GLOSSARY TERMS

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Early Finish Date (EF): In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time on which the uncompleted portions of an activity (or the project) can finish based on the network logic and any schedule constraints .

Early Start Date (ES): In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time on which the uncompleted portions of an activity (or the project) can start, based on the network logic and any schedule constraints.

Earned Value (EV): (1) A method for measuring project performance. It compares the amount of work that was planned with what was actually accomplished to determine if cost and schedule performance is as planned. See also actual cost of work performed, budgeted cost of work scheduled, budgeted cost of work performed, cost variance, cost performance index, schedule variance, and schedule performance index. (2) The budgeted cost of work performed for an activity or group of activities.

Earned Value Measurement Technique (EVMT): The technique used to quantify Earned Value. Acceptable EVMTs are: 0/100, Start/Complete, Interim, Milestone, and Support Effort.

Effort: The number of labor units required to complete an activity or other project element. Usually expressed as staffhours, staffdays, or staffweeks.

Element of Cost: The category of resource required to accomplish the work. It allows for adequate analysis of performance data. Elements of cost are: Labor, Material, and Other Direct Costs.

End item: The final production product when completed and ready for issue or deployment.

Engineering Change Proposal: Any negotiable design change to permanently alter operationally configured hardware or software that must be processed through configuration control before approval. Changes that affect the physical, functional, performance, maintenance, or logistics characteristics of the program product/system as contracted by the customer for acceptance and delivery on an end item or system basis.

Estimate: An assessment of the likely quantitative result. Usually applied to project costs and durations and should always include some indication of accuracy (e.g.,  x percent).

Estimate At Completion (EAC): The expected total cost of an activity, a group of activities, or the project when the defined scope of work has been completed.

Estimate To Complete (ETC): The expected additional cost needed to complete an activity, a group of activities, or the project. Most techniques for forecasting ETC include some adjustment to the original estimate based on project performance to date. Also called “estimated to complete.” See also earned value and estimate at completion.

Estimated Work Remaining (EWR): The forecast of labor hours and costs (direct and indirect) required to complete the authorized work remaining. It is based on past performance plus knowledgeable projections of the scope of the work remaining to be accomplished.

 

 

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Family Tree: Hierarchical hardware and software product structure.

Fee: The charge for the use of one’s services to the extent specified in the contract.

Finish Date: A point in time associated with an activity’s completion. Usually qualified by one of the following: actual, planned, estimated, scheduled, early, late, baseline, target or current.

Finish-to-Finish (FF): the predecessor activity must finish before the successor activity can finish.

Finish-to-Start (FS): the predecessor activity must finish before the successor activity can start

Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Contract: A type of contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as defined by the contract) regardless of the seller’s costs.

Fiscal Year: The grouping of twelve accounting months.

Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIF) Contract: A type of contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as defined by the contract), and the seller can earn an additional amount if it meets defined performance criteria.

Float: The amount of time that an activity may be delayed from its early start without delaying the project finish date. Float is a mathematical calculation and can change as the project progresses and  changes are made to the project plan. Also called slack, total float, and path float. See also free float.

Forward Pass: The calculation of the early start and early finish dates for the uncompleted portions of all network activities. See also network analysis and backward pass.

Free Float (FF): The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately following activities. See also float.

Functional Manager: A manager responsible for activities in a specialized department or function (e.g., engineering, manufacturing, and marketing).

Functional Organization: An organization structure in which staff are grouped hierarchically by specialty (e.g., production, marketing, engineering, and accounting at the top level; with engineering, further divided into mechanical, electrical and others).

Funding: Funding represents the actual dollars available for expenditure in the accomplishment of contract effort. Funds are normally issued by the customer on a fiscal year or annual basis. Actual release of funds is frequently on an incremental basis within the fiscal year.

 

 

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Gantt Chart: A graphic display of schedule-related information. In the typical bar chart, activities or other project elements are listed down the left side of the chart, dates are shown across the top, and activity durations are shown as date-placed horizontal bars.

 

 

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Hammock: An aggregate or summary activity ( a group of related activities is shown as one and reported at the summary level). A hammock may or may not have an internal sequence.

Hardware/Software Evaluation: Assessment of compatibility between existing or required hardware and new application software that will run in the environment.

Hierarchy: An outline structure. Any group of tasks with indented levels of detail.

 

 

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Indirect Costs: Costs, which, because of their incurrence for common or joint objectives, are not readily assignable to a particular contract or deliverable article.

Initiation: Committing the organization to begin a project phase.

Inventory: Raw materials, products in process, and finished products required for plant operation or the value of such material and other supplies, i.e., for those maintenance and spare parts.

Invitation for Bid (IFB): Generally, this term is equivalent to request for proposal. However, in some application areas it may have a narrower or more specific meaning.

 

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Lag: A modification of a logical relationship, which directs a delay in the successor task. For example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a ten-day lag, the successor activity cannot start until 10 days after the predecessor has finished. See also lead.

Late Finish Date (LF): In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time that an activity may be completed without delaying a specific milestone (usually the project finish date).

Late Start Date (LS): In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time that an activity may begin without delaying a specified milestone (usually the project finish date).

Latest Revised Estimate (LRE): The total end-point amount (forecast) which represents actual labor hours and costs (direct and indirect) to date plus the estimate of labor hours and costs (direct and indirect) for authorized work remaining.

Lead: A modification of a logical relationship, which allows an acceleration of the successor task. For example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a 10-day lead, the successor activity can start 10 days before the predecessor has finished. See also lag.

Level of Detail: A policy or expression of content of plans, schedules, and reports in accordance with the scale of the breakdown of information.

Level of Effort (LOE): Support-type activity (e.g., vendor or customer liaison) that does not readily lend itself to measurement of discreet accomplishment. It is generally characterized by a uniform rate of activity over a specific period of time.

Life-cycle Costing: The concept of including acquisition, operating, and disposal costs when evaluating various alternatives.

Logical Relationship: A dependency between two project activities, or between a project activity and a milestone. See also precedence relationship.

Loop: A network path that passes the same node twice. Loops cannot be analyzed using traditional network analysis techniques such as CPM and PERT.

 

 

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Maintenance: Post-delivery modification of a software product to correct faults, to improve performance or other attributes, or to adapt the product to a changed environment.

Man-Month: the equivalent number of hours worked in a month by one person working standard time, taking into consideration the average labor loss factors.

Management Control Systems: The systems (e.g. planning, scheduling, budgeting, estimating, work authorization, cost accumulation, performance measurement, etc.) used by customers and contractors to plan and control the cost and scheduling of work.

Management Reserve: A separately planned quantity used to allow for future situations, which are impossible to predict (sometimes called “unknown unknowns”). Management reserves may involve cost or schedule.

Management Reserve Budget: An amount of the total allocated budget withheld for management control purposes, rather than designated for the accomplishment of a specific task or set of tasks.

Master Schedule: A summary-level schedule, which identifies the major activities and key milestones. See also milestone schedule.

Material: All direct costs excluding labor and other direct costs (ODC). It consists of materials (including spares) and subcontract effort.

Matrix Organization: Any organizational structure in which the project manager shares responsibility with the functional managers for assigning priorities and for directing the work of individuals assigned to the project.

Measurement: The act or process of measuring to compare results to requirements. A quantitative estimate of performance.

Milestone: A significant event in the project, usually completion of a major deliverable.

Milestone Schedule: A summary-level schedule, which identifies the major milestones. See also master schedule.

Mitigation: Taking steps to lessen risk by lowering the probability of a risk event’s occurrence or reducing its effect should occur.

Monitoring: The capture, analysis, and reporting of project performance, usually as compared to plan.

Monte Carlo Analysis: A schedule risk assessment technique that performs a project simulation many times in order to calculate a distribution of likely results.