Fundamentals and Terminology
This domain checks whether you use project vocabulary the way the exam does. Most lost marks come from near-miss definitions rather than from unfamiliar material, so treat the distinctions below as examinable facts.
Core distinctions
- Project vs operations: a project is a temporary endeavor that creates a unique product, service, or result and then ends. Operations are ongoing and repetitive.
- Program vs portfolio: a program groups related projects managed together for shared benefits; a portfolio is the whole investment set selected to meet strategic objectives. Project managers deliver outputs; program and portfolio managers optimize benefits and balance risk.
- Deliverable vs milestone: a deliverable is a verifiable output such as a design document or a tested module. A milestone is a zero-duration marker of achievement.
- Assumption vs constraint: an assumption is believed true but unproven, and must be validated and logged. A constraint is a fixed limit, such as a regulatory date, a capped budget, or a mandated technology.
- Baseline: the approved, versioned scope-schedule-cost reference used to measure performance. It changes only through change control.
- Lifecycle models: predictive, iterative, incremental, adaptive, hybrid. Choose by uncertainty and deliverable size, not fashion.
Worked example
A sponsor says the CRM effort contains three projects, that the vendor API is assumed to ship in March, and that the contract fixes go-live at 30 June. Reasoning: the CRM effort is a program containing three projects; the API date is an assumption, so log it with an owner and a validation date; the 30 June date is a constraint, so plan around it and record it in the charter.
Traps
- Calling a milestone a deliverable.
- Recording assumptions but never validating them.
- Using program and portfolio interchangeably.
- Treating recurring operational work as a project.