// Glossary
Terms that matter.
Plain-language definitions of the concepts behind modern project management. No jargon walls, no textbook fluff. Each entry explains what the term means, why it matters, and how it connects to kanban workflows.
Agile
An iterative approach to software delivery that builds work in small increments with frequent reassessment.
Async Work
A collaboration style where team members contribute on their own schedules without requiring simultaneous presence.
Backlog
A prioritized list of work items waiting to be pulled into active development.
Burndown Chart
A graph that tracks remaining work against time to show whether a team is on pace to finish by a deadline.
Continuous Delivery
A practice where code changes are automatically built, tested, and prepared for release to production.
Cycle Time
The elapsed time from when work begins on a task to when it is completed.
Definition of Done
A shared checklist of criteria that a work item must meet before it is considered complete.
Eisenhower Matrix
A prioritization framework that sorts tasks into four quadrants based on urgency and importance.
Epic
A large body of work that can be broken down into smaller tasks or user stories.
Gantt Chart
A horizontal bar chart that maps tasks against a calendar timeline to show scheduling and dependencies.
Getting Things Done
A personal productivity method that captures all tasks into a trusted system and processes them by context and priority.
Kanban
A workflow management method that visualizes work, limits work in progress, and optimizes flow.
Kanban Board
A visual tool with columns representing workflow stages and cards representing individual work items.
Lead Time
The total time from when a work item is requested to when it is delivered.
Milestone
A significant checkpoint in a project that marks the completion of a major phase or deliverable.
Pomodoro Technique
A time management method that uses focused 25-minute work intervals separated by short breaks.
Project Management
The discipline of planning, organizing, and overseeing work to achieve specific goals within constraints.
Retrospective
A team meeting held after a work period to reflect on what went well, what did not, and what to improve.
Scrum
An agile framework that organizes work into fixed-length sprints with defined roles and ceremonies.
Sprint
A fixed time period, typically one to four weeks, during which a team commits to completing a set of work.
Sprint Planning
A meeting where the team selects backlog items to commit to for the upcoming sprint.
Stand-up
A brief daily meeting where team members share progress, plans, and blockers.
Swimlane
A horizontal row on a board that groups cards by a shared attribute like team, priority, or category.
Task Management
The process of creating, organizing, prioritizing, and tracking individual units of work through completion.
Throughput
The number of work items completed in a given time period.
Time Blocking
A scheduling method that assigns specific tasks to dedicated blocks of time on a calendar.
User Story
A short description of a feature written from the end user perspective to capture what they need and why.
Velocity
The amount of work a team completes during a sprint, used to predict future capacity.
WIP Limit
A cap on the number of work items allowed in a workflow stage at any given time.
Workflow
A defined sequence of stages that work passes through from initiation to completion.
// Learn by doing
See the concepts in action.
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