Project Management Overview

constraint

A limiting factor that affects the execution of a project, program, portfolio, or process.

project team

A set of individuals who support the project manager in performing the work of the project to achieve its objectives.

performing organization

An enterprise whose personnel are most directly involved in doing the work of the project or program.

historical information

Documents and data on prior projects including project files, records, correspondence, closed contracts, and closed projects.

organizational process assets

Plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases that are specific to and used by the performing organization.

portfolio

Projects, programs, sub portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives.

project management system

The aggregation of the processes, tools, techniques, methodologies, resources, and procedures to manage a project.

project governance

The alignment of project objectives with the strategy of the larger organization by the project sponsor and project team. A project's governance is defined by and is required to fit within the larger context of the program or organization sponsoring it, but is separate from organizational governance.

project management

The application of resources and the administration of knowledge, tools, and skills to meet project objectives.

objective

Something toward which work is to be directed, a strategic position to be attained, a purpose to be achieved, a result to be obtained, a product to be produced, or a service to be performed.

stakeholder

An individual, group, or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project.

rolling wave planning

An iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while the work in the future is planned at a higher level.

lessons learned

Any information from previous work or previous projects that can be used in subsequent projects to avoid problems or enhance work.

input

Any item, whether internal or external to the project that is required by a process before that process proceeds. May be an output from a predecessor process.

projectized organization

Any organizational structure in which the project manager has full authority to assign priorities, apply resources, and direct the work of persons assigned to the project.

matrix organization

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

functional manager

Someone with management authority over an organizational unit within a functional organization. The manager of any group that actually makes a product or performs a service. Sometimes called a line manager.

baseline

The approved version of a work product that can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison.

portfolio management

The centralized management of one or more portfolios to achieve strategic objectives.

progressive elaboration

The iterative process of increasing the level of detail in a project management plan as greater amounts of information and more accurate estimates become available.

project management team

The members of the project team who are directly involved in project management activities. On some smaller projects, the project management team may include virtually all of the project team members.

project manager

The person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives.

project phase

A collection of logically related project activities that culminates in the completion of one or more deliverables.

business value

A concept that is unique to each organization and includes tangible and intangible elements. Through the effective use of project, program, and portfolio management disciplines, organizations will possess the ability to employ reliable, established processes to meet enterprise objectives and obtain greater business value from their investments.

predictive life cycle

A form of project life cycle in which the project scope, and the time and cost required to deliver that scope, are determined as early in the life cycle as possible.

program

A group of related projects, subprograms, and program activities managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.

functional organization

A hierarchical organization where each employee has one clear superior, and staff are grouped by areas of specialization and managed by a person with expertise in that area.

Voice of the Customer

A planning technique used to provide products, services, and results that truly reflect customer requirements by translating those customer requirements into the appropriate technical requirements for each phase of project product development.

output

A product, result, or service generated by a process. May be an input to a successor process.

incremental or iterative life cycle

A project life cycle where the project scope is generally determined early in the project life cycle, but time and cost estimates are routinely modified as the project team's understanding of the product increases. Iterations develop the product through a series of repeated cycles, while increments successively add to the functionality of the product.

adaptive life cycle

A project life cycle, also known as change-driven or agile methods, that is intended to facilitate change and require a high degree of ongoing stakeholder involvement. Adaptive life cycles are also iterative and incremental, but differ in that iterations are very rapid (usually 2 to 4 weeks in length) and are fixed in time and resources.

project

A series of carefully planned activities with a defined beginning and end that creates a unique end result. Each project is designed with a specific output in mind.

project management office

A structure within an organization that helps manage projects. Project management offices may be asked to support project managers or may be tasked with running projects themselves.

forecast

An estimate or prediction of conditions and events in the project's future based on information and knowledge available at the time of the forecast. The information is based on the project's past performance and expected future performance and includes information that could impact the project in the future.

deliverable

Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is required to be produced to complete a process, phase, or project.

enterprise environmental factors

Conditions, not under the immediate control of the team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program, or portfolio.

life cycle

The series of phases that represent the evolution of a product, from concept through delivery, growth, maturity, and to retirement.