Project Management Terminology - B

BACKWARD PASS   Procedures whereby the latest event times or the latest finish and start times for the activities of a network are calculated. 

BALANCED MATRIX   An organizational matrix where functions and projects have the same priority. 

BAR CHART   Chart on which activities and their durations are represented by lines drawn to a common time scale. 

                      Note 1: A Gantt chart is a specific type of bar chart and should not be used as a synonym for bar chart. 

                      Note 2: See also 'cascade chart'. 

BASELINE   Reference levels against which the project is monitored and controlled. 

BASELINE COST   The amount of money an activity was intended to cost when the schedule was baselined. 

BASELINE DATES   Original planned start and finished dates for an activity. Used to compare with current planned dates to determine any delays. Also used to calculate budgeted cost of work scheduled for earned-valued analysis. 

BASELINE REVIEW   A customer review conducted to determine that a contractor is continuing to use the previously accepted performance system and is properly implementing a baseline on the contract or option under review. 

BASELINE SCHEDULE   The baseline schedule is a fixed project schedule. It is the standard by which project performance is measured. The current schedule is copied into the baseline schedule, which remains frozen until it is reset. Resetting the baseline is done when the scope of the project has been changed significantly, for example after a negotiated change. At that point, the original or current baseline becomes invalid and should not be compared with the current schedule. 

BENEFITS   The enhanced efficiency, economy and effectiveness of future business or other operations to be delivered by a project or programme. 

BENEFITS FRAMEWORK   An outline of the expected benefits of the project or programme, the business operations affected and current and target performance measures. 

BENEFITS MANAGEMENT   Combined with project or programme management, Benefits Management is the process for planning, managing, delivering and measuring the project or programme benefits. 

BENEFITS MANAGEMENT PLAN   Specifies who is responsible for achieving the benefits set out in the benefit profiles and how achievement of the benefits is to be measured, managed and monitored. 

BID   A tender, quotation or any offer to enter into a contract 

BID ANALYSIS   An analysis of bids or tenders. 

BOTTOM UP COST ESTIMATING   This is the method of making estimates for every activity in the work breakdown structure and summarizing them to provide a total project cost estimate. 

BRAINSTORMING   The unstructured generation of ideas by a group of people. 

BRANCHING LOGIC   Conditional logic. Alternative paths in a probabilistic network. 

BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE   A hierarchical structure by which project elements are broken down, or decomposed. See also Product Breakdown Structure (PBS), Organisational Breakdown Structure (OBS) and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). 

BUDGET   Quantification of resources needed to achieve a task by a set time, within which the task owners are required to work. Note: A budget consists of a financial and/or quantitative statement, prepared and approved prior to a defined period, for the purpose of attaining a given objective for that period. (The planned cost for an activity or project.) 

BUDGET COST   The cost anticipated at the start of a project. 

BUDGET ELEMENT   Budget elements are the same as resources - the people, materials, or other entities needed to do the work Budget elements can be validated against a Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS). They are typically assigned to a work package, but can also be defined at the cost account level. 

BUDGET ESTIMATE   An approximate estimate prepared in the early stages of a project to establish financial viability or secure resources. 

BUDGET UNIT   The budget unit is the base unit for the calculating. For example, the Engineer budget element might have a budget unit of hours. Since budget units are user defined, they can be any appropriate unit of measure. For example, a budget unit might be hours, pounds sterling, linear meters, or tons. 

BUDGETARY CONTROL   System of creating budgets, monitoring progress and taking appropriate action to achieve budgeted performance. Note: A budget should provide the information necessary to enable approval, authorization and policymaking bodies to assess a project proposal and reach a rational decision. 

BUDGETED COST OF WORK PERFORMED (BCWP)   The planned cost of work completed to date. BCWP is also the 'earned value' of work completed to date. 

BUDGETED COST OF WORK SCHEDULED (BCWS)   The planned cost of work that should have been achieved according to the project baseline dates. 

BUDGETING   Time phased financial requirements. 

BURDEN   Overhead expenses distributed over appropriate direct labor and/or material base. 

BUSINESS CASE   Information necessary to enable approval, authorization and policy making bodies to assess a project proposal and reach a reasoned decision.