Glossary Term T206 Modern Project Management

The interdependence of scope, time and cost in a project: changing one of them affects at least one of the others, with quality in the middle. Also called the iron triangle.

A formal decision point at the end of a project phase where a sponsor or steering committee decides whether the project may proceed to the next phase. Also called stage gate or quality gate.

The sequence of phases a project passes through from initiation to closure.

A plan-driven approach that runs a project through clearly defined, consecutive phases, with goals, scope, schedule and budget largely fixed up front. Also called classic or predictive project management.

An acronym coined by futurist Jamais Cascio in 2020 for a world that is Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear and Incomprehensible.

An acronym for a world that is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous; used since the 1990s to describe environments that are hard to plan.

A management approach going back to Frederick W. Taylor (around 1900) that separates planning from doing and breaks work into small, standardized steps.

All projects and programs of an organization or unit that compete for the same resources, steered together so the organization does the right things.

A group of interdependent projects coordinated together to reach a shared strategic goal; it ends when that goal is reached.

A unique, temporary endeavor with a defined goal that is important, urgent or complex enough to need its own organization outside the normal line organization.