From the ABBA chart to zero variance and more than 3,400 entries in between, the third edition of the
Dictionary of Project Management Terms (ESI International) offers one of the profession’s most
comprehensive and widely praised reference guides for key terms, words and phases used by project and
program managers.
Compiled by J. Leroy Ward, PMP, PgMP, ESI executive vice president, the latest
edition acknowledges three major developments in the project management field since the 2000 edition
— the adoption of project management as a business strategy, best-practice advances in the
government sector, and globalization. In each case, Ward has added hundreds of new terms — from the
business-minded to the technical to the idiomatic — to better equip project management professional
working in these dynamic environments. In all, the new edition features almost twice as many
definitions as its predecessor. Here’s an “A-B-C” random selection:

Allocated Baseline — baseline in which each function and subfunction of the product is allocated a set of
performance and design requirements. These requirements are stated in sufficient detail for allocation to
hardware, software, procedural data, facilities and personnel.

Burn Rate — Rate at which funds are expended on a project (for example, total dollars per day or total dollars
per week). Usually quoted based on labor hours only, but may include materials as well.

Crawford Slip Process — Idea-generation and identification technique in which a moderator asks a question to
the group, each member writes a response on a slip, and then the slips are posted and read. Often repeated
until group consensus is reached.

For more information or to order the Dictionary of Project Management Terms: www.esi-intl.com.