside the performing organization

bottom up approach

creating a WBS by having team members identify as many specific tasks related to the project as possible and then grouping them into higher level categories

decomposition

subdividing project deliverables into smaller pieces

joint application design

using highly organized and intensive workshops to bring together project stakeholders — the sponsor, users, business analysts, programmers, and so on — to jointly define and design IS

project scope management

the processes involved in defining and controlling what work is or is not included in a project

project scope statement

a document that includes at least a description of the project, including its overall objectives and justification, detailed descriptions of all project deliverables, and the characteristics and requirements of products and services produced as part of the project

prototyping

developing a working replica of the system or soem aspect of it to help define user requirements

requirements management plan

a plan that describes how project requirements will be analyzed, documented, and managed