Words Used in... Project and Program Management

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Find the right words to use when you're project managing.

The terms "project management" and "program management" are familiar ones in most businesses and industries.

Yet these terms, and other specialist words in the field, can mean different things to different people. Often, this is because people pick these buzzwords up and start using them, without ever really understanding the ideas behind them. This can lead to a great deal of confusion!

This "Words" page is designed to help you navigate your way through the minefield of project and program management "speak:" it provides a quick reference glossary of words commonly used in the field of project and program management, with typical definitions.

If your organization uses a specific project management methodology, always refer to your methodology-specific glossary.

This page covers the following terms:

People and Organization

• Program Manager.
• Project Analyst.
• Project Manager.
• Project Office.
• Project Sponsor.
• Stakeholders.

Documents

• Business Case.
• Change Control.
• Post Implementation Review (PIR).
• Project Charter.
• Project Initiation Document (PID).
• Project Mandate.
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

Monitoring and Reporting

• CARDI Log – (Constraints/Assumptions/Risks/Dependencies/Issues).
• RAG Status.
• Project Dashboard.

Scheduling

• Critical Path.
• Crash.
• Gate.
• Milestone.
• Gantt Chart.
• PERT Chart.

Costing

• Fixed Price.
• Cost Plus Pricing.
• Time and Materials Pricing.

General Terms

• Baseline.
• Scope.
• Escalation.
• Slippage.
• Turnkey Projects.
• PRINCE2.
• PMBOK.
• Agile Project Management

Terms are defined below:...