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 08 August 2007
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projectcentre Glossary of Terms

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

  • Activity Task, job or process that is the smallest self contained unit of work in a project
  • Activity Network Diagram of all the project activities

B

  • Bar Chart Chart on which activities and their durations are represented by lines drawn to a common time scale (Gantt chart is the most common)
  • Baseline Reference levels against which the project is monitored and controlled
  • Benefit The enhancements to the future business or operations that the project is to deliver
  • Breakdown structure A hierarchical structure by which project elements are broken down
  • Business case Information necessary to get assess benefits of a project against costs and resources to assess whether the proposal should go ahead

C

  • Change Changes to the deliverables, scope or objectives of a project
  • Change control Process that ensures that potential changes are recorded evaluated authorised and monitored
  • Closure Formal end point of a project either because it has been finished or terminated early
  • Configuration management Activities concerned with the creation, maintenance and control of products and their updates
  • Constraints Restrictions that will affect the scope of the project or the project activities
  • Contingency The planned allotment of time, cost or other resources for unforeseeable elements and events in a project
  • Cost benefit analysis An analysis of the relationship between the costs of a task, initial and recurrent and the benefits likely to arise from the change
  • Critical path The path through a series of activities, taking into account interdependencies, in which the late completion of activities will have an impact on the project end date or delay a key milestone (there may be more than one critical path)
  • Critical success factor A factor considered to be the most conducive to the achievement of a successful project

D

  • Deliverable End products of a project or the measurable results of intermediate activities.
  • Dependency The relationships between different products and tasks, so that one activity or product may not be able to begin until a dependent task is complete

E

  • Earned value analysis Analysis of project progress where the actual resource budgeted and spent is compared with the value of the work achieved
  • Exceptions Occurrences that cause deviation from a plan, such as issues, change requests and risks
  • Float The maximum amount of time that an activity can slip past its earliest completion date without delaying the rest of the project

G

  • Gantt chart A time phased bar chart showing planned activity against time
  • Gateway process (DTI) Appraisal system, run in conjunction with Business Planning to decide whether projects should be resourced by the project policy pool
  • Gateway review OGC project assurance process

K

  • Key performance indicators Measurable indicators that will be used to report progress that is chosen to reflect the critical success factors of the project

L

  • Life cycle A sequence of defined stages over the full duration of a project

M

  • Microsoft Project Microsoft project software application
  • Milestone A key event in the project
  • MSP (Managing successful programmes) OGC programme management methodology

O

  • Objective The predetermined results towards which project is directing its efforts

P

  • PERT chart (Programme Evaluation and Review Technique) A project management technique for determining how much time a project needs before it can be completed. Each activity is assigned a best, worst and most probably completion time estimate. These estimates are then used to determine the average completion time. The average times are used to calculate the critical path and the standard deviation of completion times for the whole project.
  • Phase That part of the project during which a series of interlinked activities are carried out
  • PRINCE2 OGC project management methodology
  • PID Project Initiation Document This document defines the terms of reference for the project and is approved by the project board or SRO
  • Plan The project plan is owned by the project manager, it is the basis of the project controls and includes the ‘what’, the ‘how’, the ‘when’ and the ‘who’
  • Product breakdown structure A hierarchy of deliverable products which are required to be produced on the projects
  • Programme A set of individual buy related projects or functional activities
  • Project board The body to which the project manager is accountable
  • Project brief Statement that describes the purpose, cost, time performance requirements and constraints of a project
  • Project manager Person with the responsibility and authority to run the project
  • Project office Person or group providing support to project manager and board
  • Project support office Central location of planning and project support functions. Often provides personnel and facilities for centralised management documentation and control
  • Project team People responsible to the project manager for carrying out project tasks

Q

  • Quality A characteristic used to measure the degree of excellence of a product or service
  • Quality Assurance The process of evaluating overall project performance on a regular basis to ensure that it will satisfy relevant quality standards

R

  • Requirements A negotiated set of measurables the customer wants and needs
  • Resource allocation Scheduling of activities and the resources required by those activities so that predetermined constraints of resource availability are not exceeded
  • Risk Defined threat or opportunity for the project
  • Risk Log/Register Formal record of identified risks, explaining its nature, likelihood of occurrence and recording information relevant to its assessment and management. It should be regularly reviewed and updated
  • Risk Potential Assessment Assessment of a project risk to decide whether it is high medium or low risk for OGC Gateway Review purposes.

S

  • Schedule A timetable for the project It shows how project tasks and milestones are planned out over a period of time
  • Slippage The amount of slack or float time used up by the current activity due to a delayed start or an increased duration
  • Sponsor Individual or body for whom the project is undertaken
  • SRO (Senior Responsible Owner) Another term for sponsor
  • Stage A natural sub section of a project
  • Stakeholder A person or group who have a vested interest in the outcome and deliverables of a project

T

  • Termination Completion of the project either on formal acceptance of the deliverables by the customer or SRO and/or the disposal of the deliverables at the end of their life
  • Terms of Reference A specification of a team member’s responsibilities and authority within a project
  • Tolerances The agree discretion from cost, time or other factors agreed by the board/SRO and the project manager

W

  • Work package A group of related tasks that are defined at the same level within a work breakdown structure. Usually each work package is distinguishable, has a scheduled start and finish date, assigned budgets and agreed milestones

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