ARC key terms

A document that formally authorizes a project and gives the project manager authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. It records high-level scope, objectives, and key stakeholders.

A group of related projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.

A collection of projects, programs, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives. Portfolio management prioritizes investments and balances resource use across components.

An organizational unit that standardizes project-related governance processes and facilitates sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques across projects.

Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that must be produced to complete a project phase or the project itself.

A documented economic feasibility study used to establish the validity of the benefits of a selected component and to justify investment in the project.

A grid that links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them, and to test cases, helping confirm that each requirement is addressed and verified.

The approved version of the project scope statement, work breakdown structure, and its associated dictionary. It is used to compare actual performance against planned scope.

A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish objectives and create required deliverables.

The uncontrolled expansion of product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources. It typically results from unapproved changes being absorbed into the work.

The process of gathering, documenting, and confirming stakeholder needs and expectations to define what the project must deliver.

The set of conditions that must be met before a deliverable is accepted by the customer or sponsor, often expressed as measurable testable statements.

A scheduling technique that identifies the longest sequence of dependent activities, which determines the shortest possible project duration and shows where float is zero.

The amount of time an activity can be delayed from its early start without delaying the project finish date, calculated as late start minus early start.

The approved version of a schedule model that serves as the reference against which actual schedule performance is compared and reported.

A significant point or event in a project with zero duration, used to mark completion of a major deliverable or phase and to track high-level progress.

An iterative planning technique in which work near term is planned in detail while work further out is planned at a higher level and refined as more information becomes available.

The iterative process of increasing the level of detail in a project plan as more information and better estimates become available over the project life cycle.

A performance measurement method that integrates scope, schedule, and cost by comparing planned value, earned value, and actual cost to forecast outcomes.

The approved version of the time-phased project budget, excluding management reserves, used to measure and monitor cost performance.

Budget set aside for identified risks and uncertainty, allocated to the cost baseline and controlled by the project manager to cover known-unknown events.

Funds held outside the cost baseline for unforeseen work within project scope, controlled by senior management and released only through formal authorization.

A performance measure equal to earned value minus planned value, indicating whether schedule performance is ahead of or behind the plan in cost terms.

A performance measure equal to earned value minus actual cost, indicating whether the project is under or over budget for work performed.

A living document that records identified risks, their analysis, owners, responses, and current status, used to track and manage risk throughout the project.

Documented strategies and actions to address identified risks, such as avoid, transfer, mitigate, or accept, including owners and triggers.

A record of current problems or concerns that have occurred and require resolution, including owner, status, and target resolution date.

The process of referring a decision, risk, or issue to a higher authority when it exceeds the project manager's authority or requires resources beyond their control.

A document identifying project stakeholders, their roles, interests, influence, and expectations, used to plan engagement and communication.

A plan describing how, when, and to whom project information will be distributed, including formats, channels, frequency, and escalation paths.

A responsibility assignment chart that maps roles to activities as Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, or Informed, clarifying who does and decides what.

The process of monitoring and recording results of quality activities to assess performance and recommend corrective actions, focusing on inspecting deliverables against standards.

The process of auditing quality requirements and results from quality control to ensure appropriate quality standards and operational definitions are used.

A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively objectives are being achieved, used to monitor performance and support decisions.

The process of reviewing, approving, and managing changes to project documents, deliverables, and the baseline, ensuring impacts on scope, schedule, and cost are assessed.

A formally constituted group of stakeholders responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, deferring, or rejecting change requests and communicating decisions.

The set of policies, roles, processes, and decision rights used to direct and control projects, ensuring alignment with organizational strategy and accountability.

The process of ensuring that project outputs produce the intended business outcomes and value, often measured after project completion.