Friday Flicks: What The Jargon?

Sometimes the project management and business analysis world can feel like wading through an endless stream of jargon, especially for a newcomer. PM, PPM, IIBA, WBS, Gantt, PMBoK, Kanban and so on. Add in our twitter hashtags like #PMOT and #PMChat and you have another level of complexity. Yet we're always focusing on ways to improve communication, doesn't this jargon get in the way?

Well yes, I imagine sometimes it does, and for someone new to the field it may seem an insurmountable challenge to also learn a new language to go with your new skills, but one value that this language creates is that it allows for less ambiguity. Having widely agreed upon project management-specific words codified helps the process by putting team members on the same page. When you're on a tight deadline the last thing you want is to be tripped by up unnecessary misunderstandings. Take our piece last week on scrum meetings: one of the real benefits of the strict structure of a scrum meeting is that it is dictated how this meeting will go: no getting caught up in side conversations or derailed by interpersonal issues allowed.

Still feeling a bit lost? This week's video pick might help, in this video Jennifer Whit, Director of ProjectManager.com explains her Top 10 Terms Used By Project Managers. Check it out:

Do you struggle with jargon, or do you find that it helps understanding? Let us know.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and the voice behind the @Project_World twitter. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com