C

calendar

A project calendar lists time intervals in which activities or resources can or cannot be scheduled.

child

Any lower-level element in a hierarchical
structure.

committed cost

Any cost that will still be incurred even if the project is terminated.

completion date

The date calculated by which the project should be finished.

concept stage

See project identification.

conflict management

The ability to manage conflict effectively.

constraint

A restriction that affects the scope of a project, typically one of the four basic parameters of a project (time, scope, performance, and costs). Within Microsoft Project, a constraint is specifically a restriction on the start or finish date of a task.

consumable resource

Any resource that remains available until used.

contingency

The planned allotment of time and cost for unforeseeable events within a project.

contingency planning

The development of a plan that uses alternative strategies to complete a project should specified undesirable events occur.

contour

The general pattern of how scheduled work is distributed over time.

cost

An expense, either external or internal.

cost estimating

The process of predicting the costs of a project.

cost management

The effective financial control of a project through constant evaluation of a projectís costs.

cost performance index (CPI)

The ratio of budgeted or baseline costs to actual costs.

cost variance (CV)

The difference between a taskís planned cost and its actual cost.

CPI

See cost performance index.

CPM

See Critical Path Method.

crashing

To decrease a projectís overall duration with changing task relationships.

critical activity

See zero float.

critical path

A series of consecutive activities that represent the longest path through a project; the series of tasks that must be completed on schedule for a project to finish on time.

Critical Path Method (CPM)

A network scheduling method, originally developed by J.E. Kelly and M.R. Walker to manage maintenance projects in chemical manufacturing facilities, that defines all the projectís critical activities that must be completed on time.

critical task

A task that must be completed on schedule for a project to finish on time.

cross-project linking

Creating dependencies between tasks in different Project files.

CV

See cost variance.