- deliverable - n., the tangible result of work performed.
When someone agrees to do something (i.e., they “take on an action item“), there may be a corresponding expectation that they will deliver a tangible result to a manager or a team. What they deliver is called a “deliverable.”
Deliverables can be big or small. For Boeing, a 747 is a deliverable. If you promised your boss you’d get your TPS report to her by Wednesday, then the TPS report is a deliverable. If your action item was to bring coffee to the next meeting, then coffee is a deliverable.
This piece of corporate jargon is even used in legal agreements, as in: “Company agrees to deliver it’s deliverables on or before the deliverable delivery date.”