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Project Management vocabulary · Risks & Issues

Assumption

Meaning in project management, with examples

/əˈsʌmpʃən/nounCommon term

In project management, assumption means: Something the team accepts as true for planning purposes without full proof, for example that a supplier will deliver on time or that users will be available for testing.

In Turkish: varsayım, kabul

How it is used

Listed in the project charter, plans, estimates and the RAID log. Assumptions should be written down, checked and validated, because a wrong assumption quickly becomes a risk or an issue.

Example sentences

  1. Our estimate is based on the assumption that the old data is clean. If it isn't, migration will take longer.

  2. Let's list the key assumptions in the proposal so the client can see what the price depends on.

Common collocations

  • key assumptions
  • make an assumption
  • validate an assumption
  • planning assumption
  • RAID logA single document or table where a project tracks its Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies, each with an owner and a status.
  • riskAn uncertain event that has not happened yet but could affect the project's time, cost, quality or scope if it does.
  • estimateAn informed guess of how long a task will take, how much effort it needs or how much it will cost, based on experience and the information available.
  • dependencyA link between two tasks or deliverables where one cannot start or finish until the other has started or finished.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Risks & Issues

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