Glossary of terms related to Project Management-Alphabet D to L

Glossary of terms related to Project Management-Alphabet D to L

Giving below a comprehensive repository of terms/definitions and concepts as per the latest PMI PMBOK 6th Edition and presented in an alphabetically sorted order.

1) This robust database explains various terms/definitions are designed to help you prepare for the PMP exam as well as for use in your daily Software Development/Testing related Project Management activities.

2) This encyclopedia is an excellent self-study tool for all IT professionals involved in the Project Management activities.

Alphabetical Encyclopedia

Alphabet – D

Data Date:
Data Date refers to the date up to or through which the project’s reporting system has provided actual status and accomplishments. It is also known as of-date and time-now date.

Decision Tree Analysis:
Decision Tree Analysis refers to a diagram that describes a decision under consideration and the implications of choosing one or another of the available alternatives. It is used when some future scenarios or outcomes of actions are uncertain. It incorporates probabilities and the costs or reward of each logical path of events and future decisions, and uses expected monetary value analysis to help the organization identify the relative values of alternate actions. See also expected monetary value analysis.

Decomposition:
Decomposition is a planning technique that subdivides the project scope and project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components, until the project work associated with accomplishing the project scope and providing the deliverables is defined in sufficient detail to support executing, monitoring, and controlling the work.

Defect:
Defect is an imperfection or deficiency in a project component where that component does not meet its requirements or specifications and needs to be either repaired or replaced.

Defect Repair:
Defect Repair refers to the formally documented identification of a defect in a project component with a recommendation to either repair the defect or completely replace the component.

Define Activities:
Define Activities refers to the process of identifying the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables.

Define Scope:
Define Scope refers to the process of developing a detailed description of the project and product.

Deliverable:
Deliverable refers to any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that must be produced to complete a process, phase, or project. It is often used more narrowly in reference to an external deliverable, which is a deliverable that is subject to approval by the project sponsor or customer. See also product and result.

Delphi Technique:
Delphi Technique is an information gathering technique used as a way to reach a consensus of experts on a subject. Experts on the subject participate in this technique anonymously. A facilitator uses a questionnaire to solicit ideas about the important project points related to the subject. The responses are summarized and are then re-circulated to the experts for further comment. Consensus may be reached in a few rounds of this process. The Delphi technique helps reduce via in the data and keeps any one person from having undue influence on the outcome.

Dependency:
Refer Logical Relationships.

Determine Budget:
Determine Budget refers to the process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline.

Develop Human Resource Plan:
Develop Human Resource Plan is the process of identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities, and required skills, reporting relationships, and creating a staffing management plan.

Develop Project Charter:
Develop Project Charter refers to the process of developing a document that formally authorizes a project or a phase and documenting initial requirements that satisfy the stake holder’s needs and expectations.

Develop Project Management Plan:
Develop Project Management Plan refers to the process of documenting the actions necessary to define, prepare, integrate, and coordinate all subsidiary plans.

Develop Project Team:
Develop Project Team refers to the process of improving the competencies, team interaction, and the overall team environment to enhance project performance.

Develop Schedule:
Develop Schedule refers to the process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule.

Direct and Manage Project Execution:
Direct and Manage Project Execution refers to the process of performing the work defined in the project management plan to achieve the project’s objectives.

Distribute Information:
Distribute Information refers to the process of making relevant information available to project stakeholders as planned.

Duration (DU or DUR):
Duration refers to the total number of work periods (not including holidays or other nonworking periods) required to complete a schedule activity or work breakdown structure component. It is usually expressed as workdays or workweeks. Sometimes it is incorrectly equated with elapsed time. Contrast with effort.

Alphabet – E

Early Finish Date (EF):
Early Finish Date in the critical path method, is the earliest possible point in time on which the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity (or the project) can finish, based on the schedule network logic, the data date, and any schedule constraints. Early finish dates can change as the project progresses and as changes are made to the project management plan.

Early Start Date (ES):
Early Start Date in the critical path method, is the earliest possible point in time on which the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity (or the project) can start, based on the schedule network logic, the data date, and any schedule constraints. Early start dates can change as the project progresses and as changes are made to the project management plan.

Earned Value (EV):
Earned Value refers to the value of work performed expressed in terms of the approved budget assigned to the work for a schedule activity or work breakdown structure component. It is also known as the budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP).

Earned Value Management (EVM):
Earned Value Management refers to a management methodology for integrating scope, schedule, and resources, and for objectively measuring project performance and progress. Performance is measured by determining the budgeted cost of work performed (i.e., earned value) and comparing it to the actual cost of work performed (i.e., actual cost).

Earned Value Technique (EVT):
Earned Value Technique is a specific technique for measuring the performance of work and used to establish the performance measurement baseline (PMB).

Effort:
Effort refers to the number of labor units required to complete a schedule activity or work breakdown structure component. It is usually expressed as staff hours, staff days, or staff weeks. Contrast with duration.

Enterprise Environmental Factors:
Enterprise Environmental Factors refer to any or all external environmental factors and internal organizational environmental factors that surround or influence the project’s success. These factors are from any or all of the enterprises involved in the project, and include organizational culture and structure, infrastructure, existing resources, commercial databases, market conditions, and project management software.

Estimate:
Estimate refer to a quantitative assessment of the likely amount or outcome. It is usually applied to project costs, resources, effort, and durations and is usually preceded by a modifier (i.e., preliminary, conceptual, feasibility, order-of-magnitude, definitive). It should always include some indication of accuracy (e.g., ± x percent). See also budget and cost.

Estimate Activity Durations:
Estimate Activity Durations refers to the process of approximating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with estimated resources.

Estimate Activity Resources:
Estimate Activity Resources refer to the process of estimating the type and quantities of material, people, equipment or supplies required to perform each activity.

Estimate at Completion (EAC):
Estimate at Completion refer to the expected total cost of a schedule activity, a work breakdown structure component, or the project when the defined scope or work will be completed. The EAC may be calculated based on performance to date or estimated by the project team based on other factors, in which case it is often referred to as the latest revised estimate. See also earned value technique and estimate to complete.

Estimate Costs:
Estimate Costs refers to the process of developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project activities.

Estimate to Complete (ETC):
Estimate to Complete refers to the expected cost needed to complete all the remaining work for a schedule activity, work breakdown structure component, or the project. See also earned value technique and estimate at completion.

Execute:
Execute means directing, managing, performing, and accomplishing the project work, providing the deliverables, and providing work performance information.

Executing Processes:
Executing Processes refers to those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project objectives.

Expected Monetary Value (EMV) Analysis:
Expected Monetary Value Analysis is a statistical technique that calculates the average outcome when the future includes scenarios that may or may not happen. A common use of this technique is within decision tree analysis.

Expert Judgment:
Expert Judgment refers to the judgment provided based upon expertise in an application area, knowledge area, discipline, industry, etc. as appropriate for the activity being performed. Such expertise may be provided by any group or person with specialized education, knowledge, skill, experience, or training.

Alphabet – F

Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA):
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis is an analytical procedure in which in each potential failure mode in every component of a product is analyzed to determine its effect on the reliability of that component and, by itself or in combination with other possible failure modes, on the reliability of the product or system and on the required function of the component; or the examination of a product (at the system and/or lower levels) for all ways that a failure may occur. For each potential failure, an estimate is made of its effect on the total system and of its impact. In addition, a review is undertaken of the action planned to minimize the probability of failure and to minimize its effects.

Fast Tracking:
Fast Tracking refers to a specific project schedule compression technique that changes network logic to overlap phases that would normally be done in sequence, such as the design phase and construction phase, or to perform schedule activities in parallel. See also crashing and schedule compression.

Finish Date:
Finish Date is a point in time associated with a schedule activity’s completion. Usually qualified by one of the following: actual, planned, estimated, scheduled, early, late, baseline, target, or current.

Finish-to-Finish (FF):
Finish-to-Finish refers to the logical relationship where completion of work of the successor activity cannot finish until the completion of work of the predecessor activity. See also logical relationship.

Finish-to-Start (FS):
Finish-to-Start refers to the logical relationship where initiation of work of the successor activity depends upon the completion of work of the predecessor activity. See also logical relationship.

Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) Contract:
Firm-Fixed-Price Contract refers to a type of fixed price contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as defined by the contract), regardless of the seller’s costs.

Fixed-Price-Incentive-Fee (FPIF) Contract:
Fixed-Price-Incentive-Fee Contract refers to a type of contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as defined by the contract), and the seller can earn an additional amount if the seller meets defined performance criteria.

Float:
Float is also known as slack. See total float and free float.

Flowcharting:
Flowcharting refers to the depiction in a diagram format of the inputs, process actions, and outputs of one or more processes within a system.

Forecast:
Forecast is 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 based on the project’s past performance and expected future performance, and includes information that could impact the project in the future, such as estimate at completion and estimate to complete.

Forward Pass:
Forward Pass refers to the calculation of early start and early finish dates for the uncompleted portions of all network activities. See also schedule network analysis and backward pass.

Free Float:
Free Float refers to the amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any immediately following schedule activities. See also total float.

Functional Manager:
Functional Manager refers to a person with management authority over an organizational unit within a functional organization. The manager of any group that actually makes a project or performs a service. Sometimes called a line manager.

Functional Organization:
Functional Organization refers to 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.

Alphabet – G

Gantt Chart:
Gantt Chart is a graphic display of schedule-related information. In the typical bar chart, schedule activities or work breakdown structure components are listed down the left side of the chart, dates are shown across the top, and activity durations are shown as date-placed horizontal bars.

Grade:
Grade refers to a category or rank used to distinguish items that have the same functional use (e.g., “hammer”), but do not share the same requirements for quality (e.g., different hammers may need to withstand different amounts of force).

Alphabet – H

Hammock Activity:
Refer Summary Activity.

Historical Information:
Historical Information refers to documents and data on prior projects including project files, records, correspondence, closed contracts, and closed projects.

Human Resource Plan:
Human Resource Plan refers to a document describing how roles and responsibilities, reporting relationships, and staffing management will be addressed and structured for the project. It is contained in or is a subsidiary plan of the project management plan.

Alphabet – I

Identify Risks:
Identify Risks refers to the process of determining which risks may affect the project and documenting their characteristics.

Identify Stakeholders:
Identify Stakeholders refers to the process of identifying all people or organizations impacted by the project, and documenting relevant information regarding the interests, involvement, and impact on project success.

Imposed Date:
Imposed Date is a fixed date imposed on a schedule activity or schedule milestone, usually in form of a “start no earlier than” and “finish no later than” date.

Influence Diagram:
Influence Diagram is a graphical representation of situations showing causal influences, time ordering of events, and other relationships among variables outcomes.

Initiating Processes:
Initiating Processes refer to those processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project phase.

Input:
Input refers to any item, whether internal or external to the project that is required by a process before that process proceeds. It may be an output from a predecessor process.

Inspection:
Inspection refers to examining or measuring to verify whether an activity, component, product, result, or service conforms to specified requirements.

Invitation for Bid (IFB):
Invitation for Bid is generally equivalent to request for proposal. However, in some application areas, it may have a narrower or more specific meaning.

Issue:
Issue refers to a point or matter in question or in dispute, or a point or matter that is not settled and is under discussion or over which there are opposing views or disagreements.

(Alphabets J & K are not included yet)

Alphabet – L

Lag:
Lag refers to a modification of a logical relationship that directs a delay in the successor activity. For example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a ten-day lag, the successor activity cannot start until ten days after the predecessor activity has finished. See also lead.

Late Finish Date (LF):
Late Finish Date in the critical path method, the latest possible point in time that a schedule activity may be completed based upon the schedule network logic, the project completion date, and any constraints assigned to the schedule activities without violating a schedule constraint or delaying the project completion date. The late finish dates are determined during the backward pass calculation of the project schedule network.

Late Start Date (LS):
Late Start Date in the critical path method, the latest possible point in time that a schedule activity may begin based upon the schedule network logic, that project completion date, and any constraints assigned to the scheduled activities without violating a schedule constraint or delaying the project completion date. The late start dates are determined during the backward pass calculation of the project schedule network.

Lead:
Lead refers to a modification of a logical relationship that allows an acceleration of the successor activity. For example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a ten-day lead, the successor activity can start ten days before the predecessor activity has finished. A negative lead is equivalent to a positive lag. See also lag.

Lesson Learned:
Lesson Learned refers to the learning gained from the process of performing the project. Lessons learned may be identified at any point. It is also considered a project record, to be included in the lesson learned knowledge base.

Lessons Learned Knowledge Base:
Lessons Learned knowledge Base refers to a store of historical information and lessons learned about both the outcomes of previous project selection decisions and previous performance.

Leveling:
Refer Resource Leveling.

Life Cycle:
See project life cycle.

Log:
Log refers to a document used to record and describe or denote selected items identified during execution of a process or activity. Usually used with a modifier, such as issue, quality control, action, or defect.

Logical Relationship:
Logical Relationship refers to a dependency between two project schedule activities, or between a project schedule activity and a schedule milestone. The four possible types of logical relationships are: Finish-to-Start; Finish-to-Finish; Start-to-Start; and Start-to-Finish. See also precedence relationship.

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