Project Management Glossary
Acceptance Criteria
A prioritised list of criteria which the final product(s) must meet
before the Customer will accept them. A measurable definition of
what must be done for the final product to be acceptable to the
Customer. They should be defined as part of the Project Quality
Plan and agreed between Customer and Supplier no later than the
Project Setup Stage. They should be in the Project Quality Plan.
Baseline
A snapshot; a position or situation which is recorded. Although
the position may be updated later, the baseline remains unchanged
and available as a reminder of the original state and as a comparison
against the current position.
Business Case
Information which describes the justification for setting up and
continuing a project. It provides the reasons for the project. It
is updated at key points throughout the project. The Business Case
is part of the IT Project Planning Report, unless a full Business
Case is requested by the Information Technology Governance Committee
(ITGC).
Change Control
The procedure to ensure that the processing of all Project Issues
is controlled, including the submission, analysis and decision-making.
Checkpoint
A team level, time-driven review of progress.
Checkpoint Report
A progress report of the information gathered at a Checkpoint meeting,
which is given by a team to the project manager, and provides reporting
data as defined in the Project Initiation Document.
Configuration Management
A discipline, normally supported by software tools, which gives
management precise control over its assets (for example, the products
of a project), covering identification, control, status accounting
and verification of the products.
Contingency Plan
A plan which provides an outline of decisions and measures to be
taken if defined circumstances, outside the control of the project,
should occur.
Customer
The person or group who requested/commissioned the work and will
benefit from the end results. The Customer and the User may often
be the same person or group.
Deliverable
Item which the project has to create as part of the requirements.
It may be part of the final Outcome or an intermediate element on
which one or more subsequent Deliverables are dependent. Another
name for a Deliverable is ‘Product’.
End Stage Assessment
The review by the Project Board and Project Manager of the End Stage
Report to decide whether to approve the next Stage Plan (unless
the last Stage of the project has been completed). According to
the size and criticality of the project, the review may be formal
or informal. The approval to proceed should be documented as an
important management document.
End Stage Report
A report given by the Project Manager to the Project Board at the
end of each management stage of the project. This provides information
about the project performance during the stage and the project status
at stage end.
Exception
A situation where it can be forecast that there will be a deviation
beyond the tolerance levels agreed between the Project Manager and
the Project Board (or between the Project Board and Corporate or
Program Management).
Exception Plan
A plan which follows an Exception Report. For a Stage Plan exception
it covers the period from the present to the end of the current
stage. If the exception is at a project level, the Project Plan
should be revised.
Exception Report
A report, which describes an exception, provides an analysis and
options for the way forward and identifies a recommended option.
It is given by the Project Manager to the Project Board.
Executive
The Chairman of the Project Board.
Highlight Report
A report from the project Manager to the Project Board on a time-driven
frequency on stage progress.
Issue Log
A log of all issues and change requests raised during the project,
showing details of each issue, its evaluation, what decisions about
it have been made and its current status.
IT Project Request
Information created externally to the project, which forms the terms
of reference and is used to start up the project.
Information Technology Governance
Committee (ITGC)
The IT Governance Committee is responsible for programme management
of all IT Projects. The IT Governance Committee makes decisions
for each proposed IT project regarding: reject or proceed subject
to availability of funds; relative priority; scheduled timing and
sequencing; delivery via internal or external resources. For further
information consult the IT Applications and Infrastructure Governance
Policy on the Policy and Procedures Database.
Lessons Learned Report
A report which describes the lessons learned in undertaking the
project and which includes statistics from the quality control of
the project’s management products. It is approved by the Project
Board.
Outcome
The result of a project. Useful term where the project result is
not an easily definable ‘Product’.
Post Project Review
One or more reviews held after project closure to determine if the
expected benefits have been obtained.
Process
That which must be done to bring about a particular Outcome, in
terms of information to be gathered, decisions to be made and results
which must be achieved.
Producer
This role represents the creator(s) of a document which is the subject
of a Quality Review. Typically it will be filled by the person who
has produced the product, or who led the team responsible for its
production.
Product
Any input to or output from a project. Management products are produced
as part of the management of the project, Specialist products make
up the final Deliverable, and Quality products are produced for
or by the quality process. A product may itself be a collection
of other products.
Product Breakdown Structure
A hierarchy of all the products to be produced during a Plan.
Product Checklist
A list of the major products of a plan, plus key dates in their
delivery.
Product Description
A description of a product’s purpose, composition, derivation
and quality criteria. It is produced at planning time, as soon as
the need for the product is identified.
Product Flow Diagram
A diagram showing the sequence of production and interdependencies
of the products listed in a Product Breakdown Structure.
Programme
A portfolio of projects selected, planned and managed in a co-ordinated
way. Programme Management is a structured framework that can help
organisations deliver change when there is complexity and risk,
and there are usually many interdependencies to manage and conflicting
priorities to resolve.
Project
A temporary organisation which is created for the purpose of delivering
one or more business products according to a specified IT Project
Planning Report.
Project Assurance
The Project Board’s responsibilities to assure itself that
the project is being conducted correctly.
Project Board
Responsible to corporate or programme management for the overall
direction and management of the project.
Project Closure Report
A report given by the Project Manager to the Project Board, which
confirms the hand-over of all Deliverables, provides and updated
Business Case and an assessment of how well the project has done
against its IT Project Planning Report.
Project Issue
A term used to cover both general issues and change requests raised
during the project. Project issues can be about anything to so with
the project. They cover questions, suggestions, Requests For Change
and Off-Specifications.
Project Management Team
A term to represent the entire management structure of Project Board,
Project Manager, plus any Team Managers and project assurance roles.
Project Manager
The person given the authority and responsibility to manage the
project on a day-to-day basis to deliver the required products within
the constraints agreed with the Project Board.
Project Plan
A high-level plan showing the major products of the project, when
they will be delivered and at what cost. An initial Project Plan
is presented as part of the Detailed Planning Report and is revised
in later versions as information on actual progress becomes available.
It is a major control document for the project Board to measure
actual progress against expectations.
Project Quality Plan
The definition of key quality criteria and quality control and audit
processes to be applied to project management and technical work
in the project. It is part of the Project Initiation Document.
Quality
The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service
which bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs.
Quality Review
A Quality Review is an inspection with a specific structure, defined
roles and procedure designed to ensure a document’s completeness
and adherence to standards.
Request for Change
A means of proposing a modification to the current specification
of the product required. It is one type of Project Issue.
Risk Log
A document which provides identification, estimation, impact evaluation
and countermeasures for all risks to the project. It should be created
during the start up of the project and developed during the life
of the project.
Scope
The extent of the work that must be done to complete the project.
Senior Supplier
The Project Board role which provides knowledge and experience of
the main discipline(s) involved in the production of the project’s
deliverables.
Senior User
The Senior User represents the staff to whom some or all of the
following will apply:
• they will use the final product;
• the product will achieve an objective for them;
• they will use the end result to deliver benefits;
• they will be impacted by the outcome.
Stage
A division of the project for management purposes. The Project Board
approves the project to proceed one stage at a time.
Supplier
The group or groups responsible for the supply of the project’s
products.
Tolerance
The permissible deviation above and below a plan’s estimate
of time and cost without escalating the deviation to the next level
of management. Separate tolerance figures should be given for time
and cost.
User(s)
The person or group who will use the final deliverable of the project.
Work Package
The set of information relevant to the creation of one or more products.
It will contain the Product Description(s), details of any constraints
on production such as time and cost, interfaces, and confirmation
of the agreement between the Project Manager and the person or Team
Manager who is to implement the Work Package that the work can be
done within the set constraints.
ITS Projects
Project Management