Wideman Comparative Glossary of Project Management Terms v5.5

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Wideman Comparative Wideman Comparative Glossary of Common Project Management Terms v5.5 is copyright © R. Max Wideman, 2000-2017.

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Last updated 12-22-17

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Master Glossary

Rescheduling - to - Resource Leveling

	Term Definition Editor's Choice	Cat	Source
	Rescheduling A feature of most PM software that recalculates the start and finish dates of all uncompleted activities based upon progress as of a specified date. [D03606]	CHMT	PMST
	Rescission The release of a party from all obligations under a contract. [D06206]	JN	PMTWG
	Research The collecting of information about a particular subject. Studious inquiry or examination, especially investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, or the revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts. Careful and diligent search. [D03239]	JN	Webster
	Research and Development Technical pursuit of a new technology or design to support a strategic goal. [D04222]	JN	CSM
	Reserve A provision in the project plan to mitigate cost and/or schedule risk. Often used with a modifier (e.g., Management Reserve, Contingency Reserve) to provide further detail on what types of risk are meant to be mitigated. Editor's Note: Unfortunately, the specific meaning of the modified terms vary by project management application area and may be contradictory. [D01649]	JN CHMT	PMK96
	Reserve Analysis An examination of the allocation and use of project funds either for financial purposes or to verify usage according to established policies. [D05716]	JN	RMW
	Reserve For Scope Changes A sum of money set aside for changes in the Owner's requirements and to be used only at the direction of the Owner. [D01650]	JN	CCCP
Index of all terms Top of Page	Reserve Fund Upon proper authorization, funds to be used when current allocations are not sufficient to meet expenditures. [D06514]	JN	asae
	Residential Construction The construction, alteration, or repair of single family houses or apartment buildings of no more than four stories in height, and typically includes incidental items such as site work, parking areas, utilities, streets and sidewalks. [D03561]	C	GAT
	Residual Risk A risk that still remains even after providing for, or taking, mitigative action. [D05717]	JN CH	RMW
	Residual Risks Those risks which are not avoided, eliminated or transferred in the risk mitigation strategy. [D05088]	JN CH	RAMP
	Residual Value The proceeds, less removal and disposal costs, if any, realized upon disposition of a tangible capital asset. [D03562]	JN	GAT
	The value of a fixed asset after depreciation charges have been subtracted from its original cost. [D06207]	JN	PMTWG
	Residue File A file in the same format as the resource availability file containing a specification of the resources remaining after a project is scheduled. [D01651]	JN	WST
	Resolution The finding of a solution to, and disposal of, a problem or issue. Reduction of complex notions into simpler ones, e.g. the development of a work breakdown structure. A formal expression of opinion, will, or intent voted by an official body or assembled group. [D03240]	JN	RMW
Index of all terms Top of Page	Resource Any personnel, material or equipment required for the performance of an activity. Note: Time is not a resource. It is the measure of the duration for which a resource is needed or used. Also, money is better not thought of as a resource, except in financing. It is better seen as the basis of evaluation of the resources used by an activity or task. [D05089]	FGJN CHMT	040
	An item required to accomplish an activity. Resources can be people, equipment, facilities, funding or anything else needed to perform the work of a project. [D01652]	J	WST
	Any factors, except time, required or consumed to accomplish an activity. Any substantive requirement of an activity that can be quantified and defined, e.g. manpower, equipment, material, etc. [D01653]	J	PMK87
	Project input (time, money, labor, machinery, etc.) [D01654]	J	NPMT
	Anything that is assigned to an activity or needed to complete an activity. This may include equipment, people, buildings, etc. [D03607]	J	PMST
	Any variable capable of definition that is required for the completion of an activity and may constrain the project. Resources can be people, equipment, facilities, funding or anything else needed to perform the work of a project. Note 1: A resource may be non-storable so that its availability has to be renewed for each time period (even if it was not utilized in previous time periods). Note 2: A resource may be storable so that it remains available unless depleted by usage. Such a resource may also be replenished by activities producing credited and storable resource. [D04499]	J	APM BS
	Resource Accumulation Process of accumulating the requirements for each resource to give the total required to date at all times throughout the project. [D04502]	JN	APM BS
	Resource Aggregation Summation of the requirements for each resource, and for each time period. Note: Where the earliest start time of an activity is used alone, it is often termed an "early start" aggregation. Similarly a "late start" aggregation uses the latest start times. [D04500]	JN	APM BS
Index of all terms Top of Page	Totaling the requirement for a specific resource. [D01655]	JN	NPMT
	Resource Allocation The assignment of resources to tasks in a project. [D01657]	GJN CHMT	MSP98
	Distribution of resources over time or project parts. [D01656]	N	NPMT
	An iterative process of computing the schedule considering the limited availability of certain resources so that both time and cost may be minimized. Progress on certain types of project can be constrained more by limitations of resources (people, machines, materials and money) than by logical sequence dictated by technical considerations. Generally such projects are "horizontal" e.g. Highway construction, rather than "vertical" e.g. High rise construction, although the latter may be constrained by both considerations. The resource loading required can only be determined after a schedule of activities has been developed. The schedule may then be modified, possibly prolonged, either to reduce the total resources required to complete the project or to "level" out peak demands. This avoids congestion at some times and inefficient resource usage at others. [D03087]	N CH	CCCP
	The assignment of people, equipment, facilities, or materials to a project. Unless adequate resources are provided, project work cannot be completed on schedule, and resource allocation is a significant component of project scheduling. [D03727]	N	PPS&C p341
	Resource Allocation Process The scheduling of activities in a network with the knowledge of certain resource constraints and requirements. This process adjusts activity level start and finish dates to conform to resource availability and use. [D01658]	JN	PMK87
	Resource Analysis A term for resource leveling and resource smoothing. [D01659]	JN	WST
	Resource Assignment The work on an activity related to a specific resource. [D01660]	JN	WST
Index of all terms Top of Page	Resource Availability The extent to which resources are available to meet the project's needs. [D03241]	FGJN	RMW
	The level of availability of a resource, which may vary over time. [D01661]	JN	WST
	Resource Availability Date The calendar date when a resource pool becomes available for a given resource. [D01662]	JN	PMK87
	Resource Availability Pool The amount of resource availability for any given allocation period. [D01663]	JN	PMK87
	Resource Breakdown Structure ("RBS") A feature of hierarchical resources that facilitates both roll-up reporting and summary resource scheduling by enabling you to schedule at the detailed requirements level, and roll up both requirements and availabilities to a higher level. [D01664]	JN	WST
	Resource Buffer A designed amount of time reserved for resources that may need additional time to run their leg of the relay when their predecessor is complete. Unlike other buffers, they do not directly impact the lead time or scheduling of the project, but rather serve as a wake-up call when needed. [D05584]	JN	067
	Resource Calendar A calendar that defines the working and non-working patterns for specific resources. See also Project Calendar. [D01665]	JN	WST
	Resource Category Type of resource. [D01666]	FGJN	NPMT
Index of all terms Top of Page	Resource Code The code used to identify a given resource type. [D01667]	JN	PMK87
	Resource Conflict A situation that arises because of the allocation of one resource to more than one task. [D06208]	JN	PMTWG
	Resource Constraint Limitation due to the availability of a resource. [D04501]	GJN	APM BS
	Resource Description The actual name or identification associated with a resource code. [D01668]	JN	PMK87
	Resource Driven Task Durations Task durations that are driven by the need for scarce resources. [D01669]	JN	WST
	Resource Effort The amount of effort resources are assigned to the task and their allocation. [D05090]	JN	042
	Resource Group A set of resources that share some characteristics and that is categorized by a group name, such as job function, skill or contractor. [D01670]	GJN	MSP98
	Resource Histogram A view of project data in which resource requirements, usage, and availability are shown against a time scale. [D01671]	JN	WST
Index of all terms Top of Page	Resource Identification Identification of potential sources that could provide the specified material or services. These sources could be identified either from the firm/project list of vendors or by advertising the need of procurement. [D01672]	GJN	PMK87
	Resource Level A specified level of resource units required by an activity per time unit. [D01673]	N	WST
	Resource Leveling The flattening out of the peaks and valleys of resource requirements so that steady or consistent levels of resources can be used over time. [D06210]	FGJN CHMT	RMW
	Any form of network analysis in which scheduling decisions are driven by resource management concerns (e.g. limited resource availability or difficult to manage changes in resource levels). [D01674]	N	PMK96
	See also Resource Allocation [D01675]	N
	The resource scheduling process of determining scheduled dates such that neither the project completion date nor any target finishes are jeopardized while minimizing the maximum extent to which any resource availability is exceeded. [D01676]	N	WST
	The process of rescheduling activities such that the requirement for resources on the project does not exceed resource limits. The project completion date may be delayed in the process. [D03933]	N	PNG
	The process of smoothing the fluctuations and discontinuities in level-of-effort by adjusting activity schedules. The result may or may not affect the overall project duration. [D05473]	N	RMW
Index of all terms Top of Page	Ensuring that a resource is maximized but not used beyond its limitations. [D06209]	N	PMTWG
	Definitions for page R03: 56

Introduction | What's New in Version 5.5 | Sources and References International Recognition | About the Author Content Index

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Introduction | What's New in Version 5.5 | Sources and References
International Recognition | About the Author
Content Index

Home | Issacons | PM Glossary | Papers & Books | Max's Musings
Guest Articles | Contact Info | Top of Page