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Questions tagged [terminology]

For questions about project management related terminology.

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2 answers
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Why is it called a story spike?

I understand what a story spike is for, but I'd like to know what the significance of the term is. I don't immediately see the relationship between the word "spike" and what it represents in ...
BVernon's user avatar
  • 133
0 votes
2 answers
1k views

What is the difference between an artifact, a deliverable, and an increment in software development with Scrum when using Jira?

I'm confused about the use of Artifact, Deliverable and Increment in a software project using Scrum. We use JIRA to create tickets. Let's say we have the following under an epic: Create a ...
sukesh's user avatar
  • 101
0 votes
1 answer
61 views

What is the name of the practice of mapping problems and their inter connected relationships?

Some time ago I saw an article about a model where the different problems or dysfunctions of a team (or company) where identified. Then, once the problems are identified, the relationship between them ...
Tiago Cardoso's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
148 views

What is the term you use for a user that is a developer?

When developing a UI components software library, the "immediate" user of the library is not the end user interacting with the components on a website, but the developer who takes those ...
cipak's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
5 answers
5k views

What is a clear, but more friendly term than "post mortem?"

I'm looking for a less ominous term than postmortem1, but that's still clear about the purpose of the exercise. We considered but discarded: Debrief Too vague and unfocused. We're not here to chat, ...
Clay Nichols's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
2k views

Is "citizen development" <software development> an old thing with new name in the project management field?

From my personal experience project managers as other "knowledge workers" have being creating software applications using low-code / no code platforms, i.e. the Macro recorder in MS Office ...
Rubén's user avatar
  • 201
0 votes
5 answers
2k views

Is given-when-then a standard for how acceptance criteria should be worded?

I am having trouble understanding whether it is considered a best practice to write acceptance criteria in the Cucumber-style given/when/then format, or if there are some scenarios in which this is ...
Javi Torre's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
84 views

Is there a term for chained unknown unknowns?

I don’t know if this is the proper place for this question, but here goes. I often find myself in a situation where stakeholders ask how much time remains on a given technical task. The answer to this ...
Chris L.'s user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
379 views

What is a staff week?

I have heard the term "staff" week. I know that calendar week is the actual calendar days but what is a "staff" week?
Jim's user avatar
  • 131
1 vote
2 answers
197 views

Auditing vs. Inspection

I’m confused about the difference between audit and inspection. I know that they will have different meanings if used in different processes, but I think that inspection is about “deliverable or ...
Neptune's user avatar
  • 113
1 vote
1 answer
852 views

Project management vs. Program management vs. Portfolio management [duplicate]

I am now entering the field of project management and I am reading on google and other books I have found. My question is what is the difference between Project management vs. Program management vs. ...
just_learning's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
17k views

Epic versus Sprint?

What is the difference between an Epic and a Sprint? I have a general idea of how an Epic is a collection of Stories which can sometimes have a collection of tasks. However, what I am confused on is: ...
Manseypants's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
81 views

Why is the word "business" used in business rules?

I'm migrating this question from SQA. Why do expressions like business analyst, business intelligence, business rules, etc. using the word "business"? I guess that is because usually software is ...
Mate Mrše's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

What is the difference between ABCD analysis and Eisenhower method?

According to Wikipedia, the ABCD analysis is: Activities are ranked by these general criteria: A – Tasks that are perceived as being urgent and important, B – Tasks that are important but ...
Ooker's user avatar
  • 199
0 votes
2 answers
722 views

What are the differences/similarities between a project manager and a functional manager?

How can we describe them separately according their roles? Actually I am a new student; I don't have proper knowledge about this. Please guide me as a basic student.
Lajpat Rai's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
250 views

What is the term for actual delivery time will be varied by 4 times from estimation?

I remember I once read in Wikipedia about a law stating that the actual delivering time will always be 4 times less to 4 times more from the estimated time, even when you aware that law and know every ...
Ooker's user avatar
  • 199
0 votes
2 answers
102 views

Is using of the term "KPI" correct at process level?

I have read in many business books that KPIs should be only those metrics that directly relate to organizational strategic goals. Also that C-level people look at them and can act on them. According ...
John V's user avatar
  • 363
3 votes
5 answers
999 views

What a difference between large Project and Program

In PMI's "The Standard for Program Management" I have read following: Other organizations refer to large projects as programs. These "programs" include large individual projects or a single large ...
Sergey Kudryavtsev's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
44 views

Parallel workflows: Preparation at a low-level, while management sorts things out at a high-level

Introduction: My organization is embarking on a corporate asset management project. The corporation knows that it needs to do comprehensive asset management on all its assets, in a single, easy-to-...
User1974's user avatar
  • 115
3 votes
6 answers
24k views

Difference between maintenance and development

I currently work in an agile environment that works primarily in web development for a university. My boss always talks about the differences between maintenance and development while also considering ...
BuddhistBeast's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
75k views

Goal vs. Objective vs. Scope vs. Deliverable

What are the definitions and relationship between Goal, Objective, Scope, and Deliverables? Upon searching, I'm seeing conflicting and overlapping definitions of these terms.
starno's user avatar
  • 51
2 votes
2 answers
177 views

What would you call a 'static' project, i.e. one without goals

OK, so we're developing a project management software (of sorts, way wider scope) where we basically divide everything into 3 levels, organizations, projects and roles. However, there has been some ...
Seppo420's user avatar
  • 123
31 votes
3 answers
46k views

What are the definitions and differences between: Theme, Epic, Feature, User Story and Task?

There are several terms which we use to describe requirements: Theme Epic Feature User Story Task What are the formal definitions of these terms and what are the differences between them (except ...
Sergey Kudryavtsev's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
343 views

Appropriate use of 'Supporting Experts' as descriptor for people 'familiar with subject matter'

The PMBOK uses the term 'Supporting Experts' in the list of project team roles, defined as Supporting experts perform activities required to develop or execute the PM plan. ... such as contracting, ...
getglad's user avatar
  • 187
1 vote
2 answers
3k views

What is the correct name for terminating a project before it's complete?

I am running a project that is no longer viable due to an incorrect assumption. Therefore the project needs to be canceled/discontinued/killed/deleted/scrubbed. What is the correct name for this stage ...
Bartley's user avatar
  • 185
2 votes
2 answers
8k views

Is there any difference between "method" and "methodology" terms?

I saw many times that this two terms are used like synonyms. For example in wikipedia write that Agile is "a group of software development methods", but Extreme programming is "a software development ...
Sergey Kudryavtsev's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
7k views

What is the definition of "development model"?

What is the definition of "development model"? For example: Waterfall model, Iterative model or Spiral model. In this case "model" is just synonym of "methodology" (wikipedia keep articles about ...
Sergey Kudryavtsev's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
85 views

How to manage monthly customer activities?

Suppose you allocate to your customers 3 of Activity A/month and 5 of Activity B/month. How do you keep track of what you've allocated and what they've used every month? Something that is going to ...
april26's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
2 answers
4k views

What's the Title for the Person Who Runs a PMO Office?

I've been in several organizations that have a PMO - Project Management Office. But I've never gotten a clear take on what the person who runs it should really be called. I've sometimes heard him/...
user249493's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
3k views

What is the difference between "New feature" and "New development"?

I have seen the two terms New Feature and New Development in same backlogs (i.e. more than one backlog), for things to be developed and integrated within a system/application. I have used both myself ...
Pixic's user avatar
  • 238
21 votes
15 answers
59k views

How do you name Sprints in Scrum?

I was wondering if it's a good idea to name Sprints with user-friendly names instead of using numerals like Sprint 1, Sprint 2, etc. Are there best practices or standards for naming the Sprint after ...
Bijay Rungta's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
64 views

Multi-level process development

I was previously acquainted with a specific model, which contains levels for different phases of a systems development, ie: Phase 1: Complete chaos, nothing works Phase 2: Getting stuff to work, but ...
ljs.dev's user avatar
  • 308
5 votes
4 answers
3k views

What's the rational behind dehumanizing people and calling them “resources” in project management?

I'm a software developer. One thing I learned about this a long time ago is that no two developers are the same (experience, skills, etc.). What I learned about project management is that it's ...
Bug's user avatar
  • 63
0 votes
3 answers
2k views

What's the difference between software engineering and software project?

I find that I'm confused between the terms "software engineering" and "software project". What is the difference between these? I suspect that "software engineering" may focus on a different aspect, ...
lovespring's user avatar
14 votes
6 answers
7k views

What's the difference between quality assurance and quality control?

I'm having a hard time concisely explaining to some people what the difference between the two are. Also, I not totally sure what the scope and detail of quality assurance entails. Quality control is ...
chrisjlee's user avatar
  • 1,699
26 votes
1 answer
694 views

What is a “battery”?

I was very surprised to read, in this question, the mention of “batteries” as a PM tool, seemingly linked to Scrum. The OP talks about an article about their use, but none of my desperate Googling ...
MattiSG's user avatar
  • 935
4 votes
6 answers
755 views

What should we call sprints in agile development when not selling consulting to a client?

Obviously, calling sprints "sprints" would be one option, but even though that is well known and might convey an image of working really hard and getting a lot done, it also might imply "moving as ...
psr's user avatar
  • 259
29 votes
10 answers
39k views

What is the difference between Project and Product Management?

From a cursory survey, they appear extremely similar. Is this the case? Other than Projects tending to be short-term and Products tending to be ongoing endeavours, is there a difference in the two? ...
warren's user avatar
  • 942
3 votes
3 answers
4k views

How is a group of deliverables called?

They are not projects, as one project contains more groups of deliverables. Is milestone a correct term? I hope the chart below explains it a little.
ONOZ's user avatar
  • 193
0 votes
4 answers
28k views

What is meant by the term, 'Task and Finish'?

Is it a new way of saying 'project'? If not, can you provide an example.
Umber Ferrule's user avatar
22 votes
9 answers
97k views

What is the difference between framework vs methodology?

What the difference is between a methodology and a framework? And where does the process come into that story? And perhaps, it would be good to have this comparison explained by using methodologies ...
Kennethvr's user avatar
  • 2,752
4 votes
8 answers
3k views

What's a more generic, less-loaded name for "operations"?

I'm trying to help better organize the activities of our group. We're largely a service organization (working with faculty and students at an academic institution), but we're a tech group and we do ...
mattdm's user avatar
  • 571
17 votes
7 answers
10k views

Whats the difference between a project manager and an IT manager?

What is the difference between these roles and where is the crossover? Is it possible to be both in particular jobs?
Kieran Andrews's user avatar