Glossary of PM Terms
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- Acceptance
- The formal process of accepting delivery of a product or a deliverable.
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- Activity
- The smallest self-contained unit of work used to define the logic of a project. In general, activities share the following characteristics: a definite duration, logic relationships to other activities in a project, use resources such as people, materials or facilities, and have an associated cost.
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- Activity Definition
- Identifying the specific activities that must be performed in order to produce project deliverables.
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- Activity Duration
- Activity duration specifies the length of time (hours, days, weeks, months) that it takes to complete an activity. This information is optional in the data entry of an activity. Work flow (predecessor relationships) can be defined before durations are assigned. Activities with zero durations are considered milestones (milestone value of 1 to 94) or hammocks (milestone value of 95 to 99).
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- Activity Duration Estimating
- Estimating the number of work periods that will be needed to complete the activity.
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- Activity File
- A file containing all data related to the definition of activities on a particular project.
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- Activity ID
- A unique code identifying each activity in a project.
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- Activity Status
- The state of completion of an activity. A planned activity has not yet started. A started activity is in progress. A finished activity is complete.
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- Activity-on-Node
- A network where activities are represented by a box or a node linked by dependencies. See also Precedence Diagram Method.
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- Actual Cost
- The cost actually incurred.
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- Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP)
- The sum of costs actually incurred in accomplishing the work performed.
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- Actual Dates
- Actual dates are entered as the project progresses. These are the dates that activities really started and finished as opposed to planned or projected dates.
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- Actual Direct Costs
- Those costs specifically identified with a contract or project, based upon the contractor’s cost identification and accumulation system. See also Direct Costs.
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- Actual Finish
- Date on which an activity was completed.
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- Actual Start
- Date on which an activity was started.
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- ACWP
- See Actual Cost .
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- ADM Project
- Non-hierarchical project that uses the arrow-diagramming method.
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- Advanced Material Release (AMR)
- A document used by organizations to initiate the purchase of long-lead-time or time-critical materials prior to the final release of a design.
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- Allocation
- See Resource Allocation.
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- Alternate Resource
- A resource that may be substituted as the requirement for an activity if the requested resource is not available.
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- Approval to Proceed
- Approval by the project board at initiation or prior to the beginning of the next stage.
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- Archive Plan
- A function of some computer programs that allows versions of a plan to be archived.
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- Arrow Diagram Method (ADM)
- One of two conventions used to represent an activity in a project. Also known as Activity-on-Arrow or i/j method.
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- As-Late-As-Possible (ALAP)
- An activity for which the application sets the early dates as late as possible without delaying the early dates of any successor.
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- As-Soon-As-Possible (ASAP)
- An activity for which the application sets the early dates to be as soon as possible. This is the default activity type in most project management systems.
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- Assumptions
- Statements taken for granted or truth.
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- Authorized Unpriced Work (AUW)
- Any scope changed for which authorization to proceed has been given, but for which the estimated costs are not yet settled.
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- Authorized Work
- The effort which has been defined, plus that work for which authorization has been given, but for which defined contract costs have not been agreed upon.
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