---
ref_id: GLOSSARY
ref_type: Glossary
ref_name: "PMOSkills Reference Glossary"
version: "1.0.1"
status: Active
pmbok8_source: "PMBOK8 Guide §Glossary · Process Groups: A Practice Guide §Glossary"
companion_ref_shortcode: "PMI-GLOS"
file_path: "reference/GLOSSARY.md"
last_updated: "2026-06-03"
---

# PMOSkills Reference Glossary

**Ref ID:** GLOSSARY  
**Type:** Glossary  
**PMBOK8 Source:** PMBOK 8th Edition Glossary · Process Groups: A Practice Guide Glossary  
**Companion Reference:** PMI Standards Glossary (PMI-GLOS)  
**Version:** 1.0.1  
**Status:** Active  

> **Change log v1.0.1 (2026-06-03):** Fixed process record count in Purpose from 41 to 40
> (PMBOK 8 defines 40 nonprescriptive processes). Added legacy/compatibility note to
> the Knowledge Area term (F-08).

---

## Purpose

This glossary serves as the **unified terminology standard** for the PMOSkills repository. It defines essential acronyms, project management metrics, strategic baselines, and lifecycle frameworks utilized across the 40 process records (**PR01–PR40**) and associated performance domains.

---

## Alphabetical Index

[A](#a) | [B](#b) | [C](#c) | [D](#d) | [E](#e) | [F](#f) | [G](#g) | [I](#i) | [K](#k) | [L](#l) | [M](#m) | [O](#o) | [P](#p) | [Q](#q) | [R](#r) | [S](#s) | [T](#t) | [V](#v) | [W](#w)

---

### A

#### Acceptance Criteria
A prioritized set of conditions, performance metrics, or compliance standards that a final deliverable must satisfy before obtaining formal customer sign-off.

#### Activity
A distinct, scheduled unit of project work identified within a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) work package. Activities form the basic building blocks of a project schedule.

#### Alternatives Analysis
An analytical technique used to evaluate multiple execution strategies, resource levels, scheduling paths, or contract types to select the optimal project approach.

#### Analogous Estimating
An estimation technique that uses historical parameters (cost, duration, complexity) from similar past projects as the baseline for estimating current project parameters.

#### Assumption
A factor in the planning phase that is considered to be true, real, or certain without physical proof or verification. Logged and managed in the *Assumption Log*.

---

### B

#### Baseline
An approved, change-controlled version of a scope, schedule, or cost model. Baselines can only be modified through formal Change Control Board (CCB) procedures.

#### Benefits Management Plan
A business document that outlines the processes for creating, maximizing, and sustaining the strategic benefits produced by a project.

#### Bottom-Up Estimating
A method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating highly detailed estimates from the lowest levels of the WBS upwards to the project total.

#### Business Case
A strategic value proposition that provides the commercial justification for initiating a project, demonstrating that the returns justify the capital expenditure.

---

### C

#### Change Control Board (CCB)
A formally constituted group of key stakeholders responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, delaying, or rejecting proposed modifications to project baselines.

#### Change Request
A formal proposal to modify any project baseline, subsidiary plan, or process document. All change requests are logged and routed through *Assess and Implement Changes (PMBOK8 §2.1.6.8)*.

#### Cost Baseline (A16)
The approved version of the time-phased project budget, excluding management reserves, against which cost variances are measured.

#### Cost of Quality (COQ)
A financial model that aggregates the costs of ensuring conformance (prevention and appraisal) and the costs of non-conformance (internal and external failures).

#### Critical Path Method (CPM)
A schedule network analysis method used to calculate the theoretical minimum duration of a project by identifying the longest sequence of dependent activities.

---

### D

#### Decomposition
A specialized planning technique used to subdivide high-level project scope and deliverables into smaller, more manageable packages called activities and WBS components.

#### Deliverable
Any unique, verifiable, and tangible product, service, result, or software module produced to satisfy project requirements.

#### Duration Estimates
The quantitative assessment of the likely number of work periods required to complete an activity or work package, incorporating estimated resource levels.

---

### E

#### Earned Value Analysis (EVA)
An analytical methodology that integrates scope, schedule, and cost metrics to assess project performance and project future completion costs/timelines.

#### Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF)
Conditions, constraints, or commercial cultures not under the immediate control of the project team that influence, restrict, or direct project options (e.g., market conditions).

#### Expert Judgment
Specialized guidance or historical insight provided by individuals, professional associations, or consulting groups with domain expertise in specific processes.

---

### F

#### Facilitation
The capability to guide group workshops, resolve team conflicts, align expectations, and build consensus among stakeholders during project delivery.

#### Final Project Report
A closing document that summarizes the project's performance baseline achievements, benefits realized, and final transition milestones.

---

### G

#### Governance
The framework of rules, authorities, templates, and metrics that align project delivery with organizational strategy and financial compliance structures.

---

### I

#### Inspection
The physical, structured examination of an output or deliverable to verify that it conforms to quality metrics and requirements.

#### Issue Log
A living register used to capture, track, assign ownership to, and monitor the resolution of active project issues, bottlenecks, or disputes.

---

### K

#### Knowledge Area (KA)
An identified domain of project management defined by its knowledge requirements and described in terms of its component processes, practices, and inputs/outputs.

> ⚠️ **Legacy/Compatibility Note:** Knowledge Areas were the primary structural organizing
> unit in PMBOK 6 and earlier (e.g., Integration Management, Scope Management, Schedule
> Management). **PMBOK 7 replaced Knowledge Areas with Performance Domains**, and **PMBOK 8
> retained and refined the seven Performance Domains** (Governance, Scope, Schedule,
> Finance, Stakeholders, Resources, Risk). Knowledge Area terminology is retained here for
> legacy compatibility and cross-edition traceability only. All primary references in this
> repository use PMBOK 8 Performance Domain terminology. See `reference/performance-domains/`
> for the active domain structure.

---

### L

#### Lessons Learned Register
A living register created to capture historical insights, process improvements, and execution failures throughout the project lifecycle to optimize future deliveries.

---

### M

#### Make-or-Buy Analysis
The process of evaluating whether a specific product or service can be produced efficiently by the internal project team or must be procured from external sellers.

#### Milestone
A significant point or event in a project schedule baseline. Milestones have zero duration and mark critical decision gates or achievements.

---

### O

#### Organizational Process Assets (OPA)
Plans, templates, process guidelines, checklists, databases, and historical lessons learned registers owned and maintained by the performing organization.

---

### P

#### Parametric Estimating
An estimating technique that uses a statistical relationship between historical data and other variables (e.g., lines of code, square footage) to calculate estimates.

#### Performance Domain
One of the seven integrated areas of activity critical to project delivery, as defined in PMBOK 8 Guide §2: Governance, Scope, Schedule, Finance, Stakeholders, Resources, and Risk.

#### Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB)
An integrated baseline model formed by combining the Scope Baseline, Schedule Baseline, and Cost Baseline, used to measure holistic project execution.

#### Project Management Office (PMO)
An organizational structure that standardizes project governance, shares resources, guides methodologies, and monitors portfolio compliance.

#### Project Management Plan (PMP) (A14)
A comprehensive document that describes how the project will be executed, monitored, controlled, and closed. Formed by integrating subsidiary plans and baselines.

---

### Q

#### Quality Metrics
The specific operational parameters that define how deliverable conformance will be measured and controlled (e.g., defect density rate).

---

### R

#### Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) (A13)
A structural grid that links high-level product requirements from their origin to the specific WBS deliverables and testing verification packages that satisfy them.

#### Reserve Analysis
An analytical technique used to determine the necessary contingency reserves (for identified risks) and management reserves (for unidentified risks) for budgets and schedules.

#### Risk Register (A19)
A living register that captures identified project risks, qualitative/quantitative impact ratings, assigned risk owners, and approved response strategies.

---

### S

#### Scope Baseline
The approved, change-controlled version of the project scope model, comprising the Project Scope Statement, the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and the WBS Dictionary.

#### Sourcing Strategy
The foundational delivery plan detailing how the project will acquire goods, software, or labor from external sellers, including contract types and bid structures.

#### Stakeholder
An individual, team, or organization that may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project.

#### Systems Thinking
A modern delivery principle that views the project as a dynamic, interconnected system nested within a broader corporate and market environment.

---

### T

#### Tailoring
The conscious adaptation of the project development approach, lifecycles, and processes to fit the specific complexity, constraints, and environment of a project.

---

### V

#### Value Delivery Office (VDO)
An agile-adapted PMO focused on removing organizational bottlenecks, coaching teams in iterative methodologies, and managing value stream delivery.

#### Variance Analysis
An analytical technique used to identify and explain deviations between actual project performance metrics and the established baselines.

---

### W

#### Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.

#### Work Performance Data
The raw, daily observations and measurements identified during execution (e.g., actual cost spent, hours worked, start/end dates).

#### Work Performance Information
The analyzed and consolidated performance data metrics compared against the baselines to identify variances and trends (e.g., SV, CV, CPI).

#### Work Performance Reports
The physical or electronic representation of work performance information compiled into dashboard summaries, forecasts, and status reports.

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*Authority: PMBOK8 Guide §Glossary · PMOSkills Repository*
