Answer.

Background of the issue:

A glossary is the foundation for a common language for communication among all participants in a project team. In IT projects, misinterpretations of terms can lead to disputes, errors, and returns. In large organizations, specific terms may have different meanings for the business, lawyers, and IT. The introduction and maintenance of a glossary is the analyst's evolutionary response to emerging language barriers.

Problem:

Working without a centralized glossary creates a "game of broken telephone": common words are interpreted differently, hidden meanings multiply, and technical and business descriptions diverge. There is no guarantee that contractors and the tech team understand each other.

Solution:

The systems analyst initiates the creation of a glossary at the project's start, gathering terminology from all stakeholders (business, IT, contractors, support).
Each term is recorded with a brief explanation, an example of use, and an indication of the "owner" of the term.
A unified storage platform (Confluence, Wiki, corporate portal) is provided with viewing/editing rights for all participants.
Relevant changes are made to the glossary with each requirement update or new entity appearance.
In the documentation and communications, a link to the definition is always added to each business or technical term.
A responsible person is assigned to maintain the glossary's relevance (either the analyst or a specially appointed "keeper").

Key Features:

Involvement of all project participants in filling the glossary
Mandatory implementation of links to terms in documentation
Continuous review and moderation of disputed terms with the involvement of business and IT

Trap Questions.

Can a ready-made glossary from another project be used and supplemented during the process?

No. Despite similarities in terms, even identical words (e.g., "client", "order") mean different phenomena in different businesses. Copying someone else's definitions only leads to greater misunderstanding.

It is often believed that the glossary is the responsibility only of the business analyst or linguist. Is this true?

No, all parties (systems analyst, development, testing, business, implementation) should participate, as only collaborative work guarantees completeness and unambiguity of interpretations.

Can a glossary be kept only as a separate document on disk and not updated?

No, because a static document quickly becomes outdated; any changes must be reflected promptly and integrated into the project's workflow. Outdated glossaries are a source of incorrect decisions.

Typical Mistakes and Anti-Patterns

The glossary is postponed "for later", resulting in duplicative or unformalized definitions appearing in all documents.
Lack of someone responsible for maintaining the glossary.
Ignoring the need to use hyperlinks to terms in project documents.

Example from life

Negative Case

In a large financial organization, there was no common glossary; the term "payment" was interpreted differently in various departments. This led to conflicting instructions and defects in the release, resulting in complaints from clients.

Pros:

Time savings at the start.

Cons:

Debates between teams, wasting time on clarifications.
Increased number of incidents and revisions.

Positive Case

In a new product, a wiki-glossary was created from day one and refined during the process. Contractors and the internal IT department constantly updated their definitions, while outdated terms were removed or relocated.