| Term |
Definition |
Discussion |
Examples & Illustrations |
| Above-the-line AtL |
Related to the planning, monitoring and management of a project . |
Above-the-line is an adjectival expression. It is used to qualify both outputs and activities.
"Above-the-line", as a project management concept, should not be confused with the same term used in marketing.
Refer also below-the-line. |
"Present the business case" is an above-the-line process.
The business case itself is an above-the-line output. |
| Accepted (project) practice |
A collection of procedures that are accepted by the project management profession (especially the PMI) as meeting certain criteria - and hence are accepted for use in the management of projects. |
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The PMBoK includes a significant catalogue of accepted (project management) practice. |
| Acquisition plan |
A comprehensive model of the outlays on external products and services that are demanded by the project's WBS. |
Refer also resource plan and HR plan. |
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| Activity |
A formalised process that is made up of tasks.
Also used loosely to mean any "block of work". |
In the stylised three-level WBS, processes at the second level are called activities. A collection of related activities constitutes a phase.
By convention, an activity is expressed as an English imperative. An imperative takes the form of a command or an instruction.
See also:
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This is an appropriately-worded activity because it is stated as imperatives (commands):
- "Arrange meetings with major existing suppliers"
These are unaccepable forms of wording for activities (because they are nouns):
- "Minutes of meeting with supplier"
- "Results of process evaluation"
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| Ad hoc tasks |
Small blocks of work that require no formal planning or monitoring. |
The optimal way of handling ad hoc tasks is to "make them up as you go along" - correcting errors by simply redoing the work involved. |
Normally one would not plan the work involved in correcting the draft of a set of minutes from a meeting. |
| Alterant |
An output from a process in which an attribute of an existing artifact is altered. |
Refer also deliverable. |
A revised version of a (preliminary) list of preferred vendors is an alterant. (As distinct from the initial version of such a list—which would be an alterant). |
| Appraisal (of a project) |
Ex ante assessment of a project—carried out before a project is approved. Appraisal is based on benefit-cost-risk analysis, which is a formalised model of the project’s predicted worth. |
The decisions to fund and approve are informed by the appraisal contained in the business case.
Any decision to abandon or continue a project in progress will be based on a revised appraisal.
Refer also evaluation. |
Before committing to Project BuyRite, Henry Crun will want to see details of:
- the benefits to flow from improved procurement processes.
- The costs of reengineering those processes.
- The risks involved.
|
| Artifact |
Something that has a direct physical representation—with measurable physical attributes. |
Artifacts are produced from a process. |
Amongst the (many) artifacts that will be recognised in the outputs from Project BuyRite are:
- A flowchart.
- A document.
- An organisational model.
- A computer screen.
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| Assessment (of a project) |
A process to measure the worth of a project. |
Takes two forms:
- Appraisal—on which approval to proceed with the project is based.
- Evaluation—on which the quality of the decision to proceed is gauged.
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| AtL |
See above-the-line. |
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| Attribute |
A defined/measurable characteristic of any entity recognised within the MFBP framework. |
The word attribute is used here in a sense very similar to that adopted in data modelling. |
A date for realisation of the Procurement Improvement Project’s target cost reduction is an attribute of that target outcome.
The count of suppliers appearing in the list of preferred vendors is an attribute of that list. |
