Management Terms List: Key Terms and Definitions

What counts as a management term

A management term is a word or phrase used to describe how work, people and resources are organised and directed. Some are everyday words with a specific meaning at work (a “stakeholder”, a “deliverable”). Others are acronyms (KPI, SOP). Usage varies between companies and industries, so treat the definitions below as common, general meanings rather than rules.

Core management terms

Planning: deciding goals and the steps needed to reach them.
Organising: arranging people, tasks and resources so the plan can be carried out.
Leading: guiding, motivating and supporting a team.
Controlling: checking results against the plan and correcting course. Planning, organising, leading and controlling are often presented together as the four classic functions of management.
Delegation: handing a task or decision to someone else while the manager stays responsible for the overall outcome.
Accountability: being answerable for a result.
Span of control: the number of people who report directly to one manager.
Chain of command: the line of authority from senior leaders down to front-line staff.
Stakeholder: anyone affected by, or with an interest in, a decision or project, such as customers, staff or investors.
Middle management: managers who sit between senior leadership and front-line teams.

Strategy and performance terms

Strategy: the overall approach for how an organisation intends to compete or succeed. For how it differs from tactics, see examples of business tactics.
KPI (key performance indicator): a measure used to track progress toward an important goal.
OKR (objectives and key results): a goal-setting method pairing an ambitious objective with measurable results. See OKRs for business development.
Benchmarking: comparing your performance with others or with past results.
SWOT analysis: a simple review of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
ROI (return on investment): the gain from an investment compared with its cost.

People and team terms

Onboarding: helping a new hire settle in and become productive.
Employee engagement: how committed and involved people feel at work.
Turnover (attrition): the rate at which employees leave. The two words are sometimes used slightly differently, so check how your organisation uses them.
Performance review: a periodic conversation about how someone is doing against expectations.
Succession planning: preparing people to step into key roles later.

Specialist people-measurement terms such as shrinkage and occupancy are covered in our workforce management terms glossary.

Process and quality terms

Bottleneck: the step in a process that limits overall speed.
SOP (standard operating procedure): a written set of steps for doing a routine task the same way each time.
Continuous improvement: making small, ongoing changes to work methods.
Quality assurance (QA): activities that aim to prevent problems and make sure work meets a standard.
Quality control (QC): checking finished work to find defects.
Waste: any activity that uses effort without adding value for the customer.

Many of these ideas come from lean thinking, explained further in lean management terms.

Project terms

Scope: what a project will and will not include.
Milestone: a marker for a significant point in a project.
Deliverable: a specific output the project must produce.
Scope creep: the gradual growth of a project’s scope without matching changes to time or budget.
Budget variance: the difference between planned and actual spending.

For measuring project cost and schedule performance, see earned value management terms. For the vocabulary of analysing requirements and processes, see business analyst terminology.

Specialist glossaries

Common questions

What are the basic management skills?

Lists differ by author. Commonly named skills include communication, planning, decision making, delegation, time management, problem solving and leading people.

What is short for management?

“Mgmt” is a common written abbreviation, and “mgr” is used for manager.

What are common business words I should know?

Terms like KPI, ROI, stakeholder, scope, deliverable and benchmark come up often. They are all defined above.