ISO/TR 21506:2018

TECHNICAL ISO/TR
REPORT 21506
First edition
2018-11
Project, programme and portfolio
management — Vocabulary
Gestion de projet, programme et portefeuille — Vocabulaire
Reference number
©
ISO 2018
© ISO 2018
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ii © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
Bibliography . 9
Foreword
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This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 258, Project, programme and portfolio
management.
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iv © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

Introduction
This document provides guidance to people involved in project, programme and portfolio management.
It describes terms that are used in documents authored by Technical Committee ISO/TC 258, Project,
programme and portfolio management, and that meet any of the following criteria, in that they are:
— specific terms used in project, programme and portfolio management;
— part of common language, but used with a specific and exclusive meaning in the context;
— found in ISO recognized dictionaries, but do not have an adequate definition that fits the usage for
the context.
This document includes the definition used by most project management organizations, most of the
time. A term may have a different meaning within an organization that is not consistent with this
document.
While the individual glossaries for governance and portfolio, programme and project management
standards provide clarity in terms, a common vocabulary reveals that a term may be understood
within the context in which the term is used. The context may be categorized as “activity sectors”,
“management discipline” and “subject areas”, as illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1 — How a term derives meaning in context
The target audience of this document includes, but is not limited to, the following:
a) executive managers and people involved in sponsoring projects, programmes or portfolios;
b) people managing projects, programmes or portfolios;
c) people involved in the management or performance of project management offices;
d) developers of national or organizational standards.
This document complements the terms and definitions included in ISO 21500:2012, ISO 21503:2017,
ISO 21504:2015, ISO 21505:2017, ISO 21508:2018 and ISO 21511:2018.
It is aligned with ISO 704:2009, ISO 860:2007, ISO 1087-1:2000, ISO 1951:2007, ISO 10241-1:2011,
ISO 10241-2:2012, ISO 12615:2004, ISO 15188:2001.
TECHNICAL REPORT ISO/TR 21506:2018(E)
Project, programme and portfolio management —
Vocabulary
1 Scope
This document defines terms used in the field of project, programme and portfolio management. It can
be used by any type of organization, including public or private, and any size or sector, as well as any
type of project, programme or portfolio in terms of complexity, size or duration.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https: //www .iso .org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http: //www .electropedia .org/
3.1
100 % rule
concept concerning the entire work required to be accomplished to achieve a project (3.59) or
programme (3.50) scope captured in the work breakdown structure (3.87)
Note 1 to entry: The 100 % rule applies to the parent and child elements. The child level of decomposition of a
work breakdown structure element represents 100 % of the work applicable to the parent level.
3.2
activity
identified piece of work that is required to be undertaken to complete a project (3.59) or programme (3.50)
Note 1 to entry: It may also be considered a work element.
3.3
actual cost
actual cost of work performed
cost incurred for work performed
3.4
application area
category of projects (3.59) that generally have a common focus related to a product, customer or sector
3.5
baseline
reference basis for comparison against which performance is monitored and controlled
3.6
benefit
created advantage, value or other positive effect
3.7
budget at completion
total forecasted cost for accomplishing the work related to a work package (3.90), activity (3.2) or
control account (3.14)
3.8
business case
documented justification to support decision making about the commitment to a project (3.59),
programme (3.50) or portfolio (3.42)
3.9
change register
record of all identified project (3.59) changes and their attributes
3.10
change request
documentation that defines a proposed alteration to a project (3.59)
3.11
communication plan
documented description and communication needs of stakeholders (3.79)
3.12
configuration management
application of procedures to control, correlate and maintain documentation, specifications and physical
attributes
3.13
control
comparison of actual performance with planned performance, analysing variances and taking
appropriate corrective and preventive action as needed
3.14
control account
management control point where scope, budget, actual cost (3.3) and schedule of a project (3.59) or
programme (3.50), work package (3.90) or activity (3.2) are integrated
3.15
corrective action
direction and activity (3.2) for modifying the performance of work to bring performance in line
with a plan
3.16
cost variance
measure of cost performance on a project (3.59)
3.17
crashing
schedule compression technique to shorten the duration of an activity (3.2), a group of activities or a
project (3.59) by increasing the expenditure of resources
3.18
critical path
sequence of activities (3.2) that determine the earliest possible completion date for a project (3.59)
or phase
3.19
deliverable
unique and verifiable, tangible or intangible outcome of a planned activity (3.2)
2 © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

3.20
earned value
budgeted cost of work performed
value of completed work expressed in terms of the budget assigned to that work
3.21
earned value management
method that integrates project (3.59) or programme (3.50) scope, actual cost (3.3), budget and schedule
for assessment of progress and performance
3.22
estimate at completion
forecasted total cost to accomplish the work on a project (3.59), programme (3.50), work package (3.90)
or activity (3.2)
3.23
estimate to complete
forecasted cost of the work remaining on a project (3.59), programme (3.50), work package (3.90) or
activity (3.2)
3.24
functional breakdown structure
decomposition of the f
...