Project Management Glossary: 33 Key Terms, Defined
Short, accurate definitions of the terms project teams use every day, each with where the idea shows up in practice.
This glossary defines 33 project management terms in plain language, from baseline, critical path and WBS to RACI, CPI, PMO and business process management, and shows how each appears in CoMng.AI. Each entry links to a deeper article.
- 33 terms: grouped into planning, scheduling, resources and cost, risk and governance, process and methods, and AI.
- Plain definitions: one or two sentences each, with no jargon loops.
- Linked to practice: every term links to an article showing it in use.
- Product mentions are labelled: general definition first; the "In CoMng.AI" line is separate.
Planning and scope
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
A hierarchy that decomposes a project into phases, work packages and tasks small enough for one person to own and estimate.
In CoMng.AI: Tasks outline, AI Structure Tasks. Read more
Scope creep
The uncontrolled growth of project scope after work has started, usually through small additions that are never priced or approved.
In CoMng.AI: Scope Creep Alert on a task. Read more
Change request
A formal proposal to change scope, budget, schedule or resources, assessed and approved before it is applied.
In CoMng.AI: AI impact assessment and sandbox preview. Read more
Acceptance criteria
The conditions a deliverable must meet to be accepted as done.
In CoMng.AI: Defined per task; included in agent work orders. Read more
Requirement
A documented need a project must satisfy, ideally traceable to at least one task.
In CoMng.AI: Verify Plan Coverage checks tasks against requirements. Read more
Epic
A large body of work that is broken down into smaller tasks or stories.
In CoMng.AI: the AI Task Builder's Project Scaffold generates four to eight top-level epic tasks. Read more
Scheduling
Milestone
A dated checkpoint that marks a significant achievement, usually dependent on a set of tasks.
In CoMng.AI: Blocked and Milestone Blocker flags. Read more
Dependency
A relationship in which one task cannot start or finish until another does.
In CoMng.AI: Blocked by and Blocking counters; dependency path panel. Read more
Critical path
The longest chain of dependent tasks; any delay on it delays the project end date.
In CoMng.AI: Critical Path Analysis in the Project Management Hub. Read more
Baseline
An approved snapshot of the plan used as the reference for measuring variance.
In CoMng.AI: Save Baseline with ghost-bar comparison on the Gantt. Read more
Gantt chart
A bar chart of tasks and milestones on a timeline, often with dependency arrows.
In CoMng.AI: Read-only Gantt with baseline comparison. Read more
Slack or float
How long a task can slip without delaying the project end date.
In CoMng.AI: Used in the critical path view. Read more
Should Start
A task not yet overdue whose effort versus deadline means it should already be underway.
In CoMng.AI: Should Start signal and filter. Read more
Resources and cost
Resource utilization
Scheduled effort divided by available capacity, per person and period.
In CoMng.AI: Resource Planner heatmap (default 40-hour week). Read more
Overallocation
A person scheduled for more effort than their capacity in a period.
In CoMng.AI: Dark-red cells above 100%. Read more
Cost variance (CV)
Earned value minus actual cost; negative means over budget for the work done.
In CoMng.AI: CV card from task progress on task-linked lines. Read more
Cost performance index (CPI)
Earned value divided by actual cost; below 1 means over budget for the work done.
In CoMng.AI: CPI card. Read more
Estimate at completion (EAC)
The forecast total cost of the project if the current performance continues.
In CoMng.AI: EAC card. Read more
Risk and governance
RAG status
A red, amber or green label summarising project health, often chosen by the project manager.
In CoMng.AI: Replaced by a computed Pulse score. Read more
Watermelon project
A project reported as green while the underlying facts are red.
In CoMng.AI: Project Pulse exposes it. Read more
Risk register
A log of threats and opportunities with probability, impact, owner and response.
In CoMng.AI: Project Settings risks tab with scoring. Read more
RACI matrix
A grid assigning Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed roles to deliverables.
In CoMng.AI: RACI Matrix page. Read more
PMO (project management office)
A function that standardises methods, tracks projects and supports delivery across a portfolio.
In CoMng.AI: Organisation-wide dashboard, Gantt and planner. Read more
Project portfolio management (PPM)
Selecting, prioritising and monitoring a set of projects against strategy and capacity.
In CoMng.AI: Organisation views. Read more
Process and methods
Business process
A repeatable set of activities that produces a defined outcome, such as approving a purchase.
In CoMng.AI: Delivery processes such as change control and approvals. Read more
Business process management (BPM)
The discipline of designing, running, measuring and improving business processes.
In CoMng.AI: BPM thinking applied to project delivery. Read more
Process maturity
How consistently and measurably an organisation runs a process, from ad hoc to optimised.
In CoMng.AI: Computed health gives a measured starting point. Read more
Kanban
A flow method that visualises work as cards in columns and limits work in progress.
In CoMng.AI: Tasks Board grouped by status, tag or assignee. Read more
AI and integration
Project health score
A single number summarising how a project is doing, ideally computed from data.
In CoMng.AI: Project Pulse, 0 to 100. Read more
AI agent
Software that performs tasks autonomously on instructions, often through tools.
In CoMng.AI: Agents on the team roster. Read more
Model Context Protocol (MCP)
A standard that lets AI clients discover and call tools on a server.
In CoMng.AI: MCP server with scoped API keys. Read more
Work order
A fully specified brief for a task, for a human or an AI agent.
In CoMng.AI: Generated from a task or branch. Read more
ARI
CoMng.AI's in-project AI assistant, with the live context of the project.
In CoMng.AI: Drafts changes, never applies them. Read more
About CoMng.AI
CoMng.AI is an AI-native project management platform that generates a project's plan, tasks, risks and budget from a description or document, monitors project health in real time, and gives both human teams and AI coding agents live access to the same project data, with a person approving every AI-generated change.
Try it on one real project, free
Create a free project, import or generate a plan, and see Pulse, milestone flags and capacity in the first hour.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a baseline and a forecast?
A baseline is the approved reference plan; a forecast is the current prediction of how the project will finish. The gap between them is the variance.
What is the difference between a milestone and a deliverable?
A milestone is a dated checkpoint; a deliverable is a tangible output. A milestone often depends on one or more deliverables being complete.
What does RACI stand for?
Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed.
What is CPI?
Cost performance index: earned value divided by actual cost. Below 1 means the project is over budget for the work done.
Where can I learn how these work in CoMng.AI?
Each entry links to an article that shows the term in use, and the topic guides group them by theme.
Related reading
See the full guide: AI Project Management Strategy & Buying Guide