Glossary of Project Management Terms

A
Activity
Anelementofworkperformedduringthecourseofaproject.Anactivitynormallyhasanexpected
duration,anexpectedcost,andexpectedresourcerequirements.Activitiesareoftensubdividedinto
tasks.
Activity delay
Themaximumamountoftimethatanactivitycanbedelayedduetolackofresources.
Activityonarrow (AOA)
Seearrowdiagrammingmethod.
Activityonnode (AON)
Seeprecedencediagrammingmethod.
Activity priority
Apriorityvalueassignedtoactivitiestoprovideanorderingforactivitiesthatarewaitingforresources
(duringresourceconstrainedscheduling).
Activity splitting
Allowingactivitiestobesplitintosegmentsduringresourceallocation.Insomeinstances,preemptionof
activitiesmayfreearesourcetobeusedbyamorecriticalactivity.
Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP)
Totalcostsincurred(directandindirect)inaccomplishingworkduringagiventimeperiod.Seealso
earnedvalue.
Actual Finish date (AF)
Thecalendardateworkactuallyendedonanactivity.Itmustbepriortothetimenowdate.
Actual Start date (AS)
Thecalendardateworkactuallybeganonanactivity.Itmustbepriortothetimenowdate.
Aggregation
Usingactivityresourcerequirementstocalculatetotalresourceneedsratherthantoconstrainthe
projectschedule.Normally,resourcerequirementsareusedtoperformresourceconstrained
scheduling.
Alignment type
Thealignmenttypeisusedtoidentifythetypeofconstraintassociatedwithatargetdate.Thefollowing
typesareavailable:

FinishOn
FinishOnorAfter
FinishOnorBefore
StartOn
StartOnorAfter
StartOnorBefore
MandatoryStart
MandatoryFinish

Arrow
Thegraphicrepresentationofanactivity.Seealsoarrowdiagrammingmethod.
Arrow diagramming method
Anetworkdiagrammingtechniqueinwhichactivitiesarerepresentedbyarrows.Thetailofthearrow
representsthestartandtheheadrepresentsthefinishoftheactivity(thelengthofthearrowdoesnot
representtheexpecteddurationoftheactivity).Activitiesareconnectedatpointscallednodes(usually
drawnassmallcircles)toillustratethesequenceinwhichtheactivitiesareexpectedtobeperformed.
Seealsoprecedencediagrammingmethod.
Asof date
Seetimenowdate.

B
Backward pass
Thecalculationoflatefinishdatesandlatestartdatesfortheuncompletedportionsofallnetwork
activities.Determinedbyworkingbackwardsthroughthenetworklogicfromtheproject'senddate.The
enddatecanbespecified,althoughitisusuallycalculatedinaforwardpass.
Baseline schedule
Aprojectscheduleconsistingofbaselinestartandfinishdates,whichrepresentanestimatedor
expectedschedule,orboth.Thisscheduleisoftenderivedfromaninitialsetofearly,late,orscheduled
finishdates.Typically,onceabaselinescheduleisestablished,itdoeschangeoverthecourseofa
project.
Baseline Finish date (BF)
Thecalendardatewhenworkisscheduledtoendonanactivity.Thisdateisusuallyestimated,oritcan
bederivedfromtheearly,lateorscheduledfinishdates.Typically,onceabaselinescheduleis
established,itdoesnotchangeoverthecourseoftheproject.
Baseline Start date (BS)
Thecalendardatewhenworkwasscheduledtobeginonanactivity.Thisdateisusuallyestimated,orit
canbederivedfromtheearly,late,orscheduledstartdates.Typically,onceabaselinescheduleis
established,itdoesnotchangeoverthecourseoftheproject.

Budget at Completion (BAC)

Theestimatedtotalcostoftheprojectwhendone.
Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP)
Thesumoftheapprovedcostestimates(includinganyoverheadallocation)foractivities(orportionsof
activities)completedduringagivenperiod(usuallyprojecttodate).Seealsoearnedvalue.
Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS)
Thesumoftheapprovedcostestimates(includinganyoverheadallocation)foractivities(orportionsof
activities)scheduledtobeperformedduringagivenperiod(usuallyprojecttodate).Seealsoearned
value.

C
Calendar
Acalendaridentifiesprojectworkdays,anditcanbealteredsothatweekends,holidays,vacation,
weatherdays,andsofortharenotincluded.
Cost Performance Index (CPI)
Theratioofbudgetedcoststoactualcosts(BCWP/ACWP).TheCPIisoftenusedtopredictthe
magnitudeofapossiblecostoverrunusingthefollowingformula:originalcostestimate/CPI=projected
costatcompletion.Seealsoearnedvalue.
Cost variance (CV)
(1)Anydifferencebetweentheestimatedcostofanactivityandtheactualcostofanactivity.

(2) In earned value, BCWP less ACWP.

Critical activity
Anyactivityonthecriticalpath.
Critical path
Theseriesofactivitiesofaprojectthatdeterminestheearliestcompletionoftheproject.Thecritical
pathgenerallychangesfromtimetotimeasactivitiesarecompletedaheadoforbehindschedule.The
criticalpathisusuallydefinedasthoseactivitieswithtotalfloatlessthanorequaltozero.Seealso
criticalpathmethod.
Critical path method (CPM)
Anetworkanalysistechniqueusedtopredictprojectdurationbyanalyzingwhichsequenceofactivities
(whichpath)hastheleastamountofschedulingflexibility(theleastamountoftotalfloat).Earlydates
arecalculatedbymeansofaforwardpassusingaspecifiedstartdate.Latedatesarecalculatedby
meansofabackwardpassstartingfromaspecifiedcompletiondate(usuallytheforwardpass's
calculatedprojectearlyfinishdate).

Cycle
Seeloop.

D
Data date
Seetimenowdate.
Dependency
Seelogicalrelationship.
Duration
Thenumberofworkperiods(notincludingholidaysorothernonworkingperiods)requiredtocomplete
anactivityorsetofactivities.Allactivitydurationsarespecifiedwiththesamedurationunit.
Duration unit
Thedurationunitspecifiestheunitoftimeforthedurationofeachactivityintheproject.Thefollowing
choicesareavailable:

Second
Minute
Hour
Day
Weekday
Week
Month
Qtr
Year

E
Early Finish date (EF)
Inthecriticalpathmethod,theearliestpossiblepointintimeonwhichtheuncompletedportionsofan
activity(ortheproject)canfinish,basedonthenetworklogicandanyscheduleconstraints.Earlyfinish
datescanchangeastheprojectprogressesandchangesaremadetotheprojectplan.
Early Start date (ES)
Inthecriticalpathmethod,theearliestpossiblepointintimeonwhichtheuncompletedportionsofan
activity(ortheproject)canstart,basedonthenetworklogicandanyscheduleconstraints.Earlystart
datescanchangeastheprojectprogressesandchangesaremadetotheprojectplan.
Earned value (EV)
(1)Amethodformeasuringprojectperformance.Itcomparestheamountofworkthatwasplanned
withwhatwasactuallyaccomplishedtodetermineifcostandscheduleperformanceisasplanned.See

alsoactualcostofworkperformed,budgetedcostofworkperformed,budgetedcostofworkscheduled,
costvariance,costperformanceindex,schedulevariance,andscheduleperformanceindex.

(2) The budgeted cost of work performed, for an activity or group of activities.
Earned value analysis
Seedefinition(1)underearnedvalue.
Effort
Thenumberoflaborunitsrequiredtocompleteanactivityorotherprojectelement.Usuallyexpressed
asstaffhours,staffdays,orstaffweeks.Shouldnotbeconfusedwithduration.
Estimate at Completion (EAC)
Theexpectedtotalcostofanactivity,groupofactivities,ortheprojectwhenthedefinedscopeofwork
hasbeencompleted.MosttechniquesforforecastingEACincludesomeadjustmentoftheoriginalcost
estimatebasedonprojectperformancetodate.Alsocalled"estimatedatcompletion."Oftenshownas
EAC=Actualstodate+ETC.Seealsoearnedvalueandestimatetocomplete.
Estimate to Complete (ETC)
Theexpectedadditionalcostneededtocompleteanactivity,agroupofactivities,ortheproject.Most
techniquesforforecastingETCincludesomeadjustmenttotheoriginalcostestimatebasedonproject
performancetodate.Alsocalled"estimatedtocomplete."Seealsoearnedvalueandestimateat
completion.

F
Float
Seetotalfloat.
Forward pass
Thecalculationoftheearlystartandearlyfinishdatesfortheuncompletedportionsofallnetwork
activities.Seealsobackwardpass.
Free float (FF)
Theamountoftimeanactivitycanbedelayedwithoutdelayingtheearlystartofanyimmediate
successoractivities.Seealsototalfloat.

G
Gantt chart
Agraphicrepresentationofworkactivitiesshownbyatimescaledbarchart.
Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT)
Anetworkanalysistechniquethatallowsforconditionalandprobabilistictreatmentoflogical
relationships(thatis,someactivitiesmaynotbeperformed).

H
Holiday
Aperiodoftimewithintheprojecttimeframewhenworkcannotbescheduled.Holidayscanbe
assignedtooneormorecalendars.

L
Lag
Amodificationofalogicalrelationshipthatdirectsadelayofthesuccessortask.Forexample,inafinish
tostartdependencywitha10daylag,thesuccessoractivitycanstart10daysafterthepredecessorhas
finished.Seealsolead.
Late Finish date (LF)
Incriticalpathmethod,thelatestpossiblepointintimethatanactivitycanbecompletedwithout
delayingaspecifiedmilestone(usuallytheprojectfinishdate).
Late Start date (LS)
Incriticalpathmethod,thelatestpossiblepointintimethatanactivitycanbeginwithoutdelayinga
specifiedmilestone(usuallytheprojectfinishdate).
Lead
Amodificationofalogicalrelationshipthatallowsanaccelerationofthesuccessortask.Forexample,in
afinishtostartdependencywitha10daylead,thesuccessoractivitycanstart10daysbeforethe
predecessorhasfinished.Seealsolag.
Logic
Thecollectionofactivitydependenciesthatmakeupaprojectnetworkdiagram.
Logic diagram
Seenetworkdiagram.
Logical relationship
Adependencybetweentwoprojectactivities.Thefourpossibletypesoflogicalrelationshipsare

Finishtostartthe"from"activitymustfinishbeforethe"to"activitycanstart.
Finishtofinishthe"from"activitymustfinishbeforethe"to"activitycanfinish.
Starttostartthe"from"activitymuststartbeforethe"to"activitycanstart.
Starttofinishthe"from"activitymuststartbeforethe"to"activitycanfinish.

Finish-to-start is defined as the standard (or default) logical relationship.

Loop
Anetworkpaththatpassesthesamenodetwice.Loopscannotbeanalyzedusingtraditionalnetwork
analysistechniquessuchasCPMandPERT.LoopsareallowedinGERT.

M
Maximum number of segments
Thisvaluespecifiesthemaximumnumberofsegmentsthatanactivitycanbesplitintowhenactivity
splittingisallowed.
Milestone
Asignificanteventintheproject,usuallycompletionofamajordeliverable.
Minimum segment duration
Thisvaluespecifiestheminimumdurationofasegmentofanactivitywhenactivitysplittingisallowed.

N
Nearcritical activity
Anactivitythathaslowtotalfloat.
Network
Seenetworkdiagram.
Network analysis
Theprocessofidentifyingearlyandlatestartandfinishdatesfortheuncompletedportionsofproject
activities.Seealsocriticalpathmethod,ProgramEvaluationandReviewTechnique,andGraphical
EvaluationandReviewTechnique.
Network diagram
Aschematicdisplayofthelogicalrelationshipsofprojectactivities.Alwaysdrawnfromlefttorightto
reflectprojectchronology.Oftenincorrectlyreferredtoasa"PERTchart."
Network logic
Seelogic.
Network path
Anycontinuousseriesofconnectedactivitiesthatmakeupaprojectnetworkdiagram.
Node
Oneofthedefiningpointsofanetwork;ajunctionpointjoinedtosomeoralloftheotherdependency
lines.Also,thegraphicrepresentationofanactivity.Seealsoarrowdiagrammingmethodand
precedencediagrammingmethod.
Nonstandard logical relationship
Adependencybetweentwoprojectactivitiesthatisnotthestandardfinishtostartrelationship.See
logicalrelationshipforthefourpossibletypesofrelationships.

O
Organizational breakdown structure (OBS)
Adepictionoftheprojectorganizationarrangedsoastorelateworkpackagestoorganizationalunits.
Overlap
Seelead.

P
Parent task
Seesupertask.
Path
Asetofsequentiallyconnectedactivitiesinaprojectnetworkdiagram.
Path float
Seetotalfloat.
Percent complete
Anestimate,expressedasapercent,oftheamountofworkthathasbeencompletedonanactivityor
groupofactivities.
PERT chart
Aspecifictypeofprojectnetworkdiagram.SeeProgramEvaluationandReviewTechnique.
Precedence diagramming method (PDM)
Anetworkdiagrammingtechniqueinwhichactivitiesarerepresentedbyboxes(ornodes).Activitiesare
linkedtogetherbyprecedencerelationshipstoshowthesequenceinwhichtheactivitiesaretobe
performed.
Precedence relationship
Thetermusedintheprecedencediagrammingmethodforalogicalrelationship.Incurrentusage,
however,precedencerelationship,logicalrelationship,anddependencyarewidelyused
interchangeablyregardlessofthediagrammingmethodinuse.
Predecessor activity
Anyactivitythatexistsonacommonpathwiththeactivityinquestionandoccursbeforetheactivityin
question.
Preemption
Seeactivitysplitting.

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

Aneventorientednetworkanalysistechniqueusedtoestimateprojectdurationwhenthereisahigh
degreeofuncertaintywiththeindividualactivitydurationestimates.PERTappliesthecriticalpath
methodtoaweightedaveragedurationestimate.
Project
Atemporaryendeavorundertakentocreateauniqueproductorservice.Aprojectconsistsofoneor
moreactivities.
Project management
Theapplicationofknowledge,skills,tools,andtechniquestoprojectactivitiesinordertomeetor
exceedstakeholderandexpectationsfromaproject.
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
Aninclusivetermthatdescribesthesumofknowledgewithintheprofessionofprojectmanagement.As
withotherprofessionssuchaslaw,medicine,andaccounting,thebodyofknowledgerestswiththe
practitionersandacademicswhoapplyandadvanceit.ThePMBOKincludesproven,traditional
practicesthatarewidelyappliedaswellasinnovativeandadvancedonesthathaveseenmorelimited
use.
Project network diagram
Seenetworkdiagram.
Project schedule
Theplanneddatesforperformingactivitiesandtheplanneddatesformeetingmilestones.

R
Remaining duration
Theamountoftimeneededtocompleteanactivity.
Resourceconstrained scheduling
Theschedulingofactivitiesinaprojectwiththeknowledgeofcertainresourceconstraintsand
requirements.Thisprocessadjustsactivityscheduledstartandfinishdatestoconformtoresource
availabilityanduse.
Resource leveling
Anyformofnetworkanalysisinwhichschedulingdecisions(startandfinishdates)aredrivenby
resourcemanagementconcerns(forexample,limitedresourceavailabilityordifficulttomanage
changesinresourcelevels).

S
Schedule
Seeprojectschedule.

Schedule analysis
Seenetworkanalysis.
Schedule performance index (SPI)
Theratioofworkperformedtoworkscheduled(BCWP/BCWS).Seeearnedvalue.
Schedule variance
(1)Anydifferencebetweenthescheduledcompletionofanactivityandtheactualcompletionofthat
activity.

(2) In earned value, BCWP less BCWS.

Scheduled Finish date (SF)
Thedatewhentheactivityisscheduledtobecompletedusingtheresourceconstrainedscheduling
process.
Scheduled Start date (SS)
Thedatewhentheactivityisscheduledtobeginusingtheresourceconstrainedschedulingprocess.This
dateisequaltoorgreaterthantheearlystartdate.
Slack
TermusedinPERTforfloat(seealsototalfloat).
Subtask
Anactivitythatiscontainedwithinasupertask.
Successor activity
Anyactivitythatexistsonacommonpathwiththeactivityinquestionandoccursaftertheactivityin
question.
Supertask
Anaggregateorsummaryactivitythatcontainsoneormoreactivities(orsubtasks)suchthatnosubtask
canbeginuntilthesupertaskhasbegunandthesupertaskcannotenduntilallofthesubtaskshave
ended.

T
Target date
Adateusedtoconstrainthestartorfinishofanactivity.Thetypeofconstraintisidentifiedbyan
alignmenttype.
Task
Seeactivity.
Timenow date
Thecalendardatethatseparatesactual(historical)datafromfuture(scheduled)data.

Total Float (TF)

Theamountoftimethatanactivitycanbedelayedfromitsearlystartwithoutdelayingtheproject
finishdate.Totalfloatisamathematicalcalculationandcanchangeastheprojectprogressesand
changesaremadetotheprojectplan.Alsocalled"float,""slack,"and"pathfloat."Seealsofreefloat.

W
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
Adeliverableorientedgroupingofprojectelementsthatorganizesanddefinesthetotalscopeofthe
project.Eachdescendinglevelrepresentsanincreasinglydetaileddefinitionofaprojectcomponent.
Projectcomponentscanbeproductsorservices.
Work packages
Adeliverableatthelowestleveloftheworkbreakdownstructure.Aworkpackagecanbedividedinto
activities.
Workshift
Oneormorepairsofon/offworkingtimesthatdefinethevalidworkingperiodswithinasingleday.