Real estate technology glossary

Use these plain-language definitions to evaluate technology decisions, explain requirements, and create shared language across owners, staff, and vendors.

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The Operating Language Library

Technology, execution, and operating terms in plain English.

Search the language behind technology, Agile delivery, EOS, Lean Six Sigma, and project management. Select any term for a practical definition and a related REI Strategy resource.

111 terms shown

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EOS term

1-Year Plan

The limited set of measurable company goals leadership commits to achieve during the next year.

EOS term

3-Year Picture

A specific description of what the business should look like three years from now.

EOS term

10-Year Target

A long-range goal that gives the organization a clear direction.

Technology term

Acceptance criteria

The observable conditions a solution must meet before the work is approved as complete and transferred into ongoing ownership.

EOS term

Accountability Chart

A role-based view of the major functions, seats, responsibilities, and reporting relationships in a business.

Agile term

Agile

An adaptive way of organizing work around short feedback cycles, usable outcomes, collaboration, and response to changing information.

Technology term

AI workflow

A business workflow that uses an AI model for a defined task such as classification, extraction, drafting, summarization, or recommendation, with human review and quality controls matched to the risk.

Technology term

API

An application programming interface that allows approved software systems to exchange data or request actions through documented methods and permissions.

Project Management term

Assumption

A condition treated as true for planning purposes that may need validation.

Technology term

Automation

A rule-based process that performs a repeatable action when defined conditions are met, with assigned monitoring, exception handling, and ownership.

Agile term

Backlog refinement

Ongoing work to clarify, split, estimate, and reorder future backlog items.

Project Management term

Baseline

The approved version of scope, schedule, or budget used to compare actual performance and manage change.

Agile term

Burndown chart

A chart that shows remaining work over time during a Sprint or delivery period.

Project Management term

Business case

The documented reason for an investment, including the problem, options, expected value, cost, risk, and recommendation.

Technology term

Business intelligence dashboard

A visual reporting interface that presents approved metrics, definitions, filters, and time periods for a specific decision audience.

Technology term

Change management

The structured work that helps people understand, adopt, use, and sustain a new process, system, responsibility, or operating rule.

Project Management term

Change request

A documented proposal to modify approved scope, schedule, budget, requirements, or another project baseline.

Project Management term

Constraint

A fixed limit involving time, budget, scope, resources, policy, technology, or quality.

Lean Six Sigma term

Control plan

A documented plan for monitoring key process conditions, response rules, ownership, and sustained performance.

EOS term

Core Focus

The combination of a company's purpose, cause, or passion and the work it can perform especially well.

EOS term

Core Values

The small set of essential behaviors used to guide hiring, feedback, decisions, and culture.

Project Management term

Critical path

The longest dependent sequence of scheduled work that determines the earliest possible completion date.

Lean Six Sigma term

Critical to quality

A measurable requirement that must be met for an output to satisfy an important customer or business need.

Technology term

CRM

A customer relationship management system that stores relationship data, organizes pipeline activity, assigns follow-up, and supports reporting across a defined operating process.

Lean Six Sigma term

Cycle time

The elapsed time required to complete one unit of work from start to finish within a process step.

Agile term

Daily stand-up

A short daily coordination meeting used to inspect progress, identify obstacles, and adjust the immediate plan.

Technology term

Data governance

The decision rights, standards, ownership, access rules, quality checks, and review routines used to keep business data reliable and appropriate.

Agile term

Definition of done

The shared quality standard that work must meet before the team treats it as complete and usable.

Project Management term

Deliverable

A specific output, result, document, system, or capability the project is responsible for producing.

Project Management term

Dependency

A relationship where one task, decision, resource, or deliverable relies on another.

Lean Six Sigma term

DMAIC

A five-phase improvement method: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.

Lean Six Sigma term

Eight wastes

Defects, overproduction, waiting, unused talent, transportation, inventory, motion, and extra processing.

EOS term

EOS

A business operating framework that helps leadership teams align vision, people, data, issues, processes, and execution.

Agile term

Epic

A large body of work that must be broken into smaller outcomes or stories before delivery.

Lean Six Sigma term

Fishbone diagram

A cause-and-effect diagram used to organize possible causes of a problem across logical categories.

Lean Six Sigma term

Five Whys

A questioning technique that repeatedly asks why a problem occurred to move from a symptom toward a root cause.

Technology term

Fractional CTO

A part-time executive technology leader who sets direction, aligns priorities and resources, leads critical delivery, and improves the technology function over time.

EOS term

GWC

An EOS test for whether a person Gets the role, Wants the role, and has the Capacity to do it.

EOS term

IDS

The EOS problem-solving sequence of Identify, Discuss, and Solve used to reach the root issue and assign an action.

Agile term

Increment

The integrated, usable result produced during a Sprint that meets the Definition of Done.

EOS term

Integrator

The leader who connects major functions, resolves cross-functional issues, drives accountability, and turns vision into coordinated execution.

Project Management term

Issue

A current problem or decision that is already affecting the work and requires action.

EOS term

Issues List

A shared list of obstacles, opportunities, questions, and unresolved decisions that require attention.

Lean Six Sigma term

Kaizen

A practice of continuous improvement through small, repeated changes informed by the people doing the work.

Agile term

Kanban

A visual method for managing flow by making work visible, limiting work in progress, and improving delivery.

Technology term

Lead routing

The rules and controls that assign a new lead or task to the right person, queue, or workflow based on approved criteria.

Lean Six Sigma term

Lead time

The total elapsed time from a request entering a process until the requested outcome is delivered.

Lean Six Sigma term

Lean

A management approach that improves customer value by reducing waste, delays, handoff friction, and unnecessary effort.

Project Management term

Lessons learned

Documented observations about what helped, what failed, and what should change in future work.

EOS term

Level 10 Meeting

A structured weekly leadership meeting with a standard agenda for scorecard review, Rocks, issues, decisions, and accountability.

EOS term

Measurable

A number owned by one person and reviewed on a defined cadence to show whether an important result is on track.

Project Management term

Milestone

A significant point used to mark a decision, approval, completion, dependency, or phase transition.

Lean Six Sigma term

Pareto chart

A ranked chart used to identify the small number of causes responsible for a large share of observed problems.

Lean Six Sigma term

Poka-yoke

A process or design feature that prevents an error or makes the error immediately visible.

Project Management term

Portfolio

A collection of projects, programs, and investments managed together to support strategy and resource decisions.

EOS term

Process Component

The EOS discipline of documenting and consistently following the company's core processes.

Technology term

Process owner

The person accountable for the outcome, rules, performance, changes, and cross-functional coordination of a business process.

Agile term

Product backlog

An ordered list of product needs, improvements, defects, and learning work maintained as the source of upcoming work.

Agile term

Product owner

The person accountable for maximizing value and ordering product work according to goals, evidence, and stakeholder needs.

Project Management term

Program

A coordinated group of related projects and activities managed together to achieve benefits that separate management would miss.

Project Management term

Project

A temporary effort undertaken to create a defined product, service, result, or change.

Project Management term

Project charter

A document that authorizes a project and states its purpose, objectives, sponsor, high-level scope, authority, and constraints.

Project Management term

Project governance

The decision rights, review structure, escalation paths, controls, and accountability used to direct a project.

Project Management term

Project management office

A function that supports project standards, governance, reporting, portfolio visibility, and delivery capability.

Project Management term

Project manager

The person accountable for organizing the plan, people, communication, risks, decisions, and delivery work.

Project Management term

Project sponsor

The executive owner who authorizes the project, protects its business value, and resolves major decisions or barriers.

Project Management term

RACI

A responsibility model that identifies who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for a task or decision.

Project Management term

RAID log

A working record of Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies used to support review and action.

Project Management term

Resource allocation

The assignment of people, time, budget, tools, or capacity to planned work.

EOS term

Right People, Right Seats

The EOS principle of matching people who fit the company's values with roles they can perform successfully.

EOS term

Rocks

The small set of most important priorities a company or person commits to complete during a quarter.

Lean Six Sigma term

Root cause analysis

A structured investigation used to identify the underlying conditions that create a recurring problem.

Project Management term

Scope

The approved boundaries of the work, including what the project will deliver and what it excludes.

Project Management term

Scope creep

Uncontrolled expansion of work without corresponding approval, resources, schedule, or budget adjustment.

EOS term

Scorecard

A short weekly set of measurable numbers that gives leaders an early view of business performance.

Agile term

Scrum

A lightweight framework that helps a team deliver complex work through defined accountabilities, events, and short delivery cycles.

Agile term

Scrum master

The person accountable for helping the team and organization understand and use Scrum effectively.

Technology term

Single source of truth

The approved system, dataset, or definition used as the authoritative reference for a specific business fact or decision.

Lean Six Sigma term

SIPOC

A high-level process view showing Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers.

Lean Six Sigma term

Six Sigma

A disciplined method for reducing process variation and defects through measurement, analysis, and controlled improvement.

Agile term

Sprint

A fixed-length period in Scrum during which the team works toward a Sprint Goal and creates a usable increment.

Agile term

Sprint backlog

The selected backlog items, Sprint Goal, and delivery plan the team uses during the current Sprint.

Agile term

Sprint goal

A single objective that gives the Sprint purpose and guides tradeoffs during delivery.

Agile term

Sprint planning

The event where the team agrees on the Sprint Goal, selected work, and an initial plan for delivery.

Agile term

Sprint retrospective

A team review of how the work was performed and which improvement will be tested next.

Agile term

Sprint review

The event where the team and stakeholders inspect the outcome of a Sprint and adjust future priorities.

Project Management term

Stakeholder

A person or group that affects, funds, uses, approves, supports, or is affected by the work.

Technology term

Standard operating procedure

A documented method for completing recurring work with a stated purpose, trigger, inputs, steps, decisions, quality checks, responsibilities, and change history.

Lean Six Sigma term

Standard work

The current approved method for completing a task with defined steps, sequence, timing, and quality expectations.

Project Management term

Status report

A recurring summary of progress, completed work, upcoming work, decisions, risks, issues, and forecast.

Agile term

Story points

A relative estimate of work based on complexity, effort, uncertainty, and risk.

Technology term

Systems integration

The controlled exchange of data or actions between systems so a business process can move across tools with clear ownership and fewer manual handoffs.

Technology term

Technology roadmap

An ordered plan that connects business priorities to technology initiatives, owners, dependencies, timing, budget, risks, and success measures.

Technology term

Technology stack

The connected set of software, data, integrations, infrastructure, vendors, and operating practices used to run a business.

EOS term

Traction Component

The EOS discipline of converting vision into quarterly priorities, weekly accountability, and measurable execution.

Project Management term

User acceptance testing

Testing performed by representative users to confirm a solution supports agreed business scenarios and acceptance criteria.

Agile term

User story

A short description of a need written from the user's perspective to support discussion, clarification, and acceptance.

Lean Six Sigma term

Value stream map

A visual map of the work and information required to deliver value, including delays, queues, and waste.

Agile term

Velocity

The amount of estimated work a team completes in a Sprint, used carefully for planning within that team.

Technology term

Vendor management

The process for selecting, contracting, directing, measuring, reviewing, and exiting technology providers according to business outcomes and responsibilities.

EOS term

Vision/Traction Organizer

A two-page EOS planning tool that records the company's core vision and near-term execution plan.

EOS term

Visionary

The leader who creates ideas, sees opportunities, builds relationships, and sets long-range direction.

Lean Six Sigma term

Voice of the customer

Evidence about customer needs, expectations, problems, and priorities used to define value and quality.

Lean Six Sigma term

Waste

Time, effort, movement, inventory, defects, or activity that consumes resources without creating required value.

Technology term

Webhook

A message one system sends to another when a defined event occurs, commonly used to trigger a near-real-time integration workflow.

Project Management term

Work breakdown structure

A hierarchical breakdown of the project scope into manageable deliverables and work packages.

Agile term

Work in progress limit

A limit on how many items can be active at one stage so the team can reduce congestion and finish work.

Technology term

Workflow

A defined sequence of work that moves an input toward an outcome through named steps, decisions, roles, systems, handoffs, and checks.

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