| Term |
Definition |
Discussion |
Examples & Illustrations |
| Deadline |
An arbitrarily set date for an event in the
project’s workplan.
|
Not to be confused with milestone. |
Dennis has indicated to Minnie that he would
like the Procurement problems all sorted out
within nine months. If that date is simply a
desire—and not the result of verifiable
analysis—it is a deadline. That doesn’t mean
it is not important—nor does it mean it is not
achievable—but until it is supported with
reliable analysis it cannot be used as a project
parameter.
|
| Defining (a project’s) outputs |
A project’s outputs are defined when two
conditions have been met:
|
In practice, the cataloguing of a project’s
outputs might require a PBS—rather than a
simple list.
Refer also:
|
|
| Deliver |
To transfer an output from the project
environment to the operational environment—completely ready for utilisation.
|
The accountability of the project manager is
discharged on delivery.
On a matter of terminology outputs are
delivered—but outcomes are realised.
|
|
| Deliverable |
A newly created output from a process (that
did not exist before the process was
executed).
|
Refer also alterant. |
A preliminary list of preferred vendors is a
deliverable.
|
| Descope (a project) |
To reduce the scope of a project. |
A project can be descoped in either/both of two
ways:
- Remove outputs from the scoping
statement.
- Remove (or weaken) fitness-for-purpose
features for selected outputs.
|
|
| Disbeneficiary |
See Impactee. |
|
|
| Disbenefit |
A loss of value by a stakeholder that is
attributable to the project.
A disbenefit is the negative of a benefit. |
The stakeholder experiencing the loss of value
is called a Disbeneficiary or Impactee.
|
The reduced volume of business from ICO
suffered by those established suppliers who
don’t make it onto the preferred vendor list
represents a disbenefit to them.
|
| Duration |
The time taken to execute a process—in
particular any subset of a WBS--including: a
task, an activity or a phase.
|
In process analysis terms, duration is the same
thing as Process elapsed time (PET).
Elapsed time and labour are closely related—but separately defined concepts
|
The unit of measurement for duration is
typically days, weeks or months.
The unit of measurement for labour is typically
person-days, person-weeks or person-months.
|
