Glossary

All terms

accountable (person)

Common glossary definition

Someone who is accountable is required and expected to justify actions or decisions to a person or body with greater authority, from whom the accountability has been formally assigned.

Note: accountabilities can be tiered such that there is a hierarchy of accountabilities, with a higher-level having overall accountability over lower-level accountabilities.

Note: an accountable person usually has associated formally delegated authority for their actions and decisions, such as through delegated letters.

accounting officer

Common glossary definition

A person appointed by the Treasury or designated by a department to be accountable for the operations of an organisation and the preparation of its accounts. The appointee is the head of a department or other organisation or the Chief Executive of a non-departmental public body (NDPB) or other arm’s length body.

arm’s length body

Common glossary definition

Central government bodies that carry out discrete functions on behalf of departments, but which are controlled or owned by them. They include executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies, and government-owned companies.

assessment framework (continuous improvement)

Common glossary definition

In the context of government standards, an assessment framework defines levels of maturity against the most important aspects of the corresponding standard, to make it easy for organisations to understand how well they are meeting the standard, and what practices they should aim to improve.

asset (property)

Common glossary definition

Tangible fixed assets in the form of land, buildings or related equipment, owned or controlled by government, with the expectation of present or future benefit.

assumption

An unknown that is taken as being a fact.

Note: an assumption is made when something is unknown or not yet decided and is taken to be true for the purposes of planning, but which could change later.

Note: assumptions can be treated as risks.

assurance

Common glossary definition

A general term for the confidence that can be derived from objective information over the successful conduct of activities, the efficient and effective design and operation of internal control, compliance with internal and external requirements, and the production of insightful and credible information to support decision-making. Confidence diminishes when there are uncertainties around the integrity of information or of underlying processes.

baseline

Common glossary definition

A reference basis for comparison against which performance is monitored and controlled.

Note: in a project delivery context baselines apply to plans and to sets of data relating to the solution. Examples include schedule, benefits, cost, requirements and design.

Note: once approved a baseline can only be altered through change control.

benefit (project delivery)

Common glossary definition

In the context of project delivery, benefit is the measurable value or other positive impact resulting from an outcome perceived as an advantage by one or more stakeholders, and which contributes towards one or more objective(s).

BIM

Building information modelling is a broad term that describes the process of creating and managing a digital model of a building or other facility such as a building, bridge, highway or tunnel.

board

Common glossary definition

The highest-level governing body (e.g. a board of directors, a supervisory board, or a board of governors or trustees) charged with the responsibility to direct and/or oversee the organisation’s activities and hold senior management accountable.

business case

Common glossary definition

The justification for an organisational activity (strategic, programme, project or operational) which typically contains benefits, outcomes, timescales, costs and risks against which continuing viability is tested.

campaign

Common glossary definition

A planned sequence of communication and interactions that uses a compelling narrative over time to deliver a defined and measurable outcome.

central government

Common glossary definition

All government departments and their arm’s length bodies.

channel

Common glossary definition

The medium to deliver a message to an end audience.

commercial

Common glossary definition

Commonly used term in central government to define broad procurement activity, but does not include wider commercial activity including income generation for the purposes of this document.

commercial specialists

Common glossary definition

Staff, of any rank, with particular expertise in the undertaking of specialist commercial activities as defined in this standard, including commercial specialist roles as defined in the Government Commercial Function people standards.

communication outtake

Subject-oriented stakeholder experiences and communicator-oriented learning about communication practice

communication package

Common glossary definition

A communication package, managed by a communication lead, is an element of a campaign which covers a specific need or event and is aligned to the campaign objectives. A communication package can be made up of a number of sub-packages.

constraint (project delivery)

Common glossary definition

In the context of project delivery, a constraint is a limitation or restriction on planning or undertaking work.

Note: planning constraints can include, but are not limited to scope, performance, time, cost, resources and risk.

consulting services

Common glossary definition

Advisory and related client service activities, the nature and scope of which are agreed with the client, are intended to add value and improve an organisation’s governance, risk management and control processes without the internal auditor assuming management responsibility. Examples include counsel, advice, facilitation and training.

contingent worker

Common glossary definition

A contingent worker is a temporary worker contracted for a particular project or period of time; they are not on the payroll but provide services to the organisation. There are different types of contingent worker, including agency worker or independent contractor, each of which have different legal rights and status.

contract

Common glossary definition

A legally binding agreement that sets out obligations between parties. A contract can take any form, such as a licence agreement, memorandum, service agreement.

control (expenditure)

Common glossary definition

Cabinet Office expenditure controls are part of HM Treasury’s scheme of financial delegations. They apply to proposals to procure certain goods and services, to ensure the expertise and insight of the government functions is utilised. Such proposals fall outside departments’ delegated authority and require Cabinet Office approval, without which expenditure is irregular.

control (organisational)

Common glossary definition

Any action taken by management, the board and other parties to manage risk and increase the likelihood that established objectives and goals will be achieved.

critical national infrastructure

Common glossary definition

Those facilities, systems, sites, information, people, networks and processes, necessary for a country to function and upon which daily life depends.

defect

An identified error or non-conformance in an approved deliverable.

defined (way of working)

Common glossary definition

A documented way of working which people are expected to use. This can apply to any aspect of a governance or management framework. For example, processes, codes of practice, methods, templates, tools and guides.

delegated authority and delegation letter

Common glossary definition

A standing authorisation by HM Treasury under which a body may commit resources or incur expenditure from money voted by Parliament without specific prior approval from HM Treasury. Delegated authorities may also authorise commitments to spend (including the acceptance of contingent liabilities) and to deal with special transactions (such as write-offs) without prior approval.

delivery approach

The practices and methods used to design and implement a solution or part of a solution

Note: sometimes qualified as, such as:

• adaptive; an approach in which the requirements are subject to a high level of uncertainty and volatility and are likely to change throughout the work
• iterative; an approach that focuses on an initial, simplified implementation then progressively elaborates adding to the feature set until the final deliverable is complete
• sequential or predictive; where work proceeds in a sequence of predefined steps

digital twin

A digital replica of physical assets (physical twin), processes and systems

Note: digital twin can be used as a model to reflect a solution in design, or, through sensors, a real system in operation.

diversity and inclusion

Common glossary definition

Diversity provides a focus on championing a broad range of backgrounds and opinions- included those protected by prevailing equality legislation- with the merit principle front and centre and drawing on the talents of the widest possible range of geographical, social and career backgrounds. All diversity and inclusion people policies, processes and practices should be data-driven, evidence-led and delivery-focused.

established (way of working)

Common glossary definition

In the context of standards, established denotes a way of working that is implemented and used throughout the organisation. This can apply to any aspect of a governance or management framework- for example processes, codes of practice, methods, templates, tools and guides.

executive agency

Common glossary definition

A type of arm’s length body. A public body that acts as an arm of its sponsoring department.

gate

Common glossary definition

A decision point, carried out as part of formal governance, at significant points in the life cycle to ensure that the decision to invest as stated in an agreed business case and plans is, and remains, valid.

governance

Common glossary definition

Governance defines relationships and the distribution of rights and responsibilities among those who work with and in the organisation. It determines the rules and procedures through which the organisation’s objectives are set, and provides the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance. Importantly, it defines where accountability lies throughout the organisation.

governance and management framework

Common glossary definition

A governance and management framework sets out the authority limits, decision-making roles and rules, degrees of autonomy, assurance needs, reporting structure, accountabilities and roles, together with the appropriate management practices and associated documentation needed to meet this standard.

government function

Common glossary definition

A grouping aligned across government, embedded into departments and arm’s length bodies. For activities within its scope, each function sets cross-government strategies, sets and assures standards, develops capability, gives expert advice, drives continuous improvement, and develops and delivers commonly required services.

government major project

Common glossary definition

A central government funded project or programme that requires HM Treasury approval during its life, as set out in Delegated Authority Letters, or is otherwise of special interest to the government. A government major project is listed in the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP)

Common glossary definition

The portfolio of the government’s largest, complex, innovative, risky and ambitious projects that have been agreed by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, HM Treasury and departments and are delivering the government’s main policy initiatives.

government profession

Common glossary definition

A grouping aligned across government to increase the professionalism and engagement of people with particular skills, knowledge or expertise. A profession sets professional standards, supports professional development and career progress, and provides a consistent way to attract and retain people.

profession

See government profession.

function

See government function.

grid

Common glossary definition

A media planning schedule and forward look to plan announcements.

integrated assurance and approval plan (IAAP)

Common glossary definition

The planning, co-ordination and provision of assurance activities and approval points throughout the ‘policy to delivery’ life cycle, proportionate to levels of project cost and risk.

integrated assurance strategy (IAS)

Common glossary definition

The integrated assurance strategy sets the strategic requirements for assurance provision to ensure agreed and consistent standards across an organisation’s portfolio of major projects.

issue

Common glossary definition

A relevant event that has happened, was not planned and requires management action. It could be a problem, benefit, query, concern, change request or risk that has occurred.

iterative

Repetitive use of a procedure or process

Note: iteration is normally done for the purpose of improving or developing something, where each iteration builds on the work and experience from previous iterations.

knowledge asset

A piece of knowledge viewed as an asset to the person or organisation which possesses it

Note: examples include intellectual property and innovation, datasets, patents, trademarks and new ideas, processes or methods

lessons learnt

The practice of continuous improvement based upon organisational learning in a risk management context.

life cycle

The life cycle provides a phased structure for governing the work and underpinning the delivery plan from start to finish.

Note: life cycles can be applied to a portfolio, service, product, system, programme or project.

lines of defence

An assurance model that defines three distinct groups of stakeholders involved with separate but complimentary assurance activity.

media

Communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated. Media includes every broadcasting and narrowcasting medium on and off line such as websites, social media platforms, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail and telephone.

non departmental public body

A subset of arm’s length body. A public body with a role in the process of national government that is legally separate from its sponsoring department and operates independently from ministers.

non ministerial department

A subset of arm’s length body. A public body that shares many characteristics with a full department, without ministers, and acts independently from any sponsoring department.

other related work (project delivery)

In the context of project delivery, other related work comprises work within a portfolio or programme which is not managed as a project.

Note: examples of other related work are support services (such as for finance and human resources, support offices and specialist information and engineering offices), ongoing improvement initiatives not run as projects, service delivery and business as usual operations.

outcome

The result of change normally affecting real-world behaviour or circumstances.

Note: outcomes are desired when a change is conceived.

Note: outcomes are achieved as a result of the activities undertaken to effect the change; they are the manifestation of part or all of the new state conceived in the target operating model.

output

A specialist product (the tangible of intangible artefact) that is produced, constructed or created as a result of a planned activity and handed over to users.

portfolio

Part or all of an organisation’s investment required to achieve its objectives.

Note: a portfolio is governed through its portfolio (or business) plan, and comprises work components, such as other portfolios, programmes, projects, other related work and work packages.

portfolio management

Portfolio management is a co-ordinated collection of strategic practices and decisions that together enable the most effective balance of organisational change and business as usual.

product

An article of substance that is offered or is part of a service delivered by an organisation

programme

A programme is a unique, temporary, flexible organisation created to co-ordinate, direct and oversee the implementation of a set of projects and other related work components to deliver outcomes and benefits related to a set of strategic objectives.

project

A project is a unique temporary management environment, undertaken in stages, created for the purpose of delivering one or more business objectives.

Note: a project’s objective can be fulfilled by a combination of deliverables, products, services, outputs, outcomes and benefits, depending on the project’s context.

project delivery

Collectively, portfolio, programme and project management are referred to in government as “project delivery”.

quality

The degree to which the features and inherent or assigned characteristics of a product, person, process, service and/or system bear on its ability to show that it meets expectations or stated needs, requirements or specification.

quality assurance

The planned systematic process that will be used to provide confidence that outputs will match their defined quality criteria.

quality control

The process of monitoring specific project results to determine whether they comply with relevant standards and of identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance.

reach

The number of people reached by a communication activity.

requirement

Statement which translates or expresses a need and its associated constraints and conditions.

Note: different delivery approaches use differing terminology, for example SCRUM uses the term user story.

residual risk

The risk remaining after the risk response has been applied.

responsible (person)

Someone who is responsible has some control over or care for an action, or the obligation to do something as part of a wider job role.

Note: a responsible person is responsible to an accountable person, or themselves if they are the accountable person.

risk

The effect of uncertainty on objectives.

Note: risk is usually expressed in terms of causes, potential events, and their consequences.

Note: a cause is an element which alone or in combination has the potential to give rise to risk.

Note: an event is an occurrence or change of a set of circumstances and can be something that is expected which does not happen or something that is not expected which does happen. Events can have multiple causes and consequences and can affect multiple objectives.

Note: the consequences, should the event happen, – consequences are the outcome of an event affecting objectives, which can be certain or uncertain, can have positive or negative direct or indirect effects on objectives, can be expressed qualitatively or quantitatively, and can escalate through cascading and cumulative effects.

senior responsible owner

The individual accountable to the sponsoring body for a programme or project meeting its objectives, delivering the required outcomes and realising the required benefits.

Note: the senior responsible owner owns the business case and is accountable for governance.

Note: the sponsoring body could be a group or individual.

Note: the senior responsible owner of a government major project is ultimately accountable to Parliament.

service

Action of an organisation to meet an ongoing demand or need to deliver an outcome for users.

Note: a service is a complete solution that brings together technology and non-technology elements to enable users to achieve a defined outcome.

simulation

Use of a similar or equivalent system to imitate a real system, so that it behaves like or appears to be the real system.

Note: simulation is primarily used in design.

Note: the equivalent systems are usually, but not always, digital.

Note: modelling is an alternative term used.

solution

The services, products and infrastructure which are intended to fulfil the requirements for an aspect of government policy or the organisation’s objectives.

Note: the solution can include people, products, services, information, processes, and natural and societal elements.

solution hierarchy

The progressive breakdown of a solution into its constituent elements.

Note: also referred to as a system hierarchy.

Note: this is usually the equivalent of a product breakdown structure used in planning.

solution integration

The progressive assembling of a solution’s components into the whole system.

Note: also referred to as ‘system integration’ and ‘service integration’ depending on context.

sponsoring body

The driving force behind a programme, which provides the investment decision and top-level endorsement for the rationale and objectives of the programme.

stage (project delivery)

In the context of project delivery, a stage is a subdivision of a project life cycle.

stakeholder

Individual, group or organisation that can affect or be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, initiative or activity.

Note: examples of stakeholders include: citizens, customers, regulators, suppliers and employees and sponsoring bodies.

Note: examples of a decision, initiative or activity include those relating to business as usual activities, portfolio, programmes and projects.

Note: also referred to as an interested party.

standard

A standard is an agreed document that provides requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.

strategy

A strategy outlines longer term objectives, outcomes and outputs, and the means to achieve them, to inform future decisions and planning.

system

Arrangement of parts or components that work together to provide a product, service or outcome.

Note: the term ‘system’ is frequently clarified by the use of an associative noun, e.g. aircraft system.

Note: a complete system includes all of the associated equipment, facilities, material, computer applications, firmware, technical documentation, services, and personnel required for operations and support to the degree necessary for self-sufficient use in its intended environment.

system of systems

A collection of systems which can operate independently fulfilling a purpose on their own, are independently acquired and managed, and can maintain a continual independent operational existence.

Note: a system of interest is the system whose life cycle is under consideration within a system of systems.

tailoring

Altering or adapting defined practices, methods and processes to suit particular context or circumstances.

Note: tailoring is used to ensure governance and management is appropriate and proportionate.

termination

Termination is the premature closure of a work component because it is no longer needed or viable, or because the risks associated with it have become unacceptably high.

tolerance

The agreed deviation above and below a plan’s baseline without escalation to the next level of management.

Note: tolerance can be applied to schedule, cost, quality, scope, benefit and risk.

Note: tolerances for quality are normally set in the requirements and specifications.

tranche (project delivery)

In the context of project delivery, a tranche is a subdivision of a programme designed to enable an incremental approach to delivery of outputs, outcomes and benefits.

transformation

A distinct change to the way an organisation conducts all or part of its business.

two-way traceability

The ability to trace both forward and backward (for example, from requirement to an element of the solution and from the solution element back to requirement). It can also be applied in other areas, such as to output-outcome-benefits mapping, and solution-plan mapping.

user

A person whose needs are, or are to be met, by a product, service or process.

Note: Users have a direct relationship with the product, service or process and might be end-users (such as a member of the public or a government official) or other users (such as those who maintain the product, service or process).

user needs

Prerequisites identified as necessary for a user, or a set of users, to achieve an intended outcome, implied or stated within a specific context of use.

Note: a user need is independent of any proposed solution for that need.

validation

An activity that ensures a solution (or part of) meets the needs of the business. Validation ensures that business requirements are met even though these might have changed since the original design.

value for money (project delivery)

Value for money is a balanced judgment based on the benefit cost ratio which brings together social costs over the entire life of a proposal, together with decisively significant unquantifiable deliverables, and unmonetised risks and uncertainties, to deliver a proposal’s objectives.

verification

An activity that ensures that a solution (or part of) is complete, accurate, reliable and matches its design specification.

work component

A defined and managed part of a portfolio, such as a lower-level portfolio, programme, project, other related work, or work package.

work package

A group of related activities that have a defined scope, deliverable, timescale and cost, contributing to the required outputs and outcomes.