Project Management Glossary
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Schedule control: controlling and managing changes to the project schedule

Schedule development: analyzing activity sequences, activity duration estimates, and resource requirements to create the project schedule

Schedule performance index (SPI): the ratio of earned value to planned value; can be used to estimate the projected time to complete a project

Schedule variance (SV): the earned value minus the planned value

Scope: all the work involved in creating the products of the project and the processes used to create them.

Scope change control: controlling changes to project scope

Scope creep: the tendency for project scope to keep getting bigger and bigger

Scope definition: subdividing the major project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components

Scope planning: developing documents to provide the basis for future project decisions, including the criteria for determining if a project or phase has been completed successfully

Scope statement: a document used to develop and confirm a common under standing of the project scope

Scope verification: formalizing acceptance of the project scope

Secondary risks: risks that are a direct result of implementing a risk response

Seven run rule: if seven data points in a row on a quality control chart are all below the mean, above the mean, or are all increasing or decreasing, then the process needs to be examined for nonrandom problems

Slack: the amount of time a project activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date; also called float

Slipped milestone: a milestone activity that is completed later than planned

SMART criteria: guidelines to help define milestones that are specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and time-framed

Smoothing mode: deemphasizing or avoiding areas of differences and emphasizing areas of agreements

Solicitation: obtaining quotations, bids, offers, or proposals as appropriate

Solicitation planning: documenting product requirements and identifying potential sources

Source selection: choosing from among potential suppliers

Staff acquisition: getting the needed personnel assigned to and working on the project

Staffing management plan: a document that describes when and how people will be added to and taken off the project team

Stakeholder analysis: an analysis of information such as key stakeholders’ names and organizations, their roles on the project, unique facts about each stakeholder, their level of interest in the project, their influence on the project, and suggestions for managing relationships with each stakeholder

Stakeholders: people involved in or affected by project activities

Standard deviation: a measure of how much variation exists in a distribution of data

Start-to-finish dependency: a relation ship on a project network diagram where the “From” activity cannot start before the “to” activity can finish

Start-to-start dependency: a relationship in which the “from” activity cannot start until the “to” activity starts

Statement of work (SOW): a description of the work required for the procurement

Statistical sampling: choosing part of a population of interest for inspection

Status reports: reports that describe where the project stands at a specific point in time

Status review meetings: regularly scheduled meetings used to exchange project information

Strategic planning: determining long-term objectives by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, studying opportunities and threats in the business environment, predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services

Structural frame: deals with how the organization is structured (usually depicted in an organizational chart) and focuses on different groups’ roles and responsibilities to meet the goals and policies set by top management

Subproject managers: people responsible for managing the subprojects that a large project might he broken into

Sunk cost: money that has been spent in the past

Symbolic frame: focuses on the symbols, meanings, and culture of an organization

Synergy: an approach where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts

System outputs: the screens and reports the system generates

System testing: testing the entire system as one entity to ensure it is working properly

Systems: sets of interacting components working within an environment to fulfill some purpose

Systems analysis: a problem-solving approach that requires defining the scope of the system to be studied, and then dividing it into its component parts for identifying and evaluating its problems, opportunities, constraints, and needs

Systems approach: a holistic and analytical approach to solving complex problems that includes using a systems philosophy, systems analysis, and systems management

Systems development life cycle (SDLC): a framework for describing the phases involved in developing and maintaining information systems

Systems management: addressing the business, technological, and organizational issues associated with making a change to a system

Systems philosophy: an overall model for thinking about things as systems

Systems thinking: taking a holistic view of an organization to effectively handle complex situations.

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