Handed a project and drowning in jargon? This is the plain-English version. Pick a letter below to jump to it, or press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on Mac) to search the page for a word. Bookmark it and come back whenever someone uses a term you are too polite to ask about.
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z
A
Acceptance criteria
The specific conditions a deliverable must meet before the customer will accept it. Agree them up front so “done” is not a matter of opinion.
Also known as: Definition of acceptable | See also: Deliverable, Definition of Done
Activity
A piece of work with a start and an end that someone performs. Activities are the building blocks of your schedule.
Also known as: Task | See also: Work package, WBS
Agile
A way of working in short cycles with frequent feedback, adjusting as you learn. It is a mindset, not a single method.
See also: Scrum, Kanban, Sprint
Assumption
Something you are treating as true without proof, such as “the vendor will deliver by June”. Write it down so you can notice when it stops being true.
See also: RAID log, Constraint
B
Backlog
The prioritized to-do list of everything the team might work on. The top is detailed, the bottom is vague, and that is fine.
Also known as: Product backlog | See also: Sprint, User story
Baseline
The approved plan you measure against. Without one you cannot tell whether you are late, only that you feel late.
See also: Scope, Schedule, Budget
Benefits realization
Checking, after the project ends, that the promised benefits actually showed up. A project can be on time and on budget and still deliver nothing of value.
See also: Business case, Success criteria
Bottom-up estimating
Estimating each small piece of work, then adding them up. Slower than a guess, but usually far more accurate.
See also: Top-down estimating, WBS
Brainstorming
Gathering many ideas quickly from a group without judging them, then sorting afterwards.
See also: Stakeholder, Risk
Budget
The approved amount of money the project may spend. Track actual spending against it every week, not at the end.
See also: Baseline, Contingency
Budget at completion (BAC)
The total approved budget for the project. It is the starting point for earned value calculations.
Also known as: BAC | See also: Earned value, Baseline
Burndown chart
A chart showing work remaining against time. The line should slope down towards zero by the end of the sprint.
Business case
The reason the project is worth doing: the problem, the options, the cost and the expected benefit. If it no longer holds, the project should be questioned.
See also: Project charter, Sponsor
C
Capacity
How much work a person or team can realistically do in a given time, after meetings, holidays and everything else that eats the week.
Also known as: Resource capacity | See also: Resource, Utilization
CAPM
An entry-level PMI certification suited to people early in their project management career.
Also known as: Certified Associate in Project Management | See also: PMI, PMP
Change control
The process for reviewing, approving or rejecting changes to scope, schedule or budget so that changes happen on purpose.
See also: Change request, Baseline
Change request
A formal ask to alter scope, schedule or budget after the plan is agreed. It lets you say yes with eyes open.
See also: Change control, Scope creep
Closing
The final phase: confirm everything is delivered, hand over, release the team, settle the bills and capture lessons.
Also known as: Project closure | See also: Lessons learned, Handover
Communication plan
A simple table of who needs to hear what, how often, in what form, and from whom.
See also: Stakeholder, Status report
Constraint
A fixed limit on the project, such as a hard deadline, a capped budget or a required technology.
See also: Assumption, Triple constraint
Contingency
Time or money set aside for known risks. You may spend it; it is part of the plan.
Also known as: Contingency reserve | See also: Risk, Management reserve
Contract
A legally binding agreement describing what a vendor will deliver, when and for how much.
See also: Procurement, Vendor
Cost variance (CV)
Earned value minus actual cost. Negative means you are over budget.
Also known as: CV | See also: Earned value, Schedule variance
CPI (Cost Performance Index)
Earned value divided by actual cost. Below 1.0 means you are getting less than a dollar of progress for each dollar spent.
Also known as: CPI | See also: Earned value, SPI
Crashing
Adding people or money to critical-path tasks to finish sooner. It costs more and does not always work.
Also known as: Schedule crashing | See also: Fast tracking, Critical path
Critical path
The longest chain of dependent tasks. It decides the earliest possible finish date: if anything on it slips, the whole project slips.
Also known as: CPM | See also: Dependency, Float
Customer
The person or group who will use or pay for what the project produces.
See also: Stakeholder, Sponsor
D
Daily stand-up
A short daily meeting, usually 15 minutes, where the team shares progress, plans and blockers. It is a sync, not a status report to the boss.
Also known as: Daily Scrum; Stand-up | See also: Scrum, Sprint
Dashboard
A one-screen view of the numbers that matter most, such as progress, budget and top risks, so people can see project health at a glance.
See also: KPI, Status report
Definition of Done
A shared checklist of what must be true before work counts as finished, so “done” means the same thing to everyone.
Also known as: DoD | See also: Acceptance criteria, User story
Deliverable
Something concrete the project produces: a report, a feature, a trained team, a signed contract.
Also known as: Output | See also: Milestone, Acceptance criteria
Dependency
When one task cannot start or finish until another does. You cannot test what has not been built.
See also: Critical path, RAID log
Duration
The calendar time an activity takes from start to finish. Not the same as effort.
E
Earned value management (EVM)
A way of measuring progress by comparing the value of work done with the plan and with what you spent.
Also known as: EVM | See also: CPI, SPI
Effort
The amount of work an activity needs, usually in person-hours or person-days. Two people for two days is four person-days of effort but two days of duration.
Also known as: Work | See also: Duration, Capacity
Epic
A large chunk of work too big for one sprint, broken down into smaller user stories.
See also: User story, Backlog
Escalation
Taking a problem you cannot solve to someone with more authority. Do it early, with options and a recommendation.
Estimate
A reasoned guess of how long something will take or what it will cost. It is not a promise.
See also: Bottom-up estimating, Three-point estimate
Executive summary
The short top section of a report that tells busy people what they need to know and decide, in a few lines.
See also: Status report
Exit criteria
The conditions that must be met to finish a phase or stage and move to the next.
See also: Entry criteria, Acceptance criteria
F
Fast tracking
Running tasks in parallel that were planned in sequence, to save time. It saves days but adds risk and rework.
See also: Crashing, Critical path
Float
How long a task can slip without delaying the project. Tasks on the critical path have zero float.
Also known as: Slack | See also: Critical path, Dependency
G
Gantt chart
A bar chart of tasks across a calendar, showing who does what and when. Useful for seeing dependencies, overkill for a three-week project.
See also: Critical path, Milestone
Gold plating
Adding extras nobody asked for because they seemed nice. It costs time and can add new risks.
See also: Scope creep
Governance
The rules and roles for how decisions get made and who can approve what on the project.
See also: Sponsor, Steering committee
H
Handover
Passing the finished work to the people who will run or support it, with documentation and training.
Also known as: Transition | See also: Closing, Lessons learned
Hybrid
Mixing approaches, for example planning the big picture upfront like waterfall and delivering in short iterations like Agile.
Also known as: Hybrid project management | See also: Waterfall, Agile
I
Impact
How bad it would be if a risk happened, usually scored from low to high.
See also: Probability, Risk
Initiation
The first phase: decide whether the project should happen, and write the charter.
See also: Charter, Business case
Issue
A risk that has already happened. Issues need an owner and a date, not a discussion.
See also: Risk, Escalation
Issue log
A list of current problems with an owner, a due date and a status for each.
See also: RAID log, Escalation
Iteration
One cycle of work that produces something usable, then gets feedback. In Scrum, it is called a sprint.
K
Kanban
A visual board with columns such as To do, Doing and Done. You limit how much is in progress so work flows through.
Also known as: Kanban board | See also: Work in progress limit, Agile
Kickoff meeting
The first meeting with everyone involved, covering goals, roles, timeline and how you will communicate.
See also: Communication plan, Charter
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
A number you track to see whether things are going well, such as on-time delivery rate.
Also known as: KPI | See also: Metric, Success criteria
L
Lag
A built-in delay between two tasks, such as waiting two days for concrete to cure.
See also: Lead, Dependency
Lead
Starting a successor task before its predecessor finishes, creating an overlap.
See also: Lag, Dependency
Lessons learned
A short review at the end of a project, or a phase, of what worked and what to change next time. Do it while people still remember.
Also known as: Retrospective | See also: Closing, Retrospective
M
Management reserve
Money held back by management for unknown surprises. You need approval to use it.
See also: Contingency, Risk
Metric
Any measurement used to track the project, such as hours spent or defects found.
Milestone
A checkpoint in the schedule marking something important is done. It has no duration, it is a moment, such as “pilot launched”.
See also: Deliverable, Gantt chart
Minimum viable product (MVP)
The smallest version of something that is useful enough to release and learn from.
Also known as: MVP | See also: Backlog, Iteration
Mitigation
Action taken in advance to make a risk less likely or less damaging.
Also known as: Risk mitigation | See also: Risk response, Contingency
Monte Carlo simulation
A technique that runs a schedule or budget thousands of times with random variation to show the range of likely outcomes.
N
Negotiation
Reaching agreement on scope, dates, money or resources by finding what each side really needs. Most of project management is negotiation.
See also: Stakeholder, Escalation
Network diagram
A drawing of all the tasks as boxes connected by arrows showing which must come before which. It is how you find the critical path.
Also known as: Precedence diagram | See also: Dependency, Critical path
O
OKR (Objectives and Key Results)
A goal-setting method: an inspiring objective plus a few measurable key results that show you got there.
Also known as: OKR | See also: KPI, SMART goals
Operations
The ongoing day-to-day running of a business. Projects are temporary; operations are continuous.
Also known as: Business as usual; BAU | See also: Project, Handover
Outcome
An outcome is the end result or consequence of a project or process. It can include outputs and artifacts, but it has a broader intent: the benefits and value the project was undertaken to deliver.
Also known as: Business Result
P
PMBOK
The Project Management Body of Knowledge, a guide published by the Project Management Institute describing widely used practices.
Also known as: PMBOK Guide | See also: PMI, PMP
PMI
A global professional association for project managers that publishes the PMBOK Guide and runs certifications.
Also known as: Project Management Institute | See also: PMBOK, PMP, CAPM
PMO (Project Management Office)
A group that sets standards, provides tools and supports project managers across an organization.
Also known as: PMO | See also: Governance, Portfolio
PMP
A well-known project management certification from PMI, aimed at experienced project managers.
Also known as: Project Management Professional | See also: PMI, CAPM
Portfolio
A collection of projects and programs managed together to meet business goals.
Predecessor
A task that must happen before another task can start or finish.
See also: Successor, Dependency
Probability
How likely it is that a risk will happen, usually rated low, medium or high.
Also known as: Likelihood | See also: Impact, Risk
Procurement
Buying goods or services from outside the organization, including choosing suppliers and managing contracts.
Product Owner
The person in Scrum who decides what the team works on next, by ordering the backlog.
See also: Backlog, Scrum Master
Program
A group of related projects managed together because the combined result is worth more than the parts.
Also known as: Programme | See also: Portfolio, Project
Project
A temporary effort with a start and an end that creates something unique.
See also: Operations, Program
Project charter
A one-page agreement on why the project exists, what it will deliver, who is involved and what success looks like. Write it first.
Also known as: Charter | See also: Business case, Sponsor
Project manager
The person responsible for getting a project to its goal on time and within budget, usually without direct authority over the team.
Also known as: PM | See also: Sponsor, Team
Project plan
The document that pulls together scope, schedule, budget, risks and how you will manage the work.
Q
Quality assurance (QA)
Making sure the way you work is likely to produce good results: standards, reviews, checks along the way.
Also known as: QA | See also: Quality control, Acceptance criteria
Quality control (QC)
Inspecting the finished work to find defects before the customer does.
Also known as: QC | See also: Quality assurance, Defect
R
RACI
A grid showing who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each task. It ends the “I thought you were doing that” conversation.
Also known as: RACI matrix | See also: Stakeholder, Responsibility
RAID log
One running list of Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies. If you only keep one document alive, make it this one.
Also known as: RAID | See also: Risk, Assumption, Issue, Dependency
Requirement
A need the project’s result must satisfy. Good requirements are clear, testable and agreed.
See also: Scope, Acceptance criteria
Resource
Anything the project needs to do the work: people, equipment, money, rooms, software.
See also: Capacity, Resource plan
Retrospective
A regular team meeting to look at what went well, what did not and what to change, usually at the end of each sprint.
Also known as: Retro | See also: Lessons learned, Sprint
Risk
Something that might go wrong. It has not happened yet. You note it, rate it and decide what to do.
See also: Issue, Probability, Impact
Risk appetite
How much risk an organization or sponsor is willing to accept to reach a goal.
See also: Risk tolerance, Sponsor
Risk register
A table listing each risk, its probability, impact, owner and planned response.
Risk response
The decision on what to do about a risk: avoid it, reduce it, transfer it, or accept it.
See also: Mitigation, Avoid, Accept
Rolling wave planning
Planning the near future in detail and the distant future roughly, then filling in detail as you get closer.
See also: Progressive elaboration, Hybrid
Root cause analysis
Digging past symptoms to find why a problem really happened so you fix the cause, not just the effect.
Also known as: RCA | See also: Issue, Lessons learned
S
Schedule
The plan of when each activity will happen and in what order.
Also known as: Project schedule | See also: Gantt chart, Milestone
Schedule variance (SV)
Earned value minus planned value. Negative means you are behind.
Also known as: SV | See also: Earned value, Cost variance
Scope
Everything the project will deliver, and just as importantly what it will not. Most project trouble starts when scope quietly grows.
Also known as: Project scope | See also: Scope creep, WBS
Scope creep
Extra requests that sneak in after the plan is agreed, each one small, together enough to sink the deadline. The fix is not saying no, it is saying “yes, and here is what it changes”.
See also: Change request, Scope
Scope statement
A short written description of what is in scope, what is out, and the main deliverables.
See also: Scope, Deliverable
Scrum
A framework for Agile work in fixed short sprints with defined roles, meetings and a prioritized backlog.
See also: Sprint, Backlog, Agile
Scrum Master
The person who helps a Scrum team follow the process and removes obstacles. A coach, not a boss.
See also: Scrum, Product Owner
Sign-off
A formal OK that something is complete or approved. Get it in writing.
Also known as: Approval | See also: Acceptance criteria, Sponsor
SMART goals
Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
See also: OKR, Success criteria
SPI (Schedule Performance Index)
Earned value divided by planned value. Below 1.0 means you are behind schedule.
Also known as: SPI | See also: Earned value, CPI
Sponsor
The person with the budget and authority who wants the project to happen. When you are stuck, they are who you escalate to.
Also known as: Project sponsor | See also: Stakeholder, Escalation
Sprint
A fixed, short work cycle, usually one to four weeks, used in Agile and Scrum. The team commits to a small slice and delivers it.
Stage gate
A formal checkpoint at the end of a phase where decision-makers decide whether to continue, change course or stop.
Also known as: Phase gate; Gate review | See also: Governance, Sponsor
Stakeholder
Anyone affected by the project or able to affect it: your sponsor, your team, the customer, the person whose desk you are about to disrupt.
See also: Sponsor, Communication plan
Stakeholder analysis
Listing stakeholders and rating how much influence and interest each has, so you know who to involve and how.
Also known as: Stakeholder map | See also: Stakeholder, Communication plan
Status report
A short, regular update on progress, risks and what you need. The best ones fit on one page and lead with the decision you need.
See also: Executive summary, Dashboard
Steering committee
A group of senior people who guide the project and make key decisions at a high level.
Also known as: Steering group | See also: Governance, Sponsor
Success criteria
How you and the sponsor will know the project worked. Agree them at the start.
See also: Business case, KPI
Successor
A task that cannot start or finish until another task has.
See also: Predecessor, Dependency
SWOT analysis
A simple review of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, often used early to frame a project.
See also: Risk, Stakeholder
T
Task
A small piece of work assigned to someone, usually a day or two of effort. Tasks roll up into work packages and deliverables.
See also: Activity, Work package
Three-point estimate
Estimating best case, most likely and worst case, then averaging them to account for uncertainty.
Also known as: PERT | See also: Estimate, Risk
Timebox
A fixed amount of time given to an activity. When the time is up, you stop and review rather than extend.
Triple constraint
The three linked limits of a project: scope, time and cost. Change one and at least one of the others usually moves.
Also known as: Iron triangle | See also: Scope, Schedule, Budget
U
User story
A short description of a need from the user’s point of view, such as “As a customer, I want to reset my password so I can get back in”.
See also: Backlog, Epic, Acceptance criteria
Utilization
The share of someone’s available time spent on productive project work. Planning at 100 per cent leaves no room for reality.
V
Variance
The gap between what was planned and what actually happened.
See also: Baseline, Earned value
Velocity
How much work a team completes in a sprint. Use it to forecast, never to compare teams.
See also: Sprint, Burndown chart
Vendor
An outside company that supplies goods or services to the project.
Also known as: Supplier | See also: Procurement, Contract
W
Waterfall
Plan everything first, then build in sequence: requirements, design, build, test, release. Works when the work is well understood.
WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)
The project broken into smaller and smaller pieces of work until each piece is small enough to assign and estimate. Think of it as an outline of the work, not a schedule.
Also known as: WBS | See also: Work package, Scope
Work in progress (WIP) limit
A cap on how many tasks may be in progress at once in Kanban. Finishing beats starting.
Also known as: WIP limit | See also: Kanban, Agile
Work package
The lowest level of the WBS: a small, assignable chunk of work with an owner and a clear result.
Workaround
A temporary fix for an issue that was not planned for, used until a real solution is in place.
See also: Issue, Mitigation
Want these as a working toolkit?
The free Accidental PM Starter Kit turns most of these terms into ready-to-use documents: a project charter, a tracker with a RAID log, and a first-30-days checklist.
