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The PMBOK® Guide Glossary provides hundreds of definitions of terms and acronyms used throughout project management and the PMBOK® Guide.   

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Quick reference

PMBOK® Guide Glossary

The PMBOK® Guide Glossary provides hundreds of definitions of terms and acronyms used throughout project management and the PMBOK® Guide. This is to further the goal of creating a common language for project management.

When to use

The PMBOK® Guide Glossary is a reference that should be used whenever there is confusion or uncertainty about the meaning of a term or acronym. In particular, when preparing for the PMP® exam, be familiar with the terms in the Glossary because they will be used in framing the exam questions.

Instructions

The PMBOK® Guide Glossary contains 45 acronyms and over 500 terms and phrases, many of which are often represented as acronyms. The definition of a term in the PMBOK® Guide may not be consistent with the definition of that term used in your organization. The Glossary does not include every term found in the PMBOK® Guide.

“This glossary includes terms that are:

  • Unique or nearly unique to project management (e.g., project scope statement, work package, work breakdown structure, critical path method).
  • Not unique to project management, but used differently or with a narrower meaning in project management than in general every day usage (e.g., early start date).

This glossary generally does not include:

  • Application area-specific terms.
  • Terms used in project management which do not differ in any material way from every day use (e.g., calendar day, delay).
  • Compound terms whose meaning is clear from the combined meanings of the component parts.
  • Variants when the meaning of the variant is clear from the base term.
  • Terms that are used only once and are not critical to understand the point of the sentence.”

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Page 695.

The implications of this quotation from the PMBOK® Guide are:

  • Many PMBOK® Guide Glossary terms refer to scope, time and risk management because these are unique to project management.
  • Many PMBOK® Guide Glossary terms refer to quality management because the project quality management use is narrower than the typical use of the term.
  • There are few PMBOK® Guide Glossary terms referring to human resource, communication, and stakeholder management since the use of these terms is common throughout industry.
  • Relatively few PMBOK® Guide glossary terms refer to integration, cost, and procurement management since these are often industry specific.

PMBOK and PMP are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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  • 00:04 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 A very important element of the Project Management Body of Knowledge,
  • 00:09 the PMBOK Guide, is the glossary.
  • 00:11 Let's take a look at why.
  • 00:13 The glossary contains numerous acronyms and
  • 00:16 terms that are often used in project management.
  • 00:20 There are 45 acronyms in the glossary, and another 500 terms.
  • 00:25 The questions on the PMP exam will assume that you know what each of those terms and
  • 00:29 acronyms mean.
  • 00:30 If you don't understand them you may not understand the question.
  • 00:34 For instance, here is a hypothetical question.
  • 00:36 You may expect a question similar to this on the exam.
  • 00:39 If your project had a BAC of $900 and the current state conditions are a PV of $400,
  • 00:46 an EV of $50 and an AC of $425, then what is a reasonable estimate for ETC?
  • 00:53 If you don't know what these earned value acronyms mean,
  • 00:56 you're absolutely clueless as to how to answer that question.
  • 01:01 Here's another reason to study the glossary.
  • 01:03 The definitions of terms or acronyms in the PMBOK Guide
  • 01:07 may not be the same definition that you normally use in your business.
  • 01:11 For instance, your business probably has a definition or at least a common
  • 01:15 understanding of the term deliverable as it applies to a project.
  • 01:18 But in the glossary, you will find terms deliverable, accepted deliverable and
  • 01:24 verified deliverable, each with a different definition.
  • 01:27 Which definition fits with how your company uses the term?
  • 01:31 The beginning of the glossary explains how the decisions were made for
  • 01:34 which terms to include and to exclude.
  • 01:37 Let's look at the inclusions first.
  • 01:39 The glossary includes terms that are unique or
  • 01:42 nearly unique to project management, such as a project scope statement,
  • 01:46 work package, work breakdown structure, and critical path method.
  • 01:50 It also includes terms that are not unique to project management but
  • 01:54 used differently, or with a narrower meaning when in project management
  • 01:58 than they are in general use.
  • 02:00 Such as the terms early start date.
  • 02:03 We know what those three words mean by themselves, but
  • 02:05 they have a unique meaning when applied to critical path calculations.
  • 02:09 Now for the exclusions.
  • 02:11 This glossary generally does not include application area specific terms.
  • 02:15 That could be something that would be unique to the medical device industry, or
  • 02:19 unique to the mining industry.
  • 02:22 Terms used in project management which do not differ in any material way
  • 02:25 from everyday use, such as a calendar, or a delay.
  • 02:30 Compound terms whose meanings are clear from
  • 02:32 just the combined meanings of the component parts such as expert judgement.
  • 02:37 Variants, when the meaning of the variant is clear from the base term.
  • 02:41 This will include plurals or past tense and
  • 02:43 present tense of a term that is already defined.
  • 02:46 And finally, terms that are only used once and
  • 02:49 aren't critical to the meaning of the sentence, such as the use of the term
  • 02:53 conversation thread when discussing online communication.
  • 02:57 Let's take a look at the implications of these inclusions and exclusions so
  • 03:01 as to help you understand how to use the glossary as a study aid.
  • 03:05 As far as what is in the glossary, many of the terms refer to scope, time and
  • 03:10 risk management, because the terms and
  • 03:12 the process activities that these apply to are unique to project management.
  • 03:17 The glossary is a great way to study for these areas.
  • 03:20 Also, many of the glossary terms refer to quality management, because the quality
  • 03:25 management, as it is described in the PMBOK Guide, is unique and specific to projects.
  • 03:30 Only a subset of what is normally referred to as quality management is included in
  • 03:34 the PMBOK Guide.
  • 03:35 A study of the glossary will help to clarity what is in and what is not.
  • 03:40 And now for things it excluded.
  • 03:42 There are a few terms referring to human resource management, communication, and
  • 03:46 stakeholder management.
  • 03:47 The way these are being treated in the PMBOK Guide is pretty standard for
  • 03:51 how they are treated throughout industry.
  • 03:53 There is very little that is unique in these areas.
  • 03:56 That doesn't mean that the leadership topics are not important,
  • 03:59 only that they are not unique.
  • 04:01 Finally, there are relatively few glossary terms related to integration, costs,
  • 04:06 and procurement, because these often become very company or industry specific.
  • 04:11 Although some of the principles are universally applicable,
  • 04:14 such as change management, each industry and company may use a different term or
  • 04:19 acronym for describing the status of a change request.
  • 04:25 The glossary is a great study guide,
  • 04:26 you should be familiar with each of those terms.
  • 04:29 It's very likely that many of the questions will be based upon understanding
  • 04:34 the correct definition of the glossary terms.

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PMI, PMP, CAPM and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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