Project Management Glossary

Activities There are several phases in a project. For example preparation, implementation and completion. Each phase contains … › Agile First of all, "Agile" is just a word that expresses a certain agility. In project management, agile is often confused … › Ansoff Matrix The Ansoff Matrix - also called Product Market Matrix - is a tool for strategic management. It analyzes and … ›

Balanced Scorecard The balanced scorecard, abbreviated: BSC, is an English term for a balanced report sheet. It is primarily a concept for … › Baseline The baseline is one of the most popular project management terms among project managers. A baseline displays the … › Bcg Matrix The BCG matrix or portfolio analysis was developed by the Boston Consulting Group. It provides a framework for the … › bottom-up estimating, bottom-up estimation, bottom-up approach, bottom-up management Bottom-up Planning Bottom-up planning (also bottom-up estimating) determines the effort, cost and duration of a project from the bottom … › Brainstorming When planning a project or a dedicated part of it, the team should define the things to do. This is very often done in … › Brooks law, the mythical man-month Brooks's Law Brooks's law states that adding people to a late project makes it later. The reasons are onboarding and communication … › Budget The budget is the financial framework available to a project or to individual activities. It comprises the approved … › Float, slack, total float, free float, schedule buffer Buffer A buffer is the time by which an activity can move or take longer without putting another date at risk. If an activity … › Business Case The business case provides a justification for the implementation of a project. It assesses the benefits, costs and … › Business Plan Business Plan is a result from the business case. It refers not only to the type of business you want to start, but … ›

Capacity Planning Capacity planning compares the demand for resources with the available capacity. It answers the question of whether … › Case Study A case study is a process in which an individual or a team conducts a research on particular project to analyze its … › Change Management Every company must evolve in order to be able to withstand the constant changes in its environment. Change management … › Closing Process Closing process describes the termination of a project along with all the phases and processes. It is the end of the … › Constraint A constraint is a fixed requirement that limits the flexibility of the planning. Typical examples are a fixed start … › Contingency Plan The contingency plan is part of the risk management and refers to the second plan if your original plan doesn’t work. … › work contour, work distribution Contouring Contouring describes how the work of a resource is distributed across the duration of an activity. Instead of assuming … › Cost Estimation The project cost is part of the triple constraint in project management and its cost estimation part of the planning … › cost curve of change, change cost curve Cost of Change Curve The cost of change curve shows how sharply the cost of a change rises the later in a project it is made. Correcting a … › CPI, Cost Efficiency Index Cost Performance Index (CPI) The cost performance index (CPI) shows how much planned project value you get for every dollar or euro spent. The … › schedule compression by added resources Crashing Crashing shortens the project duration by adding resources to activities on the critical path. The logic of the … › Creative Project Management Creative project management refers to the strategic planning, organization, and execution of projects that foster … › Critical Path Method (CPM) Critical Path The critical path is the longest chain of dependent activities in a project. Its length sets the earliest possible … ›

Project Deliverable, Project Output, Work Product Deliverable A deliverable is a verifiable result that a project hands over to a client or user. Typical examples are a requirements … › Dependencies Two or more activities are set in one of four possible ways. You use this link to specify that both operations were … › Dependency Types A dependency type defines the chronological order in which two activities relate to each other. There are four types: … › Dummy Activity A dummy activity is an activity with zero duration and no resources in an activity-on-arrow (AoA) network diagram. It … › Duration A distinction is drawn in project management and consequently also in Merlin Project between two planning methods: … ›

Effectivity Efficiency A principle of business administration describes the difference between two elementary attributes that increase … › Eisenhower Matrix The Eisenhower Matrix, also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix or the Eisenhower Decision Matrix, is a commonly used … › Eva Earned Value Analysis (short: EVA) is a project controlling tool. It is used to assess the progress of projects. The … ›

overlapping, parallelisation, overlapping activities Fast Tracking Fast tracking shortens the project duration by running activities that were planned in sequence fully or partly in … › Feasibility Study A feasibility study defines the process of evaluating a designed plan. It is used to determine the feasibility of the … › Float In short, a float is the amount of time that an activity can be delayed without causing a delay to other activities or … › Forward and Backward Scheduling The scheduling direction determines from which anchor point a project is calculated. With forward scheduling, the start … › 2x2 matrix, four-quadrant matrix Four-Field Matrix A four-field matrix is a grid of two criteria, each split into "low" and "high". The four resulting fields sort entries … ›

Gantt A Gantt chart, also called a bar chart or project timeline, shows a project's activities as bars on a timeline. The … › Group A group is a logical summary of various activities and/or milestones. The size of a group or phase is not regulated. … ›

Hybrid Project Management Hybrid project management combines elements of traditional and agile methods. Instead of committing to a single … ›

Kickoff A kickoff meeting takes place at the beginning of the project or a new project phase. The project team meets and the … ›

project retrospective, post-project review, lessons learned workshop Lessons Learned Lessons learned are the experiences from a project that a team records so that later projects benefit from them. The … › Little's theorem, queueing law Little's Law Little's law ties together three quantities of any working system: the lead time of a task equals the amount of work in … ›

Management Styles No question was addressed and analysed more frequently than the question of the best management style. However, this … › Master Project A master project is a higher-level project that bundles several subprojects and presents them together. This makes it … › Project milestone, checkpoint Milestone A milestone is an event without duration that marks an important point in a project: a result achieved, the end of a … › Montecarlosimulation Sometimes referred to as stochastic scenario analysis, the term Monte Carlo Simulation or 'Monte Carlo Methods' is … ›

Network Diagram A network diagram is a graph or chart which clearly indicates the flow of elements in the project. It also consists of … ›

Obs Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) also called organizational chart or organigram is defined as the organization … ›

Percentage Complete The percentage complete indicates, as a percentage, how far an activity has already progressed. 0 percent means that … › three-point estimation, three-point estimate, PERT formula, weighted three-point estimate PERT Estimate A PERT estimate calculates the expected duration of an activity from three estimates: optimistic (O), most likely (M) … › Plan-Actual Comparison The plan-actual comparison contrasts the original planning (target) with the values actually achieved (actual). Usually … › Pmbok The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a guide which concludes terms, best practices, strategies and … › Porter 5 Forces Model Porter, a veteran of classic strategy development, has come up with the 5-Forces model, a model for representing an … › Porter Value Chain Model Porter's value chain model describes all the processes that a company goes through to perform a value creation process. … › Prince2 PRINCE2 stands for PRojects IN Controlled Environments. The 2 marks the second edition from 1996, which followed PRINCE … › Project A project is a temporary transaction to create a unique product, service or event (simplified from PMBOK). In Merlin … › Project Life Cycle The typical project life cycle includes project planning, analysis, design, implementation, and budget. A project life … › Projectmanagement Designated aloud Wikipedia, initiating, planning, controlling and completing projects. › Project Management Office (PMO) The Project Management Office (PMO) is a central organizational unit that provides standards, methods and tools for … › Project Manager A project manager is an individual who is responsible for a project . He/She is responsible for aspects like execution, … › Project Portfolio A project portfolio is the entirety of all projects of an organization or a division that are viewed and managed … › Project Sponsor The project sponsor is the client and most senior advocate of a project. They provide the resources, release the budget … ›

Quality Quality is an interpretation which defines superiority and inferiority of things. Quality gives products’ … › Questionmark In the first planning phase of a project, the activity values for work or duration can still vary. The project manager … ›

Raci Chart An RACI chart is defined as a matrix in which you can get all the significant actions happening in a project. RACI is … › Resource Resource is a term for people, materials and equipment used in the project. › Resource Calendar A resource calendar defines the working days along with non-working days which specifies the activity of resources. It … › Resource Leveling Resource leveling resolves overloads of resources. If a person or a piece of equipment is assigned more tasks than … › shared resource pool, central resource pool Resource Pool A resource pool is a shared set of resources that several projects use. You maintain availability, calendars and rates … › Resource Utilization Resource utilization describes the ratio between the assigned work of a resource and its available capacity. If … › Risk Every company takes advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. However, this is not possible without … › Risk Management Risk management defines the general philosophy and procedure for dealing with project risks. Risk analysis and risk … ›

Schedule Performance Index (SPI) The Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is a key figure from the earned value analysis. It measures how well a project is … › Scrum Scrum is an important approach in agile projects. It is used for delivering software products with iterative … › Sprint A sprint is a fixed, short period of time in agile project management during which a defined work package is completed. … › Stakeholder A stakeholder is a person or a group who has a particular interest in the course or outcome of a project. A large … › Statement Of Work A statement of work (SOW) defines which work a contractor performs for a client, which results it delivers, by when and … › Status Date The status date is the cut-off date to which all evaluations of a project refer. Up to this date the recorded actual … › status report, project status report, reporting, project reporting Status Reports A status report summarizes the state of a project on a cutoff date: dates, costs, results, risks and next steps. A … › Kanban swimlanes, expedite lane Swimlanes Swimlanes are horizontal rows that divide a Kanban board across its status columns. Each row groups one kind of card, … › Swot Analysis The acronym SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The SWOT analysis is an instrument of … ›

Schedule management Time Management Project time management (also schedule management) covers everything the project manager does to build and keep the … › top-down management, top-down approach, top-down estimating Top-down Planning In the top-down approach, the project manager plans from the top down: they set the goal, deadline and budget and break … › Project Management Triangle, Iron Triangle, Project Triangle Triple Constraint The triple constraint (also project management triangle or iron triangle) describes the three factors that limit every … ›

Waterfall Model In waterfall model, there are various phases which need to be followed from sequentially one phase to the next. The … › Work There are two basic planning methods in project management: resource-based planning and time-based planning. Merlin … › WBS, project breakdown structure Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) A work breakdown structure (WBS) breaks the entire scope of a project down hierarchically into sub-tasks and work … › WP, Work Package Description Work Package A work package is the smallest unit in a work breakdown structure (WBS) that you don't break down further. It describes … › Workplan One of the key terms of project management is its work plan. A work plan is an outline of a group of goals with the … ›