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| Schedule
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The project timeline, identifying the dates (absolute or relative to a start date) that project tasks will be started and completed, resources will be required and upon which milestones will be reached.
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| Scheduling
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Scheduling is the process of determining when project activities will take place depending on defined durations and precedent activities. Schedule constraints specify when an activity should start or end based on duration, predecessors, external predecessor relationships, resource availability, or target dates.
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| Scope
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The total aggregation of deliverables to be produced by a project.
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| Scope
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Scope is defined in terms of three dimensions—product, project and impact. Product scope is the full set of features and functions to be provided as a result of the project. Project scope is the work that has to be done to deliver the product. Impact scope is the depth and breadth of involvement by, and effect on, the performing and client organizations.
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| Scope Change
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Any change in the definition of the project scope. Scope change can result from changes in client needs, discovery of defects or omissions, regulatory changes, etc.
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| Scope Change Control
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Also called scope change management. The process of making sure that all changes to the project scope are consciously evaluated and their implications to the project plan are considered in making a decision to make the change, postpone it or reject it.
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| Scope Creep
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The unconscious growth of the project scope resulting from uncontrolled changes to requirements.
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| Scope Definition
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Breaking down the project's major deliverables into small, more manageable components to make verification, development and project control easier. This may be part of requirements definition and/or design.
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| Scope Planning
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Development of a statement of the principle deliverables of a project along with the project's justification (business case) and objectives. Part of requirements definition.
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| Scope Verification
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PMI's PMBOK Guide defines this as the process to ensure that all project deliverables have been completed satisfactorily. It is associated with acceptance of the product by clients and sponsors.
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| Sequence
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Sequence is the order in which activities will occur with respect to one another. This establishes the priority and dependencies between activities. Successor and predecessor relationships are developed in a network format. This allows those involved in the project to visualize the work flow.
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| Sequencing Tasks
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A part of the scheduling process in which the tasks are positioned serially or parallel to one another based on dependencies between them. Sequencing results in a task network.
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| Service
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Work carried out to benefit a customer. Note: A service does not produce a physical product or tangible result, as this is called an activity.
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| Slack
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See Float.
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| Slippage
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Slippage is the amount of slack or float time used up by the current activity due to a delayed start. If an activity without float is delayed, the entire project will slip.
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| Solution
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A combination of deliverables that solve a specified business problem or realize a specified business opportunity.
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| Specifications
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Detailed statements of project deliverables that result from requirements definition and design. Specifications generally describe the deliverables in terms of appearance, operational constraints and quality attributes. Specifications are the basis for acceptance criteria used in scope verification and quality control. In some organizations and industries, specifications may be qualified as requirements specifications and design specifications. See Requirements.
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| Spiral Development Approach
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A project life cycle strategy in which prototypes and models are used early in project life to define requirements and design the product. Commonly used when the product being developed is new (as in Research & Development and e-commerce) and the clients do not have a concrete understanding of their requirements and design attributes.
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| Stakeholder
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Anybody and everybody with a stake in the project - clients, sponsors, performers, the general public and even the family and friends of direct participants can be considered stakeholders. Not to be confused with the guy that holds the stake when the vampire slayer slays the vampire.
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| Start Float
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Start float is the amount of excess time an activity has between its Early Start and Late Start dates.
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| Starting Activity
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A starting activity has no predecessors. It does not have to wait for any other activity to start. Many PM software packages permit multiple start activities if needed.
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| Start-To-Start Lag
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Start-to-start lag is the minimum amount of time that must pass between the start of one activity and the start of its successor(s).
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| Statement of Work
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A tender document that defines the procurement requirements of a project in enough detail to enable potential suppliers to determine whether they can meet those requirements.
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| Statement of Work
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A description of the scope of a project centered on the major deliverables and constraints.
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| Straw man
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A tentative decision or solution put forth as a point of reference for detailed critical analysis.
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| Sub-contractor
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A group or individual providing products or services to the project. Commonly, sub-contractors are considered to be vendors. However there is a growing understanding that any internal group that provides products or services (e.g., an internal technical writing department) is a sub-contractor to the project manager. Of course in this broader usage, the agreement between the parties is not a legally binding contract but it is a contract nonetheless.
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| Sub-Critical Activity
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A sub-critical activity has a float threshold value assigned to it by the project manager. When the activity reaches its float threshold, it is identified as being critical. Since this type of criticality is artificial, it normally does not impact the project's end date.
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| Subject Matter Expert (SME)
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An expert in some aspect of the project's content expected to provide input to the project team regarding business, scientific, engineering or other subjects. Input may be in the form of requirements, planning, resolutions to issues and/or review of project results.
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| Subproject
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A subproject is a distinct group of activities that comprise their own project which in turn is a part of a larger project. Subprojects are summarized into a single activity to hide the detail.
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| Sub-task
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A breakdown of a task into the work elements that make it up. A task must be broken down into at least two sub-tasks for a meaningful decomposition.
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| Successor
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A successor is an activity whose start or finish depends on the start or finish of a predecessor activity. Refer to PREDECESSOR for related information.
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| Successor
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A task or milestone that is logically linked to one or more predecessor tasks.
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| Super-Critical Activity
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An activity that is behind schedule is considered to be super-critical. It has been delayed to a point where its float to calculated to be a negative value. The negative float is representative of the number of units an activity is behind schedule.
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| Supplier Contract
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An agreement between a project team and an external supplier for the completion of a defined scope of work within a project.
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