Project Management Glossary
Plain-language definitions of key project management terms — for teams that want to understand the concepts, not just the jargon.
What is Kanban?
Definition, how it works, and how teams use it
What is Time Tracking?
Definition, how it works for teams, and why it matters for billing
What is Project Management?
Definition, methodologies, and how teams run projects without overpaying
What is CRM?
Definition, what CRM software does, and why teams need it alongside project management
What are Billable Hours?
Definition, how to track them, and why agencies lose money without a system
What is a Gantt Chart?
Definition, how project timelines work, and when teams use them
What is Agile?
A project management approach built on short cycles, continuous feedback, and adapting to change instead of following a fixed plan.
What is Scrum?
A structured Agile framework that organizes work into fixed-length sprints, with defined roles and ceremonies that keep teams aligned and shipping regularly.
What is a Sprint?
A fixed-length work cycle — usually 2 weeks — in which a team commits to delivering a defined set of tasks, then reviews results and adjusts before the next cycle.
What is a KPI?
Key Performance Indicators are measurable values that show whether a team or business is hitting its most important goals.
What is Scope Creep?
Scope creep is the gradual expansion of a project's requirements beyond what was originally agreed — usually without adjusting timeline, budget, or resources.
What are Stakeholders?
Stakeholders are everyone who has an interest in a project's outcome — clients, team members, managers, end users, and anyone else affected by the work.
What is Risk Management?
Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, and reducing threats to a project's success — before they become problems.
What is Waterfall?
Waterfall is a linear project management approach where each phase must be fully completed before the next begins — requirements, design, build, test, deploy.
What are Deliverables?
Deliverables are the specific, tangible outputs a project produces — the items that get handed over to a client or stakeholder when work is complete.
What is Resource Management?
Resource management is planning and allocating your team's time, skills, and capacity across projects to maximize output without burning people out.
What is a Milestone?
A milestone is a significant checkpoint in a project timeline — a moment when a key phase is complete, a decision is made, or a deliverable is ready for review.
What are OKRs?
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a goal-setting framework that links ambitious objectives to specific, measurable results that prove the objective was achieved.
What is a Retrospective?
A retrospective is a structured team meeting at the end of a sprint or project to review what went well, what didn't, and what to change next time.
What is a Burndown Chart?
A burndown chart is a visual graph that shows how much work remains in a sprint or project versus how much time is left — so teams can see if they're on track.
What is Capacity Planning?
Capacity planning is figuring out whether your team has enough time and skills to take on upcoming work — before you commit to a deadline or a new project.
What is a Timesheet?
A timesheet is a record of how much time a person spent on specific tasks or projects during a given period — the foundation for billing, payroll, and productivity analysis.
What is a RACI Chart?
A RACI chart maps every project task to four roles — Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — so everyone knows who does what and who decides.
What is a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)?
A WBS breaks a project into smaller, manageable components — making it easier to estimate, assign, schedule, and track all the work required to deliver the project.
What is the Critical Path?
The critical path is the longest sequence of dependent tasks in a project — the chain that determines the minimum time needed to complete the project.
What are Project Dependencies?
Dependencies are relationships between tasks where one task cannot start (or finish) until another task is complete — the links that determine project sequence and schedule.
What is Project Scope?
Project scope defines exactly what a project will deliver — and just as importantly, what it won't. It's the boundary that separates project work from everything else.
What is Resource Allocation?
Resource allocation is the process of assigning the right people, with the right skills, to the right tasks at the right time — across all active projects.
What is Velocity in Agile?
Velocity is a measure of how much work an Agile team completes in a sprint — used to predict how much work can be planned for future sprints.
What is a Project Budget?
A project budget is the total estimated cost of a project — broken down by phase, resource, and cost type — used to plan spending and track actual costs against plan.
What is a Project Charter?
A project charter is a short document that formally authorizes a project — defining its purpose, objectives, scope boundaries, team, and key decisions before work begins.
What is a Bottleneck?
A bottleneck is any constraint in a process that limits throughput — a task, person, or step where work backs up because it can't be processed as fast as it arrives.
What is a Project Kickoff?
A project kickoff is the first official meeting of a project team and client — where goals, scope, timeline, communication norms, and team roles are aligned before work begins.
What is an SLA?
An SLA (Service Level Agreement) is a formal commitment between a service provider and a client that defines the expected level of service — response times, uptime, quality standards — and the consequences for missing them.
What is a Project Timeline?
A project timeline maps all tasks, milestones, and deadlines across the calendar — showing when work starts, how long it takes, and when the project ends.
What is Change Management?
Change management is the process of planning, approving, and implementing changes to a project's scope, timeline, or budget in a controlled way — so changes don't derail delivery.
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