Project Management Terminology - N

NEAR-CRITICAL ACTIVITY   A low total float activity. 

NEGATIVE TOTAL FLOAT   Time by which the duration of an activity or path has to be reduced in order to permit a limiting imposed date to be achieved. 

NEGOTIATED CONTRACT COST   The estimated cost negotiated in a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee Contract or the negotiated contract target cost in either a Fixed Price-Incentive Contract or a Cost-Plus-Incentive-Fee Contract. See also Contract Target Cost. 

NEGOTIATION   The art of satisfying needs by reaching agreement or compromise with other parties. 

NET PRESENT VALUE (NPV)   Aggregate of future net cash flows discounted back to a common base date, usually the present. 

NETWORK   A pictorial presentation of project date in which the project logic is the main determinant of the placements of the activities in the drawing. Frequently called a flowchart, PERT chart, logic drawing, or logic diagram. 

NETWORK ANALYSIS   Method used for calculating a project's critical path and activity times and floats. Note: See also critical path analysis, project network techniques. 

NETWORK INTERFACE   Activity or event common to two to more network diagrams. 

NETWORK LOGIC   The collection of activity dependencies that make up a project network. 

NETWORK PATH   A series of connected activities in a project network.

NODES Points in a network at which arrows start and finish. 

NON-RECURRING COSTS   Expenditures against specific tasks that are expected to occur only once on a given project. 

NON-SPLITTABLE ACTIVITY   An activity that, once started, has to be completed to plan without interruption. 

Note: Resources should not be diverted from a non-splittable activity to another activity. 

NOT EARLIER THAN   A restriction on an activity that indicates that it may not start or end earlier than a specified date. 

NOT LATER THAN   A restriction on an activity that indicates that it may not start or end later than a specified date.