Accountability Matrix. See responsibility assignment matrix.

Activity – An element of work performed during the course of a project. An activity normally has an expected duration, an expected cost, and expected resource requirements. Activities are often subdivided into tasks.

Activity Definition – Identifying the specific activities that must be performed in order to produce the various project deliverables.

Activity Description (AD). A short phrase or label used in a project network diagram. The activity description normally describes the scope of work of the activity.

Activity Duration Estimating – Estimating the number of work periods which will be needed to complete individual activities.

Activity-On-Arrow (AOA) – See arrow diagramming method.

Activity-On-Node (AON) – See precedence diagramming method.

Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) – Total costs incurred (direct and indirect) in accomplishing work during a given time period.

Actual Finish Date (AF) – The point in time that works actually ended on an activity. (NOTE: in some application areas, the activity is considered “finished” when work is “substantially complete”.)

Actual Start Date – The point in time that works actually started on an activity.

Administrative Closure – Generating, gathering, and disseminating information to formalize project completion.

Application Area – A category of projects that have common elements not present in all projects. Application areas are usually defined in terms of either the product of the project (i.e., by similar technologies or industry sectors) or the type of customer (e.g., internal vs. External, government vs. Commercial). Application areas often overlap.

Arrow – The graphic presentation of an activity. See also arrow diagramming method.

Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) – A network diagramming technique in which activities are represented by arrows. The tail of the arrow represents the start and the head represents the finish of the activity (the length of the arrow does not represent the expected duration of the activity). Activities are connected at points called nodes (usually drawn as small circles) to illustrate the sequence in which the activities are expected to be performed. See also precedence diagramming method.

As-of-Date – See data date.

Backward Pass – The calculation of late finish dates and late start dates for the uncompleted portions of all network activities. Determined by working backwards through the network logic from the project’s end date. The end date may be calculated in a forward pass or set by the customer or sponsor. See also network analysis.

Bar Chart – A graphic display of schedule-related information. In the typical bar chart, activities or other project elements 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. Also called Gantt chart.

Baseline – The original plan (for a project, a work package, or an activity), plus or minus approved changes. Usually used with a modifier (e.g. cost baseline, schedule baseline, performance measurement baseline).

Baseline Finish Date – See scheduled finish date.

Baseline Start Date. See scheduled start date.

Budget at Completion (BAC). The estimated total cost of the project when done.

Budget Estimate – See Estimate

Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) – The sum of the approved cost estimates (including any overhead allocation) for activities (or portions of activities) completed during a given period (usually project-to-date). See also earned value.

Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) – The sum of the approved cost estimates (including any overhead allocation) for activities (or portions of activities) scheduled to be performed during a given period (usually project-to-date). See also earned value.

Calendar Unit – The smallest unit of time used in scheduling the project. Calendar units are generally in hours, days, or weeks, but can also be in shifts or even in minutes. Used primarily in relation to project management software.

Change Control Board (CCB) – Formally constituted group of stakeholders responsible for approving or rejecting changes to the project baselines.

Chart of Accounts – Any numbering system used to monitor project costs by category (e.g., labor, supplies, and materials). The project chart of accounts is usually based upon the corporate chart of accounts of the primary performing organization. See also code of accounts.

Code of Accounts – Any numbering system used to uniquely identify each element of the work breakdown structure. See also chart of accounts.

Communications Planning – Determining the information and communications needs of the project stakeholders.

Concurrent Engineering – An approach to project staffing that, in its most general form, calls for implementer’s to be involved in the design phase. Sometimes confused with fast tracking.

Contingencies – See reserve and contingency planning.

Contingency Allowances – see reserve.

Contingency Planning – The development of a management plan that identifies alternative strategies to be used to ensure project success if specified risk events occur.

Contingency Reserve – A separately planned quantity used to allow for future situations which may be planned for only in part (sometimes called “known unknowns”). For example, rework is certain; the amount of rework is not. Contingency reserves may involve cost, schedule or both. Contingency reserves are intended to reduce the impact of missing cost or schedule objectives. Contingency reserves are normally included in the project’s cost and schedule baselines.

Contract – A contract is a mutually binding agreement which obligates the seller to provide the specified product and obligates the buyer to pay for it. Contracts generally fall into one of three broad categories:

Fixed price or lump sum contracts – this category of contract involves a fixed total price for a well-defined product. Fixed price contracts may also include incentives for meeting or exceeding selected project objectives such as schedule targets.

Cost reimbursable contracts – this category of contract involves payment (reimbursement) to the contractor for its actual costs. Costs are usually classified as direct costs (costs incurred directly by the project, such as wages for members of the project team) and indirect costs (costs allocated to the project by the performing organization as a cost of doing business, such as salaries for corporate executives). Indirect costs are usually calculated as a percentage of direct costs. Cost reimbursable contracts often include incentives for meeting or exceeding selected project objectives such as schedule targets or total cost.

Unit price contracts – the contractor is paid a preset amount per unit of service (e.g., $70 per hour for professional services or $1.08 per cubic yard of earth removed) and the total value of the contract is a function of the quantities needed to complete the work.

Contract Administration – Managing the relationship with the seller.

Contract Close-out – Completion and settlement of the contract, including resolution of all outstanding items.

Control – The process of comparing actual performance with planned performance, analyzing variances, evaluating possible alternatives, and taking appropriate corrective action as needed.

Control Charts – Control charts are a graphic display of the results , over time and against established control limits, of a process. They are used to determine if the process is “in control”  or in need of adjustment.

Corrective Action – Changes made to bring expected future performance of the project into line with the plan.

Cost Budgeting – Allo

9cating the cost estimates t
o individual project components.

Cost Control – Controlling changes to the project budget.

Cost Estimating – Estimating the cost of the resources needed to complete project activities.

Cost of Quality – The costs incurred to ensure quality. The cost of quality includes quality planning, quality control, quality assurance, and rework.

Cost Performance Index (CPI) – The ratio of budgeted costs to actual costs (BCWP/ACWP). CPI is often used to predict the magnitude of a possible cost overrun using the following formula: original cost estimate/CIP = projected cost at completion. See also earned value.

Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) Contract – A type of 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 (CPIF) Contract – A type of 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) – (1) Any difference between the estimated cost of an activity and the actual cost of that activity. (2) In earned value, BCWP less ACWP.

Crashing – Taking action to decrease the total project duration after analyzing a number of alternatives to determine how to get the maximum duration compression for the least cost.

Critical Activity – Any activity on a critical path. Most commonly determined by using the critical path method. Although some activities are “critical” in the dictionary sense without being on the critical path, this meaning is seldom used in the project context.

Critical Path – In a project network diagram, the series of activities which determines the earliest completion of the project. The critical path will generally change from time to time as activities are completed ahead of or behind schedule. Although normally calculated for the entire project, the critical path can also be determined for a milestone or subproject. The critical path is usually defined as those activities with float less than or equal to a specified value, often zero. See critical path method.

Critical Path Method (CPM) – A network analysis technique used to predict project duration by analyzing which sequence of activities (which path) has the least amount of scheduling flexibility (the least amount of float). Early dates are calculated by means of a forward pass using a specified start date. Late dates are calculated by means of a backward pass starting from a specified completion date (usually the forward pass’s calculated project early finish date).

Current Finish Date – The current estimate of the point in time when an activity will be completed.

Current Start Date – The current estimate of the point in time when an activity will begin.

Data Date (DD) – The point in time that separates actual (historical) data from future (scheduled) data. Also called as-of-date.

Definitive Estimate – See estimate.

Deliverable – Any measurable, tangible, verifiable outcome, result, or item tat must be produced to complete a project or part of a project. Often used more narrowly in reference to an external deliverable, which is a deliverable that is subject to approval by the project sponsor or customer?

Dependency – See logical relationship.

Dummy Activity – An activity of zero duration used to show a logical relationship in the arrow diagramming method. Dummy activities are used when logical relationships cannot be completely or correctly described with regular activity arrows. Dummies are shown graphically as dashed lines headed by an arrow.

Duration (DU) – The number of work periods (not including holidays or other non-working periods) required to complete an activity or other project element. Usually expressed as workdays or workweeks. Sometimes incorrectly equated with elapsed time. See also effort.

Duration Compression – Shortening the project schedule without reducing the project scope. Duration compression is not always possible and often requires an increase in project cost.

Early Finish Date (EF) – In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time on which the uncompleted portions of an activity (or the project) can finish based on the network logic and any schedule constraints. Early finish dates can change as the project progresses and changes are made to the project plan.

Early Start Date (ES) – In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time on which the uncompleted portions of an activity (or the project) can start, based on the network logic and any schedule constraints. Early start dates can change as the project progresses and changes are made to the project plan.

**Earned Value (EV) – (1) A method for measuring project performance. It compares the amount of work that was planned with what was actually accomplished to determine if cost and schedule performance is as planned. See also actual cost of work performed, budgeted cost of work scheduled, budgeted cost of work performed, cost variance, cost performance index, schedule variance, and schedule performance index. (2) The budgeted cost of work performed for an activity or group of activities.

Earned Value Analysis – See definition (1) under earned value.

Effort – The number of labor units required to complete an activity or other project element. Usually expressed as staff hours, staff days, or staff weeks. Should not be confused with duration.

Estimate – An assessment of the likely quantitative result. Usually applied to project costs and durations and should always include some indication of accuracy (e.g., plus or minus x percent). Usually used with a modifier (e.g., preliminary, conceptual, feasibility). Some application areas have specific modifiers that imply particular accuracy ranges (e.g., order-of-magnitude estimate, budget estimate, and definitive estimate in engineering and construction projects).

Estimate At Completion (ETC) – The expected additional cost needed to complete an activity, a group of activities, or the project. Most techniques for forecasting ETC include some adjustment to the original estimate based on project performance to date. Also called “estimated to complete”. See also earned value and estimate at completion.

Event-on-Node – A network diagramming technique in which events are represented by boxes (or nodes) connected by arrows to show the sequence in which the events are to occur. Used in the original Program Evaluation and Review Technique.

Exception Report – Document that includes only major variations from plan (rather than all variations).

Expected Monetary Value – The product of an event’s probability of occurrence and the gain or loss that will result. For example, if there is a 50 percent probability that it will rain, and rain  will result in a $100 loss, the expected monetary value of the rain event is $50 (.5 X 100$).

Fast Tracking – Compressing the project schedule by overlapping activities that would normally be done in sequence, such as design and construction. Sometimes confused with concurrent engineering.

Finish Date – A point in time associated with an activity’s completion. Usually qualified by one of the following: actual, planned, estimated, scheduled, early, late, baseline, target or current.

Finish-to-Finish (FF) – See logical relationship.

Finish-to-Start (FS) – See logical relationship.

Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Contract – A type of contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as defined by the contract) regardless of the seller’s costs.

Fixed Price Contract – See firm fixed price contract.

Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIF) Contract – 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 it meets defined performance criteria.

Float – The a

mount of time that an activity may be delayed from its early start without delaying the project finish date. Float is a mathematical calculation and can change as the project progresses and changes are made to the project plan. Also called slack, total float, and path float. See also free float.

Forecast Final Cost – See estimate at completion.

Forward Pass – The calculation of the early start and early finish dates for the uncompleted portions of all network activities. See also network analysis and backward pass.

Fragnet – See subnet

Free Float (FF) – The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately following activities. See also Float.

Functional Manager – A manager responsible for activities in a specialized department or function (e.g., engineering, manufacturing, marketing).

Functional Organization – An organization structure in which staff are grouped hierarchically by specialty (e.g., production, marketing, engineering, and accounting at the top level; with engineering, further divided into mechanical, electrical, and others).

Gantt Chart – See bar chart.

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).

Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT) – A network analysis technique that allows for conditional and probabilistic treatment of logical relationships (i.e., some activities may not be performed).

Hammock – An aggregate or summary activity (a group of related activities is shown as one and reported at a summary level). A hammock may or may not have an internal sequence. See also subproject and subnet.

Hanger – An unintended break in a network path. Hangers are usually caused by missing activities or missing logical relationships.

Information Distribution – Making needed information available to project stakeholders in a timely manner.

Initiation – Committing the organization to begin a project phase.

Integrated Cost/Schedule Reporting – See earned value

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.

Key Event Schedule – See master schedule

Lag – A modification of a logical relationship which directs a delay in the successor task. For example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a 10 day lag, the successor activity cannot start until 10 days after the predecessor has finished. See also lead.

Late Finish Date (LF) – In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time that an activity may be completed without delaying a specified milestone (usually the project finishes date).

Late Start Date (LS) – In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time that an activity may begin without delaying a specified milestone (usually the project finish date).

Lead – A modification of a logical relationship which allows an acceleration of the successor task. For example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a 10 day lead, the successor activity can start 10 days before the predecessor has finished. See also lag.

Level of Effort (LOE) – Support type activity (e.g., vendor or customer liaison) that does not readily lend itself to measurement of discrete accomplishment. It is generally characterized by a uniform rate of activity over a specific period of time.

Leveling – See resource leveling.

Life-cycle Costing – The concept of including acquisition, operating, and disposal costs when evaluating various alternatives.

Line Manager – (1) The manger of any group that actually makes a product or performs a service. (2) A functional manager.

Link – See logical relationship.

Logic – See network logic.

Logic Diagram – See project network diagram.

Logical Relationship – A dependency between two project activities, or between a project activity and a milestone. See also precedence relationship. The four possible types of logical relationships are:

Finish-to-start – The “from” activity must finish before the “to” activity can start.

Finish-to-finish – The “from” activity must start before the “to” activity can finish.

Start-to-start – The “from” activity must start before the “to” activity can start.

Start-to-finish – The “from activity must start before the “to” activity can finish.

Loop – A network path that passes the same node twice. Loops cannot be analyzed using traditional network analysis techniques such as CPM and PERT. Loops are allowed in GERT.

 

Management Reserve – A separately planned quantity used to allow for future situations which are impossible to predict (sometimes called “unknown unknowns” ). Management reserves may involve cost or schedule. Management reserves are intended to reduce the risk of missing cost or schedule objectives. Use of management reserve requires a change to the project’s cost baseline.

Master Schedule – A summary level schedule which identifies the major activities and key milestones. See also milestone schedule.

Mathematical Analysis – See network analysis.

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 individuals assigned to the project.

Milestone – A significant event in the project, usually completion of a major deliverable.

Milestone Schedule – A summary level schedule which identifies the major milestones.  See also master schedule.

Mitigation – Taking steps to lessen risk by lowering the probability of a risk event’s occurrence or reducing its effect should it occur.

Modern Project Management (MPM) – A term used to distinguish the current broad range of project management (scope, cost, time, quality, risk, etc.) from narrower, traditional use that focused on cost and time.

Monitoring – The capture, analysis, and reporting of project performance, usually as compared to plan.

Monte Carlo Analysis – A schedule risk assessment technique that performs a project simulation many times in order to calculate a distribution of likely results.

Near-Critical Activity – An activity that has low total float.

Network – See project network diagram.

Network Analysis – The process of identifying early and late start and finish dates for the uncompleted portions of project activities. See also Critical Path Method, Program Evaluation and Review Technique, and Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique.

Network Logic – The collection of activity dependencies that make up a project network diagram.

Network Path – Any continuous series of connected activities in a project network diagram.

Node – One of the defining points of a network; a junction point joined to some or all of the other dependency lines. See also arrow diagramming method and precedence diagramming method.

Order of Magnitude Estimate – See estimate.

Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) – A depiction of the project organization arranged so as to relate work packages to organizational units.

Organizational Planning – Identifying, documenting, and assigning project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships.

Overall Change Control – Coordinating changes across the entire project.

Overlap – See lead.

Parametric Estimating – An estimating technique that uses a statistical relationship between historical data and other variables (e.g., square footage in construction, lines of code in software development) to calculate an estimate.

Pareto Diagram – A histogram, ordered by frequency of occurrence, that shows how many results were g

enerated by each identified cause.

Path – A set of sequentially connected activities in a project network diagram.

Path Convergence – In mathematical analysis, the tendency of parallel paths of approximately equal duration to delay the completion of the milestone where they meet.

Path Float – See Float.

Percent Complete (PC) – An estimate, expressed as a percent, of the amount of work which has been completed on an activity or group of activities.

Performance Reporting – Collecting and disseminating information about project performance to help ensure project progress.

Performing  Organization – The enterprise whose employees are most directly involved in doing the work of the project.

PERT Chart – A specific type of project network diagram. See Program Evaluation and Review Technique.

Phase – See project phase.

Planned Finish Date (PF) – See scheduled finish date.

Planned Start Date(PS) – See scheduled start date.

Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) – A network diagramming technique in which activities are represented by boxes (or nodes). Activities are linked by precedence relationships to show the sequence in which the activities are to be performed.

Precedence Relationship – The term used in the precedence diagramming method for a logical relationship. In current usage, however, precedence relationship, logical relationship, and dependency are widely used interchangeably regardless of the diagramming method in use.

Predecessor Activity – (1) In the arrow diagramming method, the activity which enters a node. (2) In the precedence diagramming method, the “from” activity.

Procurement Planning – Determining what to procure and when.