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Project Management Glossary
We have provided you with a comprehensive glossary on project management’s subject. It is suitable as a reference work for all who deal with this topic. It contains basic terms of classic project management as well as technical terms from agile and hybrid project management.
| Schedule planning” or “Sequence planning | It refers to the process of organizing and arranging activities or tasks in a logical order to achieve a particular goal or objective. Ablaufplanung involves creating a detailed plan that outlines the sequence of activities, their dependencies, and the timeline for their completion. |
| Activity planning | Planning activities required to solve the project task. |
| Analogy technique | The analogy technique is a creative problem-solving method that involves drawing parallels or similarities between two seemingly unrelated concepts or domains. It is used to generate new insights and potential solutions by transferring ideas, approaches, or strategies from one context to another |
| Analogy method | A method of estimating effort based on experience. |
| Changes | All activities to be carried out that were not foreseen in the original planning. |
| Change management | A process designed to ensure that all potential types of changes to the project, including project planning or technical modifications, as well as changes to project objectives, are systematically documented and therefore traceable. |
| Start time | The start of a work package, calculated or firmly defined based on the schedule, depends on the calculation method and can yield the following results:
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| Work package | Clearly defined work order (content, planned effort, planned deadlines) assigned to an employee within the project. The employee is responsible for the realization according to the specifications. Work packages form the basis of project planning. They are often identified with tasks or activities. |
| Audit | Procedure or method of quality assurance in which the appropriateness of specified procedures, instructions, and standards, as well as their compliance, effectiveness, and meaningfulness, are checked. |
| Client of a project | The person with overall responsibility for a project is the one who approves the project budget and sets the framework for deadlines. They are also one of the key contacts for the project manager in defining the project objectives. |
| Effort | Absolute time specifications, measured in person-hours (person-days, person-weeks, person-months, or person-years), are planned or required for the completion of a process or activity. The effort provides insights into personnel requirements and the associated personnel costs. The effort is influenced by the scope and complexity of the task, the available tools, and the chosen solution approach. |
| Effort-per-unit method | A method of estimating effort based on knowledge of key performance indicators. |
| Effort estimation | In the context of project management, effort estimation forms the basis for capacity and schedule planning and supports investment decisions during the project. It is primarily based on experience. |
| Gantt chart | Graphical representation of processes (activities) in a coordinate system. The duration of a work package is symbolized by the length of the bar in the time axis. The bars can include both actual and target data. Events are represented as points in time. The horizontal axis forms the time axis on the vertical axis. The events are entered as bars. Bar charts can be used well for progress monitoring, as they illustrate the temporal processes well; however, the dependencies between the processes are only poorly visible. |
| Present value | All future costs and benefits of a project or investment are discounted to the point in time immediately before the commencement of the investment. |
| Load chart | A graphic used to visualize the load of employees (or departments) across work packages in one or multiple projects. |
| Benchmarking | Benchmarking is a process or practice of comparing and measuring an organization’s performance, practices, or products against those of other similar organizations or industry leaders. |
| Reporting and information system | The generic term for the formally regulated flow of information within a project and between the project and the project environment is “project communication.” |
| Bottom-Up | The procedure for creating a work breakdown structure is as follows: first, all activities are collected in an unordered way, then they are summarized by level and finally checked for completeness. |
| Brainstorming | Creativity technique: Generating the largest possible number of spontaneous, even unconventional, and unusual ideas within a group. It is important to also embrace and develop ideas from other participants. Please note: During brainstorming, it is not advisable to criticize the contributions |
| Break Even (point) | refers to the point at which total revenue equals total costs, resulting in zero profit or loss. It is the level of sales or production at which a business or project breaks even, covering all expenses without making a profit or incurring a loss. In other words, it is the point where the revenue generated is sufficient to cover both fixed costs (costs that do not change with production or sales volume) and variable costs (costs that vary with production or sales volume). Beyond the break-even point, any additional sales or production will result in a profit for the business. |
| Business Case | A business case, also known as a business plan or profitability analysis, is a tool used to evaluate an investment decision. The purpose of the business case is to assess how the investment aligns with the company’s objectives: What contribution does the planned investment make towards achieving the company’s goals? The business case, or economic efficiency calculation (also referred to as WIBE), is typically prepared by the individual whose findings are included in the project proposal. Once the decision to proceed with the project is made, the project order is created following approval of the project application. |
| Change request | Change requests or applications are frequently submitted in large numbers; however, the underlying cause often lies in unclear project goals or differing interpretations of those goals between the client and contractor. It is not necessarily due to a required change or expansion of the project scope. |
| CPM / Critical Path Method | Technique for activity-oriented network representation |
| Daily Scrum | Standup-Meeting or Daily Standup-Meeting |
| Daily Standup Meeting | The Daily Standup Meeting is a component of the “Daily Scrum” and is conducted daily as part of the Scrum process. It is time-boxed and should not exceed 15 minutes. This meeting involves the Scrum team and its primary objective is to ensure coordination and preparedness for the next 24 hours, until the subsequent meeting. |
| Duration | The time required to complete an activity (operation) or work package depends on the effort, the number, availability, and qualifications of the staff involved. The duration is typically expressed in days, weeks, or months, and less commonly by start and end dates. |
| Definition of Done | DoD (Definition of Done) reflects the team’s shared understanding of when a task is considered “done” based on specific criteria. This is established at the project’s outset through quality standards and further elaborated as the project progresses. |
| Discount rate | The discount rate refers to the interest rate used to determine the present value of future cash flows or future costs in financial analysis and investment decision-making. It is a crucial concept in finance and is applied in various scenarios, such as evaluating the attractiveness of an investment, assessing the worth of future cash flows, or calculating the net present value of a project. |
| Double-loop learning | Are we doing the right thing? This type of learning is used to improve learning processes by questioning one’s assumptions and thinking patterns. |
| Earned Value Analysis | EVA (Earned Value Analysis) is utilized to evaluate the progress of a project. It describes the current cost and schedule status of the project through key metrics, namely planned value, actual costs, and earned value. These collected metrics can also facilitate trend analysis. |
| Efficiency | Used as the speed with which a resource accomplishes a task. |
| Resource planning | Resource planning is the process of efficiently and effectively allocating and managing various resources, such as human resources, financial resources, equipment, materials, and time, to achieve the objectives of a project, organization, or business. It involves forecasting the resource requirements based on the scope of work, estimating the availability of resources, and developing a comprehensive plan to ensure that the right resources are available at the right time and in the right quantities. |
| End time | Proofread version: The calculated or predetermined end of a work package is based on the schedule. Depending on the calculation method, there are two approaches: * Earliest end time (forward calculation), * Latest end time (backward calculation). |
| Decision-making bodies or Decision-making committees | Proofread version: Project organizational bodies, such as steering teams, steering committees, controlling committees, etc., are typically responsible for resolving cross-project conflicts and prioritizing assignments. |
| Result Definition Document | Outcome Definition Document or Results Definition Document. It refers to a document that outlines and defines the expected outcomes or results of a project, process, or initiative. The document typically describes the specific goals, objectives, deliverables, and success criteria that need to be achieved to consider the project or initiative successful. |
| Income Statement or Profit and Loss Statement | The Income Statement shows how much revenue the company generated from its business operations and deducts all the expenses incurred to produce that revenue. The resulting figure represents the company’s net profit or net loss for the given period. The statement is an essential financial tool for assessing a company’s financial performance and profitability. |
| ES / Earliest start | The term “Earliest Start” refers to the earliest point in time when an activity can begin. |
| EF/Earliest Finish | Refers to the earliest point in time when an activity or task within a project can be completed. EF = ES + duration |
| Degree of completion | It refers to the measure of how much progress has been made on a specific task, project, or activity relative to its total completion. |
| Free buffer | In project management, a “free buffer” refers to the amount of time or flexibility available within a project schedule that can be used to absorb minor delays or changes without affecting the overall project deadline. It is a contingency time that project managers include in the schedule to provide a margin of safety and mitigate the risk of missing the project’s planned completion date. |
| Function point method | The “Function Point Method” (FPM) is a software sizing and estimation technique used in software development and project management. It is a structured approach to quantify the functionality provided by a software application based on its user requirements. The primary purpose of the Function Point Method is to measure the size or complexity of a software system, which can then be used to estimate the effort, cost, and resources required for development. |
| Total buffer | The total buffer, also known as the project buffer, is the total amount of time that has been allocated to the entire project beyond the critical chain. Its purpose is to protect the project’s deadline from any delays that might occur on non-critical chain activities. The total buffer is the sum of the free buffers associated with all the non-critical chain tasks in the project. |
| Weighting procedure | In this method of effort estimation, the factors that have a decisive influence on the effort are first determined. They are then evaluated objectively or subjectively based on corresponding value parameters, which are intended to provide the expected total effort according to a given mathematical relationship. |
| Assistive Technology Planning | It refers to the process of planning and organizing the use of assistive technologies to help individuals with disabilities or impairments enhance their abilities and improve their quality of life. Assistive technologies are devices, equipment, or software designed to support people with disabilities in performing tasks that might otherwise be challenging or impossible for them |
| Hurdle rate | It is a financial and investment term used to describe the minimum rate of return or the minimum level of profitability that an investment or project must achieve to be considered worthwhile or acceptable. |
| Information Matrix | In statistics, the “information matrix” is a fundamental concept used in the context of maximum likelihood estimation. It is also known as the Fisher information matrix or simply the information matrix. When estimating the parameters of a statistical model using the maximum likelihood method, the information matrix provides valuable information about the precision of the parameter estimates. It is a square matrix that measures the amount of information or the amount of uncertainty contained in the sample data about the unknown parameters of the model. |
| Information planning | Information planning, also known as Information Systems Planning (ISP) or Information Technology (IT) planning, is a strategic process that organizations undertake to align their information needs and technology requirements with their overall business goals and objectives. It involves the systematic analysis, design, and development of information systems and technology infrastructure to support the organization’s current and future needs. |
| Inspection | In project management, “inspection” refers to the process of systematically examining and reviewing project deliverables, work products, processes, or project documents to ensure they meet the defined quality standards and requirements. Inspection is a crucial quality assurance activity that helps identify defects, errors, or deviations early in the project lifecycle, allowing for timely corrections and improvements. It is a proactive approach to maintain the overall quality of the project and prevent issues from escalating. |
| Interdisciplinary composition | Composing a project team with employees from various areas of a company aims to leverage their diverse human and professional strengths to achieve the project’s goals |
| Internal rate of return | The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is a financial metric used to evaluate the profitability of an investment or project. It represents the discount rate at which the net present value (NPV) of future cash flows from the investment becomes zero. In other words, it is the rate at which an investment breaks even in terms of present value. Higher IRR values generally indicate more favorable investment opportunities. |
| ISO | The International Organization for Standardization |
| KANBAN | An Agile process model |
| Capacity | The quantity that must be provided during a period. |
| Capacity requirement (=resource requirement) | The staffing needs to handle the work packages of a project are derived from the estimated effort and time calculations of the project network. |
| Capacity matrix | A capacity matrix is a tool used in project management to assess and allocate resources within a project. It is a grid or table that represents the availability and capacity of various resources (such as personnel, equipment, materials, etc.) over a specific period of time. |
| Capacity planning | Capacity planning involves the identification and quantification of the resources needed to carry out a specific operation or activity. This process relies on various methods of estimating the required effort. The outcomes of capacity planning are organized and presented in the form of a capacity matrix. |
| Scheduling according to capacity | Time planning takes into account the maximum availability of the executing resources. |
| Net present value | Net Present Value (NPV) is a financial metric used to assess the profitability of an investment or project. It calculates the difference between the present value of cash inflows and outflows over a specific period of time. The concept behind NPV is that money received or spent in the future has a different value than money received or spent today. Therefore, the NPV helps determine the current value of future cash flows in today’s terms. |
| Project team | Project team members belonging to the core project team, who are jointly responsible for project implementation along with the project leader. |
| Kick-off meeting (=Project kick-off). | The first meeting of the project manager and project team to initiate a project. During this meeting, the project assignment, project goals, project scope, deadlines, and the framework conditions are discussed. Team members are introduced to each other, and the further course of action is decided. |
| Cost Center Accounting | Cost Center Accounting is a management accounting method used by organizations to track and allocate costs to specific cost centers within the company. A cost center is a department, team, or any organizational unit that incurs costs in its operations. The primary purpose of Cost Center Accounting is to determine the expenses associated with each cost center and analyze how resources are utilized within the organization. By implementing Cost Center Accounting, companies can gain insights into the cost structures of different departments or units, assess their cost-effectiveness, and make informed decisions about resource allocation and efficiency improvements. This information is valuable for budgeting, performance evaluation, and overall financial planning within the organization. |
| Critical path | The critical path is the shortest path from the beginning to the end of the project. On the critical path are all activities that have a float time of zero, i.e., they must not be delayed without causing a postponement of the project deadline. |
| Management | Management is understood to mean the administration of socio-technical systems in both a human-related and a factual dimension. In the factual dimension, it involves managing tasks derived from the goals of the system; in the human dimension, it involves dealing appropriately with people, whose cooperation management relies upon for task fulfillment. Functionally, management is a process consisting of the phases of planning, organization, execution, and control, which leads to the formulation and achievement of goals through the utilization of human resources. |
| Matrix project organization | An organizational structure that combines elements of both functional and project-based structures. In this model, employees are assigned to both functional departments and project teams simultaneously. This allows for a more flexible and dynamic approach to project management, especially for complex and large-scale projects. |
| Milestone | A “milestone” is a significant event or point in a project’s timeline that marks a specific achievement or completion of a major deliverable. It represents a critical juncture in the project’s progress and is used to track and measure the project’s advancement towards its ultimate goal. Milestones are essential for project planning, monitoring, and communication with stakeholders. A milestone usually has a duration = 0 days! (Definition for MS-Project) |
| Milestone Trend Analysis | Milestone Trend Analysis is a project management technique used to analyze the performance and progress of a project over time by examining the trends and patterns related to project milestones. It involves tracking and comparing the planned milestones with the actual milestones achieved throughout the project’s lifecycle. The primary goal of Milestone Trend Analysis is to assess how well the project is progressing and whether it is meeting its planned schedule. |
| Method 0 / 100 | In project management, “Method 0 / 100” can refer to a method used to calculate the progress of a project or the completion of specific project tasks. It is a simple form of progress tracking where a task or project is considered 0% complete when it starts and 100% complete when it is finished. |
| Method 50 / 50 | “Method 50/50” in project management typically refers to a milestone-based approach for tracking progress on a project or a specific task. In this method, a task or project is considered 50% complete when it reaches a specific milestone that marks the halfway point of the work required to achieve the final goal. The remaining 50% is considered complete once the task or project reaches its final completion or end state. Using the “Method 50/50” provides a more intermediate and nuanced way of tracking progress compared to the “Method 0/100” approach. It allows for more visibility into the progress of a project or task as it moves through different stages, making it easier to monitor and manage the work effectively. However, the actual milestone that marks the 50% completion point may vary depending on the specific nature of the project and how it is defined by the project team. |
| Minimum Viable Product (MVP) | The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) can be translated as the “minimum usable or viable product.” It is the first quick solution with the goal of obtaining user feedback and learning from the development process (the term comes from the world of lean production). For the customer to provide meaningful feedback, the MVP must also deliver a (minimal) benefit! |
| Mockup | A “mockup” is a visual representation or a prototype of a design, product, or user interface. It is a static representation that provides a clear visual outline of how the final product or design will look. Mockups are commonly used in various industries, including web development, graphic design, and product design. |
| Multi-project controlling | Analysis of the interaction of all projects to detect cross-project resource conflicts (personnel capacities, resources, finances) and to initiate appropriate coordinating measures. |
| Multi-project management | Multi-project management, also known as portfolio management, is the process of efficiently and effectively overseeing and coordinating multiple projects within an organization. It involves managing a collection of projects as a portfolio to achieve strategic objectives, optimize resource utilization, and deliver value to the organization. |
| Successor | In project management, a “successor” refers to a task or activity that logically follows another task, known as the “predecessor.” The successor is the activity that can only start after its predecessor has been completed. |
| Network diagram | In project management, a network diagram is a graphical representation of the project’s activities, their dependencies, and the sequence in which they need to be completed. It helps project managers visualize the flow of work and understand the relationships between different tasks or activities. |
| Network planning technique | This refers to a method or approach used to plan and schedule activities in a project, taking into account the dependencies and relationships between different tasks to optimize the project’s timeline and resources. |
| Benefit controlling | In the context of a project, there is usually a form of ‘benefit prediction’: If the project is successful, then a benefit in the amount of X can be expected. This can also be justified through a benefit analysis. After the project is commissioned and implemented, the extent to which the predicted benefit has been realized is checked as part of benefit controlling. This benefit controlling takes place outside the project, as the project organization has already been dissolved. |
| Utility analysis | It refers to a systematic method used to evaluate and compare different alternatives or options based on their utility or benefits and associated costs. Nutzwertanalyse is commonly used in decision-making processes, project evaluations, and investment assessments to determine the most beneficial option among several choices. |
| Operational urgency | It refers to the level of urgency or priority assigned to a specific task, activity, or issue within an operational context. |
| Parametric estimating equations | Method of estimating effort based on different tables that are used to determine individual efforts and then combine them using a formula. |
| Personnel deployment | It refers to the process of deploying or assigning employees to various tasks, roles, projects, or positions within an organization. This involves matching the skills, qualifications, and availability of personnel with the specific needs and requirements of the organization to ensure effective and efficient utilization of human resources. |
| Personnel cost matrix | It refers to a matrix or table that displays the various costs associated with personnel, including salaries, benefits, allowances, and other related expenses. |
| Personnel planning | Personnel planning is the part of project planning that deals with the availability, utilization, deployment, and qualitative suitability of project staff. |
| PERT / Program Evaluation and Review Technique | Technique for event-oriented network display. It involves representing a project as a network of interconnected activities, with events or milestones marking the completion of specific activities. |
| Phase model | A phase model refers to a structured approach used to divide a project or process into distinct phases or stages. Each phase represents a specific set of activities, objectives, and deliverables that need to be completed before moving on to the next phase. Phase models are commonly used in project management and software development to provide a clear framework for planning, executing, and controlling projects, ensuring that each phase is completed successfully before progressing to the next one. |
| Planning matrix | A planning matrix is a tool used in various fields to organize and structure information in a tabular format for better analysis, comparison, and decision-making during the planning and execution phases of projects, strategies, or processes. |
| Portfolio | The term ‘portfolio’ (from Latin ‘portare’ meaning ‘to carry’ and ‘folium’ meaning ‘leaf’), rarely ‘portefeuille,’ refers to a collection of objects of a particular type.” (Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portfolio) |
| Portfoliocontrolling | Portfolio controlling is about the question of effectiveness in the sense of “…are we doing the right thing?”. Portfolio controlling is an activity which, from the company’s point of view, looks at the totality of all projects in context (and their efficiency) against the background of the company’s goals, from an operational and strategic point of view. |
| Produkt-Backlog | Is an ordered list of requirements for a product; it serves as a source of work for a SCRUM team |
| Program | Program refers to a number of technically related projects and change processes aimed at achieving specific (significant) strategic corporate goals. A program is limited in time; it ends when the goal is achieved. |
| Project | According to DIN 69901, a project is a project which is essentially characterized by a uniqueness of the conditions in their entirety, e.g. target specification, time, financial and/or personnel limitation, demarcation from other projects and project-specific organization. As a rule, the following criteria are met: * uniqueness, no routine activity, * clear target setting, * time, financial, personnel or other limitations, * employees from different organizational units. |
| Project completion | Final phase of the project life cycle, in which * the project result is handed over to the client, * the project organization is dissolved, and * a summary of the past project progress is drawn (to secure experience for future projects). After project closure, the project is officially over. However, the effects outlast the end of the project! |
| Project completion report | Report from the project manager summarizing the progress of the project. |
| Project closing meeting | Last meeting of the project team, in which the experiences from the project execution are discussed and evaluated. It is also determined who should be informed about the project completion and its result. |
| Project application | A project order that has not yet been issued, which contains all the information according to which a decision can be made about the usefulness of a project. is a preliminary stage of the project order or a state in the life cycle of a project. When a project idea has been examined with the result that a project should be carried out, a project application is submitted to the responsible body (or the company management). |
| Project order | When a project request is approved, the processing state changes and the request becomes an order. |
| Project report | Written presentation on the content of the project, project planning and project progress. |
| Project Office | Depending on the importance and complexity of a project, POs (project offices) are also established at project level in practice. However, these are only responsible for this project! |
| Project controlling | Project controlling is a generic term for process, quality and budget controlling during the course of a project. It is carried out against the background of the agreed project goals. As a rule, project controlling provides “key figures” about the course of the project, which serve the project manager as input for project control. Task of the project manager. The aim is to identify potential problems as early as possible during project execution and to be able to take control measures if necessary. Project controlling is responsible for transparency; decisions are made by the project manager or the steering committee. In many companies, the function of the project controller is organized across projects and to support the project manager. Project controlling in the broader sense is divided into the areas or tasks of portfolio controlling or portfolio management and project controlling. |
| Project documentation | The project documentation is the part of the overall documentation of the system, the content of which is directly related to the project process. |
| Project release | Formal act by which the project request is approved and the project planning is released. |
| Project cost planning | Part of project planning that deals with the one-time costs to create the future system. |
| Project life cycle | General process (subdivision into process steps of development depending on the processing or progress of the project) of a project from the project management point of view. It is divided into different processing states depending on the company. |
| Project Manager | A role within project management. Usually has the task of lateral (non-disciplinary) leadership of the project team. Leads the project technically, is responsible for project management, steering and controlling of the project. Main contact person of the client. |
| Project Management | Project management is a management concept that is used to handle projects in a goal-oriented and efficient manner. This includes organizational, methodological and interpersonal aspects. |
| Project Management Office: | An organizational unit responsible for supporting all projects running throughout the organization; ensures project success, defines standard and process models, provides infrastructure, … (working across projects). |
| Project Management Software | Helps the project manager apply planning and controlling methods, but does not replace common sense. |
| Project Manager | The project manager is usually responsible for several projects within one area and their coordination. |
| Project staff | Persons involved in a project. Depending on the company’s terminology, these may be the employees of the core team or other employees who are not part of the project team. |
| Project organization | The project organization consists primarily of the client, the project manager and the project team, but can be expanded to include other control and decision-making bodies as required. The project organization is dissolved at the end of the project. |
| Project organization form | Interaction of project and line organization. Possible forms are: Pure project organization, project coordination, matrix project organization, project coordination, Depending on the organizational form, the project manager has more or less responsibility and authority. |
| Project phases | Sections of a project process that follow one another in time. Example. Analysis – Concept – Development – Realization – Test. |
| Project Phase Plan | The project phase plan corresponds to the phases of the procedure model. The planning matrix is created by overlaying it with the project structure. |
| Project planning | Project planning is used to plan all aspects that need to be considered during the course of the project; for example, the systematic gathering of information about the future course of the project and the mental anticipation of the necessary actions in the project. |
| Project portfolio | A project portfolio is the sum of all projects and programs in an organization (area), which are jointly planned, approved and managed. A project portfolio is not limited in time, as it will always include new projects and completed projects will be removed from the portfolio. |
| Project status report / project progress report | Regular, written reports from the project manager on the progress of the project to the higher authority. |
| Project control | Project control includes all internal project activities of the project manager that are necessary to complete the planned project within the framework of the planning values and thus to execute it successfully. |
| Project steering group (PSG); also steering committee | It is a committee of the project organization (from a defined size), which is superior to the project management (authorized to issue directives) and makes decisions about the course of the project, which would exceed the competence of the project manager. This committee consists of the client, selected stakeholders, contractors, quality representatives, … DIN 69901-5 defines the steering committee as a “higher-level body to which the project manager reports and which is available to him as a decision-making and escalation body”. |
| Project structuring | Developing a work breakdown structure. A project is divided hierarchically into smaller and smaller elements. The lowest level is the basis for further project planning. |
| Project team (= core team) | Cf. core team |
| Project monitoring | During project monitoring, the target specifications of the system and project planning are compared with the actual values determined during the project process and any deviations from the plan are identified. The monitoring refers on the one hand to the project object (content-related goals) and on the other hand to the project process (process goals). |
| Project goal | The project objective is part of the project order and consists of the three components: Content, Time, Cost |
| Proof of Concept (PoC) | Proof of Concept (PoC) is equivalent to a milestone at which the (technical) feasibility of the project has been tested and demonstrated. However, this is a strategically particularly important milestone! At the PoC, the technical feasibility is explicitly verified by the development team. For this purpose, the success criteria are specified precisely in advance. |
| Percentage method | Effort estimation method based on knowledge of the percentage of individual phases in the total effort of the project. This knowledge results from previous projects. |
| Buffer time | Buffer times are one of the most important factors in scheduling and monitoring projects. The buffer time specifies the time by which a task may be postponed without extending the overall duration of the project. There are several types of buffer times. |
| QUi | QUi Gesellschaft für Qualität und Innovation mbH Corporate success through learning processes; www.qui.de |
| Quality | Totality of properties and characteristic values of a unit with regard to its suitability to fulfill defined and presupposed requirements. |
| Quality planning | Subject of project planning. Quality planning is the project-specific determination of the content-related quality level and the methods and techniques for quality assurance. |
| Quality assurance, analytical | Central task of project management to ensure the desired quality. Quality assurance is a system of methods, procedures and tools used to ensure that a product meets or exceeds the specified requirements. A distinction is made between constructive (producing) and analytical (testing) quality assurance. Analytical QA is a part of QM and includes all measures of “validation” (Is the right thing done?) and “verification” (Is the product done right?) of work results from the project. |
| Quality assurance, constructive | Quality assurance, constructive: Provision of an infrastructure, creation of framework conditions which can guarantee a defined quality. Through “constructive” QA measures, qualitatively good results are developed. One example is the use and adaptation of proven “sample solutions” for specific technical tasks. |
| Reaction period | Subject of project monitoring. Period of time that elapses until deviations from the plan are detected. |
| Pure project organization | Form of a project organization. For the duration of a project, the employees involved are combined into an independent organizational unit and report to the project manager in disciplinary terms. |
| Project phases | Sections of a project process that follow one another in time. Example. Analysis – Concept – Development – Realization – Test. |
| Project Phase Plan | The project phase plan corresponds to the phases of the procedure model. The planning matrix is created by overlaying it with the project structure. |
| Project planning | Project planning is used to plan all aspects that need to be considered during the course of the project; for example, the systematic gathering of information about the future course of the project and the mental anticipation of the necessary actions in the project. |
| Project portfolio | A project portfolio is the sum of all projects and programs in an organization (area), which are jointly planned, approved and managed. A project portfolio is not limited in time, as it will always include new projects and completed projects will be removed from the portfolio. |
| Project status report / project progress report | Regular, written reports from the project manager on the progress of the project to the higher authority. |
| Project management | Project control includes all internal project activities of the project manager that are necessary to complete the planned project within the framework of the planning values and thus to execute it successfully. |
| Project steering group (PSG); also steering committee | It is a committee of the project organization (from a defined size), which is superior to the project management (authorized to issue directives) and makes decisions about the course of the project, which would exceed the competence of the project manager. This committee consists of the client, selected stakeholders, contractors, quality representatives, … DIN 69901-5 defines the steering committee as a “higher-level body to which the project manager reports and which is available to him as a decision-making and escalation body”. |
| Project structuring | Developing a work breakdown structure. A project is divided hierarchically into smaller and smaller elements. The lowest level is the basis for further project planning. |
| Work breakdown structure | A structured representation (hierarchy) of the project work packages. Tree or table-like representation of the system structure, with the level of detail selected according to the requirements of planning and controlling the project. The work breakdown structure, as the basis for planning, can be created in an object-oriented or function-oriented form, or as a mixed form. |
| Project team (= core team) | Cf. core team |
| Project monitoring | During project monitoring, the target specifications of the system and project planning are compared with the actual values determined during the project process and any deviations from the plan are identified. The monitoring refers on the one hand to the project object (content-related goals) and on the other hand to the project process (process goals). |
| Project goal | The project objective is part of the project order and consists of the three components: Content, Time, Cost |
| Proof of Concept (PoC) | Proof of Concept (PoC) is equivalent to a milestone at which the (technical) feasibility of the project has been tested and demonstrated. However, this is a strategically particularly important milestone! At the PoC, the technical feasibility is explicitly verified by the development team. For this purpose, the success criteria are specified precisely in advance. |
| Percentage method | Effort estimation method based on knowledge of the percentage of individual phases in the total effort of the project. This knowledge results from previous projects. |
| Buffer time | Buffer times are one of the most important factors in scheduling and monitoring projects. The buffer time specifies the time by which a task may be postponed without extending the overall duration of the project. There are several types of buffer times. |
| QUi | QUi Gesellschaft für Qualität und Innovation mbH Corporate success through learning processes; www.qui.de |
| Quality | Totality of properties and characteristic values of a unit with regard to its suitability to fulfill defined and presupposed requirements. |
| Quality planning | Subject of project planning. Quality planning is the project-specific determination of the content-related quality level and the methods and techniques for quality assurance. |
| Quality assurance, analytical | Central task of project management to ensure the desired quality. Quality assurance is a system of methods, procedures and tools used to ensure that a product meets or exceeds the specified requirements. A distinction is made between constructive (producing) and analytical (testing) quality assurance. Analytical QA is a part of QM and includes all measures of “validation” (Is the right thing done?) and “verification” (Is the product done right?) of work results from the project. |
| Quality assurance, constructive | Quality assurance, constructive: Provision of an infrastructure, creation of framework conditions which can guarantee a defined quality. Through “constructive” QA measures, qualitatively good results are developed. One example is the use and adaptation of proven “sample solutions” for specific technical tasks. |
| Reaction period | Subject of project monitoring. Period of time that elapses until deviations from the plan are detected. |
| Pure project organization | Form of a project organization. For the duration of a project, the employees involved are combined into an independent organizational unit and report to the project manager in disciplinary terms. |
| Yield ratio | Ratio of benefits to costs or ratio of hurdle rate to discount rate, … |
| Profitability | shows the amount of interest earned on the capital over a period of time. |
| Resources | Employees, resources (material, equipment, machines) and / or other aids that are required to complete a process (activity). Often, resources are also referred to as inputs. |
| Resource planning (=deployment planning). | Planning the time commitment of resources involved in project implementation, depending on their availability. |
| Remaining duration | This is the time still needed to complete an activity. |
| Return on investment | Profitability calculation to determine the return on invested capital. ROI – Return of Investment: Return of invested capital; a financial measure that relates the costs of an investment to the discounted returns (internal rate of return). The ROI says nothing about the project size. ROI is calculated for a freely definable time frame; thus, it takes into account the time value of the return flows.Return on investment (ROI) is calculated by dividing the value of the profit generated by the value of the capital employed. |
| Review | More or less formally planned and structured analysis and evaluation process in which project results are presented to, commented on, and approved by a team of reviewers. |
| Risk analysis | Part of the project planning. Systematic presentation of all possible risks within the project in the form of a matrix. |
| Feedback | All information provided by the project team to the project manager. Feedback includes activity, target time and cost, time completed, remaining duration estimate, and problems. |
| Backward calculation | Step in the network calculation in which the latest possible start and finish dates of the work packages are determined. Activity within the network technique for determining the latest possible start and finish dates of all activities. The backward calculation forms the basis for determining the critical path and the floats of each activity. |
| SA / Latest start | Time at which an activity must start at the latest, so that there is no delay in the project progress. The latest start time is calculated in the backward calculation from the difference of latest end minus duration of the activity: SA = SE – Duration of the activity |
| Collection process | Each activity of a project, which in turn has subordinate activities, is called a collective activity. |
| Estimation retreat | Method of effort estimation (by experts) |
| SCRUM | an agile process model; has its origin in the agile manifesto of software development. Its basic ideas are transferred to PM and organizational development, leadership model …; |
| SE / Latest end | Time at which an activity must be completed at the latest, so that there is no delay in the project progress. The latest end time is determined in the backward calculation from the minimum of the latest starts of all predecessors: SE = Minimum (SA of all successors) |
| Single-loop learning | Are we doing it (the right thing) right? This type of learning is used to improve project results through planning, development, testing, evaluation, adjustment, and error correction; corresponds to the approach in Total Quality Management TQM. (See also Double-loop learning). |
| Situation analysis | Systematic investigation of a circumstance intuitively perceived as problematic or of a circumstance specified in the project order at the beginning of the planning activity. |
| Stakeholder | Freely translated, Stakeholder means “stakeholders”! The term includes people or a group of people who are affected by the project, or perceive its effects and / or have a legitimate interest in the project. They have a neutral, positive or negative attitude towards the project. The project management pursues a participative, repressive or neutral strategy. |
| Stakeholder management | Stakeholder management is one of the continuous tasks in the project. Its procedure is similar to that of risk management: Identification, analysis and evaluation or derivation of measures. Monitoring analyzes the effectiveness of the measures taken. Different strategies can define the objectives: participative, neutral or repressive orientation of the measures is possible. |
| Status Report | Overview of the current project status (target/actual comparison of deadlines, costs, efforts) to be prepared by the project manager as information for the client. A status report is prepared at regular intervals or when certain milestones are reached. |
| Step-to-Step Method | Method for evaluating the degree of completion of work packages: A work package, is subdivided into various sequential work steps (“Steps”) evaluated in terms of time and effort. The degree of completion is determined from the steps achieved. |
| Incident report | Written report on deviations from the plan to the higher-level authority. The reason for an incident report can be changes in content, schedule delays, capacity requirements or cost overruns. |
| Strategic importance | Indicator of multi-project management, which makes the significance of projects (for the realization of strategic corporate goals) within a project portfolio comparable. |
| Syndrome 90% | Risk of overestimating the degree of completion of a work package. The processor states that he has completed 90% of a work package, but the true work progress is lower. |
| TaskBrowse | TaskBrowse is a project management and task management software with user-friendly time tracking; see also taskbrowse.com/en/ |
| Date | An appointment is understood to be a point in time, e.g. a specific day. A distinction can be made between the following dates: Start date, end date, deadline (date of current consideration), milestone (deadline for a significant project result). A book worth reading about project management by Tom deMarco: “The deadline”! |
| Scheduling | Scheduling the start and end times of all work packages in a project. |
| Scheduling and monitoring techniques | Techniques that support scheduling (schedule, schedule trend chart, bar chart, network diagram). |
| Term Trend Chart | Graphical representation of the respective estimated end date (e.g. milestones) in the course of the project, which should make schedule deviations visible at an early stage. |
| Scheduling on schedule | Planning without consideration of the max. availability of the executing capacities (capacity requirements planning). |
| Timeboxing | Timeboxing is a project management technique. A timebox is a fixed duration related to a product, process or the entire project. If the time is fixed, the content and scope can be changed or adjusted. For example, this could mean that the functionality is reduced (postponed to a subsequent project) or that qualitative concessions are made. |
| Top-Down | Procedure for creating a work breakdown structure. Starting from the project objective, the project is progressively detailed by level. |
| Total Quality Management (TQM) | TQM is “a management method of an organization based on the participation of all its members, which puts quality at the center and aims at long-term business success through customer satisfaction as well as benefits for the members of the organization and for its society. Total” in this context means the involvement of all employees and customers involved in the service. Quality’ refers to the consistent orientation of the service process to the quality requirements of all internal and external customers, and ‘management’ means the assumption of a role model function for service quality”. (Meffert, Heribert/Bruhn, Manfred: Dienstleistungsmarketing – Grund-lagen – Konzepte – Methoden, Wiesbaden 1995). |
| Trend analyses | Trend analyses are intended to facilitate project monitoring by identifying negative trends in the course of the project at an early stage and enabling corrective measures to be initiated in good time. |
| Validation | Testing and evaluation of a product at the end of the development process to demonstrate compliance of the product requirements with the product. |
| Verification | Tests and evaluations that demonstrate the consistency of intermediate and final results of a phase with results of previous phases. |
| Links (= relationship) | Quantifiable dependency between two work packages of a project :normal sequence (end – start), initial sequence (start – start), final sequence (end – end), jump sequence (start – end). |
| V-Modell ® XT | The V-Modell ® XT is a process model for the implementation of IT projects, especially for the development of software systems. It structures the work of projects by specifying results and processes so that idle times and unnecessary work are avoided, but necessary work is not forgotten. In scientific literature, frameworks such as the V-Modell ® XT are also often referred to as “process models.”” [Download 2.6.2020; 14:47 Source: https://www.itzbund.de/DE/Produkte/V-Modell-XT/v-modell-xt_node.htmlV-Modell XT] |
| Process | In order to fully define a project, it is necessary to define each activity that is required to complete the project. Such an activity is called an activity. An activity divides a project into its smallest units. |
| Predecessor | All activities that immediately precede an operation/activity. |
| Operation relationships | The tasks defined in the project planning are usually in a certain logical and temporal relationship to each other: certain tasks can only be started when other tasks have been completed. This gives the individual tasks so-called predecessors and successors. |
| Procedure model | Idealized and abstracting description of a development process. The minimal description of a (sub-)process includes all types of activities and results as well as their interlinking. |
| Pre-study | A preliminary study is carried out if, within the framework of an organized project (IT project), the clarifications still necessary for the application and evaluation have to be brought about. |
| Forward calculation | Activity within the network technique to determine the earliest start and end dates of all activities. After defining a start date for the project, the total time of the project and the earliest project end date can be calculated. |
| Walk-through / Walk-thru | Quality assurance technique for checking work results in partnership, e.g. the functionality of a test item can be “played through” in a team using examples/test cases. |
| WIP | Work in Progress – work in progress (not yet completed) |
| Profitability analysis | Profitability analysis is a procedure for determining the economic benefits of projects. |
| Time interval (=time value | means that the successor may start already 3 days before the end of the predecessor |
| Goal-based project planning | As specified in ISO standard 21 502 (the new ISO standard for project management), the project objectives are defined and further specified. The concretization of the project objectives takes place until the way of achieving the objectives via the tasks can be described in a comprehensible way. In this way, a verifiable connection between the project goals and the tasks in the project is defined. If a certain task is not realized in the project, it is also verifiable which project (sub)objectives are not realized. Currently (04.2023) TaskBrowse.com is the only tool on the market that supports this methodology. See also https://taskbrowse.com/de/ |