Microsoft Project Glossary from A to Z — Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project Glossary — 139 definitions

All the terms defined in the guide's 29 sections, listed alphabetically.
Tip: Ctrl + F to search for a term on this page.

% complete: Task progress percentage (estimated or based on actual work performed).
Corrective action: Decision taken when facing a variance (adding resources, shifting, reducing scope) to hold objectives.
Assignment: Linking a resource to a task, specifying units (share of the resource devoted to the task).
View: Way of presenting project data: Gantt, Usage, Task Network, Resource Graph, Timeline…
Trade-off: Priority decision between projects when a resource is demanded beyond its capacity.
Auditing/leveling: Resolving overloads by shifting/spreading tasks, automatically or manually.
Lead: Negative lag allowing overlap (e.g. −1 d: the successor starts before the predecessor ends).
Progress bar: Line inside a bar showing the task's completed percentage.
Gantt bar: Graphical representation of a task on the timescale; its shape/color depends on task type.
Best practices: Proven scheduling rules (link rather than date, milestone, baseline, update) ensuring reliability.
Resource calendar: Definition of days/hours worked and absences specific to a resource, distinct from the project calendar.
Task calendar: Specific calendar applied to a task (particular hours) different from the project calendar.
Project calendar: Definition of working days/hours, weekends and holidays used as the basis for computing all durations.
Standard calendar: Base calendar provided (often 8am–5pm, Mon–Fri) customized for your company/project.
Fixed units: Default type: units stay constant; changing work changes duration.
Max capacity: Resource availability (100% = full time, 200% = two units); basis for overload detection.
Knowledge capture: Reusing know-how (templates, lessons learned) from one project to another to save time and quality.
Custom field: Free field (Text, Number, Cost, Date, Flag…) renameable and fillable by a formula.
Baseline fields: Values frozen at baseline time (Baseline Start/Finish/Work/Cost), distinct from current values.
Critical path: Set of zero-float tasks whose delay shifts the project end; often shown in red.
Tool choice: Decision to use desktop Project (expert), Project for the web (intermediate) or Planner (light) as needed.
Timeline: Streamlined time strip presenting phases, milestones and major tasks for a "one page" overview.
Real-time collaboration: Simultaneous editing and tracking by several members, via the cloud (browser, Teams).
Crashing: Shortening duration by adding resources to critical tasks (often at extra cost).
Scheduling conflict: Situation where an imposed constraint contradicts link logic (Project warns).
Consolidation: Grouping several projects into a master for overall management (program/portfolio).
Constraint: Rule imposing a date on a task (Must Start/Finish On…, Don't Start Before…) ; stiffens the schedule.
Copy timeline: Feature exporting the strip to PowerPoint, email or a document, ready to present.
Task cost: Sum of (rate × work) of resources + material costs + cost resources + possible fixed cost.
Fixed cost: Flat expense attached to a task, independent of resources and time (e.g. equipment rental).
Actual cost (AC): Cost actually spent for work performed to date.
Total project cost: Sum of all task costs, readable on the project's summary task.
CPI / SPI: Performance indices: CPI = EV/AC (costs), SPI = EV/PV (schedule); < 1 = drift.
Project start date: Date from which Project schedules (forward by default); set in Project Information.
Actual dates: Effective start and finish dates of a task, entered during tracking.
Start-to-Start / Finish-to-Finish: SS: both tasks start together; FF: they finish together.
Dependency (link): Order relationship between two tasks defining which conditions the other's start/finish.
As Soon As Possible: Default flexible constraint: the task starts as early as possible per its links, with no imposed date.
Gantt chart: Visual representation of the schedule: each task is a bar placed on a timescale.
Availability: Share of a resource actually mobilizable (full time, part time), variable across periods.
Variable availability: Different max units across date ranges (e.g. 100% one month, 50% the next).
Flag: Yes/no custom field, useful for marking tasks and filtering them (e.g. "To validate").
Duration: Estimated working time of a task, expressed in days/weeks/hours and computed per the calendar.
Fixed duration: Type where duration stays constant; changing work adjusts units (and vice versa).
Variance: Difference between current/actual value and baseline (delay, cost overrun…).
CV / SV variances: CV = EV − AC (cost variance); SV = EV − PV (schedule variance); negative = unfavorable.
Deadline: Target date shown as a marker, with alert if exceeded, but which doesn't force scheduling.
Timescale: Time axis (days, weeks, months) above the graphic area; adjustable to zoom in or out.
VBA editor: Environment (Alt+F11) where macro code is read, written and run.
Macro recorder: Tool capturing a sequence of actions to replay it; produces VBA code without writing it.
Bar label: Text shown near a bar (name, dates, resources) to enrich Gantt reading.
Calendar exception: Declared deviation from standard working time (leave, specific holiday, particular hours).
PDF export: Generating a PDF file of the schedule/report for sharing with those who don't have Project.
Fast-tracking: Shortening duration by overlapping normally sequential tasks (at increased risk).
Sharer / shared file: The pool is the "shared" file; projects connecting to it are the "sharers".
Filter: Criterion hiding non-matching tasks/resources (critical, late, milestones, by owner…).
Finish-to-Start (FS): Most common link: the successor task starts when the predecessor is finished.
Field formula: Expression combining other fields and functions to automatically compute a custom field's value.
Task splitting: Interrupting a task then resuming it later, shown as a dotted bar.
Tracking Gantt: View overlaying actual and baseline bars to visualize variances.
Task grid: Left table of the Gantt listing tasks and their fields (name, duration, dates, predecessors).
Indentation (outdent/indent): Shifting a task in the hierarchy to place it under a summary task (or out of it).
Graphical indicator: Colored icon/dot (traffic light) shown per a field's value (green/amber/red).
Milestone: Zero-duration task marking a key event (approval, delivery, due date); shown as a diamond.
Perpetual license vs subscription: Standard/Professional are bought once (perpetual); Plans are paid monthly/annually.
Cross-project link: Dependency between a task of one project and a task of another project (coordination across sites).
Manual leveling: Resolving overloads through controlled adjustments (spread, replace, shift yourself).
Adapted deliverable: Choosing the communication format per audience (Timeline for management, Gantt for the team).
Macro: Program automating a repetitive task (formatting, filter, export, bulk processing).
Free float: Delay a task can take without shifting the start of its successor task(s).
Total float: Delay a task can take without shifting the project end date.
Update project: Feature pushing unfinished work past a given date (useful after a global stop/delay).
Microsoft 365: Cloud suite integrating Project for the web, Planner, Teams, SharePoint, favoring shared work.
Microsoft Project: Project management software for scheduling tasks, assigning resources and costs, and tracking progress.
Page setup (printing): Print settings (orientation, scale, columns, headers/footers) for a clean Gantt rendering.
Auto-scheduled mode: Scheduling where Project computes dates from durations, links and constraints; the schedule recalculates itself.
Manually scheduled mode: Scheduling where the user freely sets dates/durations and Project doesn't recalculate automatically.
Template (.mpt): Reusable model project (tasks, milestones, calendar, generic resources) to quickly start a similar project.
Object model: Project's programmable structure (Projects, Tasks, Resources, Assignments…) manipulable in VBA.
Scheduling options: Settings (File > Options): new task mode (manual/auto), default units, calculation behaviors.
Team Planner: Visual view (Professional) showing resource occupancy and allowing task moves.
Effort-driven scheduling: Behavior (effort-driven) where adding/removing resources redistributes constant total work.
Workload plan: Distribution of resource work over time, revealing who is busy and at what level.
Baseline: Snapshot of the planned project (dates, durations, work, costs) serving as tracking comparison basis.
Planner: Microsoft's simple task management tool (Kanban-like), without advanced scheduling or critical path.
Healthy schedule: Well-built schedule: auto mode, linked tasks, few constraints, clear WBS, up to date and anomaly-free.
Living schedule: Schedule in automatic mode updating as soon as a duration, link or constraint changes.
Checkpoint: Validation step materialized by a milestone, used to track major stage achievement.
Resource pool: Central file grouping resources, to which several projects connect to share them.
Program / Portfolio: Set of linked projects (program) or all of an organization's projects (portfolio).
Project Plan 1/3/5: Cloud subscriptions: Plan 1 (web only), Plan 3 (desktop Professional + web), Plan 5 (+ portfolio/enterprise).
Project for the web: Online version of Project (Microsoft 365), lighter and more collaborative than the desktop app.
Project Professional: Full desktop edition: resource pool, Team Planner, connection to Project Online/Server.
Project Standard: Desktop edition for solo scheduling; no enterprise resource pool or server connection.
Master project: File consolidating several inserted subprojects, offering an overview while leaving them autonomous.
Report (Project): Dynamic page (Report tab) mixing charts, tables and indicators, generated from project data.
Custom report: User-created/adapted report (fields, charts, formatting) per management needs.
Visual report (Excel/Visio): Data export to Excel (pivot tables) or Visio (diagrams) for external analysis.
Multiple baselines: Ability to save several baselines (up to 11) to track successive revisions.
Grouping: Gathering rows by category (by resource, priority, status) with subtotals.
Rescheduling: Readjusting the schedule along the way to account for actuals and surprises.
Reporting: Structured communication of project status (progress, risks, costs) to stakeholders.
Cost resource: One-off expense assigned to a task (travel, subcontracting); an amount independent of duration.
Work resource: Human resource (person, team) whose consumption is measured in time; has an hourly/daily rate.
Material resource: Consumable measured in quantity (concrete, paper…); has a unit cost, with no working-time notion.
Shared resources: Pool resources used by several projects, whose load is seen consolidated.
Lag: Positive offset added to a link (e.g. +2 d drying before continuing).
Ribbon: Top strip organizing commands in tabs (Task, Resource, Report, Project, View).
Subproject: Project inserted into a master; appears there as an expandable summary task, but remains a separate file.
Bar styles: Tool customizing bar appearance (colors, shapes) per task type.
Cross-project overallocation: Resource overuse resulting from cumulated assignments across several projects.
Overallocation: Situation where a resource is assigned beyond its max capacity over a period (overload).
Table: Set of columns shown in the grid (Entry, Cost, Tracking tables…), changeable as needed.
Cost table: Column set showing costs per task (planned, actual, remaining, variance costs).
Rate table: Set of a resource's rates (up to 5), allowing different rates per context.
Tracking table: Column set dedicated to progress entry (% complete, actual/remaining work, actual dates).
Dashboard: Concise report combining key indicators (progress, costs, milestones) for an overview.
Dashboard (in Project): Combination of custom fields, formulas and indicators offering a concise project reading.
Resource sheet: View listing all project resources with their rates, capacities and calendars.
Task: Project's work unit, with a duration, an order (links) and possibly resources and a cost.
Summary task: "Parent" task grouping subtasks; its duration and dates derive automatically from them.
Working time: Time slots considered as worked; set via "Change Working Time" (exceptions, leaves).
Work: Total effort needed, in hours/man-days (distinct from calendar duration).
Fixed work: Type where total effort stays constant; adding resources shortens duration.
Unfinished work: Remaining part of an uncompleted task, rescheduled past the status date.
Actual work: Hours/days effectively spent on a task (distinct from planned work).
Sort: Ordering rows per one or more fields (by date, by cost, by duration).
Work/Duration/Units triangle: Work = Duration × Units relationship governing recalculation during assignments.
Task type: Setting defining which variable (units, duration or work) stays fixed during recalculation.
Assignment units: Assigned resource percentage (100% = full time, 50% = half time, 200% = two units).
Max units: Resource's max capacity over a period; exceeded = overallocation.
Resource usage: View detailing each resource's work period by period; reveals overloads.
Earned value (EV): Budgeted cost of work actually performed to date (progress × budget).
Current value: Current value of a field, evolving with actuals (to compare with baseline).
Planned value (PV): Budgeted cost of work scheduled at a given date (from baseline).
VBA: Visual Basic for Applications: macro language common to Office apps, automating Project.
Schedule check: Anomaly check: unlinked tasks, stray constraints, overloads, inconsistent dates.
Analysis view: Table + filter + sort + grouping combination offering a targeted project reading.
WBS: Hierarchical breakdown of the project into phases and subtasks (Work Breakdown Structure).