Basic Tips for Passing the PMP Exam

Question-oriented tips y There are certain questions that contain extra information. This information is irrelevant and it does not relate to the correct answer. Beware of such questions and remember it isn't necessary to use all the information provided to answer the question. Each question has only one correct answer. You need to select the most appropriate answer. Beware of choices that represent true statements but are not relevant. Be sure to read all the options before you select any one. You need to answer the questions from a PMI perspectivenot from your own perspective, which you acquired through experience. Remember that PMI is trying to present an ideal environment for project managers that might be different from your own experience. Beware of answer choices that represent generalizations, which may be characterized by words such as always,never, must, or completely; these are often the incorrect choices. Look out for choices that represent special cases. These choices tend to be correct and are characterized by words such as often, sometimes, may, generally, andperhaps. The correct answer may not be grammatically correct.

PMI Concept Oriented Tips y The project manager takes an active approach to the job by not waiting until a risk materializes and becomes a problem. This is an extremely important concept that might affect many questions on an exam. The project manager does not escalate problems to upper management or to the customer before fully analyzing them and identifying options. When answering a question related to what the project manager should do in a specific situation, you should rephrase the question to: What is the first thing the project manager will do given such a situation and given his or her proactive nature? Assume that lessons learned and historical databases are available. This might not be true in a real life situation. PMI does not approve adding extra functionality without benefits or gold plating. Project managers have all kinds of soft and hard skills. The Work Breakdown Structures (WBSs) are wonderful tools. Roles and responsibilities need to be properly defined.

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PMI Concept Oriented Tips y y y You should memorize all formulas, especially the Earned Value and PERT. Practice eliminating the completely implausible options first. There is no penalty for guessing; thus, do not leave any question blank.

There will always be those situations where you have no idea what the question is asking. Use educated guessing to select the most appropriate option. Remember, you have only 80 seconds for each question. If you do not know the answer of a question, mark it and move on and revisit it later if you have time. Answer the questions based on the PMBOK concepts first, then consider your experience. If they are in conflict, the PMBOK wins.

Your 14 Essential Tips to the PMP Studying Process

#1 - Fix the date for the PMP exam. Take note that you need at least three months to prepare for the exam. #2 - Read PMP Book thoroughly at least once. #3 - Read PMP Exam Preparation written by the author RITA MULCAHY at least two/three times. #4 - Memorize the Sequence of the processes in Rita chart especially for initiate, planning and closing process groups. #5 - Revise the RITA MULCHY. No need to worry about the Tools and Techniques. (Hardly 10 questions). #6 - Try to do as many questions from the test bank as you can. Review those you have made mistakes and then retry the questions until you get 90% of them correct. #8 - Time, Cost, Human resources, Professional Responsibility are easier and very easy to score. #9 - Attempt all the questions in PMP Bank, and then find even more questions from our noteworthy links. #10 - Assess your score. Review the incorrect answers. #11 - Day before the exam, relax yourself. Do not read and take good rest. The exam is more on practical and not theory. If you are not in good mood, definitely you will face problems in answering the questions. #12 - Write the exam. #13 - Pass the exam. #14 - Good luck! PMP EXTRA NOTES y Good practice does not mean that the knowledge described should always be applied uniformly on all projects; the project management team is responsible for determining what is appropriate for any given project (PMI Bold) A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result Progressive elaboration is a characteristic of projects, meaning that it is developed in steps, and continues by increments. For example, items might be described in broad terms at the start of the project but be defined in detailed terms by the conclusion of the project from the preliminary project scope statement to the verified project scope statement supported by a detailed WBS

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Projects are different than operations; projects are supposed to complete their objective and then cease to exist; operations continue indefinitely and sustain the business Projects are often conducted to support the organizations strategic plan, and to support one or more strategic element: o Market demand o Organizational need o A customer request o A technological advance o A legal requirement Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements Project management is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, and closing Managing a project includes o 1) identifying requirements o 2) establishing objectives o 3) balancing scope, timing and cost o 4) adapting the plan to different concerns of stakeholders The five areas of expertise in the project management team include o The project management body of knowledge (PMBOK) o Application area knowledge, standards and regulations o Understanding the project environment o General management knowledge and skills o Interpersonal skills Application area knowledge, standards and regulations are usually defined in terms of o 1) functional departments (i.e. legal, marketing) o 2) technical elements (i.e. software development) o 3) management specializations (i.e. government contracting) o 4) industry groups (i.e. energy, financial services) Standards are guidelines or a preferred approach (i.e. ISO) and regulations are government-imposed requirements such as laws (i.e. EPA, contract law) The project environment includes cultural and social environment (people demographic, education, organizational accountability), the international and political environment (time zones, different countries) and physical environment (is the team co-located?) General Management Knowledge and Skills including planning, executing and controlling to support the company.Supporting areas include o 1) accounting o 2) purchasing o 3) sales o 4) contracting o 5) manufacturing & distribution o 6) planning o 7) HR o 8) health and safety o 9) IT The management of interpersonal relationships includes o 1) communication o 2) influence o 3) leadership o 4) motivation o 5) negotiation o 6) problem solving

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Programs vs. Project management a program is a group of related projects that need to be managed in a coordinated fashion, such as the development of a new product that contains multiple assemblies and includes related activities such as marketing plans A portfolio is a group of projects or programs that are managed together to meet company objectives, such as those to support a line of business or internal process improvement Projects may be broken into subprojects, such as skilled labor (construction) on a larger project A Project Management Office is an organization to manage and coordinate projects that are under its domain.A PMO can oversee programs or projects.PMOs are of varying forms depending on the organization, where they can coordinate, manage or even execute projects Key PMO features may include o 1) coordination of resources o 2) run PM Methodology o 3) document repository o 4) monitoring of project managers o 5) coordination of overall project standards PMOs are different from project managers in that the project manager works on their specific project, while the PMO manages resources across multiple projects.The project manager manages scope, schedule, cost and quality while the PMO manages overall risk, opportunity and interdependencies across projects.The project manager reports on one project, while the PMO provides consolidated project reporting.

PMP PROCESSES KEY POINTS y In order for a project to be successful, the team must o Select correct processes o Use a defined approach to meet requirements o Comply with requirements to meet stakeholder needs o Balance  1) scope  2) time  3) cost  4) quality  5) resources  6) risk to complete the project The project manager is always responsible for determining what processes are appropriate for that project.This is known as tailoring the project Project team processes generally fall into one of the following categories: o Project processes generally initiate, plan, execute, monitor, control and close a project o Product-oriented processes create the product and vary by area The five process groups are o 1) initiating o 2) planning o 3) executing o 4) monitoring & controlling o 5) closing Plan Do Check Act is another way to accomplish this The Process Groups are not Project Phases!

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Initiating group for formal authorization of a project or a project phase.The basic scope, duration, deliverables and resources for the project are determined at this time.The relationship of the project to the organizations strategic initiatives is also identified.The project manager is also assigned during this phase.The project charter is written, and when the charter is approved, the project becomes officially authorized.It is critical to involve stakeholders during the initiation phase The planning process group is used to plan and manage the project.These processes identify, define and mature the project scope, cost and schedule.Significant changes during the life of the project will trigger the need to revisit planning process items.Key deliverables of the planning process include the project management plan, scope planning, the WBS, activities, sequencing and scheduling, cost estimating & budgeting,and planning for risk, HR, communications and quality The executing process group contains the steps necessary to perform the work laid out in the project plan to meet the projects objectives.The vast majority of the projects budget will be spent in this phase The monitoring and controlling process group contains steps and processes needed to watch project execution to identify potential problems and corrective action can be taken to keep the project on track.This group also influences the factors that could thwart change control to ensure only approved changes get made (i.e. stop scope creep) The closing process group includes the processes needed to formally conclude the project and hand off the completed product to the end customer All of the 42 steps are mapped into the five groups listed above.

Project Life Cycle

The project life cycle includes the phases necessary to work a project from beginning to end.The transition from one phase to another is generally recognized by some kind of a deliverable or handoff.These phases generally define o 1) work to be done that phase o 2) when deliverables are generated o 3) resources used in each phase o ) control of each phase Costs generally are low at the start, are highest during middle phases, and drop off as the project is being completed Uncertainty and risk is highest at the start of the projectand likelihood of project completion increases as it moves toward the concluding phases Stakeholders can more easily make changes at the start of the project early on; later the

cost of changes grows very high as the project moves towards completion y The completion and approval of one or more deliverables characterizes a project phase.A deliverable is a work product that can be viewed and assessed A project phase generally concludes with a review of the deliverable and to determine whether the deliverables are accepted or if more work needs to be done After each phase is completed authorization is generally needed to begin the next phase of the project (i.e. kill point) A typical project has the following phases: o Initial o inputs include  1) ideas  2) project management team; o outputs include  1) charter  2) scope statement o Intermediate o outputs include  1) plan  2) baseline  3) progress  4) acceptance o Final o outputs include approval, handover and the ultimate project deliverable, the product The reason that projects are initiated are to resolve business problems or to take advantage of opportunities The PRODUCT life cycle is above the project life cycle it includes operations & development (which occur after the project has been completed) and include the business plan, which starts before the project begins Project stakeholders are people involved in the project or impacted by the project.Stakeholders can be defined widely (i.e. the community who is impacted by pollution and congested after the project to build a plant is completed) or narrowly (those working on the project).Negative stakeholders dont want the project to be completed (i.e. environmentalists). Positive stakeholders want the project to succeed Every project includes the following stakeholders o Project manager manages the project o Customer / user the people who use the end product generated by the project o Performing organization the company that the project team works for o Project team members doing the work o Project management team the managers running the project o Sponsor the group that provides the money and authorizes the project o Influencers not directly related to the project, but can impact the outcome o Project Management Organization (PMO) 0 if it exists, may have some responsibility for completion Note that stakeholders may have differing objectives finance may want it done for the lowest price, marketing may want the most features, IT may want the newest technology, and environmentalists may want it to fail outright

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There are 2 major types of project-based organizations o Organizations that make money by completing projects for other companies, such as consultants, architects, companies that make products for the US Military, etc o Organizations that chose to adopt management by projects and have systems and processes in place to facilitate projects Non project based organizations often lack tools and systems for project management, making a successful completion less likely Organizational cultures impact projects entrepreneurial companies may accept high risk projects, and rigid hierarchy companies may challenge project managers who seek authority There are 3 major types of organizations o 1) functional o 2) matrix (with weak, balanced or strong types) and o 3) projectized Functional organizations are traditional organizations with work silos like HR, accounting, production, marketing, etc In these organizations the project manager has little (formal) authority, finds it hard to obtain resources, reports to a functional manager, and is part time w/part time admin staff The projectized organization has most employees engaged in project work, and project managers have high authority and visilibity The matrix organization has elements of project and functional organization, where the project manager may report to 2 bosses (functional and project), and the weak vs. strong shows the degree of autonomy and resources that the manager has available A PMO can exist in any organization type.The role may vary from advisor to having project managers report to the PMO The Project Management System consists of the tools, techniques, methodologies, resources, and procedures used to manage a project