Macedonian-English project management glossary

The conditions a deliverable must meet before it is accepted.

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Answering for the result - it can be assigned to one person and, unlike responsibility, cannot be delegated.

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A distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during the project.

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Adjusting the process or the product as soon as inspection shows it has drifted outside acceptable limits.

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A development approach in which requirements evolve and the work is delivered in iterations. Agile is adaptive.

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An approach to work that delivers in short cycles, welcomes changing requirements and adapts based on feedback.

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Formal acceptance of a plan, deliverable or change by whoever has the authority to give it.

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A work product that carries information - in Scrum, the Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog and Increment.

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A factor considered true for planning purposes without proof; if it turns out false, the plan changes.

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An independent examination of whether project activities and records comply with the agreed rules.

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An ordered list of everything that might be needed in the product, or the subset chosen for a sprint.

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The approved version of a plan (scope, schedule or cost) that actual performance is measured against.

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Those who benefit from the project, directly or in the longer term.

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A positive, measurable gain for the organisation or its stakeholders that the project is meant to produce.

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The step in a workflow whose limited capacity holds back everything after it.

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The approved estimate for the project or any part of it.

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A documented justification for a project, weighing its expected benefits against its cost.

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A public invitation to submit project proposals for funding.

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The process by which changes are identified, documented, approved or rejected.

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Managing the effect of change on people, processes and the plan so the project keeps delivering.

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A formal proposal to modify a document, deliverable or baseline.

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Formally completing or ending a project, phase or contract.

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A formal promise - of funds, of a result, of a scope of work.

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Who needs what information, when, in what form and from whom.

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A limiting factor - time, budget, resources, regulation - that the project must work within.

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A plan of actions to take only if a specific risk occurs.

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Time or money set aside within the baseline for identified risks.

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A binding agreement that obliges the seller to deliver and the buyer to pay.

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The body that runs the tender, awards and signs the contract.

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The organisation or person awarded a contract to carry out the work.

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The money spent or committed to complete the work.

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A comparison of a project’s costs and benefits over time, with and without the project, to judge whether it pays off.

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Shortening the schedule by adding resources, at added cost.

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The longest sequence of dependent activities, which sets the shortest possible project duration.

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A scheduling technique that calculates the earliest and latest dates for each activity to find the critical path.

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A team that has all the skills needed to create value each sprint, without depending on others.

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A 15-minute daily event for the Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the plan.

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The shared description of the quality a piece of work must reach before it counts as part of the increment.

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Any unique, verifiable product, result or capability that must be produced to complete a process, phase or project.

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A logical relationship in which one activity cannot start or finish until another has.

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In Scrum: the people committed to creating a usable increment each sprint, whatever their specialism.

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The number of work periods needed to complete an activity.

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The value of the work actually completed, expressed in terms of the approved budget.

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A method that combines scope, schedule and cost measurements to assess project performance and forecast the outcome.

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The extent to which the objectives were achieved.

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How well inputs were turned into outputs - results relative to cost and time.

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The principle that knowledge comes from experience and decisions are made on what is observed - the basis of Scrum.

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Raising an issue or decision to a higher level of authority when it cannot be resolved at the current one.

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A quantified assessment of the likely cost, duration or resources for a piece of work.

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A periodic assessment of a project’s efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability and relevance against its objectives.

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An evaluation carried out after the project has ended, to judge its actual results and impact.

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Carrying out the work defined in the plan.

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Shortening the schedule by doing activities in parallel that would normally be done in sequence.

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A study, done before approval, that checks whether a proposed project is technically, financially and organisationally viable.

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How long an activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish (total float) or the next activity (free float). Also called slack.

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An estimate of future conditions or results based on what is known today.

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A bar chart of schedule information: activities down the side, dates across the top, durations as bars.

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The framework of authority, decision rights and oversight within which a project is run.

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A direct, non-commercial payment to finance an action, with no repayment expected.

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A combination of predictive and adaptive elements chosen to fit the project.

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The effect on objectives if a risk occurs; in evaluation, the long-term consequence of a project.

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Putting the plan into effect - the phase in which the project’s outputs are actually produced.

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In EU-funded projects: the first report, at the end of the start-up period, which updates the design and sets the work plan.

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A concrete, usable step toward the Product Goal, added to all previous increments and verified against the Definition of Done.

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A measurable variable used to show whether an objective is being reached.

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The work done to define a new project or phase and obtain authorisation to start it.

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Frequently and carefully examining the artifacts and progress to detect undesirable variances.

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A current condition or situation that may affect the project objectives - a risk that has happened, or a problem being worked.

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A short, fixed period in which a usable piece of the product is produced. A sprint is an iteration.

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A method that visualises work on a board, limits work in progress and manages flow rather than fixed iterations.

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The meeting that marks the start of a project or phase, aligning the team and stakeholders on objectives, roles and plan.

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A way of working that reduces waste and focuses on what creates value for the customer.

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Knowledge gained during a project about what worked and what did not, recorded so future projects benefit.

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A matrix summarising a project: objectives, results, activities, indicators, sources of verification and assumptions.

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The planning method behind the logframe: stakeholder, problem, objective and strategy analysis, then the matrix and schedules.

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A significant point or event in the project, with no duration of its own.

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The smallest version of a product that delivers value and yields learning about what to build next.

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The systematic, continuous collection and use of information on progress for management and decisions.

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Tracking, reviewing and regulating progress and performance, and managing changes to the plan.

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A graphical representation of the logical relationships among the schedule activities.

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Something toward which work is directed - a result to be reached, a position to be attained.

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The change that results from using the project’s outputs.

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What the project directly produces - a partial or complete product of an activity.

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In the logical framework: the long-term benefit to society that the project contributes to but does not deliver alone.

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The active involvement of the beneficiaries in a project so that its results are theirs to keep, not the donor’s.

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A set of logically related project activities that ends with the completion of one or more deliverables.

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Establishing the scope, refining the objectives and defining the course of action needed to reach them.

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The collection of projects, programs and operations an organisation manages as a group to meet strategic objectives.

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A development approach in which scope, time and cost are set early and the work follows the plan. Also called waterfall.

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How likely a risk is to occur.

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Obtaining goods, services or works from outside the project team.

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The tangible or intangible thing the work produces - an item, a service, a system.

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The single, ordered list of work needed to improve the product; the one source of work for the Scrum Team.

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The future state of the product the Scrum Team is planning toward - the commitment attached to the Product Backlog.

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The one person accountable for maximising the value of the product and for managing the Product Backlog.

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A group of related projects managed together to obtain benefits that would not come from managing them separately.

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An estimating technique that weights optimistic, most likely and pessimistic estimates for each activity.

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A report on what has been done in a period, what is next and what is blocking.

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A temporary piece of work with a defined start and end, undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.

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The document that formally authorises a project and gives the project manager the authority to apply resources to it.

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In EU-funded work: the sequence from programming and identification through formulation, financing, implementation and evaluation.

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The EU methodology for preparing, implementing and evaluating projects along the project cycle, built on the logical framework.

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The series of phases a project passes through from start to finish.

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Applying knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project work so that it meets its requirements.

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A unit that standardises project governance and shares methods, tools and resources across projects.

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The document describing how the project will be executed, monitored and controlled - it brings the subsidiary plans together.

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The person assigned to lead the team and be accountable for reaching the project objectives.

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In the logical framework: the central objective - the change for the target group that the project is directly responsible for.

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The people who do the project work.

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An early working model built to test an idea before the real thing is made.

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The degree to which a deliverable meets its requirements.

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Making sure the processes used are the right ones and are being followed, so that quality is built in rather than inspected in.

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Checking deliverables against requirements and recording the results.

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Whether the project’s objectives match the real problems, needs and priorities.

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Regularly informing stakeholders about progress, spending and risks.

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A condition or capability that a product, service or result must satisfy.

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People, equipment, materials, money or facilities needed to do the work.

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Adjusting the schedule so that resource demand does not exceed what is available, usually by shifting activities.

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The duty to perform a piece of work.

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A grid showing which role is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed for each piece of work.

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In the logical framework: the tangible products or services delivered as a consequence of the activities.

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A regular meeting in which a team reflects on how it worked and agrees what to improve.

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An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on one or more objectives.

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Estimating the probability and impact of each identified risk so they can be prioritised.

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Identifying, analysing and responding to risk throughout the project.

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The document in which identified risks are recorded together with their analysis and planned responses.

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The planned dates for performing activities and meeting milestones.

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The sum of the products, services and results a project will deliver - and, just as importantly, what it will not.

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Uncontrolled growth of the scope without matching adjustments to time, cost and resources.

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A lightweight framework for solving complex problems in fixed-length sprints with three roles, five events and three artifacts.

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The person accountable for making Scrum work - for the team, the Product Owner and the organisation.

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A small, cross-functional, self-managing team: one Scrum Master, one Product Owner and the Developers.

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A team that decides internally who does what, when and how.

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Testing how much a project’s outcome changes when key assumptions (cost, demand, timing) change.

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Leading by removing obstacles and serving the team’s needs rather than directing it.

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In the logical framework: where and how the information for each indicator will be obtained.

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The person or group that provides resources and support for the project and is accountable for enabling its success.

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A fixed-length event of one month or less in which the team turns a selection of backlog items into a usable increment.

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The Sprint Goal, the Product Backlog items selected for the sprint, and the plan for delivering them.

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The single objective for the sprint - the commitment attached to the Sprint Backlog.

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The event that opens a sprint: why it is valuable, what can be done, and how the work will get done.

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The event that closes a sprint: the team looks at how it worked and plans improvements.

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The event near the end of a sprint in which the team and stakeholders inspect the increment and adapt the Product Backlog.

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Anyone who can affect, be affected by, or believe themselves affected by the project.

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Systematically identifying stakeholders and their interests, influence and expectations.

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A narrative description of the products, services or results to be delivered, often attached to a contract.

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A periodic report on where the project stands against its plan.

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A group of senior stakeholders that oversees the project, takes decisions above the project manager’s authority and resolves escalations.

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The likelihood that the project’s benefits continue after the project - and its funding - ends.

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Deliberately choosing and adjusting processes, methods and artifacts to suit the specific project.

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The group the project is meant to positively affect at the level of its purpose.

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A unit of work; in many tools the smallest thing that gets assigned and tracked.

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A formal offer to supply goods or services at an agreed price, made in response to an invitation.

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A document defining the tasks required of a contractor: background, objectives, activities, inputs, outputs, budget and timetable.

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A fixed maximum length of time for an event or piece of work; when the time is up, it ends.

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Making the process and the work visible to everyone who needs to see it.

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The classic trade-off between scope, time and cost: changing one affects the others.

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A short, plain-language description of a feature from the user’s point of view: who wants it, what, and why.

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The worth, importance or usefulness of something - the reason the work is done at all.

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A measurable departure from the baseline - in cost, schedule or scope.

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The amount of work a team completes per iteration, used to forecast how much it can take on next.

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A hierarchical breakdown of the total scope of work into smaller, manageable pieces.

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The lowest level of the WBS - a piece of work for which cost and duration can be estimated and managed.

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The schedule of activities and resources needed to reach the project’s results and purpose.

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The sequence of steps a piece of work passes through from start to done.

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