A pdf of the complete Praxis Comparative Glossary can be downloaded here.
From Establish project team to External dependency
This ISO21500 process is concerned with acquiring the human resources needed to complete project activities. It includes the ultimate release of resources when no longer required. The equivalent in Praxis is the mobilisation function and the mobilise and demobilise activities in the definition, boundaries and closure processes. The equivalent in the PMBoK® guide is Acquire Project Team. There is no obvious equivalent in PRINCE2 but it could be argued that mobilisation is implicit in the plan the next stage activity in the Managing a Stage Boundary (SB) process. | |
An assessment of a quantity. In project terms estimates are usually of time and cost for an element of a project. Estimates should be qualified to indicate the likely degree of accuracy e.g. by appending a spread such as ±15%. Alternatively, categories of estimate can be defined such as preliminary estimate or definitive estimate. These terms usually imply a certain degree of accuracy. See also estimating techniques. | |
This ISO21500 process takes the output of the Estimate resources process and estimates the time that those resources will take to complete the activity. In Praxis this is covered by the planning function and in PRINCE2 by the procedure in the plans theme. | |
This PMBoK® guide process takes the output of the Estimate Activity Resources process and estimates the time that those resources will take to complete the activity. The equivalent in ISO21500 is Estimate activity durations. In Praxis this is covered by the planning function and in PRINCE2 by the procedure in the plans theme. | |
Estimate Activity Resources (6.4)
| This PMBoK® guide process identifies the resources needed to complete an activity, including people, materials and equipment. The equivalent in ISO21500 is Estimate resources. In Praxis this is covered by the planning function and in PRINCE2 by the procedure in the plans theme. |
More: | The current projected total cost of the project derived from earned value management data. The actual cost so far of the project is added to the estimate to completion. |
An ISO21500 process concerned with estimating the cost of completing an activity. PRINCE2 combines cost and time estimating in the prepare estimates step of the procedure in the plans theme. | |
A PMBoK® guide process concerned with estimating the cost of performing an activity. Praxis covers estimating generically in the planning function and makes reference to specific estimates in budgeting and cost control and schedule management. PRINCE2 combines cost and time estimating in the prepare estimates step of the procedure in the plans theme. | |
This ISO21500 process identifies the resources needed to perform an activity, including people, materials and equipment. The equivalent in the PMBoK® guide is Estimate Activity Resources. In Praxis this is covered by the planning function and in PRINCE2 by the procedure in the plans theme. | |
An estimate of the effort and cost required to complete an activity, work package or project. | |
More: | The earned value management term for a forecast of how much is left to spend in order to complete the project. It is calculated by taking the value of work done so far (budgeted cost of work performed) from the original budget (budget at completion) and dividing by the cost performance index. This assumes that the rate of progress on the remainder of the project will be the same as for the completed part of the project. |
Estimated time at completion (ETAC) More: | The estimated completion date of the project according to earned value management. This is calculated by adding the time taken so far to an estimate of remaining duration that uses the schedule performance index as a guide to future performance. |
A representation of how estimating accuracy increases through successive phases and stages in the life cycle. | |
More: | Estimating is the activity of predicting what a piece of work will require in terms of time, resource and cost. This can range from a high level estimate of a project in a programme to detailed estimating of individual activities in a work package. There are four fundamental approaches to estimating:
These terms are not mutually exclusive. For instance, a particular method may combine parametric and subjective approaches; another may be a combination of comparative and analytical. Estimating methods are as diverse as the range of organisations who undertake projects and programmes. |
More: | Ethics are the moral principles that govern someone’s behaviour or the way they perform an activity. Ethical behaviour could be said to be the cornerstone of competence in a professional environment. For that reason, most professional bodies have a code of conduct and all members must commit to adhere to it.
The equivalent function in the APM BoK is ethics frameworks. The subject is not addressed in the PMBoK® guide, ISO21500 or PRINCE2. |
Evaluate new information (MSP 5th Ed.) | A process that ensures the sponsoring group and programme board are supported by high quality, up do date and decision ready information. This process works with each theme in order to provide governance and control of the programme. |
An activity from the PRINCE2 Closing a Project (CP) process that reviews all aspects of the project including changes to the original plan, team performance and an assessment of expected benefits. The outputs are an end project report and a lessons report. The equivalent in Praxis is the review activity in the closure process. The PMBoK® guide covers this review as part of Close Project or Phase. ISO21500 doesn’t make any specific reference to a review at the end of the project but does have a specific process for Collecting lessons learned. | |
A point that represents the start or finish of an activity in an activity on arrow network. The event is usually represented by a circle divided into three or four sections. | |
In addition to time-driven progress reports, progress may be reported at a particular event. This may be more applicable to certain stakeholders and will also be an input to the go/no go decision process at the end of a defined segment of work e.g. the end of a stage within a project; the end of a contractor’s work package; the end of a tranche within a programme or the end of a project within a portfolio. | |
Controls, in the form of progress meetings, reports and reviews, can be event-driven or time-driven. An event-driven control is triggered by an event such as the end of a stage or achievement of a milestone. | |
An actual or forecast deviation from the baseline that is outside the tolerance levels agreed between the levels of management within the project. | |
A review in PRINCE2 where the project board will decide whether or not to approve an exception plan. | |
A plan produced in situations where costs or timescales have already been exceeded or are anticipated to exceed the agreed tolerances. The exception plan should demonstrate the remedial action recommended for project, sub-project, work package or stage that has exceeded its tolerances. | |
A report that describes an exception, provides an analysis of the exception, gives options for the way forward and identifies a recommended option. An exception typically occurs when an aspect (e.g. scope or time) or a part of project (e.g. work package or stage) exceeds the agreed tolerances. | |
This type of probabilistic dependency indicates that only one of the predecessors can be undertaken. Whichever one is chosen excludes all others. If probabilities are used, they must add up to 1. The same type of rules can apply to outgoing activities as well as incoming activities. | |
The activity in PRINCE2 where work gets done and products are produced. This activity is managed by the individual or team to whom the work has been delegated. The work must be managed within the agreed tolerances. If these tolerances are exceeded or forecast to be exceeded the team manager must raise an issue with the project manager. The equivalent in Praxis is the perform work activity in the development process. Neither the PMBoK® guide nor ISO21500 have a defined relationship between a project manager and team manager. This could be regarded as implicit within the application of Direct and Manage Project Work (PMBoK® guide) and Direct project work (ISO21500) when these processes are applied at project and work package level. | |
A PMBoK® guide process group that includes the processes involved in producing the project’s deliverables. These processes can be applied at different levels with the project, i.e. for the project as a whole or for a stage or sub-project. When viewed from the perspective of the project life cycle, these processes are covered in Praxis by activities in the delivery process, development process and elements of individual procedures such as procurement and stakeholder management. In PRINCE2 the corresponding elements at the project life cycle level are activities within the Controlling a Stage (CS) and Managing Product Delivery (MP) processes. ISO21500 equivalent process group is called simply – implementing. | |
A PRINCE2 term for the person who chairs the project board (the body that provides sponsorship in a PRINCE2 project). The executive ‘owns’ the business case and is ultimately responsible for making sure that the project meets the business’ objectives. | |
In SPgM this is a senior manager who is responsible for the success of a program activity. Most activity within a program is made up of projects and business change that the SPgM typically refers to as components. In this context the role of executive sponsor can reasonably be equated to those of project sponsor or executive and business change manager as described in both Praxis and MSP. | |
Expectancy theory was an approach to motivation developed in the 1950’s. In simple terms it relates the effort an individual will put into their work to their expectation of rewards. The outcomes of doing a job are classed as intrinsic and extrinsic. Examples of intrinsic outcomes are a sense of achievement or a feeling of having learnt something. Intrinsic outcomes come from the performance of the activity itself and are not given by someone else. The degree to which intrinsic or extrinsic factors will motivate an individual is inherent within models such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. | |
Expected monetary value is a way of quantifying the value of uncertain events or a sequence of uncertain events. In its simplest form the risk events in the risk register can be valued in terms of their monetary impact on the objectives, their impact on the budget or the cost of their mitigation. More sophisticated techniques include decision trees. | |
This may seem like a general term but in the PMBoK® guide it is a frequently referenced specific technique. It is defined as judgement based on expertise in an application area, knowledge area, discipline, industry, etc. | |
One of the four possible opportunity responses. | |
A life cycle that includes the achievement of outcomes and realisation of benefits up to the point when the business case has been achieved. | |
Constraints that act upon a project, programme or portfolio from outside the scope of the work. | |
A dependency between a project activity and an activity external to the project. |