Words used in... Project and Program Management

The terms "project management" and "program management" are
familiar ones in most businesses and industries.
Yet these terms,
and other specialist words in the field, can mean different things
to different people. Often, this is because people pick these buzzwords up and start using them, without ever really understanding the ideas behind them. This can lead to a great deal of confusion!
This "Words" page is designed to help you navigate your way through the
minefield of project and program management "speak": It provides a
quick reference glossary of words commonly used in the field of
project and program management, with typical definitions.
If your organization uses a specific project
management methodology, always refer to your methodology-specific
glossary.
This page covers the following terms:
People and Organization

Program Manager
Project Analyst
Project Manager
Project Office
Project Sponsor
Stakeholders

Documents

Business Case
Change Control
Post Implementation Review (PIR)

Project Charter
Project Initiation Document (PID)
Project Mandate
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Monitoring and Reporting

CARDI Log – (Constraints/Assumptions/Risks/Dependencies/Issues)
RAG Status
Project Dashboard

Scheduling

Critical Path
Crash
Gate
Milestone
Gantt Chart
PERT Chart

Costing

Fixed Price
Cost Plus Pricing
Time and Materials Pricing

General Terms

Baseline
Scope
Escalation

Slippage
Turnkey Projects
PRINCE2
PMBOK
Agile Project Management

Terms are defined below:
Agile
Agile Project Management uses short development phases and integrated testing phases, rather than the single development phase associated with traditional "waterfall" project management approaches. It's most suitable for projects that are fast-moving or subject to frequent change, such as IT projects and business start-ups.

Baseline
The initial approved project plan (including scope, budget and
schedule). The progress of the project is monitored against the
baseline, and any changes to the plan are expressed relative to
the baseline.
Business Case
The business case sets out the benefits the project is designed to deliver, how
it will achieve them, what it will cost and how long it will take.
It is usually produced in two stages: the Initial Business Case is
used to get approval in principle for the project. Once this
is secured, the project manager's first responsibility will be to
develop the full business case, including detailed costings and
schedules. Usually, this will also have to be approved by a
senior management group before the project can go ahead.
CARDI Log
A CARDI Log records Constraints, Assumptions, Risks,
Dependencies and Issues that are associated with a project. For
each type, it will usually show who identified the constraint,
assumption, risk, dependency or issue; who is responsible for
managing it; and the action that is being proposed or taken.
Of the five parts of the log, the Risk Log is generally the most
used. A risk is potential issue: conversely, an issue is a risk that has actually happened.
Change Control
If a change needs to be made to some aspect of
the baselined project plan, a Change Control document needs to be
filled in, and approved. This will record the justification for
the change, who approved it, and the impact the change has on cost
and schedule. Approved changes are gathered together in a
Change Log.
Cost Plus Pricing
Cost Plus Pricing is a form of contract pricing where the contractor calculates the
price of work based on the cost, plus a fixed fee or (more usually)
a percentage fee. This form of pricing is attractive to
contractors as it limits the risk to them. It's usually less
attractive to project managers because it makes budgeting
difficult, and means that the project risks additional costs if
timescales are extended, or if additional equipment needs to be
brought in. Cost Plus Pricing is particularly risky for project managers because contractors are not motivated in any way to work quickly or efficiently (in fact, it incentivizes contractors to prolong projects.)
Crash
When the overall project schedule needs to be reduced, and it's
acceptable to incur extra cost to do this, the project's critical path
is "crashed" or shortened by allotting extra resources to key
activities on it.
Critical Path
During a project, many activities take place at the same time.
However some activities have to be done in sequence. The critical
path of a project is the sequence of tasks which defines the minimum
possible duration of the project. Delays in any of the activities on the
critical path will delay completion of the project.

Escalation
If a problem occurs in a project that the person responsible can't
resolve, it is escalated up the project or program management
hierarchy until it reaches someone who can authorize a solution.
Fixed Price
A form of contract pricing where a price is agreed in advance with
the contractor for the delivery of specified works. Project
managers like this form of pricing because it allows them to be in
control of their project costs. Contractors dislike it because
they risk making a loss if unforeseen circumstances mean that they
have to do more work than they had expected; or if they had
under-estimated the amount of work that would be needed to deliver in the
first place. As a result, the prices quoted for fixed price
contracts may be inflated to cover this risk.
Gantt Chart
A Gantt Chart is a planning tool that helps project managers organize and schedule the tasks that need to be completed in a project. It can also help managers communicate this schedule.
Gate
Many large projects are divided into stages such as investigation,
development, testing, and release. There is a gate before each
stage, and the project manager will decide when the project is
ready to go through that gate, so that the next stage can be started.
Milestone
Milestones are major points of achievement, or significant events
in a larger project. They are usually monitored in a Project
Milestone Report .
PERT Chart
PERT charts are visually like Critical Path Analysis charts, but
they attempt to estimate the time that each activity will take
more accurately by using a formula to calculate the most likely
activity duration based on the shortest and longest possible times
as well as the expected time.
Time estimation is a key issue in time management, and there's a tendency for people to under-estimate the time needed to complete an activity. Use of PERT helps people to take better time estimates.
PMBOK
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is an
internationally-recognized standard for project management
practice and information. It is published by the Project
Management Institute, based in the US.
Post Implementation Review (PIR)
A PIR is a review done a few months after a project goes live to assess
whether or not it has delivered the business benefits its outputs
were designed to deliver.
PRINCE2
Standing for PRojects IN Controlled Environments, PRINCE 2 is
probably the most widely-used project management methodology.
Originally developed for use with IT projects in the public sector
in the UK, but is now used world-wide across a wide range of
private sector industries as well.
Program
A set of related projects. While projects are finite in duration,
programs are often ongoing – for example, a new product
development program.
Program Manager
The person in charge of a program.
Project Analyst
Someone who supports the Project Manager of a larger project by
carrying out research, drafting documents, and tracking budgets
and schedules.
Project Charter
Project charters are drawn up early on in a project's lifecycle,
and set out: the overall purpose and scope of the project; and the
names of the sponsor, main stakeholders, and proposed project
manager. They are often necessary during the first stages of
gaining approval for the project.
Project Dashboard
A project dashboard is a highly-visual report showing the progress of
projects within a program. They are most useful when issued
regularly – typically on a weekly basis, and are particularly
useful to Program Managers and sponsors.
Project Initiation Document (PID)
Drawn up early on in a project's lifecycle, the PID is a guide to
a project, clearly laying out the justification for a project,
what its objectives will be, and how the project will be
organized. This helps ensure that everyone knows what's going on
right from the outset. It is more detailed than a Project Charter,
and will contain the detailed Project Business Case as well as an
initial project plan. It is produced after the project has been
approved.
Project Manager
The person responsible for ensuring that a project is delivered to
specification, on time, and on budget. Project managers have to
co-ordinate the activities of a great many specialists.
Project Mandate
The document that usually triggers a project. It is produced by senior managers. It usually refers to what the project needs to achieve and how it fits into the overall strategy. It usually identifies any key constraints and scope boundaries. It may also include an outline business case or alternatively the development of this initial business case may be the first task required before the project is fully approved for implementation.
Program Office/Project Office
In larger projects and programs, there is often a Program Office,
staffed by a Program Office Manager, and possibly an
administrator and even accountant as well. The program office
function consolidates regular progress reports from the managers
of individual projects for the Program Manager; maintains a
central database of project documents; rolls out and enforces
consistent document templates and formats; and carries out other
centralized administrative tasks to support the project staff.
Project Sponsor
The "champion" of a project, who wants the projects intended
benefits delivered to improve the part of the organization for
which he or she is responsible.
RAG Status
RAG stands for Red-Amber-Green and describes the status of a
project or a part of a project on a Project Dashboard .
Risk Log
See CARDI Log .
Scope
The extent of what the project is designed to do. This covers functionality, systems, interfaces, processes, departments and external stakeholders (such as suppliers and customers). As well as stating what is included in a project and its boundaries, it is sometimes helpful to specify certain things that are out of scope for the project as well. Projects which suffer from " scope creep " are highly likely to exceed their original schedule and budget.
Slippage
This is the amount of time a project, or an activity within a project is behind schedule.
Stakeholders
Stakeholders are the groups or individuals who have an interest in the outcome of the project, although the interest that each group has is usually specific to them. Typical stakeholders can include shareholders, customers, suppliers, alliance partners, and members of the project team. Stakeholder Management can be a very important part of a project manager's and project sponsor's job.
Time and Materials Pricing
A form of pricing similar to Cost Plus Pricing where the work done
is charged according to the amount of time spent on it and the
cost of the materials used.
Turnkey Projects
The name "turnkey" comes from the idea that the project sponsor
can simply "turn a key" on an delivered project which then
"switches on". Turnkey projects are often part of larger programs
– for example, a property developer might hand over the plumbing
or the soft furnishing provision of a development to an external
contractor. The developer would expect all aspects of the work to
be fully functioning when the plumber's or furnisher's sub-project
was complete.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A Work Breakdown Structure splits large project tasks into more manageable pieces of
work, or actions. These can then be allocated to teams or
individuals using a Responsibility Assignment Matrix .