3.9. Scheduling Terms
Making sure all stakeholders use the same terminology is crucial in all phases of project management, but it’s especially important when you are trying to get a group of diverse people to agree to a schedule. After all, a schedule only works as a form of communication if it is written in a language everyone understands. And since contract terms are often tied to a schedule, a lack of common agreement on the meaning of specific terms in a schedule can have far-ranging effects.
Terminology is so important that many state governments around the United States publish their own project management glossaries. As you embark on a new project, you’d be wise to find out if the organization you work for or the vendors you will be working with have compiled such a glossary. If such organizational resources exist, use them as a starting point for your own project glossary. Otherwise, you can always turn to the Project Management Institute’s lexicon (available here: “PMI Lexicon of Project Management Terms”) or glossaries provided online by consulting firms or other project management resources.
The following definitions (see activity below) of scheduling-related terms are taken from a variety of sources.
Let’s Review
Text Description
- Dialog Text: An element of work performed during the course of a project. An activity normally has an expected duration, an expected cost, and expected resource requirements. Solution: Activity
- Dialog Text: An expenditure, usually of money, for purchasing goods or services. Solution: Cost
- Dialog Text: Any personnel, material, or equipment required for the performance of an activity. Solution: Resource
- Dialog Text: Calculated time span during which an event has to occur within the logical and imposed constraints of the network, without affecting the total project duration. Solution: Slack
- Dialog Text: A significant event in the project; usually completion of a major deliverable. Solution: Milestone
- Dialog Text: The amount of time to complete a specific task given other commitments, work, vacations, etc., Usually expressed as workdays or workweeks. Solution: Duration
“5.2. Scheduling Terms” from Essentials of Project Management by Adam Farag is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
