Project Management Definitions – Part 7

Material

The aggregate of things used by an organization in any undertaking, such as equipment, apparatus, tools, machinery, dear, material, and supplies

Material resources

The suppliers or other items used to complete a task

Matrix organization

Any organisational structure in which the project manager shares responsibility with the functional managers for assigning priorities and for directing the work of persons assigned to the project

Methodology

A system of practices, techniques, procedures, and roles used by those who work in a discipline

Milestone

A task that usually has zero duration, which Martin events in the schedule network diagram or visual display of how all the tasks relate to one another

Monitor

Collect project performance data with respect to a plan, produced performance measures, and reports and disseminate performance information

Monte Carlo analysis

A technique that computes or better rates, the project costs or project schedule many times using input values selected at random from probability distributions of possible costs or durations, to calculate a distribution of possible total project cost or completion dates

Monte Carlo simulation

A process which generates hundreds or thousands of probable performance outcomes based on probability distributions for cost and schedule on individual tasks.  The outcomes are then used to generate a probability distribution for the project as a whole

Near critical activity

A schedule activity that has low total float.  The concept of near critical is equally applicable to a schedule activity or schedule network path.  The limits below which total float is considered near critical is subject to expert judgment and varies from project to project

Network logic

The collection of schedule activity dependencies that makes up a project schedule network diagram

Network path

Any continuous series of schedule activities connected with logical relationships in a project schedule network diagram

Node

One of the defining points of the schedule Network, a junction point joined to some or all of the other dependency lines

Non-working time

The time a resource is not available to be assigned to work on any task in the project

Objective

Something toward which work is to be directed, a strategic position to be obtained, or a purpose to be achieved, or result to be obtained, a product to be produced, or a service to be performed

Opportunity

A conditional situation favourable to the project, a positive set of circumstances, a positive set of events, a risk that will have a positive impact on project objectives, or a possibility for positive changes

Organisational breakdown structure (OBS)

A hierarchically organized depiction of the project organization arranged so as to relate the work packages to the performing organisational units

Organisational process assets

Any or all process related assets, from any or all of the organizations involved in the project that are all can be used to influence the project success.

These process assets include formal and informal plans, policies, procedures, and guidelines.  The process assets can also include the organization’s knowledge bases such as lessons learned and historical information

Over allocation

When the resources assigned to spend more time on a single task or a combination of tasks occurring at the same time than that resources were calendar permits

Overtime

Any work schedule be on the resources standard working hours

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