Words used in... Project and Program Management

© iStockphoto/mattjeacock

The terms project 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 Mind Tools "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 "Words" 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

Terms are defined below:

... for the complete article:

Mind Tools members, click here.

Join the Mind Tools Club to finish this article AND get 1,000 more resources

Join now for just $1, first month

"When I started using Mind Tools, I was not in a supervisory position. Now I am. Along with that came a 12% increase in salary."
– Pat Degan, Houston, USA