Project Management

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Program

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A program is a group of related projects designed to accomplish a common goal over an extended period of time.

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Project

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A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.

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Project life cycle

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The stages found in all projects— definition, planning, execution, and delivery.

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Project Management Professional

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An individual who has met specific education and experience requirements set forth by the Project Management Institute, has agreed to adhere to a code of professional conduct, and has passed an examination designed to objectively assess and measure project management knowledge. In addition, a PMP must satisfy continuing certification requirements or lose the certification.

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Implementation gap

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The lack of consensus between the goals set by top management and those independently set by lower levels of management. This lack of consensus leads to confusion and poor allocation of organization resources.

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Net present value

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A minimum desired rate of return discount (e.g., 15 percent) is used to compute present value of all future cash inflows and outflows.

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Organization politics

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Actions by individuals or groups of individuals to acquire, develop, and use power and other resources to obtain preferred outcomes when there is uncertainty or disagreement over choices.

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Payback

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The time it takes to pay back the project investment (investment/net annual savings). The method does not consider the time value of money or the life of the investment.

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Priority system

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The process used to select projects. The system uses selected criteria for evaluating and selecting projects that are strongly linked to higher-level strategies and objectives.

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Priority team

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The group (sometimes the project office) responsible for selecting, overseeing, and updating project priority selection criteria.

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Project portfolio

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Group of projects that have been selected for implementation balanced by project type, risk, and ranking by selected criteria.

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Project screening matrix

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A matrix used to assess and compare the relative value of projects being considered for implementation.

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Sacred cow

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A project that is a favorite of a powerful management figure who is usually the champion for the project.

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Strategic management process

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Strategic management is the process of assessing "what we are" and deciding and implementing "what we intend to be and how we are going to get there."

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Balanced matrix

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A matrix structure in which the project manager and functional managers share roughly equal authority over the project. The project manager decides what needs to be done; functional managers are concerned with how it will be accomplished.

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Dedicated project team

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An organizational structure in which all of the resources needed to accomplish a project are assigned full time to the project.

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Matrix

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Any organizational structure in which the project manager shares responsibility with the functional managers for assigning priorities and for directing the work of individuals assigned to the project.

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Organizational culture

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A system of shared norms, beliefs, values, and assumptions held by an organization's members.

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Projectized organization

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A multi-project organization in which project managers have full authority to assign priorities and direct the work of persons assigned to their project.

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Project office

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A centralized unit within an organization or department that oversees and improves the management of projects.

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Strong matrix

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A matrix structure in which the project manager has primary control over project activities and functional managers support project work.

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Weak matrix

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A matrix structure in which functional managers have primary control over project activities and the project manager coordinates project work.

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Cost account

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A control point of one or more work packages used to plan, schedule, and control the project. The sum of all the project cost accounts represents the total cost of the project.

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Milestone

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An event that represents significant, identifiable accomplishment toward the project's completion.

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Organization breakdown structure

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A structure used to assign responsibility for work packages.

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Priority matrix

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A matrix that is set up before the project begins that establishes which criterion among cost, time, and scope will be enhanced, constrained, or accepted.

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Process breakdown structure

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A phase-oriented grouping of project activities that defines the total scope of the project. Each descending level represents an increasingly detailed description of project work.

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Project charter

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A document that authorizes the project manager to initiate and lead a project.

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Responsibility matrix

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A matrix whose intersection point shows the relationship between an activity (work package) and the person/group responsible for its completion.

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Scope creep

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The tendency for the scope of a project to expand once it has started.

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Scope statement

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A definition of the end result or mission of a project. Scope statements typically include project objectives, deliverables, milestones, specifications, and limits and exclusions.

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Work breakdown dictionary

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A hierarchal method that successively subdivides the work of the project into smaller detail.

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Work breakdown structure

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A hierarchical method that successively subdivides the work of the project into smaller detail.

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Work package

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A task at the lowest level of the WBS. Responsibility for the package should be assigned to one person and, if possible, limited to 80 hours of work.

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Apportionment

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Costs allocated to a specific segment of a project by using a percentage of planned total cost—for example, framing a house might use 25 percent of the total cost, or coding a teaching module 40 percent of total cost.

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Bottom-up estimates

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Detailed estimates of work packages usually made by those who are most familiar with the task (also called micro estimates).

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Delphi Method

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A group method to predict future events—e.g., time, cost.

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Direct costs

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Costs that are clearly charged to a specific work package—usually labor, materials, or equipment.

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Function points

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Points derived from past software projects to estimate project time and cost, given specific features of the project.

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Learning curves

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A mathematical curve used to predict a pattern of time reduction as a task is performed over and over.

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Overhead costs

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Typically organization costs that are not directly linked to a specific project. These costs cover general expenses such as upper management, legal, market promotion, and accounting. Overhead costs are usually charged per unit of time or as a percentage of labor or material costs.

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Padding estimates

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Adding a safety factor to a time or cost estimate to ensure the estimate is met when the project is executed.

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Phase estimating

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This estimating method begins with a macro estimate for the project and then refines estimates for phases of the project as it is implemented.

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Range estimating

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An estimating procedure used when there is significant uncertainty regarding the cost or time to complete a specific activity. Individuals estimate the worst case, best case , and most likely cost or time for a specific activity to determine the range of costs and times (i.e. activity A should take 4 days but it could take between 2 and 7 days to complete).

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Ratio methods

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Uses the ratio of past actual costs for similar work to estimate the cost for a potential project. This macro method of forecasting cost does not provide a sound basis for project cost control since it does not recognize differences among projects.

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Template method

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Use of a prepared form to develop project networks, costs, and time estimates.

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Reference Class Forecasting

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A sophisticated forecasting method in which you take an external view and forecast project costs based on actual outcomes of similar projects.

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Time and cost databases

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Collection of actual versus estimated times and costs of work packages over many projects that are used for estimating new project tasks and their expected possible error.

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Top-down estimates

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Rough estimates that use surrogates to estimate project time and cost (also called macro estimates).

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Mentor

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Typically a more experienced manager who acts as a personal coach and champions a person’s ambitions

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Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)

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Certificate degree offered by PMI which requires no project management experience, but simply passing a test based on PMBOK.