Activity - A defined piece of work that consumes time; task.
B
Bar chart - See Gantt chart.
C
Committed cost - The funds that are unavailable to be spent elsewhere because they will be needed at some later time to pay for an item, such as material, that has been ordered; commitment; encumbered cost.
D
Deliverables - The tangible items or products that the customer expects the contractor to provide during performance of the project.
E
Earliest finish time (EF) - The earliest time by which a particular activity can be completed; the activity's earliest start time plus the activity's estimated duration.
F
Fixed-price contract - A contract in which a customer and a contractor agree on a price that will not change no matter how much the project actually costs the contractor.
G
Gantt chart - A planning and scheduling tool that displays project activities along a time scale; bar chart.
I
Indirect costs - See Overhead.
L
Laddering - A method of showing the logical precedential relationship of a set of activities that is repeated several times consecutively.
M
Management reserve - See Contingency.
N
Network diagram - A graphic display of the activities to be performed to achieve the overall project work scope, showing their sequence and interdependencies.
Objective - The expected result or product of a project, usually defined in terms of scope, schedule, and cost.
P
Percent complete - An estimate in percentage form, of the proportion of the work involved in a particular work package that has been completed.
R
Reporting period - The time interval at which actual project performance will be compared to planned performance.
S
Schedule - A timetable for a project plan.
T
Time estimate - See Duration estimate.
V
Variance - A measure of the dispersion, or spread, of a distribution from its expected value.
Work breakdown structure (WBS) - A hierarchical tree of work elements or items that will be accomplished or produced by the project team during the project.
A
Activity in the box (AIB) - A form of network diagramming in which activities are represented by boxes.
Activity on the arrow (AOA) - A form of network diagramming in which activities are represented by arrows.
Actual cost - The amount that has actually been expended.
Actual finish time (AF) - The time at which a particular activity is actually completed.
As-late-as-possible (ALAP) schedule - A schedule based on the latest start time of each activity in the project.
As-soon-as-possible (ASAP) schedule - A schedule based on the earliest start time of each activity in the project.
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Baseline plan - The original plan, or roadmap, laying out the way in which the project scope will be accomplished on time and within budget.
Best and final offer (BAFO) - A final price for a project, submitted by a contractor at the request of a customer who is considering proposals from several contractors for the same project.
Beta probability distribution - A distribution that is frequently used to calculate the expected duration and variance for an activity based on the activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates.
Bid/no-bid decision - An evaluation by a contractor of whether to go ahead with the preparation of a proposal in response to a customer's request for proposal.
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Contingency - An amount a contractor may include in a proposal to cover unexpected costs that may arise during a project; management reserve.
Contract - An agreement between a contractor, who agrees to provide a product or service (deliverables), and a customer, who agrees to pay the contractor a certain amount of money in return.
Cost - The amount the customer has agreed to pay for acceptable project deliverables.
Cost estimate - Estimate of total cost of an activity based on the types and quantities of resources required for that activity.
Cost performance index (CPI) - A measure of the cost efficiency with which the project is being performed; the cumulative earned value divided by the cumulative actual cost.
Cost-reimbursement contract - A contract in which a customer agrees to pay a contractor for all actual costs incurred during a project, plus some agreed-upon profit.
Cost variance (CV) - An indicator of cost performance; the cumulative earned value minus the cumulative actual cost.
Crash cost - The estimated cost of completing an activity in the shortest possible time (the crash time).
Crash time - The shortest estimated length of time in which an activity can be completed.
Critical path - In a network diagram, any path of activities with zero or negative total slack. See also Most critical path.
Critical path method (CPM) - A network planning technique.
Cumulative actual cost (CAC) - The amount that has actually been expended to accomplish all the work performed up to a specific point in time.
Cumulative budgeted cost (CBC) - The amount budgeted to accomplish all the work scheduled to be performed up to a specific point in time.
Cumulative earned value (CEV) - The value of the work actually performed up to a specific point in time; total budgeted cost multiplied by the percent of the work estimated to be complete.
Customer - The entity that provides the funds necessary to accomplish a project. A customer may be a person, an organization, or a group of people or organizations.
Customer requirements - Specifications for a project and/or attributes of a deliverable specified by a customer in a request for proposal.
Requirements may include size, quantity, color, speed, and other physical or operational parameters that a contractor's proposed solution must satisfy.
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Due date - The date, specified in a request for proposal, by which a customer expects potential contractors to submit proposals.
Dummy activity - A special type of activity, used in the activity-on-the-arrow form of network diagramming, that consumes no time. A dummy activity is represented by a dashed arrow.
Duration estimate - The estimated total time an activity will take from start to finish, including associated waiting time; time estimate.
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Earliest start time (ES) - The earliest time at which a particular activity can begin; the project's estimated start time plus the estimated duration of preceding activities.
Earned value (EV) - The value of the work actually performed.
Estimated start time - The time or date when a project is expected to begin.
Evaluation criteria - The standards, specified in a request for proposal, that a customer will use to evaluate proposals from competing contractors.
Events - Interconnecting points that link activities in the activity-on-the-arrow form of network diagramming. An event is represented by a circle.
Exception - A variation from a customer's specified requirements, stated by a contractor in a proposal.
Expected duration (te) - Also called the mean or average duration. The expected duration for an activity, calculated from the activity's optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic time estimates, as follows:
te = to + 4(tm) + tp
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Float - See Total slack.
Forecasted cost at completion (FCAC) - The projected total cost of all the work required to complete a project.
Free slack (FS) - The amount of time that a particular activity can be delayed without delaying the earliest start time of its immediately succeeding activities; the relative difference between the amounts of total slack for activities entering into that same activity. It's always a positive value.
Functional organization structure - An organizational structure in which groups are made up of individuals who perform the same function, such as engineering or manufacturing, or have the same expertise or skills, such as electronics engineering or testing.
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Graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT) - A type of network planning technique.
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Information system (IS) - A computer-based system that accepts data as input, processes the data, and produces information for users.
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Latest finish time (LF) - The latest time by which a particular activity must be completed in order for the entire project to be finished by its required completion time.
Latest start time (LS) - The latest time by which a particular activity must be started in order for the entire project to be finished by its required completion time; the activity's latest finish time minus the activity's estimated duration.
Matrix organization structure - A hybrid of the functional and project organizational structures, in which resources from appropriate functional components of a company are temporarily assigned to particular projects.
Most critical path - In a network diagram, the most time-consuming (longest) path of activities; the path of activities that has the lowest value-either least positive or most negative-for total slack.
Most likely time estimate (tm) - The time in which an activity can most frequently be completed under normal conditions.
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Normal cost - The estimated cost of completing an activity under normal conditions, according to the plan.
Normal probability distribution - A bell-shaped distribution of values that is symmetrical around its mean value.
Normal time - The estimated length of time required to perform an activity under normal conditions, according to the plan.
O
Optimistic time estimate (to) - The time in which an activity can be completed if everything goes perfectly well and three are no complications.
Overhead - A percentage of the direct costs of a particular project, added to a contractor's proposal to cover costs of doing business, such as insurance, depreciation, general management, and human resources; indirect costs.
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Pessimistic time estimate (tp) - The time in which an activity can be completed under adverse conditions, such as in the presence of unusual or unforeseen complications.
Planning - The systematic arrangement of tasks to accomplish an objective; determining what needs to be done, who will do it, how long it will take, and how much it will cost.
Precedence diagramming method (PDM) - A type of network planning technique.
Precedential relationship - The order in which activities must be finished before other activities can start.
Predecessor event - The event at the beginning of an activity (tail of the arrow) in the activity-on-the-arrow form of network diagramming; start event.
Program evaluation and review techniques (PERT) - A network planning technique.
Project - An endeavor to accomplish a specific objective through a unique set of interre-
lated tasks and the effective utilization of resources.
Project control - Regularly gathering data on actual project performance, comparing actual performance to planned performance, and taking corrective measures if actual performance is behind planned performance.
Project control process - See Project control.
Project life cycle - The four phases through which a project moves: identification of a need, problem, or opportunity; development of a proposed solution; implementation of the proposed solution; and termination of the project.
Project organization structure - An organization structure in which each project has its own project manager and project team and all the resources needed to accomplish an individual project are assigned full-time to that project.
Project scope - All the work that must be done to accomplish the project's objective to the customer's satisfaction; scope of the project; work scope.
Project selection - Evaluating various needs or opportunities and then deciding which of these should move forward as a project to be implemented.
Proposal - A document, usually prepared by a contractor, that outlines an approach to meeting a need or solving a problem for a potential customer.
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Request for proposal (RFP) - A document, usually prepared by the customer, that defines a need or problem, requirements, and expectations.
Required completion time - The time or date by which a project must be completed.
Resource leveling - A method for developing a schedule that attempts to minimize the fluctuations in requirements for resources without extending the project schedule beyond the required completion time; resource smoothing.
Resource-limited scheduling - A method for developing the shortest schedule when the number or amount of available resources is limited. This method will extend the project completion time if necessary in order to keep within the resource limits.
Responsibility matrix - A table that lists the individuals or organizational units responsible for accomplishing each work item in a work breakdown structure.
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Smoothing - See Resource leveling.
Standard deviation - A measure of the dispersion, or spread, of a distribution from its expected value; the square root of the variance.
Statement of work (SOW) - A document outlining the tasks, or work elements, the customer wants the contractor to perform.
Successor event - The event at the end of an activity (head of the arrow) in the activity-on-the-arrow form of network diagramming; finish event.
Systems development life cycle (SDLC) - A project management planning tool consisting of a set of phases or steps to be completed over the course of development of an information system.
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Total budgeted cost (TBC) - The portion of the entire project budget that is allocated to complete all of the activities and work associated with a particular work package.
Total slack (TS) Float - If it's a positive value, it's the amount of time that the activities on a particular path can be delayed without jeopardizing completion of the project by its required completion time. If it's a negative value, it's the amount of time that the activities on a particular path must be accelerated in order to complete the project by its required completion time.
W
Work items - Individual pieces of a project in a work breakdown structure.
Work package - The lowest-level item of any branch of a work breakdown structure.
Work scope - See Project scope.
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