7.1. Terms A–M

Acceptance criteria — Specific, testable conditions a deliverable must meet to be considered acceptable. (3-6)

Actual Cost (AC) — What was actually spent to complete work performed to date. (5-3)

Adaptive approach — A delivery approach that plans iteratively, treating change as expected input. (1-2, 4-1)

Assumption — Something believed true without proof, logged and monitored through the project. (2-1-2)

Backlog (product) — A prioritized list of work items, refined continuously; the adaptive-project analog of an RTM. (3-3, 4-2)

Burndown chart — Shows remaining work in the current iteration over time. (4-3)

Burnup chart — Shows completed work (and total scope) over time across iterations. (4-3)

Change control — The formal process for assessing, approving, or rejecting proposed changes to a predictive project's baselines. (5-3)

Constraint — A fixed limitation the project must operate within. (2-1-2)

Cost Variance (CV) — EV − AC; measures whether a project is under or over budget. (5-3)

Critical path — The longest sequence of dependent activities from start to finish; sets the minimum project duration. (5-2-1)

Definition of Done — A team-wide standard specifying what "complete" means for any task. (4-5)

Earned Value (EV) — The budgeted cost of work actually completed to date. (5-3)

Emotional intelligence (EQ) — The ability to recognize, understand, and manage one's own and others' emotions. (2-3)

Enterprise environmental factor (EEF) — A condition, not under the project team's control, that influences the project (e.g., organizational culture). (4-1)

Extreme Programming (XP) — An adaptive framework emphasizing engineering practices like pair programming and test-driven development. (4-4)

Integration management plan — The plan that keeps all other knowledge-area plans consistent as changes occur. (5-2-2)

Issue — A risk that has already occurred, or any current problem needing resolution. (2-1-2)

Iteration — A fixed-length timebox (e.g., a sprint) during which planned work is built and reviewed. (4-2)

Kanban — An adaptive framework using continuous flow and work-in-progress limits, without fixed iterations. (4-4)

Milestone — A significant point or event with zero duration. (2-2-1)