New to project management? This glossary explains, in plain English, every acronym, concept and SSLM term used across this site. Each entry says what the word means and why it matters; many add an example, or a note on how it fits the SSLM framework.
Acronyms & abbreviations
The short forms you’ll meet across the site.
PM
Project Manager. The person accountable for turning an agreed intention into a delivered result — planning the work, coordinating the people, managing risk and driving it to a close.
Example: A PM usually doesn’t build the thing; they get twenty people to build it on time, then to stop.
PMO
Project Management Office. The team that sets the standards, supports the project managers and gives leadership an honest, rolled-up view across all projects.
In SSLM: In SSLM the PMO owns the framework and assures that what the reports say is actually true.
EPMO
Enterprise (or Portfolio) PMO. The strategic form of a PMO that sits at the executive table and decides which projects to fund, hold or stop.
In SSLM: This is SSLM Tier 4.
BAU
Business As Usual. The ongoing, repeatable running of things once a project has handed over. A project is temporary and creates change; BAU is permanent and keeps things running.
Example: Building a booking system is a project; answering booking queries every day is BAU.
RAID
Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies (SSLM adds Constraints). The set of logs a project manager keeps to track what might go wrong and what the project relies on.
In SSLM: In SSLM the RAID & Tracker Logs are the project’s working memory.
RAG
Red, Amber, Green. A one-glance status: Green is on track, Amber is at risk, Red is in trouble.
In SSLM: SSLM says report the real colour — an amber that is really red is worse than no report at all.
PTIP
Portfolio prioritisation. The prioritised pipeline of initiatives a board uses to fund, hold or stop each one. It is where a Project Reference is born.
CR
Change Request. A traceable, deliberate decision to change something that has already been baselined — scope, time, cost, benefits or a deliverable.
In SSLM: In SSLM you raise a CR rather than letting scope drift; it goes to the SteerCo to approve.
SteerCo
Steering Committee. The project’s governance forum, usually chaired by the sponsor, where the key decisions are taken.
BoM
Board of Management. The senior board that a monthly report rolls up to.
RACI
A simple map of who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each activity, so nothing falls between two chairs.
SOP
Standard Operating Procedure. The single document that says how things are done and ties the whole framework together.
In SSLM: In SSLM the SOP is the one source of truth.
ToR
Terms of Reference. The short document that sets out a forum’s purpose, membership and authority.
MVP
Minimum Viable Product. The smallest version that is genuinely fit for purpose.
In SSLM: SSLM: if it is fit for purpose, it is good enough for now.
KPI
Key Performance Indicator. A measure that tells you whether something is on track.
VSPM
Value Stream Project Management. Managing the continuous, end-to-end flow that turns a customer request into delivered value, rather than a single fixed project.
In SSLM: This is SSLM Tier 3.
WIP
Work In Progress. Work that has been started but not yet finished. Too much WIP slows everything down.
ADKAR
A change-management model — Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement — for helping people actually adopt a change.
MoSCoW
A way to sort requirements: Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have (this time), so the essential is protected when time runs short.
TCO
Total Cost of Ownership. The whole lifetime cost of a solution — build plus run, support and upgrade — not just the purchase price.
CapEx / OpEx
Capital Expenditure (one-off spend on an asset) versus Operational Expenditure (ongoing running cost).
FTE
Full-Time Equivalent. A way of counting effort: one FTE is one person full time; two people at half time is also one FTE.
ROI
Return on Investment. What you get back compared with what you put in.
SME
Subject-Matter Expert. The person who knows the content deeply.
Example: An SME tells you what to build; the PM gets it built — a different skill.
UAT
User Acceptance Testing. Real users trying the thing before go-live to confirm it does what they need.
PID
Project Initiation Document. The document that defines a project at the start.
In SSLM: SSLM uses a light one-page Business Case for the same job.
Core project-management concepts
The ideas every project runs on.
Project
A temporary, coordinated effort that turns an intention into a delivered change, within agreed limits, and then ends. The end and the change are what make it a project rather than BAU.
Iron triangle / iron square
The trade-off at the heart of every project. The classic iron triangle balances scope, time and cost (with quality in the middle). SSLM uses an iron square, adding benefits as a fourth corner: move one and you move the others.
Example: Pull the deadline in, and either scope, cost or benefit has to give.
Scope
The boundary of the work — what is in and, just as important, what is out.
Scope creep
Scope quietly growing without more time or budget, until the project can no longer be finished.
In SSLM: SSLM holds the line with change control.
Milestone
A significant checkpoint in the plan, such as “design signed off”.
In SSLM: In SSLM the milestone spine is the backbone of the plan; each milestone sits at a reporting level (1–5).
Dependency
When one task or team cannot start until another finishes. Unmanaged dependencies are where plans quietly break.
Critical path
The chain of dependent tasks that sets the earliest possible finish. Slip a task on it and the whole project slips.
In SSLM: SSLM: plan to the critical path.
Float (slack)
Spare time on a task that is not on the critical path; it can slip a little without moving the end date.
Baseline
The agreed reference point for scope, time, cost and benefits, fixed at Green Light. You measure progress and change against it.
Business Case
The document that justifies a project — the problem, the options considered, the recommended solution, and the costs and benefits it will deliver — and, once approved, sets the baseline.
In SSLM: In SSLM it is deliberately light (often a single page) and is signed off at Green Light.
Stage gate
A decision point between stages where someone with authority checks the project should continue before more money is spent.
Governance
How decisions get made and who is accountable for them.
In SSLM: SSLM: right-size it — the least governance that still keeps the project honest.
Sponsor
The senior person accountable for the project: secures the funding, chairs the SteerCo and carries the can. Distinct from the Business Owner.
Business Owner
The person who owns the benefits and accepts the deliverables — who actually banks the value after go-live. Often confused with the sponsor.
Stakeholder
Anyone who affects, or is affected by, the project. Managing them well is much of the job.
Risk
Something that might happen and would hurt the project if it did. You manage it before it occurs.
In SSLM: Contrast with an issue, which has already happened.
Issue
A problem that has already happened and needs fixing now.
Assumption
Something you are treating as true but have not confirmed. Untested assumptions are risks in disguise.
Constraint
A fixed limit you must work within — a deadline, a budget or a technology.
Escalation
Asking for a decision or help from above your own authority, in time to act.
Example: A problem raised in time is a decision; raised late it is a crisis.
In SSLM: SSLM: escalate early.
Change control
The process of deciding, visibly and deliberately, whether to accept a change to the baseline — via a Change Request.
Benefit / benefits realisation
The value a project exists to create — money, time, service or compliance — and the act of checking, after go-live, that it was actually delivered.
In SSLM: SSLM is benefits-led: a project is not done when it is built, but when the benefit is banked.
Cashable vs notional benefit
A cashable benefit can be taken as real money out of a budget; a notional (or soft) benefit is real but not banked as cash — time saved, better morale. A saving only counts if someone actually removes it from a budget.
Go-live
The moment the solution goes into real use.
Closure & handover
Finishing properly: confirming delivery, banking the benefit, capturing lessons and handing over to BAU, then retiring the Project Reference.
Lessons learned
What worked and what didn’t, captured throughout the project (not just at the end) so the next one improves.
In SSLM: In SSLM lessons flow to the custodian, who updates the standard block.
Trend
The direction a status has moved since last time — improving, stable or declining. Reported alongside RAG, it warns you before the colour changes.
Watermelon status
A report that is green on the outside but red on the inside.
In SSLM: The whole SSLM framework leans against this — report the real colour.
Estimating (three-point)
Putting numbers on time and cost. Estimate in ranges, not single figures; three-point estimating blends optimistic, most-likely and pessimistic values, (O + 4M + P) ÷ 6.
Contingency
A deliberate margin added to optimistic estimates to absorb the unexpected — often 15–25%.
Reference-class forecasting
Instead of estimating from inside your own case, find the class of similar past projects and ask how they actually turned out, then temper your plan with those real base rates (coined by Bent Flyvbjerg).
Example: “Projects like this overran by 40% on average” beats “ours will be fine”.
Outside view / inside view
The inside view judges from the vivid detail of your own case; the outside view asks how similar situations really went. The outside view is usually more accurate (Kahneman & Tversky).
Planning fallacy
Our systematic tendency to underestimate time, cost and effort, because we plan from a best-case story.
Sunk-cost fallacy
Continuing to fund a failing path because of what has already been spent. Money already spent is not a reason to continue.
In SSLM: SSLM: willingness to stop.
Pre-mortem
Before you start, imagine the project has failed badly and ask what went wrong. It surfaces the risks that optimism hides.
Delivery method (Waterfall / Agile / Hybrid)
How the work is sequenced. Waterfall does it in order; Agile delivers in small increments and adapts; Hybrid mixes the two.
In SSLM: SSLM works with all of them rather than replacing them.
Acceptance criteria (“done”)
The agreed, written definition of what “finished” means, set before you start, so everyone agrees when it is done.
In SSLM: SSLM: define done up front, not by vibes afterwards.
Program
A set of related projects delivering one shared outcome; it treats each project as a milestone.
In SSLM: This is SSLM Tier 3.
Portfolio
The standing set of all programs and projects, funded, held or stopped against strategy through the PTIP.
In SSLM: This is SSLM Tier 4.
Assurance
An independent check that a project is genuinely fit and deliverable, separate from the team running it. A low assurance score is a trigger for more governance.
SSLM framework terms
Words specific to the SSLM way of working.
Simple Solution, Low Maintenance
The philosophy the whole framework is built on: choose the simplest solution that works (Simple Solution), and make it cheap to sustain (Low Maintenance).
Least sufficient
The guiding rule — the least process, honestly applied, that still gives a traceable result. Weight is added only when a real need demands it.
One source of truth
Every fact lives in one place and flows outward, so nothing is entered twice or drifts out of step. The SOP and the Project Reference make this real.
Right-size governance / real trigger
Governance is added only on a real trigger — a risk or assurance score crossing a threshold, a material change, or coordination with other projects — never pre-emptively. A small project stays light.
The five stages
Every project moves through five stages: Pre-project → Green Light → Delivery → Go-Live → Post Go-Live. One project, one timeline.
Green Light
SSLM’s approval gate — the point where the Business Case is approved and the project is baselined. Before it you are still deciding; after it you are delivering against a baseline.
Project Reference
The single number (YYYY-NNN, e.g. 2026-001) that threads every document of one project together. If a document does not carry the reference, it has drifted out of the story.
The Tiers (1–4)
How far the framework scales: Tier 1 Core (a single project), Tier 2 Extended (deeper assurance added on a trigger), Tier 3 Program / Value Stream, Tier 4 Portfolio / EPMO. You only ever use the tier you need.
Fractal roll-up
The same shape repeats at every level: a milestone is to a project what a project is to a program, and a program is to a portfolio. Each layer reads the one below at its top level only.
Anchor to purpose
The umbrella principle: serve the strategic objective and the project’s purpose, rather than going through the motions.
Report the real colour
Honest status over managed narrative. An amber that is really red is worse than no report at all.
Compose from standard blocks
Build reports and artefacts from standard, unmodified building blocks — change the ask before you change the block. Program and portfolio reports are composed from the ones below, never re-written.
The reporting chain
Information is entered once and composed upward: Plan & Logs → Weekly → Monthly → Portfolio / Board.
The artefacts (the pack)
The standard set of light templates every project shares — Business Case, Plan, RAID logs, Weekly Update, SteerCo Pack, Monthly Report and Closure.