The Glossary--Project Litmus

The Project Glossary defines terms/acronyms relevant to the project.

You all probably know that.

What may be news to some of you is that it singlehandedly provides a valuable and telling insight into the overall health of your project.

Here's how.

Our project roles are primarily about communicating and ensuring common understanding of what is communicated. I have not been involved in a single project that did not have its own argot and tangle of acronyms.

When there has been a concerted effort by the entire team to define and understand these terms/acronyms it is an indication that this project team has made an investment in at least one task/artifact that will contribute signifcantly to the goal of clarity of project communication. And I believe the converse is also true, namely, that a project that fails to invest time in defining the terminology that is elemental to the project communication sets a dangerous precedent for sloppiness and imprecision of its communication.