| Activities | Pieces of work within a project that consume time. The completion of all the activities of a project marks the end of the project.
|
 |
|
|
| Critical path | The sequence of activities in a project that forms the longest chain in terms of their time to complete. This path contains zero slack time. Techniques used to find the critical path are called CPM or Critical Path Method techniques.
|
|
|
|
| Early start schedule | A project schedule that lists all activities by their early start times.
|
|
|
|
| Functional project | A structure where team members are assigned from the functional units of the organization. The team members remain a part of their functional units and typically are not dedicated to the project.
|
|
|
|
| Gantt chart | Shows in a graphic manner the amount of time involved and the sequence in which activities can be performed. Often referred to as a bar chart.
|
|
|
|
| Immediate predecessor | Activity that needs to be completed immediately before another activity.
|
|
|
|
| Late start schedule | A project schedule that lists all activities by their late start times. This schedule may create savings by postponing purchases of material and other costs associated with the project.
|
|
|
|
| Matrix project | A structure that blends the functional and pure project structures. Each project uses people from different functional areas. A dedicated project manager decides what tasks need to be performed and when, but the functional managers control which people to use.
|
|
|
|
| Project | A series of related jobs usually directed toward some major output and requiring a significant period of time to perform.
|
|
|
|
| Project management | Planning, directing, and controlling resources (people, equipment, material) to meet the technical, cost, and time constraints of a project.
|
|
|
|
| Project milestone | A specific event in a project.
|
|
|
|
| Pure project | A structure for organizing a project where a self contained team works full time on the project.
|
|
|
|
| Slack time | The time that an activity can be delayed; the difference between the late and early start times of an activity.
|
|
|
|
| Time–cost models | Extension of the critical path models that considers the trade-off between the time required to complete an activity and cost. This is often referred to as "crashing" the project.
|
|
|
|
| Work breakdown structure | The hierarchy of project tasks, subtasks, and work packages.
|