Comptia Project+ Exam Essentials/Chapter Glossary

Cost-benefit analysis

A commonly used benefit measurement method that calculates the cost of producing the product, service, or result of the project and compares this to the financial gain the project is expected to generate.

Work breakdown structure (WBS)

A deliverable-oriented hierarchy that defines the total work of the project. Each level has more detailed information than the previous level.

Work breakdown structure (WBS) dictionary

A document that describes the deliverables and their components, the code of accounts identifier, estimates, resources, criteria for acceptance, and any other information that helps clarify the deliverables.

Project plan

A document, or assortment of documents, that constitutes what the project is, what the project will deliver, and how all the processes will be managed. Used as the guideline throughout the project Executing and Controlling phases to track and measure project performance and to make future project decisions. Also used as a communication and information tool for stakeholders, team members, and management.

Functional organization

A form of organizational structure. Functional organizations are traditional organizations with hierarchical reporting structures.

Decision model

A formal method of project selection that helps managers make the best use of limited budgets and human resources. Includes benefit measurement methods and constrained optimization models.

Program

A grouping of related projects that are managed together to capitalize on benefits that couldn't be achieved if the projects were managed separately.

Order of magnitude

A high-level estimate of the time and cost of a project based on the actual cost and duration of a similar project.

Activity list

A list of all the activities required to complete the work of the project that also includes an identifier code and the WBS code it's associated with. Activities are broken down from the work package level of the WBS.

Milestone

A major deliverable or key event in the project used to measure project progress.

Explain a network diagram

A network diagram is used to depict project activities and the interrelationships and dependencies among these activities.

Stakeholder

A person or an organization that has something to gain or lose as a result of the project. Most stakeholders have a vested interest in the outcomes of the project.

Name the two major relationships between dependent tasks

A predecessor is a task that exists on a path with another task and occurs before the task in question. A successor is a task that exists on a common path with another task and occurs after the task in question.

Closing

A process that documents the final delivery and acceptance of the project and is where hand-off occurs to the operational unit. Lessons learned are performed during this process, and project team members are released.

Be able to define a program and a portfolio

A program is a group of related projects managed to gain benefits that couldn't be realized if they were managed independently. Portfolios are collections of programs, subportfolios, and projects that support strategic business goals or objectives. Programs and projects within the portfolio may not be related to one another.

Be able to identify the difference between a project and ongoing operations

A project is a temporary endeavor to create a unique product or service. Operational work is ongoing and repetitive.

Finish-to-finish

A project task relationship in which the finish of the successor task is dependent on the finish of the predecessor task.

Finish-to-start

A project task relationship in which the successor task cannot begin until the predecessor task has completed.

Fast-tracking

A schedule compression technique where two activities that were previously scheduled to start sequentially start at the same time. Fast-tracking reduces schedule duration.

Critical path method (CPM)

A schedule development method that determines a single early and late start date, early and late finish date, and the float for each activity on the project.

Be able to list the components of a scope statement

A scope statement includes a project description, acceptance criteria, key deliverables, exclusions from scope, assumptions, and constraints. It could also contain a high-level time and cost estimate to complete the project.

Economic model

A type of benefit measurement method. It is a series of financial calculations that provide data on the overall financials of the project and is generally used as a project selection technique.

Benefit measurement methods

A type of decision model that compares the benefits obtained from a variety of new project requests by evaluating them using the same criteria and comparing the results.

External dependency

A type of dependency where a relationship between a project task and a factor outside the project, such as weather conditions, drives the scheduling of that task.

Analogous estimating

An estimating technique that uses the actual duration of a similar, completed activity to determine the duration of the current activity. This is also called top-down estimating.

Assumption

An event or action believed to be true for planning purposes. Project assumptions should always be documented.

Sponsor

An executive in the organization with authority to allocate funds, assign resources, and enforce decisions regarding the project.

Project charter

An official, written acknowledgment and recognition that a project exists. It's signed by the project sponsor and gives the project manager authority to assign organizational resources to the work of the project.

Matrix organization

An organizational structure where employees report to one functional manager and at least one project manager. Functional managers assign employees to projects and carry out administrative duties, while project managers assign tasks associated with the project to team members and execute the project.

Deliverable

An output or result that must be completed in order to consider the project complete or to move forward to the next phase of the project. Deliverables are tangible and can be measured and easily proved.

Constraint

Anything that either restricts the actions of the project team or dictates the actions of the project team.

Project management

Applying skills, knowledge, and project management tools and techniques to fulfill the project requirements.

Activity duration

Assessing the number of work periods needed to complete the project activities. Work periods are usually expressed in hours or days. Large projects might express duration in weeks or months.

Define the purpose of CPM

CPM calculates the longest full path in the project. This path controls the finish date of the project. Any delay to a critical path task will delay the completion date of the project.

Discounted cash flow (DCF)

Compares the value of the future cash flows of the project to today's dollars.

Constrained optimization models

Decision models that use complex principles of statistics and other mathematical concepts to assess a proposed project.

Scope management plan

Defines the process for preparing the scope statement and the WBS. This also documents the process that manages project scope and changes to project scope.

Project justification

Documentation in the project charter that includes the reason the project is being undertaken and the business need the project will address.

Project description

Documents the key characteristics of the product or service that will be created by the project.

Scope statement

Documents the product description, key deliverables, success and acceptance criteria, key performance indicators, exclusions, assumptions, and constraints. The scope statement is used as a baseline for future project decisions.

Project management office (PMO)

Established by organizations to create and maintain procedures and standards for project management methodologies to be used throughout the organization.

Net present value (NPV)

Evaluation of the cash inflows using the discounted cash flow technique, which is applied to each period the inflows are expected. NPV subtracts the initial project investment from the total cash flow in today's dollars. It is similar to discounted cash flows.

Know and understand the three most commonly used techniques to estimate activity duration

Expert judgment relies on the knowledge of someone familiar with the tasks. Analogous or top-down estimating bases the estimate on similar activities from a previous project. Parametric estimates are quantitatively based estimates that typically calculate the rate times the quantity.

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

Help you determine whether the project is on track and progressing as planned by monitoring the project against predetermined criteria.

Understand what skills are needed to manage a project beyond technical knowledge of the product

Key general management skills include leadership, communication, problem-solving, negotiation, organization, and time management.

Scoring model

One of the benefit measurement methods used for project selection. It contains a predefined list of criteria against which each project is ranked. Each criterion has a scoring range and a weighting factor. A scoring model can also be used as a tool to select from among competing vendors.

Name the three most common ways project schedules are displayed

Project schedules are typically displayed as milestone charts, PERT network diagrams, or Gantt charts; a Gantt chart is a type of bar chart.

Define quality gates and governance gates

Quality gates are used to check the work, and governance gates are used as client sign-offs, management approvals, and legislative approvals.

Describe the sequencing process

Sequencing is the process of identifying dependency relationships between the project activities and scheduling activities in the proper order.

Project

Temporary in nature, with a definite start and end date; creates a unique product, service, or result. It is completed when the goals and objectives of the project have been met and signed off on by the stakeholders.

Be able to define the project management office

The PMO provides guidance to project managers and helps present a consistent, reliable approach to managing projects across the organization. PMOs are responsible for maintaining standards, processes, procedures, and templates.

Describe a WBS dictionary

The WBS dictionary describes each of the deliverables and their components and includes a code of accounts identifier, estimates, resources, criteria for acceptance, and any other information that helps clarify the deliverables.

Know how to define and create a work breakdown structure

The WBS is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy that describes the work required to complete the project. The WBS is a multilevel diagram that starts with the project, includes the major deliverables, and decomposes the major deliverables into smaller units of work to the point where time and cost estimates can be provided and resources assigned.

Scope

The description of the work involved to complete the project. It defines both what is included in the project and what is excluded from the project.

Internal rate of return (IRR)

The discount rate when the present value of the cash inflows equals the original investment. Projects with higher IRR values are generally considered better than projects with lower IRR values. Assumes that cash inflows are reinvested at the IRR value.

Initiating

The first process in a project life cycle and the first of the five project process groups. This is the formal acknowledgment that the project should begin. The primary result of this process is the project charter.

Understand the levels in a WBS

The highest level of the WBS is the project name. The major deliverables, project phases, or subprojects make up the next level. The number of levels in a WBS will vary by project; however, the lowest level of the WBS is a work package.

Payback period

The length of time it takes a company to recover the initial cost of producing the product or service of the project.

Critical path (CP)

The longest path through the project. Activities with zero float are considered critical path tasks.

Work package

The lowest level in a WBS. Team assignments, time estimates, and cost estimates can be made at this level. On very large projects, this level is handed off to subproject managers who develop their own WBS to fulfill the requirements of the work package deliverable.

Project manager

The person responsible for applying the skills, knowledge, and project management tools and techniques to the project activities to successfully complete the project objectives.

Project champion

The person who fully understands, believes in, and espouses the benefits of the project to the organization. This is the cheerleader for the project.

Acceptance criteria

The process and the criteria that will be used to determine whether the deliverables are acceptable and satisfactory.

Planning

The process group where the project plans are developed that will be used throughout the project to direct, monitor, and control work results. The primary result of this process is the project plan.

Decomposition

The process of breaking project deliverables down into smaller, manageable components of work so that work packages can be planned and estimated.

Scope planning

The process of defining the scope management plan, the scope statement, and the WBS and WBS dictionary.

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)

The project management standard developed by the Project Management Institute.

Customer

The recipient of the product or service created by the project. In some organizations this stakeholder may also be referred to as the client.

Dependencies

The relationship between project activities.

Business requirements

The requirements that describe how the business objectives of the project will be met.

Dependency relationships

The type of dependency between two activities and the specific relationship between the activities.

Duration compression

The use of techniques such as fast-tracking or crashing to shorten the planned duration of a project or to resolve schedule slippage.

Executing phase

The work of the project is performed in the Executing process. This is where the deliverables are produced.

Project Management Institute (PMI)

The world's leading professional project management association.

High-level requirements

These explain the major characteristics of the product and describe the relationship between the business need and the product requested. This is also referred to as a product description.

Crashing

This is a schedule compression technique that adds resources to the project to reduce the time it takes to complete the project.

Planning phase

This process is where most project documents and processes are created, including the schedule, work breakdown structure, budget, communication plan, procurement plan, and more. These documents are used as the foundation for managing the project throughout the remaining processes.

Monitoring and Controlling phase

This process monitors and controls the work, deliverables, and outputs of the project to determine whether there are variances from the project plan. Corrective actions are taken during this process to get the project back on course. Risks, issues, quality assurance, changes, and budget are among the elements of the project monitored during this process.

Monitoring and Controlling

This project process group is where activities are performed to monitor the progress of the project and determine whether there are variances from the project plan. Corrective actions are taken during this process to get the project back on course.

Executing

This project process group is where the work of the project is performed.

Feasibility study

Undertaken to determine whether the project is a viable project, the probability of project success, and the viability of the product of the project.

Project selection

Used to determine which proposed projects are approved to move forward.

Be able to identify the most common project selection methods

are benefit measurement methods such as cost-benefit analysis, scoring models, payback period, and economic models (which include discounted cash flows, NPV, and IRR), as well as expert judgment.

project coordinator

assist the project manager with cross-functional coordination, documentation, administrative support, time and resource scheduling, and quality checks.

Initiating phase

authorizes the project to begin.

Be able to define a project

brings about a unique product, service, or result and has definite beginning and ending dates.

project team

contributes expertise to the project, works on deliverables according to the schedule, estimates task durations, estimates costs, and estimates dependencies.

Be able to define the role of a project manager

core function is project integration. A project manager leads the project team and oversees all the work required to complete the project goals to the satisfaction of the stakeholders.

Be able to define requirements

describe the characteristics of the deliverables, or functionality that a deliverable must have, or specific conditions a deliverable must meet to satisfy the objective of the project.

Name the four types of logical relationships

finish-to-start, start-to-start, start-to-finish, and finish-to-finish.

Name the three types of organizational structures

functional, matrix, and projectized structures. Matrix organizations may be structured as a strong matrix, weak matrix, or balanced matrix organization.

sponsor

is an executive in the organization who has the authority to allocate dollars and resources to the project. The sponsor approves funding, the project charter, the project baseline, and high-level requirements. They have final decision-making authority for the project, help with marketing the benefits of the project, remove roadblocks for the team, and participate in business case justification.

stakeholders

is anyone who has a vested interest in the project and has something to gain or lose from the project. Stakeholders include the sponsor, project manager, project team members, functional managers, customers, team members, and others with an interest in the project.

scheduler

is responsible for developing and maintaining the project schedule, communicating timeline and changes, reporting on schedule performance, and obtaining the status of work performed from team members.

Understand the purpose of the scope statement

is the basis of the agreement between the project and the customer concerning what comprises the work of the project. It defines the deliverables and success criteria that will meet those objectives.

Closing phase

is where the product, service, or result of the project is accepted and formal sign-off occurs. Lessons learned are documented, resources are released, and contracts are closed out.

project manager

manages the team, communication, scope, risk, budget, and time. They also manage quality assurance and are responsible for the project artifacts.

scope management plan

plan documents the procedures for preparing the scope statement and WBS, defines how the deliverables will be verified, and describes the process for controlling scope change requests.

project charter and list the key components

provides formal approval for the project to begin and authorizes the project manager to apply resources to the project. The key components are the purpose or justification for the project, project goals and objectives, project description, key deliverables, high-level list of requirements, high-level milestones, high-level budget, high-level assumptions, high-level constraints, high-level list of risks, name of the sponsor, name of the project manager, and criteria for project approval.

Operations

typically involve ongoing functions that support the production of goods or services. They don't have a beginning or an end.