PMI Project Management Terms Flashcards

Project Management Terms

• Acceptance Criteria: Conditions required for deliverables to be accepted, vital for quality assurance.
• Activity: Specific, scheduled work portion within a project; integral for project planning.
• Actual Cost: Realized expenses incurred for completing project activities within a specified timeframe.
• Analogous Estimating: Estimation technique leveraging historical data from similar activities or projects to predict duration or costs.
• Apportioned Effort: Activity where effort is distributed proportionately among tasks; key in earned value management (EVM).
• Assumption: Factors assumed to be true during planning without proof, affecting project scope and risk assessment.
• Backward Pass: Method for calculating late start and finish dates by analyzing the project schedule in reverse from the end date.
• Baseline: Approved project version, serving as a comparison point for performance; changes require formal control procedures.
• Bottom-up Estimating: Aggregative method for estimating project duration or cost based on estimates from lower-level components of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
• Budget at Completion (BAC): Total budget allocated for all project work; essential for financial tracking.
• Change Control: Process that governs modifications to project documents and deliverables; systematic approach to manage changes.
• Change Control Board (CCB): Authorized group that evaluates and decides on proposed project changes; crucial for maintaining project integrity.
• Change Control System: Procedures managing and controlling modifications to project deliverables and documentation, ensuring traceability.
• Change Request: Formal proposal to modify any element of the project, necessitating assessment and approval.
• Code of Accounts: Unique numbering system identifying components of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for tracking and reporting.
• Communication Management Plan: Plan detailing how project information will be shared, including methods, timing, and responsibilities.
• Constraint: Limiting factors that impact project execution, requiring management to ensure successful delivery.
• Control Account: Management control point integrating and assessing project scope, budget, actual cost, and schedule against earned value.
• Corrective Action: Activities implemented to realign project performance with the management plan; essential for maintaining project standards.
• Cost Management Plan: Component outlining how project costs will be planned, structured, and controlled for effective budget handling.
• Cost Performance Index (CPI): Ratio indicating cost efficiency, comparing earned value to actual cost; key for financial performance monitoring.
• Cost Variance (CV): Difference between earned value and actual cost, indicating budget surplus or deficit at a specific time.
• Crashing: Technique aimed at reducing project duration at minimal additional cost by allocating extra resources.
• Critical Chain Method: Scheduling method applying buffers to account for resource limitations and uncertainties, enhancing project flexibility.
• Critical Path: Longest sequence of activities through a project; defines the shortest possible project duration, essential for timelines.
• Critical Path Activity: Activities that are part of the critical path; any delay impacts project completion.
• Critical Path Method (CPM): Technique for estimating minimum project duration while identifying scheduling flexibility within the logical project framework.