Published here June 2017

Introduction | Background
A New Goal for Our Glossary | Description
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A New Goal for Our Glossary

It would be nice if everyone could agree and understand the same meaning for a given term and its context. But language is a living lexicon leading to changes by general consensus over time and, in any case, experts, authors and users are entitled to define terms in their own way to suit their particular purpose. Language serves us much better this way. Unfortunately, the inappropriate application of copyright to terminology can also lead to numerous attempts to say the same thing, but using different words to get around copyright infringement. Clearly this practice is not helpful.

So, as indicated in our introduction, we have set a new goal. That is to produce a set of separate and much more relevant Glossaries each of which are trimmed down to be more relevant, focused, and succinct. Accordingly, we have conducted a thorough review of our master collection, removed a number of definitions that we now consider obsolete, and added many new definitions. At the same time, we have undertaken the arduous task of examining each and every definition and flagging it according to its evident usage.

The result is a collection that is extensive but which reflects different "dialects" according to the type of outcome or product, the technology involved, and even the whims of the sponsoring organization associated with each individual term. The background of many of the terms in these collections can be determined by their source. However, the selection of many terms for a given grouping has been subjective based on our research of publications, or on our personal experience.

Accordingly, we decided to divide our list of definitions into two broad categories: The first is the Project Management Domain, i.e. focused on management of the project, and the second is the Area of Project Management Application, i.e. focused on the development of the product. The following table shows the glossaries chosen, together with referencing used, and a brief description of type and hierarchical level.

Domain

Glossary Name

Ref**

Type

Level in Group hierarchy and Comments

Project
Management

GoVernance

V

Corporate Policy

Overarching all PM activities

PortFolio

F

PPfM Discipline

Level 1-Incl. relevant T&T

High

ProGram

G

PgM Discipline

Level 2-Ditto

ProJect

J

SPM Discipline

Level 3-Ditto

Tools & TechNiques

N

PM Processes

Level 4-All T&T only

Low

Industry/Product Sector (Area of PM Application)

Construction

C

Tangible‑Craft

Group Category 1

Low

Healthcare (Administration)

H

Intangible‑Craft

Group Category 2

Manufacturing

M

Tangible‑Intellect

Group Category 3

Info Technology (& High Tech work)

T

Intangible‑Intellect

Group Category 4

High

Combo

PM Gov + PPfM

V + F

Both in one

See entries above

Combo

SPM + T&T

J + N

Both in one

See above for details

Single Doc

Entire Listing

SD

One single vertical file, no links

Prints to about 400 pages

Note (See Ref** col.): The reference letters shown are primarily used to allocate terms to different Glossaries. However, they also serve to show if the term appears in related Glossaries. This latter provides an indication of the degree of universality of the term in question.

Background  Background

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