Project Management Terminology
A Project Planner should know and understand project management terminology. Although you do not have to be a Project Manager to do scheduling – you have to have an understanding of the more frequently used terms used in the project environment. It is virtually impossible to present a comprehensive list in this study material. Even project management publications differ in the terms they list and discuss and including all of these will simply take up too much space.
A subjective extract of a number of important terms used in project management is therefore presented in this chapter. It is a list of common terms, together with a short description of what each term means.
QUESTIONS COVERED
- Give four important characteristics of a project.
- Is the Project Manager responsible for the project budget? Motivate your answer.
- List four functions of the Project Controls Department.
- List the two main project constraints which impact most on the project schedule.
- What is PMI-SP?
- What are the responsibilities of the main contractor within an LSTK contract?
- What does EPCM stand for?
- Give the three main uses of a Project Charter document.
- How can a BOQ be used to assess an earthworks activity completion percentage?
- Assess the following statements and answer TRUE or FALSE:
- The baseline is the “condition” against which all future progress is compared.
- The PMBOK and PRINCE2 are exactly the same.
- The decision to re-baseline is solely the responsibility of the project planner.
- A baseline must be saved as soon as possible as the first draft of the project schedule is published.
- A project may be re-baselined if timelines change due to conditions which were not known at the start of the project.
- A baseline is only concerned with the project schedule.
- Scheduling software only has the ability to save one baseline.
- It may be that a project schedule is baselined in stages as sub-contractor schedules become available.
- Contingency makes provision for …………………………………. Unknows.
- A project schedule is a deliverable.
- Risks cannot delay a project.
- Only civil projects need contingency plans.
- The scope document outlines the objectives of the project.
- How can change management be used in a project schedule?
- What are the potential problems with fast tracking a project?
- Can fast tracking and crashing be done simultaneously on a project? Explain your answer.
- What will the effect on P&G be, if a project overruns the completion date?
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INCLUDED IN THIS CHAPTER: Explanation of project management terminology: Project, Project Manager, Project Sponsor, Project Administrator, Project Controls, Project Close-Out, Project Constraint, Project Management Institute (PMI), Project Management Profession (PMI-PMP), Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP), PMBOK, PRINCE2, Global Alliance for Project Performance Standards (GAPPS), Site Manager, Lump Sum Turn Key (LSTK), Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM), Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC), Project Charter, Project Execution Plan (PEP), Procurement Operating Plan (POP), Baseline, Contingency, Time Phased Budget, BOQ – Bill of Quantities, Contingency Plan, Deliverables, Risk, Risk Mitigation Plan, Scope of Work, Trade-off, Change Management, Site Instruction, Fast Track, Crashing, Force Majeure, Preliminary and General (P&G), Contract Bond & Project Life Cycle.