ACWP

BAC

Baseline

BCWP

BCWS

Crashing the Critical Path

Critical Path

Current

CV

Free Slack

Lag Time

Lead Time

Pert Chart

Resource Overallocation

Slack

SV

Total Slack

List of commonly used terms in MS Project and Project Management

Actual

Data related to actual achievements (percent completed), cost, resource use etc. Tasks containing actual data are either finished or have at least started. See also: Baseline, Current

ACWP

Term from earned value analysis.
The Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) shows the cost involved achieving the current status of completion. See also: BAC, CV, Controlling.

BAC

Term from earned value analysis.
The Budgeted At Completion (BAC, a.k.a. baseline cost) is the cost of a certain project or task as it was planned and scheduled in the baseline. See also ACWP, CV, Controlling.

Baseline

Fixed model of how the project is supposed to go, a.k.a. Planned Information. This information once saved never changes. It is the plan all changes are compared to. See also: Actual, Current

BCWP

Term from the earned value analysis.

The Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP, a.k.a. earned value) is the actually completed percentage for a certain date times the baseline cost. See also: BCWS, SV, Controlling.

BCWS

Term from the earned value analysis.

The Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS, a.k.a. planned earned value) is the planned percentual completion of a task for a certain date, times the total cost according to the baseline. See also: BCWP, SV, Controlling.

Crashing the Critical Path

Also known as reducing the duration of the critical path. There are several ways to do that:

1. Changing the task relationships: Eliminate unnecessary dependencies or predecessors, Overlapping tasks partially, rearrange the order of tasks.
2. Scheduling overtime: The most obvious solution, but not necessarily the best. This is done by changing the Resource Calendar.
3. Adding more resources: May not be possible, causes extra costs.
   

Critical Path

Method to determine the critical tasks based on relationships, duration and resource availability. If any of the critical tasks is delayed the whole project will be delayed. See also: Crashing the Critical Path

Current

The current data reflects changes made during the project on tasks that have not started yet. This usually happens if you gain better insights into a task while the project is running or accommodate for external changes (for example a supplier suddenly charges more money for his goods.) See also: Actual, Baseline

CV

Term from earned value analysis.
The (earned value) cost variance is the difference between BAC and ACWP. It is shows if the project or task is on track with respect of its cost. See also:  SV, Controlling..

Free Slack

Free slack is the amount of time a task can slip before it delays another task.

Lag Time (a.k.a. delay, gap)

Task two starts delayed after Task 1 ends in a controlled manner. A lag time is expressed by a positive (+) sign in MS Project. The values can have all duration labels from the duration table or can be a percentage (%).

Lead Time (a.k.a. overlap)

Task two starts before Task 1 ends in a controlled manner. A lead time is expressed by a negative (-) sign in MS Project. Units can have all duration labels from the duration table or can be a percentage (%).

Pert Chart

Also known as Network Chart. Graphical method to show task connections and relationships.

Resource over-allocation

Resource over-allocation occurs when a resource is scheduled for more hours of work than are available in the resource calendar at a given time. Therefore, you must either reschedule the task for a time when the resource is available or reallocate the resource's work on various tasks.

Slack (a.k.a. float time)

Slack is the amount of time a task can slip before it affects another task's dates or the project finish date. Slack is sometimes referred to as float time.

Slack is shown in the resource allocation view and is therefore very helpful to adjust the schedule manually without causing changes in the overall schedule.
In MS Project, if the total slack is negative, the duration for a task is too long for its successor to begin on the date required by its constraint.
See also: Total Slack, Free Slack

SV

Term from earned value analysis.

The (earned value) schedule variance (SV) is the difference between BCWP and BCWS. This value can be used to determine if the project or task is on track with respect to its progress. See also  CV, Controlling.

Total Slack

Total slack is the amount of time a task can slip before it delays the project finish date.