Glossary
Plain-English definitions for how modern teams work - project management, CRM, HR, automation, security, and AI. Every term links to a clear, citable definition.
Category
All-in-one software combines tools that teams usually buy separately - like project management, CRM, and documents - into a single application so work and data live in one place.
A single source of truth (SSOT) is one authoritative place where a given piece of information lives, so everyone references the same up-to-date data instead of conflicting copies.
A work OS (work operating system) is a single platform that runs a company's work end to end - projects, tasks, CRM, HR, documents, and automation - on one shared data model instead of many disconnected apps.
Category
A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that lays out a project's tasks against a timeline, showing start and end dates, durations, and how tasks depend on one another.
Kanban is a visual work method that shows tasks as cards moving across columns (such as To Do, In Progress, and Done) so a team can see status at a glance and limit work in progress.
A milestone is a significant checkpoint in a project that marks the completion of a phase or a key deliverable, used to measure progress against the plan.
Project management is the practice of planning, organizing, and tracking work to deliver a defined outcome on time and within scope, using tasks, owners, deadlines, and dependencies.
A recurring task is a task that repeats automatically on a set schedule - daily, weekly, monthly, or a custom cadence - so routine work reappears without being recreated each time.
A roadmap is a high-level, visual plan that communicates the direction and priorities of a project or product over time, showing what will be worked on and roughly when.
A subtask is a smaller piece of work nested under a parent task, used to break a larger item into concrete steps that can be assigned, dated, and checked off individually.
A task dependency is a relationship where one task cannot start or finish until another is done, used to model the correct order of work and reveal what is blocking what.
Task management is the process of tracking individual pieces of work from start to finish - creating tasks, assigning owners, setting due dates and priorities, and marking them done.
Category
Category
A backlog is a prioritized list of work - features, tasks, fixes, and ideas - that a team has not yet started, ordered so the most valuable items sit at the top.
A burndown chart is a graph that shows how much work remains in a sprint or project over time, helping a team see whether it is on track to finish by the deadline.
A sprint is a short, fixed period of time - usually one to four weeks - during which a team commits to completing a set amount of work, most often in the Scrum agile framework.
Category
CRM (customer relationship management) is software that stores and organizes a company's interactions with customers and prospects - contacts, accounts, deals, and activity - in one place.
A deal stage is a labeled step in the sales pipeline that shows how far a specific opportunity has progressed, such as Qualified, Proposal Sent, or Closed Won.
A lead is a person or company that has shown some interest in your product or service but has not yet been qualified as a genuine sales opportunity.
A sales forecast is an estimate of the revenue a team expects to close in a future period, based on open deals, their stages, and historical win rates.
A sales pipeline is a visual representation of where each deal sits in the sales process, organized as stages from first contact through to a closed win or loss.
Category
Contract lifecycle management (CLM) is the process and software for managing a contract through every stage - drafting, negotiation, signature, storage, and renewal - in one controlled system.
An e-signature (electronic signature) is a legally recognized way to sign a document electronically, capturing intent to agree without printing, signing by hand, and scanning.
Category
An ATS (applicant tracking system) is software that manages the hiring process - posting jobs, collecting applications, and moving candidates through interview stages to an offer.
An HRIS (human resource information system) is software that stores and manages core employee data - personal details, roles, compensation, and org structure - as the system of record for HR.
An HRMS (human resource management system) is software that manages a company's core people processes - employee records, payroll, benefits, time off, and performance - in one system.
Onboarding is the process of integrating a new hire into a company - completing paperwork, setting up tools and access, and getting them productive and connected in their role.
An org chart (organizational chart) is a diagram that shows a company's reporting structure - who reports to whom - laying out roles, teams, and hierarchy visually.
Payroll is the process of paying employees - calculating wages, withholding taxes and deductions, and issuing payments - on a regular schedule, along with the records that process produces.
A performance review is a structured evaluation of an employee's work over a period, assessing results, strengths, and areas to improve, usually between an employee and their manager.
PTO (paid time off) is employer-provided time away from work - such as vacation, personal, and sometimes sick days - during which an employee is still paid.
Category
A knowledge base is a centralized, searchable library of information - articles, guides, and answers - that helps people find what they need without asking someone directly.
A wiki is a collaborative website of interlinked pages that a team can create and edit together, used to document and share knowledge in one shared space.
Category
No-code automation lets people build automated workflows using a visual, point-and-click builder instead of writing code, so non-developers can automate repetitive tasks themselves.
Workflow automation uses software to run a sequence of tasks automatically - moving work, updating records, and notifying people based on rules - so repetitive processes happen without manual effort.
Category
Professional services automation (PSA) is software that helps services firms manage the full client project lifecycle - from sales and resourcing to time tracking, billing, and profitability.
Resource management is the practice of planning and allocating people and their time across projects so the right work gets the right capacity without overloading anyone.
Time tracking is the practice of recording how much time is spent on tasks, projects, or clients, using timers or manual entries to measure and often bill for work.
A timesheet is a record of the hours an employee or contractor worked over a period, broken down by task, project, or client, used for approval, billing, and payroll.
Workload is the amount of work assigned to a person or team over a period, and a workload view shows that distribution so managers can spot who is overloaded or has spare capacity.
Category
A dashboard is a single screen that brings together key metrics, charts, and lists so people can see the status of a project, team, or business at a glance.
A KPI (key performance indicator) is a measurable value that shows how well a team or business is achieving a specific objective, tracked over time to guide decisions.
Category
Category
A REST API is a way for software to talk to other software over the web using standard HTTP requests, letting developers read and change data in a service programmatically.
A webhook is an automated message sent from one app to another when an event happens, delivering data to a URL in real time so systems can react without constantly polling for changes.
Category
An audit log is a chronological record of actions taken in a system - who did what and when - kept for security, compliance, and accountability.
Data residency refers to the physical or geographic location where an organization's data is stored, which matters for legal, regulatory, and privacy requirements.
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a European Union law that governs how organizations collect, use, and protect the personal data of people in the EU, with significant penalties for violations.
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a US law that sets rules for protecting the privacy and security of individuals' health information.
Role-based access control (RBAC) is a security model that grants permissions based on a user's role rather than to each individual, so people get exactly the access their job requires.
SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) is an open standard that lets an identity provider securely tell an application that a user is authenticated, commonly used to enable single sign-on.
SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management) is a standard for automatically creating, updating, and deactivating user accounts across applications from a central identity system.
Single sign-on (SSO) lets users log in once with one set of credentials and access multiple applications without signing in again to each one separately.
SOC 2 is a widely recognized security compliance framework that verifies, through an independent audit, that a service provider properly protects customer data across principles like security and availability.
Category
A daily digest is a periodic summary - usually daily or weekly - that gathers the updates, tasks, and changes relevant to you into one briefing, so you stay informed without checking every screen.
Focus mode is a way of working, and a software feature, that strips away distractions so you can concentrate on one task at a time and do sustained, high-quality deep work.
A habit tracker is a tool for recording whether you completed a recurring behavior each day, so you can build consistency and see your streaks and gaps over time.
Quick capture is the practice, and the feature, of recording a task, note, or idea the moment it occurs with minimal friction, so nothing is lost and you can organize it later.
A saved view is a stored configuration of a list or board - its filters, sorting, grouping, and columns - that you can reopen instantly instead of setting up the same query every time.
A work journal is a running, dated record of what you did, decided, and learned, kept so you can recall progress, reflect on patterns, and report your work accurately.
Category
Category
A huddle is a short, focused team meeting - often daily and standing - used to align quickly on priorities, progress, and blockers without the overhead of a full meeting.
A whiteboard, in software, is an open visual canvas where teams can sketch ideas, map processes, and organize notes and shapes freely, on their own or together in real time.
Ready when you are
Atlas is the all-in-one work OS that turns these concepts into one connected platform - tasks, projects, CRM, contracts, HR, and automation on a single record. Start free.