Project management

Terms related to project management, including definitions about project management methodologies and tools.

70 percent rule for productivity - According to the 70 percent rule, which has its roots in athletics, employees are most productive when a majority of their time is spent working at a less intense pace.
accountability - Accountability is an assurance that an individual or an organization is evaluated on its performance or behavior related to something for which it is responsible.
action plan - An action plan is a document that lists what steps must be taken to achieve a specific goal.
ASAP, ALAP and ATAP - ASAP, ATAP and ALAP are acronyms that stand for, respectively, as soon as possible, as timely as possible and as late as possible.
availability bias - In psychology, the availability bias is the human tendency to rely on information that comes readily to mind when evaluating situations or making decisions.
billable hours - Billable hours are the amounts of an employee’s work time that can be charged to a client.
block diagram - A block diagram is a visual representation of a system that uses simple, labeled blocks that represent single or multiple items, entities or concepts, connected by lines to show relationships between them.
broken windows theory - The broken windows theory posits that visible signs of disorder and neglect in an environment encourage further disorder and misconduct among those who live in it.
Build, operate, transfer (BOT) - Build, operate, transfer (BOT) is a project management technique where a company hires a third-party firm to create a new subsidiary or product.
build-measure-learn (BML) - Build-measure-learn (BML) is a process of building a product, measuring consumer metrics and learning from them to better respond to customer needs and improve the product for the ultimate sustainability of the company.
burn-in - Burn-in is a test in which a system or component is made to run for an extended period of time to detect problems.
business case - A business case is a formal document or verbal value proposition that outlines the justification for commencing a project or undertaking a specific task.
business plan - A business plan is a formal document that outlines a company's objectives, strategies and financial forecasts, serving as a comprehensive roadmap for business growth and development.
business process automation (BPA) - Business process automation (BPA) is the use of advanced technology to complete business processes with minimal human intervention.
CALMS - CALMS is a conceptual framework for the integration of development and operations (DevOps) teams, functions and systems within an organization.
center of excellence (CoE) - A center of excellence (CoE) is a team of skilled knowledge workers whose mission is to provide best practices for a particular area of interest.
Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) - The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is a vendor-neutral, entry-level certification to help individuals acquire project management (PM) skills.
change agent (agent of change) - A change agent, or agent of change, is someone who promotes and enables change to happen within any group or organization.
change control - Change control includes the various steps needed to process changes made to a product or system.
change management strategy - A change management strategy is a plan for or systematic approach to dealing with a transition or transformation in an organization.
change request - A change request is a formal proposal for an alteration to some product or system.
channel strategy - A channel strategy is a vendor's plan for moving a product or a service through the chain of commerce to the end customer.
chief operating officer (COO) - A chief operating officer (COO) is the corporate executive who oversees ongoing business operations within the company.
chief procurement officer (CPO) - The chief procurement officer, or CPO, leads an organization's procurement department and oversees the acquisitions of goods and services made by the organization.
chief risk officer (CRO) - The chief risk officer (CRO) is the corporate executive tasked with assessing and mitigating significant competitive, regulatory and technological threats to an enterprise's capital and earnings.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) - The chief technology officer (CTO) is the individual within an organization who oversees the current technology and creates relevant policy.
circular economy - A circular economy is a model of production and consumption, where items and products are reused whenever possible rather than discarded.
communication plan - A communication plan is a policy-driven approach to providing company stakeholders with certain information.
CompTIA Project+ - CompTIA Project+ is the Computing Technology Industry Association's certification program designed to demonstrate a person has a validated understanding of and skills in project management.
contingency budget (cost contingency) - Contingency, in the context of project management, is an amount of money that is included to cover potential events that are not specifically accounted for in a cost estimate.
corporate culture model - A corporate culture model is the organizing principle behind the values, beliefs and attitudes that characterize a company and guide its practices.
cost management - Cost management is the process of planning and controlling the budget of a business.
crisis management - Crisis management is the application of strategies designed to help an organization deal with a sudden and significant negative event, while maintaining business continuity.
critical path method (CPM) - The critical path method (CPM) is a step-by-step project management technique for process planning that defines critical and non-critical tasks with the goal of preventing project schedule problems and process bottlenecks.
customer journey map - A customer journey map is a visual representation of the stages a customer goes through when interacting with a company.
daily stand-up meeting - A daily stand-up meeting is a short organizational meeting that is held each day.
deductive argument - A deductive argument is a logic construct with two or more premises and a conclusion where if the premises are true then the conclusion must also be true.
demand planning - Demand planning is the process of forecasting the demand for a product or service so it can be produced and delivered more efficiently and to the satisfaction of customers.
device mesh - A device mesh is an ad hoc network in the internet of things (IoT).
DevOps Dojo - A DevOps Dojo is a place where DevOps team members go for hands-on training.
discrete event simulation (DES) - Discrete event simulation (DES) is the process of codifying the behavior of a complex system as an ordered sequence of well-defined events.
distribution requirements planning (DRP) - Distribution requirements planning (DRP) is a systematic process to make the delivery of goods more efficient by determining which goods, in what quantities and at what location, are required to meet anticipated demand.
distributive bargaining - Distributive bargaining is an adversarial type of negotiation in which it is assumed that any gain of a competitor is a loss to the other party.
distributor agreement (distribution agreement) - A distributor agreement, also known as a distribution agreement, is a contract between channel partners that stipulates the responsibilities of both parties.
DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) - DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is Six Sigma tool for improving an existing process.
Eisenhower Matrix - The Eisenhower Matrix is a time management tool for prioritizing tasks.
empiricism - Empiricism is a philosophical theory applicable in many disciplines, including science and software development, that human knowledge comes predominantly from experiences gathered through the five senses.
employee productivity - Employee productivity, sometimes referred to as workforce productivity, is an assessment of the efficiency of a worker or group of workers.
end of life (EOL) - End of life (EOL), in the context of manufacturing and product lifecycles, is the final stages of a product's existence.
enterprise project management (EPM) - Enterprise project management (EPM) represents the professional practices, processes and tools involved in managing multiple projects taking place simultaneously across the enterprise.
enterprise project management office - An enterprise project management office (EPMO) is a department within an organization charged with setting priorities, standards and goals for the organization's portfolio of projects.
equilibrium price - An equilibrium price, also known as a market-clearing price, is the consumer cost assigned to some product or service such that supply and demand are equal, or close to equal.
Fibonacci sequence - The Fibonacci sequence is a set of integers (the Fibonacci numbers) that starts with a zero, followed by a one, then by another one, and then by a series of steadily increasing numbers.
fist to five (fist of five) - Fist to five, or fist of five, is a consensus-building technique used by Agile software development teams to poll team members and come to an agreement.
Gantt chart - A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart developed as a production control tool in 1917 by Henry L.
garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) - Garbage in, garbage out, or GIGO, refers to the idea that in any system, the quality of output is determined by the quality of the input.
gig economy - A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations hire independent workers for short-term commitments.
Hofstadter's law - Hofstadter's law states that a project always takes longer than expected, even when the law is taken into account.
Hyperledger - Hyperledger is a collection of open source projects created to support the development of blockchain-based distributed ledgers.
intelligent workflow - Intelligent workflow is an orchestration method that integrates analytics, AI, machine learning and automation.
IT chargeback system - An IT chargeback system is an accounting strategy that applies the costs of IT services, hardware or software to the business unit in which they are used.
IT consultant - A consultant is an experienced individual in a given field who provides expert advice for a fee.
IT project management - IT project management is the process of planning, organizing and delineating responsibility for the completion of an organizations' specific information technology (IT) goals.
IT project manager - An IT project manager is a professional charged with overseeing the process of planning, executing and delegating responsibilities around an organization's information technology (IT) pursuits and goals.
iteration - In agile software development, an iteration is a single development cycle, usually measured as one week or two weeks.
ITIL V3 - ITIL V3 is the third version of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a globally recognized collection of best practices for managing IT and for implementing IT service management (ITSM) practices.
law of unintended consequences - The law of unintended consequences is a frequently-observed phenomenon in which any action has results that are not part of the actor's purpose.
lean management - Lean management is an approach to managing an organization that supports the concept of continuous improvement, a long-term approach to work that systematically seeks to achieve small, incremental changes in processes in order to improve efficiency and quality.
Mandela Effect - The Mandela Effect is an observed phenomenon in which a large segment of the population misremembers a significant event or shares a memory of an event that did not actually occur.
maximizer - A maximizer is an individual who consistently seeks the optimal outcome for any endeavor.
Microsoft D - Microsoft D is an end-user programming language in development as part of the company's Oslo service-oriented architecture (SOA) initiative.
Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) - Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) is a series of 23 documents that guide IT professionals through the processes of creating, implementing and managing efficient and cost-effective services.
Microsoft Planner - Microsoft Planner is a web-based visual task management application that enables enterprise teams to create, assign and organize work in order to execute projects.
minimum marketable feature (MMF) - A minimum marketable feature (MMF) is the smallest set of functionality in a product that must be provided for a customer to recognize any value.
model of reflection - A model of reflection is a structured process that is used to guide personal and situational analysis and improvement.
morphological analysis - Morphological analysis is the process of examining possible resolutions to unquantifiable, complex problems involving many factors.
MoSCoW method - The MoSCoW method is a four-step approach to prioritizing which project requirements provide the best return on investment (ROI).
negative float (negative slack) - Negative float, also known as negative slack, is a common concept in project management that refers to the amount of time that must be saved to complete a project on time.
OODA loop - The OODA loop -- Observe, Orient, Decide, Act -- is a four-step approach to decision-making that focuses on filtering available information, putting it in context and quickly making the most appropriate decision, while also understanding that changes can be made as more data becomes available.
organizational change management (OCM) - Organizational change management (OCM) is a type of change management framework for managing the effect of new business processes, changes in organizational structure, or cultural changes within an enterprise.
Pareto principle - The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, is a theory maintaining that 80 percent of the output from a given situation or system is determined by 20 percent of the input.
Parkinson's law of triviality (bikeshedding) - Parkinson's law of triviality is an observation about the human tendency to devote a great deal of time to unimportant details, while crucial matters go unattended.
performance testing - Performance testing is a testing measure that evaluates the speed, responsiveness and stability of a computer, network, software program or device under a workload.
pilot program (pilot study) - A pilot program, also called a feasibility study or experimental trial, is a small-scale, short-term experiment that helps an organization learn how a large-scale project might work in practice.
Pomodoro Technique - The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method based on 25-minute stretches of focused work broken by five-minute breaks.
positioning statement - A positioning statement is an expression of how a given product, service or brand fills a particular consumer need in a way that its competitors don’t.
private sector - The private sector is the part of a country's economic system that is run by individuals and companies, rather than a government entity.
procurement plan - A procurement plan -- also called a procurement management plan -- is a document that is used to manage the process of finding and selecting a vendor.
product development (new product development) - Product development -- also called new product management -- is a series of steps that includes the conceptualization, design, development and marketing of newly created or rebranded goods and services.
project charter - A project charter is a formal short document that states a project exists and provides project managers with written authority to begin work.
project constraint - A constraint in project management is any restriction that defines a project's limitations.
project management - Project management is the discipline of using established principles, procedures and policies to guide a project from conception through completion.
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) - The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a document containing standard terminology, best practices and process guidelines around project management as defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
project management framework - A project management framework is a set of processes, tasks, and tools that provide guidance and structure for the execution of a project.
Project Management Professional (PMP) - Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is a qualification program overseen by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
Project planning: What it is and 5 steps to create a plan - Project planning is a project management discipline that addresses how to complete a project in a certain time frame, usually with clearly defined stages, milestones and designated resources.
Project portfolio management: A beginner's guide - Project portfolio management is a formal approach used by organizations to identify, prioritize, coordinate and monitor projects that align with their strategy and goals.
project post-mortem - A project post-mortem is a business process that lets the project team, project management, and other stakeholders review and evaluate the results at the end of a project or after the resolution of an incident.
project scope - Project scope is the part of project planning that involves determining and documenting a list of specific project goals, deliverables, tasks, costs and deadlines.
public-private partnership (PPP) - A public-private partnership (PPP) is a funding model for public infrastructure projects and initiatives such as a new telecommunications system, public transportation system, airport or power plant.