PMP Definitions 1

WORD	Definition
Acceptance Criteria	A set of conditions that is required to be met before deliverables are accepted.
Accepted Deliverable's	Products, results or capabilities produced by a project and validated by the project customer or sponsors as meeting their specified acceptance criteria.
Accuracy	Within the quality management system, accuracy is an assessment of correctness.
Acquire Project Team	The process of confirming human resource availability and obtaining the team necessary to complete project activities.
Acquisition	Obtaining human and material resources necessary to perform project activities. Acquisition implies a cost of resources, and is not necessarily financial.
Activity	A distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during the course of a project.
Activity Attributes	Multiple attributes associated with each schedule activity that can be included within the activity list. Activity attributes include activity codes, predecessor activities, successor activities, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, imposed dates, constraints, and assumptions.
Activity Code	One or more numerical or text values that identify characteristics of the work or in some way categorize the schedule activity that allows filtering and ordering of activities within reports.
Activity Cost Estimates	The projected cost of the schedule activity that includes the cost for all resources required to perform and complete the activity, including all cost types and cost components.
Activity Duration	The time in calendar units between the start and finish of a schedule activity. See also duration.
Activity Duration Estimate	A quantitative assessment of the likely amount or outcome for the duration of an activity.
Activity Identifier	A short, unique numeric or text identification assigned to each schedule activity to differentiate that project activity from other activities. Typically unique within any one project schedule network diagram.
Activity List	A documented tabulation of schedule activities that shows the activity description, activity identifier, and a sufficiently detailed scope of work description so project team members understand what work is to be performed.
Activity Network Diagrams	A graphical representation of the logical relationships among the project schedule activities.
Activity-on-Node (AON)	A technique used for constructing a schedule model in which activities are represented by nodes and are graphically linked by one or more logical relationships to show the sequence in which the activities are to be performed.
Activity Resource Requirements	The types and quantities of resources required for each activity in a work package.
Actual Cost (AC)	The realized cost incurred for the work performed on an activity during a specific time period.
Actual Duration	The time in calendar units between the actual start date of the schedule activity and either the data date of the project schedule if the schedule activity is in progress or the actual finish date if the schedule activity is complete.
Adaptive Life Cycle	A project life cycle, also known as change-driven or agile methods, that is intended to facilitate change and require a high degree of ongoing stakeholder involvement. Adaptive life cycles are also iterative and incremental, but differ in that iterations are very rapid (usually 2-4 weeks in length) and are fixed in time and resources.
Additional Quality Planning Tools	A set of tools used to define the quality requirements and to plan effective quality management activities. They include, but are not limited to: brainstorming, force field analysis, nominal group techniques and quality management and control tools.
Adjusting Leads and Lags	A technique used to find ways to bring project activities that are behind into alignment with plan during project execution.
Advertising	The process of calling public attention to a project or effort.
Affinity Diagram	A group creativity technique that allows large numbers or ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis.
Agreements	Any document or communication that defines the initial intentions of a project. This can take the form of a contract, memorandum of understanding (MOU), letters of agreement, verbal agreements, email, etc.
Alternative Analysis	A technique used to evaluate identified options in order to select which options or approaches to use to execute and perform the work of the project.
Alternatives Generation	A technique used to develop as many potential options as possible in order to identify different approaches to execute and perform the work of the project.
Analogous Estimating	A technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical data from a similar activity or project.
Analytical Techniques	Various techniques used to evaluate, analyze, or forecast potential outcomes based on possible variations of project or environmental variables and their relationships with other variables.
Application Area	A category of projects that have common components significant in such projects, but are not needed or present in all projects. Application areas are usually defined in terms of either the product (i.e., by similar technologies or production methods) or the type of customer (i.e., internal versus external, government versus commercial) or industry sector (i.e., utilities, automotive, aerospace, information technologies, etc.). Application areas can overlap.
Applying Leads and Lags	A technique that is used to adjust the amount of time between the predecessor and successor activities.
Apportioned Effort	An activity where effort is allotted proportionally across certain discrete efforts and not divisible into discrete efforts. [Note: Apportioned effort is one of three earned value management (EVM) types of activities used to measure work performance.]
Approved Change Request	A change request that has been processed through the integrated change control process and approved.
Approved Change Requests Review	A review of the change request to verify that these were implemented as approved.
Assumption	A factor in the planning process that is considered to be true, real, or certain, without proof or demonstration.
Assumptions Analysis	A technique that explores the accuracy of assumptions and identifies risks to the project from inaccuracy, inconsistency, or incompleteness of assumptions.
Attribute Sampling	Method of measuring quality that consists of noting the presence (or absence) of some characteristic (attribute) in each of the units under consideration. After each unit is inspected, the decision is made to accept a lot, reject it, or inspect another unit.
Authority	The right to apply project resources, expend funds, make decisions, or give approvals.
Backlog	A listing of product requirements and deliverable to be completed, written as stories, and prioritized by the business to manage and organize the project's work.
Backward Pass	A critical path method technique for calculating the late start and late finish dates by working backward through the schedule model from the project end date.
Bar Chart	A graphic display of schedule-related information. In the typical bar chart, schedule activities or work breakdown structure components are listed down the left side of the chart, dates are shown across the top, and activity durations are shown as date-placed horizontal bars. See also Gantt chart.
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.
Basis of Estimates	Supporting documentation outlining the details used in establishing project estimates such as assumptions, constraints, level of detail, ranges, and confidence levels.
Benchmarking	Benchmarking is 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.
Bidder Conference	The meeting 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.
Bottom-Up Estimating	A method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower-level components of the work breakdown structure (WBS).
Brainstorming	A general data gathering and creativity technique that can be used to identify risks, ideas, or solutions to issues by using a group of team members or subject matter experts.
Budget	The approved estimate for the project or any work breakdown structure component or any schedule activity.
Budget at Completion (BAC)	The sum of all budgets established for the work to be performed.
Buffer	A provision in the project management plan to mitigate cost and/or schedule risk. Often used with a modifier (e.g., management reserve, contingency reserve) to provide further detail on what types of risk are meant to be mitigated.
Business Case	A documented economic feasibility study used to establish validity of the benefits of a selected component lacking sufficient definition and that is used as a basis for the authorization of further project management activities.
Business Value	A concept that is unique to each organization and includes tangible and intangible elements. Through the effective use of project, program, and portfolio management disciplines, organizations will possess the ability to employ reliable, established processes to meet enterprise objectives and obtain greater business value for their investments.
Buyer	The acquirer of products, services, or results for an organization.
Cause and Effect Diagram	A decomposition technique that helps trace an undesirable effect back to its root cause.
Central Tendency	A property of the central limit theorem predicting that the data observations in a distribution will tend to group around a central location. The three typical measures of central tendency are the mean, median, and mode.
Change Control	A process whereby modifications to documents, deliverables, or baselines associated with the project are identified, documented, approved, or rejected.
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 System	A set of procedures that describes how modifications to the project deliverables and documentation are managed and controlled.
Change Control Tools	Manual or automated tools to assist with change and/or configuration management. At a minimum, the tools should support the activities of the CCB.
Change Log	A comprehensive list of changes made during the project. This typically indicates dates of the change and impacts in terms of time, cost, and risk.
Change Request	A formal proposal to modify any document, deliverable, or baseline.
Charter	A document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.
Checklist Analysis	A technique for systematically reviewing materials using a list for accuracy and completeness.
Checksheets	A tally sheet that can be used as a checklist when gathering data.
Claim	A request, demand, or assertion of rights by a seller against a buyer, or vice-verca, for consideration, compensation, or payment under the terms of a legally binding contract, such as for a disputed change.
Claims Administration	The process of processing, adjudicating, and communicating contract claims.
Close Procurements	The process of completing each project procurement.
Close Project or Phase	The process of finalizing all activities across all of the Project Management Process Groups to formally complete a project or phase.
Closed Procurements	Project contracts or other procurement agreements that have been formally acknowledged by the proper authorizing agent as being finalized and signed off.
Closing Process Group	The process performed to finalize all activities across all Process Groups to formally close a project or phase.
Code of Accounts	A numbering system used to uniquely identify each component of the work breakdown structure (WBS).
Collect Requirements	The process of determining, documenting, and managing stakeholder needs and requirements to meet project objectives.
Collocation	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.
Communication Constraints	Restrictions on the content, timing, audience, or individual who will deliver a communication usually stemming from specific legislation or regulation, technology, or organizational policies.
Communication Methods	A systematic procedure, technique, or process used to transfer information among project stakeholders.
Communication Models	A description, analogy or schematic used to represent how the communication process will be performed for the project.
Communication Requirements Analysis	An analytical technique to determine the information needs of the project stakeholders through interviews, workshops, study of lessons learned from previous projects, etc.
Communication Technology	Specific tools, systems, computer programs, etc., used to transfer information among project stakeholders.
Communications 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.
Compliance	A general concept of conforming to a rule, standard, law, or requirement such that the assessment of compliance results in a binomial result stated as "compliant" or "noncompliant."
Conduct Procurements	The process of obtaining seller responses, selecting a seller, and awarding a contract.
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 or 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.
Conflict Management	Handling, controlling, and guiding a conflictual situation to achieve a resolution.
Conformance	Within the quality management system, conformance is a general concept of delivering results that fall within the limits that define acceptable variation for a quality requirement.
Conformance Work	In the cost of quality framework, conformance work is done to compensate for imperfections that prevent organizations from completing planned activities correctly as essential first-time work. Conformance work consists of actions that are related to prevention and inspection.
Constraint	A limiting factor that affects the execution of a project, program, portfolio, or process.
Context Diagrams	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.
Contingency	An event or occurrence that could affect the execution of the project that may be accounted for with a reserve.
Contingency Allowance	A provision in the project management plan to mitigate cost and/or schedule risk. Often used with a modifier (e.g., management reserve, contingency reserve) to provide further detail on what types of risk are meant to be mitigated.
Contingency Reserve	Budget within the cost baseline or performance measurement baseline that is allocated for identified risks that are accepted and for which contingent or mitigating responses are developed.
Contingent Response Strategies	Responses provided which may be used in the event that a specific trigger occurs.
Contract	A contract is a mutually binding agreement that obligates the seller to provide the specified product or service or result and obligates the buyer to pay for it.
Contract Change Control System	The system used to collect, track, adjudicate, and communicate changes to a contract.
Control	Comparing actual performance with planned performance, analyzing variances, assessing trends to effect process improvements, evaluating possible alternatives, and recommending appropriate corrective action as needed.
Control Account	A management control point where scope, budget, actual cost, and schedule are integrated and compared to earned value for performance measurement.
Control Chart	A graphic display of process data over time and against established control limits, which has a centerline that assists in detecting a trend of plotted values toward either control limit.
Control Communications	The process of monitoring and controlling communications throughout the entire project life cycle to ensure the information needs of the project stakeholders are met.
Control Costs	The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and managing changes to the cost baseline.
Control Limits	The area composed of three standard deviations on either side of the centerline or mean of a normal distribution of data plotted on a control chart, which reflects the expected variation in the data. See also specification limits.
Control Procurements	The process of managing procurement relationships, monitoring contract performance, and making changes and corrections as appropriate.
Control Quality	The process of monitoring and recording results of executing the quality activities to assess performance and recommend necessary changes.
Control Risks	The process of implementing risk response plans, tracking identified risks, monitoring residual risks, identifying new risks, and evaluating risk process effectiveness throughout the project.
Control Schedule	The process of monitoring the status of project activities to update project progress and manage changes to the schedule baseline to achieve the plan.
Control Scope	The process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline.
Control Stakeholder Engagement	The process of monitoring overall project stakeholder relationships and adjusting strategies and plans for engaging stakeholders.
Corrective Action	An intentional activity that realigns the performance of the project work with the project management plan.
Cost Aggregation	Summing the lower-level cost estimates associated with the various work packages for a given level within the project's WBS or for a given cost control account.
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 Management Plan	A component of a project or program management plan that describes how costs will be planned, structured, and controlled.
Cost of Quality	A method of determining the costs incurred to ensure quality. Prevention and appraisal costs (cost of conformance) include costs for quality planning, quality control (QC), and quality assurance to ensure compliance to requirements (i.e., training, QC systems, etc.). Failure costs (cost of nonconformance) include costs to rework products, components, or processes that are non-compliant, costs of warranty work and waste, and loss of reputation.
Cost Performance Index (CPI)	A measure of the cost efficiency of budgeted resources expressed as the ratio of earned value to actual cost.
Cost Plus Award Fee Contracts (CPAF)	A category of contract that involves payments to the seller for all legitimate actual costs incurred for completed work, plus an award fee representing seller profit.
Cost Plus Fixed Fee Contract (CPFF)	A type of cost-reimbursable contract where the buyer reimburses the seller for the seller's allowable costs (allowable costs are defined by the contract) plus a fixed amount of profit (fee).
Cost Plus Incentive Fee Contract (CPIF)	A type of cost-reimbursable contract where the buyer reimburses the seller for the seller's allowable costs (allowable costs are defined by the contract), and the seller earns its profit if it meets defined performance criteria.
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.
Cost-Benefit Analysis	A financial analysis tool used to determine the benefits provided by a project against its costs.
Cost-Reimbursable Contract	A type of contract involving payment to the seller for the seller's actual costs, plus a fee typically representing seller's profit. Cost-reimbursable contracts often include incentive clauses where, if the seller meets or exceeds selected project objectives, such as schedule targets or total cost, then the seller receives from the buyer an incentive or bonus payment.
Crashing	A technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources.
Create WBS	The process of subdividing project deliverables and project work into smaller, more manageable components.
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 Chain Method	A schedule method that allows the project team to place buffers on any project schedule path to account for limited resources and project uncertainties.
Critical Path	The sequence of activities that represents the longest path through a project, which determines the shortest possible duration.
Critical Path Activity	Any activity on the critical path in a project schedule.
Critical Path Method	A method used to estimate the minimum project duration and determine the amount of scheduling flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model.
Customer	Customer is the person(s) or organization(s) that will pay for the project's product, service, or result. Customers can be internal or external to the performing organization.
Customer Satisfaction	Within the quality management system, a state of fulfillment in which the needs of a customer are met or exceeded for the customer's expected experiences as assessed by the customer at the moment of evaluation.
Data Date	A point in time when the status of the project is recorded.
Data Gathering and Representation Techniques	Techniques used to collect, organize, and present data and information.
Decision Tree Analysis	A diagramming and calculation technique for evaluating the implications of a chain of multiple options in the presence of uncertainty.
Decomposition	A technique used for dividing and subdividing the project scope and project deliverables into smaller, more manageable parts.
Defect	An imperfection or deficiency in a project component where that component does not meet its requirements or specifications and needs to be either repaired or replaced.
Defect Repair	An intentional activity to modify a nonconforming product or product component.
Define Activities	The process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables.
Define Scope	The process of developing a detailed description of the project and product.
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.
Delphi Technique	An information gathering technique used as a way to reach a consensus of experts on a subject. Experts on the subject participate in this technique anonymously. A facilitator uses a questionnaire to solicit ideas about the important project points related to the subject. The responses are summarized and are then recirculated to the experts for further comment. Consensus may be reached in a few rounds of this process. The Delphi technique helps reduce bias in the data and keeps any one person from having undue influence on the outcome.
Dependency	A dependency between two activities, or between an activity and a milestone.
Dependency Determination	A technique used to identify the type of dependency that is used to create the logical relationships between predecessor and successor activities.
Design of Experiments	A statistical method for identifying which factors may influence specific variables of a product or process under development or in production.
Determine Budget	The process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline.
Develop Project Charter	The process of developing a document that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.
Develop Project Management Plan	The process of defining, preparing, and coordinating all subsidiary plans and integrating them into a comprehensive project management plan.
Develop Project Team	The process of improving competencies, team member interaction, and overall team environment to enhance project performance.
Develop Schedule	The process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model.
Diagramming Techniques	Approaches to presenting information with logical linkages that aid in understanding.
Dictatorship	A group decision-making technique in which one individual makes the decision for the group.
Direct and Manage Project Work	The process of leading and performing the work defined in the project management plan and implementing approved changes to achieve the project's objectives.
Discrete Effort	An activity that can be planned and measured and that yields a specific output. Note: Discrete effort is one of three earned value management (EVM) types of activities used to measure work performance.
Discretionary Dependency	A relationship that is established based on knowledge of best practices within a particular application area or an aspect of the project where a specific sequence is desired.
Document Analysis	An elicitation technique that analyzes existing documentation and identifies information relevant to the requirements.
Documentation Reviews	The process of gathering a corpus of information and reviewing it to determine accuracy and completeness.
Duration (DU or DUR)	The total number of work periods (not including holidays or other nonworking periods)required to complete a schedule activity or work breakdown structure component. Usually expressed as work days or work weeks. Sometimes incorrectly equated with elapsed time. Contrast with effort.
Early Finish Date (EF)	In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can finish based on the schedule network logic, the data date, and any schedule constraints.
Early Start Date (ES)	In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can start based on the schedule network logic, the data date, and any schedule constraints.
Earned Value (EV)	The measure of work performed expressed in terms of the budget authorized for that work.
Earned Value Management	A methodology that combines scope, schedule, and resource measurements to assess project performance and progress.
Effort	The number of labor units required to complete a schedule activity or work breakdown structure component,often expressed in hours, days, or weeks.
Emotional Intelligence	The capability to identify, assess, and manage the personal emotions of oneself and other people, as well as the collective emotions of groups of people.
Enterprise Environmental Factors	Conditions, not under the immediate control of the team, that influence,constrain, or direct the project, program, or portfolio.
Estimate	A quantitative assessment of the likely amount or outcome. Usually applied to project costs, resources,effort, and durations and is usually preceded by a modifier (i.e. preliminary, conceptual, feasibility, order-of magnitude,definitive). It should always include some indication of accuracy (e.g. x percent). See also budget and cost.
Estimate Activity Durations	The process of estimating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with estimated resources.
Estimate Activity Resources	The process of estimating the type and quantities of material, human resources,equipment, or supplies required to perform each activity.
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 Costs	The process of developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project activities.
Estimate to Complete (ETC)	The expected cost to finish all the remaining project work.
Execute	Directing, managing, performing, and accomplishing the project work; providing the deliverables; and providing work performance information.
Executing Process Group	Those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project specifications.
Expected Monetary Value (EMV) Analysis	A statistical technique that calculates the average outcome when the future includes scenarios that may or may not happen. A common use of this technique is within decision tree analysis.
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.
External Dependency	A relationship between project activities and non-project activities.
Facilitated Workshops	An elicitation technique using focused sessions that bring key cross-functional stakeholders together to define product requirements.
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)	An analytical procedure in which each potential failure mode in every component of a product is analyzed to determine its effect on the reliability of that component and, by itself or in combination with other possible failure modes, on the reliability of the product or system and on the required function of the component; or the examination of a product (at the system and/or lower levels) for all ways that a failure may occur. For each potential failure, an estimate is made of its effect on the total system and of its impact. In addition, a review is undertaken of the action planned to minimize the probability of failure and to minimize its effects.
Fallback Plan	Fallback plans include an alternative set of actions and tasks available in the event that the primary plan needs to be abandoned because of issues, risks, or other causes.
Fast Tracking	A schedule compression technique in which activities or phases normally done in sequence are performed in parallel for at least a portion of their duration.
Fee	Represents profit as a component of compensation to a seller.
Finish Date	A point in time associated with a schedule activity's completion. Usually qualified by one of the following: actual, planned, estimated, scheduled, early, late, baseline, target, or current.
Finish-to-Finish (FF)	A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has finished.
Finish-to-Start (FS)	A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has finished.
Firm-Fixed-Price Contract (FFP)	A type of fixed price contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount(as defined by the contract), regardless of the seller's costs.
Fishbone diagram	See Cause and Effect Diagram.
Fixed Formula Method	An earned value method for assigning a specified percentage of budget value for a work package to the start milestone of the work package with the remaining budget value percentage assigned when the work package is complete.
Fixed Price Incentive Fee Contract (FPIF)	A type of contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as defined by the contract), and the seller can earn an additional amount if the seller meets defined performance criteria.
Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment Contracts (FP-EPA)	A fixed-price contract, but with a special provision allowing for predefined final adjustments to the contract price due to changed conditions, such as inflation changes, or cost increases (or decreases) for specific commodities.
Fixed-Price Contracts	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.
Float	The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint.
Flowchart	The depiction in a diagram format of the inputs, process actions, and outputs of one or more processes within a system.
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.
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. The information is based on the project's past performance and expected future performance, and includes information that could impact the project in the future, such as estimate at completion and estimate to complete.
Forward Pass	A critical path method technique for calculating the early start and early finish dates by working forward through the schedule model from the project start date or a given point in time.
Free Float	The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint.
Functional Manager	Someone with management authority over an organizational unit within a functional organization. The manager of any group that actually makes a product or performs a service. Sometimes called a line manager.
Functional Organization	A hierarchical organization where each employee has one clear superior, and staff are grouped by areas of specialization and managed by a person with expertise in that area.
Funding Limit Reconciliation	The process of comparing the planned expenditure of project funds against any limits on the commitment of funds for the project to identify any variances between the funding limits and the planned expenditures.
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.
Grade	A category or rank used to distinguish items that have the same functional use (e.g., "hammer") but do not share the same requirements for quality (e.g., different hammers may need to withstand different amounts of force).
Ground Rules	Expectations regarding acceptable behavior by project team members.
Group Creativity Techniques	Techniques that are used to generate ideas within a group of stakeholders.
Group Decision-Making Techniques	Techniques to assess multiple alternatives that will be used to generate,classify, and prioritize product requirements.
Guideline	An official recommendation or advice that indicates policies, standards, or procedures for how something should be accomplished.
Hammock Activity	A group of related schedule activities aggregated and displayed as a single activity.
Hard Logic	A relationship that is contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work.
Histogram	A special form of bar chart used to describe the central tendency, dispersion, and shape of a statistical distribution.
Historical Information	Documents and data on prior projects including project files, records, correspondence,closed contracts, and closed projects.
Human Resource Management Plan	A component of the project management plan that describes how the roles and responsibilities, reporting relationships, and staff management will be addressed and structured.
Idea/Mind Mapping	Technique used to consolidate ideas created through individual brainstorming sessions into a single map to reflect commonality and differences in understanding and to generate new ideas.
Identify Risks	The process of determining which risks may affect the project and documenting their characteristics.
Identify Stakeholders	The process of identifying the people, groups, or organizations that could impact or be impacted by a decision, activity, or outcome of the project; and analyzing and documenting relevant information regarding their interests, involvement, interdependencies, influence, and potential impact on project success.
Imposed Date	A fixed date imposed on a schedule activity or schedule milestone, usually in the form of a"start no earlier than" and "finish no later than" date.
Incentive Fee	A set of financial incentives related to cost, schedule, or technical performance of the seller.
Incremental 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.
Independent Estimates	A process of using a third party to obtain and analyze information to support prediction of cost, schedule, or other items.
Influence Diagram	A graphical representation of situations showing causal influences, time ordering of events,and other relationships among variables and outcomes.
Information Gathering Techniques	Repeatable processes used to assemble and organize data across a spectrum of sources.
Information Management Systems	Facilities, processes, and procedures used to collect, store, and distribute information between producers and consumers of information in physical or electronic format.
Initiating Process Group	Those processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase.
Input	Any item, whether internal or external to the project that is required by a process before that process proceeds. May be an output from a predecessor process.
Inspection	Examining or measuring to verify whether an activity, component, product, result, or service conforms to specified requirements.
Inspections and Audits	A process to observe performance of contracted work or a promised product against agreed-upon requirements.
Interpersonal Skills	Ability to establish and maintain relationships with other people.
Interrelationship Digraphs	A quality management planning tool, the interrelationship digraphs provide a process for creative problem-solving in moderately complex scenarios that possess intertwined logical relationships.
Interviews	A formal or informal approach to elicit information from stakeholders by talking to them directly.
Invitation for Bid (IFB)	Generally, this term is equivalent to request for proposal. However, in some application areas, it may have a narrower or more specific meaning.
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.
Issue Log	A project document used to document and monitor elements under discussion or in dispute between project stakeholders.
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.
Lag	The amount of time whereby a successor activity is required to be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity.
Late Finish Date (LF)	In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can finish based on the schedule network logic, the project completion date, and any schedule constraints.
Late Start Date (LS)	In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can start based on the schedule network logic, the project completion date, and any schedule constraints.
Lead	The amount of time whereby a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity.
Lessons Learned	The knowledge gained during a project which shows how project events were addressed or should be addressed in the future with the purpose of improving future performance.
Lessons Learned Knowledge Base	A store of historical information and lessons learned about both the outcomes of previous project selection decisions and previous project performance.
Level of Effort (LOE)	An activity that does not produce definitive end products and is measured by the passage of time. [Note: Level of effort is one of three earned valued management (EVM) types of activities used to measure work performance.
Leveling	A technique in which start and finish dates are adjusted based on resource constraints with the goal of balancing demand for resources with the available supply.
Life Cycle	The series of phases that a project passes through from its initiation to its closure.
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, quality control, action, or defect.
Logical Relationship	A dependency between two activities, or between an activity and a milestone.
Majority	Support from more than 50 percent of the members of the group.
Make-or-Buy Analysis	The process of gathering and organizing data about product requirements and analyzing them against available alternatives including the purchase or internal manufacture of the product.
Make-or-Buy Decisions	Decisions made regarding the external purchase or internal manufacture of a product.
Manage Communications	The process of creating, collecting, distributing, storing, retrieving, and the ultimate disposition of project information in accordance with the communications management plan.
Manage Project Team	The process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues,and managing team changes to optimize project performance.
Manage Stakeholder Engagement	The process of communicating and working with stakeholders to meet their needs/expectations, address issues as they occur, and foster appropriate stakeholder engagement in project activities throughout the project life cycle.
Management Reserve	An amount of the project budget withheld for management control purposes. These are budgets reserved for unforeseen work that is within scope of the project. The management reserve is not included in the performance measurement baseline (PMB).
Management Skills	The ability to plan, organize, direct, and control individuals or groups of people to achieve specific goals.
Mandatory Dependency	A relationship that is contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work.
Market Research	The process of gathering information at conferences, online reviews, and a variety of sources to identify market capabilities.
Master Schedule	A summary-level project schedule that identifies the major deliverables and work breakdown structure components and key schedule milestones. See also milestone schedule.
Material	The aggregate of things used by an organization in any undertaking, such as equipment, apparatus, tools,machinery, gear, material, and supplies.
Matrix Diagrams	A quality management and control tool used to perform data analysis within the organizational structure created in the matrix. The matrix diagram seeks to show the strength of relationships between factors,causes, and objectives that exist between the rows and columns that form the matrix.
Matrix Organization	Any organizational structure in which the project manager shares responsibility with the functional managers for assigning priorities and for directing the work of persons assigned to the project.
Methodology	A system of practices, techniques, procedures, and rules used by those who work in a discipline.
Milestone	A significant point or event in a project, program, or portfolio.
Milestone List	A list identifying all project milestones and normally indicates whether the milestone is mandatory or optional.
Milestone Schedule	A summary-level schedule that identifies the major schedule milestones. See also master schedule.
Monitor	Collect project performance data with respect to a plan, produce performance measures, and report and disseminate performance information.
Monitor and Control Project Work	The process of tracking, reviewing, and reporting the progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan.
Monitoring and Controlling Process Group	Those processes required to track, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes.
Monte Carlo Simulation	A process which generates hundreds or thousands of probable performance outcomes based on probability distributions for cost and schedule on individual tasks. The outcomes are then used to generate a probability distribution for the project as a whole.
Most Likely Duration	An estimate of the most probable activity duration that takes into account all of the known variables that could affect performance.
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis	This technique utilizes a decision matrix to provide a systematic analytical approach for establishing criteria, such as risk levels, uncertainty, and valuation, to evaluate and rank many ideas.
Near-Critical Activity	A schedule activity that has low total float. The concept of near-critical is equally applicable to a schedule activity or schedule network path. The limit below which total float is considered near critical is subject to expert judgment and varies from project to project.
Negotiated Settlements	The process of reaching final equitable settlement of all outstanding issues, claims, and disputes through negotiation.
Negotiation	The process and activities to resolving disputes through consultations between involved parties.
Network	A graphical representation of the logical relationships among the project schedule activities.
Network Analysis	The technique of identifying early and late start dates, as well as early and late finish dates, for the uncompleted portions of project schedule activities. See also backward pass, critical path method,critical chain method, and resource leveling.
Network Logic	The collection of schedule activity dependencies that makes up a project schedule network diagram.
Network Path	Any continuous series of schedule activities connected with logical relationships in a project schedule network diagram.
Networking	Establishing connections and relationships with other people from the same or other organizations.

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