activity – an element of work, normally found on the WBS, that has an expected duration and cost, and expected resource requirements; also called task
actual cost (AC) – the total of direct and indirect costs incurred in accomplishing work on activity during a given period, formerly called the actual cost of work performed (ACWP)
baseline – the approved project management plan plus approved changes budget at completion (BAC) – the original total budget for a project
budget estimate – a cost estimate used to allocate money into an organization’s budget case modeling - a process for identifying and modeling business events, who initiated them and
how the system should respond to them
cash flow – benefits minus costs or income minus expenses
champion – a senior manager who acts as a key proponent for a project
closing processes – formalizing acceptance of the project or project phase and ending it efficiently
communications management plan – a document that guides project communications compromise mode – using a give-and-take approach to resolving conflict; bargaining and
searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all the parties in a dispute confrontation mode – directly facing a conflict using a problem-solving approach that allows
affected parties to work through their disagreements
contingency plan – predefined actions that the project team will take if an identified risk event occurs
cost baseline – a time-phased budget that project managers use to measure and monitor cost performance
cost budgeting – allocating the overall cost estimate to individual work items to establish a baseline for measuring performance
cost control – controlling changes to the project budget
cost estimating – developing an approximation or estimate of the costs of the resources needed to complete the project
cost performance index (CPI) – the ratio of earned value to actual cost; can be used to estimate the projected cost to complete the project
cost variance (CV) – the earned value minus actual cost
deliverable – a product or service, such as a report, a training session, a piece of hardware, or a segment of software code, produced or provided as a part of a project
directives – new requirements imposed by management, government, or some external influence
discount rate – the rate used in discounting future cash flow
earned value (EV) – the percentage of work actually completed multiplied by the planned cost, formerly called the budget cost of work performed (BCWP)
estimate at completion (EAC) – an estimate of what it will cost to complete the project based on performance to date
executing processes – coordinating people and other resources to carry out the project plans and produce the products, services, or results of the project or project phase
Gantt chart – a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing projects activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format
61 initiating processes – defining and authorizing a project or a project phase
issue log – a tool for managing project teams where the project manager documents, monitors, and tracks issues that need to be resolved in order for the project to run smoothly
Joint Application Design (JAD) – uses highly organized and intensive workshops to bring together project stakeholders to jointly define and design information systems
methodology – describes how things should be done
milestone – a significant event that normally has no duration on a project, serves as a marker to help in identifying necessary activities, setting schedule goals, and monitoring progress
monitoring and controlling processes – regularly measuring and monitoring progress to ensure that the project team meets the project objectives
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) – a popular tool for determining personality preference net present value (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
network diagram – a schematic display of the logical relationships or sequencing of project activities
organizational breakdown structure (OBS) – a specific type of organizational chart that shows which organizational units are responsible for which work items
Pareto analysis – identifying the vital few contributors that account for most quality problems in a system
Pareto diagrams – histograms that help identify and prioritize problem areas
payback period – the amount of time it will take up to recoup, in the form of net cash inflows, the total dollars invested in a project
planned value (PV) – that portion of the approved total cost estimate planned to be spent on an activity during a given period, formally called the budget cost of work scheduled (BCWS)
planning processes – devising and maintaining a workable scheme to ensure that the project addresses the organization’s needs
probability/impact matrix or chart – a matrix or chart that lists the relative probability of a risk occurring on one side of a matrix or axis on a chart and relative impact of the risk occurring on the other
process - a series of actions directed toward a particular result
program – a group of projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually
project – a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result project charter – a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides
direction on the project’s objectives and management
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 concepts, development, implementation, and close-out
project scope statement – a document that includes, at a minimum, 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
project sponsor – the person who provides the direction and funding for a project
62 quality – the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or
implied needs or the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements
RACI charts – charts that show Responsibility, Accountability, Consultation and Informed roles for project stakeholders
rate of performance (RP) – the ratio of actual work completed to the percentage of work planned to have been completed at any given time during the life of the project or activity resource histogram – a column chart that shows the number of resources assigned to a project
over time
responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) – a matrix that maps the work of the project as described in the WBS to the people responsible for performing the work as described in organizational breakdown structure (OBS)
return on investment (ROI) – (benefits minus costs) divided by costs
risk – an uncertainty that can have a negative or positive effect on meeting project objectives risk management plan – a plan that documents the procedures for managing risk throughout the
project
risk owner – the person who will take responsibility for a risk and its associated response strategies and tasks
risk register – a document that contains results of various risk management processes, often displayed in a table or spreadsheet format
schedule performance index (SPI) – the ratio of earned value to planned value; can be used to estimate the projected time to complete a project
schedule variance (SV) – the earned value minus the planned value
scope – all the work involved in creating products of the project and the processes used to create them
scope control – controlling changes to the project scope
scope creep – the tendency for project scope to keep getting bigger
scope statement – a document used to develop and confirm a common understanding of the project scope; the first version is often called a preliminary scope statement
scope verification – formalizing acceptance of the project scope, sometimes by customer sign-off SMART criteria – guidelines to help define milestones that are specific, measurable, assignable,
realistic and time-framed
stakeholder analysis – an analysis of information such as key stakeholders’ names and organizations, their roles on the project, unique facts about each stakeholder, their level of interest in the project, their influence on the project, and suggestions for managing relationships with each stakeholder
stakeholders – people involved in or affected by project activities
status reports – reports that describe where the project stands at a specific point in time systems development life cycle (SDLC) – a framework for describing the phases involved in
developing and maintaining information systems triggers – indicators for actual risk events
triple constraint – balancing scope, time, and cost goals
weighted scoring model – a technique that provides a systematic process for basing project selection on numerous criteria
work breakdown structure (WBS) – a deliverable-oriented grouping of the work in a project that defines the total scope of the project