Top 40 Project Management Terms and Concepts of 2019

Every field around the world has its own special jargon and a particular vocabulary that keeps evolving over time. The same holds true for project management. Over the years, just like the discipline itself, the lingo has also developed unique project management terms that one should know.

Compiled below are some of the most commonly referred to project management concepts and key terms that'll benefit you even if you're a seasoned pro. Go ahead and give your vocabulary a boost it deserves.

Technical Innovation vs. Process Innovation

When it comes to tech startups, we often talk about innovation — “digital innovation” (or “technical innovation”) in particular. It has, unfortunately, become a cliche, and now “innovation” is devoid of meaning. I’ve been trying to do some meaningful analysis of the “innovation landscape,” and to classify what is being called “innovation.”

The broad classification I got to is “technical innovation” vs. “process innovation.” In the majority of cases, tech startups are actually process innovations. They get existing technology and try to optimize a real-world process with it. Some examples of these processes would include “communicating with friends online,” “getting in touch with business contacts online,” “getting a taxi online,” “getting a date online,” “ordering food online,” “sharing photos online,” and so on. There is no inherent technical innovation in any of these — they either introduce new (and better) processes, or they optimize existing ones.