Project Manager Examination key terms

A document issued by the sponsor that formally authorizes a project to exist and gives the project manager authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.

The integrated document describing how the project will be executed, monitored, controlled, and closed, combining subsidiary plans such as scope, schedule, cost, quality, resource, communications, risk, and procurement management plans.

The approved combination of the project scope statement, the work breakdown structure, and its associated WBS dictionary, used to measure scope performance and detect scope creep.

A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work into smaller, manageable deliverables, where the lowest level elements are called work packages.

The lowest level of a work breakdown structure, small enough to be estimated, scheduled, assigned to an owner, and controlled without further decomposition.

A narrative description of the project scope that includes deliverables, acceptance criteria, assumptions, constraints, exclusions, and what work is out of scope.

Uncontrolled expansion of project scope without corresponding adjustments to time, cost, and resources, typically occurring when changes are accepted informally rather than through integrated change control.

An iterative planning technique where near-term work is planned in detail while work further in the future is planned at a higher level and elaborated as more information becomes available.

The practice of developing project details continuously as the project team gains better understanding and more accurate information over the project life cycle.

The longest sequence of dependent activities through a project network, which determines the shortest possible project duration and has zero total float.

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

A technique for shortening the project schedule without reducing scope, typically through crashing (adding resources) or fast tracking (overlapping activities that would normally be sequential).

A schedule compression technique in which activities normally performed in sequence are performed in parallel, increasing risk of rework and coordination problems.

A graphical representation of project activities and their logical dependencies, used to determine the critical path and to calculate early and late dates.

A scheduling technique that uses nodes to represent activities and arrows to show dependencies, supporting finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish relationships.

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

A measure of schedule performance calculated as earned value minus planned value; a negative result indicates the project is behind schedule.

A measure of cost performance calculated as earned value minus actual cost; a negative result indicates the project is over budget.

The forecast total cost of the project based on current performance, commonly calculated as budget at completion divided by cost performance index when current variances are expected to continue.

The total approved budget for the work to be performed on the project, which serves as the baseline against which cost performance is measured.

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

A budget or time allowance held for identified risks that have been accepted, often calculated using expected monetary value or a percentage of the cost baseline.

A budget or time allowance held for unforeseen work within the project scope that cannot be predicted, controlled by the sponsor and not part of the cost baseline.

The process of reviewing all change requests, approving or rejecting them, and managing changes to deliverables, project documents, and the project management plan.

A formal group of stakeholders responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, delaying, or rejecting change requests and communicating those decisions.

A formal proposal to modify any document, deliverable, or baseline, including corrective actions, preventive actions, defect repairs, and updates to project documents.

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

The process of monitoring and recording results of executing quality activities to assess performance and recommend necessary corrective actions.

The total cost of conformance (prevention and appraisal) plus the cost of nonconformance (internal and external failures) incurred over the product life cycle.

A subsidiary plan describing how the project will implement quality policies, including quality standards, objectives, roles, and the tools and techniques used for control.

A responsibility assignment matrix that maps activities to people and labels each as responsible, accountable, consulted, or informed to clarify roles and decision rights.

A subsidiary plan describing how project resources will be acquired, allocated, developed, and released, including team roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships.

A technique that adjusts activity start and finish dates to resolve resource overallocation or conflicting resource constraints, often extending the project duration.

A subsidiary plan describing how, when, and by whom project information will be distributed, including formats, frequency, senders, receivers, and escalation paths.

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

A subsidiary plan describing strategies and actions needed to promote productive involvement of stakeholders in project decisions and execution, based on their needs and influence.

A classification tool that groups stakeholders by their level of authority and level of concern, guiding how closely each stakeholder should be managed and engaged.

A project document recording identified risks with their causes, potential responses, owners, probability, impact, and current status, updated throughout the project.

Documented strategies and actions for addressing identified risks, such as avoid, transfer, mitigate, accept, exploit, share, enhance, or escalate, with assigned owners and triggers.

A risk analysis technique that multiplies the probability of an uncertain event by its financial impact and sums the results to express overall risk exposure.

A document describing the products, services, or results to be delivered by a seller, including quantities, quality standards, performance criteria, and acceptance requirements.

A technique for deciding whether to produce a deliverable internally or purchase it externally, weighing direct and indirect costs as well as capability and risk.

A legally binding agreement between buyer and seller that defines deliverables, terms, payment schedules, acceptance criteria, and remedies for nonperformance.

A project document recording knowledge gained during the project, including what worked well and what should be improved, used to improve current and future performance.

The process of finalizing all activities across the project or phase, including confirming deliverable acceptance, archiving records, releasing resources, and measuring customer satisfaction.

A document describing how and when project benefits will be realized and measured, including benefit owners, metrics, and the timeframe for achieving them after delivery.

A documented economic feasibility study that justifies the investment in a project by comparing expected benefits, costs, and risks against alternatives.

The person or group providing financial resources and support for the project, championing it at senior levels and approving the project charter and major changes.