Project Management Glossary

An iterative approach to project management and software development

Conditions that a product must satisfy to be accepted

Ability to adjust plans as project evolves

Graphical representation of project activities

Organizing ideas into natural groupings

A list of tasks required to be completed for the project

A graphical representation of work left to do versus time

The original plan plus or minus approved changes

Framework for measuring performance

Idea generation technique

Comparing performance against best practices

The sequence of stages determining the minimum time needed for an operation

A process for managing project changes

Determining resources needed for work

Approved version of the project budget

Planned response to a potential risk

Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability

A relationship between tasks where one depends on another

Short sync meeting on progress and blockers

Visual display of key project metrics

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

A large body of work that can be broken down into stories

Earned Value Management performance system

Process of raising an issue to higher authority

The amount of time a task can be delayed without impacting subsequent tasks

An assessment of practicality and viability

Schedule compression by overlapping tasks

Estimating future project performance

A bar chart that illustrates a project schedule

Framework for decision-making and accountability

Checkpoint to evaluate progress

Level of detail in project planning

Mix of predictive and adaptive methods

Graphical representation of data distribution

Rule of thumb problem-solving technique

A timeboxed period of development, typically 1-4 weeks

A functional slice of product delivered in each iteration

Delivering partial functionality over time

Record of identified project issues

A tool widely used for agile project tracking

Lean practice of producing only when needed

A visual system for managing work as it moves through a process

Initial meeting to align stakeholders and team

Key Performance Indicator

Capturing and sharing project knowledge

A methodology focused on value while minimizing waste

Knowledge gained for future improvement

Delay between dependent tasks

A significant point or event in a project

Technique to prioritize Must, Should, Could, Won't

Technique to assess risk and uncertainty

Chart highlighting major milestones

Method to evaluate project profitability

Non-Disclosure Agreement protecting information

Discussion to reach an agreement

Objectives and Key Results framework

Value lost by choosing one alternative

Making the best use of resources

Project Management Body of Knowledge - a set of standard terminology and guidelines

Program Evaluation Review Technique

Acquiring goods and services

Graph showing factors ordered by significance

Ensuring deliverables meet required standards

Monitoring outputs for standards

Survey method to collect stakeholder input

A document containing the results of risk analysis and risk response planning

A responsibility assignment chart defining roles and responsibilities

End-of-iteration meeting to discuss improvements

Return on Investment profitability measure

Technique to resolve resource conflicts

An agile framework for managing work emphasizing teamwork, accountability and iterative progress

The uncontrolled expansion of project scope without adjustments to time, cost, or resources

Any person or group affected by the project

Short development cycle in Scrum

Approved project schedule

The balance of project scope, time, and cost

Document defining team objectives and roles

Allocating fixed time for activities

Acceptable range of variation in performance

A simple description of a feature told from the perspective of the user

User Acceptance Testing to validate needs

Description of system interaction by user

Situations where outcomes are not known

A measure of a team's rate of progress

Steps to deliver value to a customer

Tracking differences between planned and actual

Ensuring product meets user needs

Work Breakdown Structure - a hierarchical decomposition of project deliverables

Lowest-level deliverable in a WBS

Sequence of processes through which work passes

Temporary solution to an issue

Extreme Programming agile method

Markup language for project data exchange

Cross-functional teamwork

Measure of output versus input

You Aren’t Gonna Need It principle

Maximizing revenue through demand control

Doing things right the first time

Statistical measure of standard deviations

No flexibility in task scheduling