Glossary
Project Management and PMO Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms used in project governance, PRINCE2 and PMO work. Where we've written a full guide on a term, you'll find a link to it.
A
- Assumption
- Something treated as true for planning purposes without having been proved. Assumptions should be checked, and become risks or issues if they turn out to be doubtful.
- Read the guide
B
- Baseline
- The approved version of a plan, budget or business case that progress is measured against. It only changes through formal approval.
- Benefits realisation
- Checking that a project delivers the improvements its business case promised, often months after the project has closed.
- Business case
- The justification for a project: its expected benefits, costs, timescale and main risks. It's reviewed at each stage gate to confirm the project is still worth doing.
- Read the guide
C
- Centre of excellence
- A permanent office that owns the standards, methods, templates and training used across all projects.
- Read the guide
- Concession
- A formal decision to accept an off-specification without fixing it, usually because fixing it would cost more than it's worth.
- Read the guide
- Cost to completion
- The forecast of what it will cost to finish a project from today, added to what has already been spent to show the expected total cost.
- Read the guide
- Critical path
- The longest sequence of dependent tasks in a plan. Any delay on the critical path delays the whole project.
D
- Dependency
- Something a project relies on from elsewhere, or that something else relies on from the project.
- Read the guide
E
- End stage report
- The project manager's report at the end of a stage, covering what was delivered against plan and the position for the next decision.
- Read the guide
- Exception
- A situation where a stage or project is forecast to go beyond its agreed tolerances. It must be raised with the project board straight away.
- Exception plan
- A replacement plan prepared after an exception, showing how the stage or project will recover or be changed.
- Read the guide
- Executive
- In PRINCE2, the single person on the project board who is ultimately accountable for the project and owns the business case.
G
- Governance framework
- The agreed rules for how projects are approved, reviewed, reported on and stopped, and who decides at each point.
H
- Highlight report
- A short regular report from the project manager to the project board on progress, budget, risks and issues during a stage.
I
- Issue
- Something that has happened, or been raised, that needs managing. In PRINCE2 7, issues include problems, external events, opportunities, requests for change and off-specifications.
- Read the guide
- Issue register
- The record of a project's formally managed issues, with owners, priority and status.
- Read the guide
K
- KPI (key performance indicator)
- One of a small number of measures chosen because it shows whether something important is on track, and prompts action when it changes.
- Read the guide
L
- Lessons log
- A record of what went well and what didn't, kept during a project so later stages and future projects can learn from it.
M
- Management information (MI)
- Regular reports and data that help managers understand performance and make decisions.
O
- Off-specification
- Something a project should deliver that doesn't, or is forecast not to, meet its agreed description.
- Read the guide
P
- P3O
- Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices: UK best-practice guidance on designing and running project offices.
- Read the guide
- PCI DSS
- The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard: the security rules any organisation that stores, processes or transmits card data must follow. Projects in payments must build these into their plans.
- PID (Project Initiation Document)
- The document set that defines a project's scope, business case, plan, team and controls, approved by the project board as the project's baseline.
- Read the guide
- PMO (project management office)
- The function that sets how projects are run across a business and gives leaders one reliable view of them.
- Read the guide
- PMO maturity
- How well-established and effective a PMO's processes are, usually assessed against a structured set of criteria.
- Portfolio
- All the projects and programmes a business is investing in, managed together so the right ones are prioritised.
- Read the guide
- Programme
- A group of related projects managed together to deliver a shared change and its benefits.
- Read the guide
- Project board
- The group that directs a project and makes its key decisions: the executive, senior user and senior supplier.
- Read the guide
R
- RAG status
- A red, amber or green rating showing whether a project is on track. It works only when everyone agrees what each colour means.
- Read the guide
- RAID log
- A single record of a project's risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies, each with an owner and a next action.
- Read the guide
- Request for change
- A formal request to change something that has already been agreed, such as scope, a product or the plan.
- Read the guide
- Risk
- An uncertain event that would affect a project if it happened. In PRINCE2, risks can be threats or opportunities.
- Read the guide
- Risk register
- The record of a project's risks, with likelihood, impact, owner and response.
- Read the guide
S
- Senior supplier
- The project board member who represents those designing, building and delivering the project's products.
- Senior user
- The project board member who represents the people who will use the project's products and receive the benefits.
- Stage gate
- The decision point at the end of a stage where the project board decides whether to continue, change course or stop.
- Read the guide
T
- Tolerance
- The agreed leeway on time, cost, scope or other targets before an issue must be escalated to the next level of authority.
Need help putting the terms into practice?
Our guides explain the most important ones in depth, or book a 30-minute call to talk through your projects.