PMP Exam Prep Tutorials

04. What is a Project, and Project Management? This article is 04th  entry of PMI PMP Exam Preparation Tutorials PMBOK Guide 5th Edition, by Aditya Chinni. In this article I would like to explain definitions of Project Project Management Learn many of these concepts in my FREE PMP Webinars on Tuesdays. What is a Project? Project has 2 features: It is a work that we undertake to produce a unique product or service, or result. And it is temporary in nature. That means it has a definite start and end dates. Let us see few more points to understand it much better The end is reached when all the work is done or the work is terminated. Work can be terminated for any reason like no longer required or no more funds or no getting executed as per the plan and so on An ongoing maintenance work that is repetitive in nature is called operations and its starts once the project work is done. A Project can create a Product or Service or an Improvement in those two. What is a Project Management? We just learned the project definition. It's a work to produce a product. And the effort we use to manage that work is called project management. By applying Knowledge Tools and Techniques 47 project management processes defined by PMI Managing constraints like Scope, Cost, Time, Quality, Resources and so on. Managing the changes, issues, risks and so on What are Triple Constraints? Traditionally "Scope, Time, and Cost" are called triple constraints. Lately many authors are trying to modify the traditional meaning of the triple constraints by adding Quality or Customer Satisfaction or Risks to the triangle. I personally don't feel a necessity to change the fundamental definition. Because no one ever said that you just have to manage those constraints. Other constraints are also equally important from the day one. In my later articles I will show how PMBOK Guide made few process outputs only for these traditional triple constraints.

03. PMP Fundamentals - CertSchool Checklists This is article is 03rd  entry of PMI PMP Exam Preparation Tutorials PMBOK Guide 5th Edition, by Aditya Chinni. This article provides checklists or must know concepts of PMP Fundamentals. You should know definitions of all of these entries. I will be talking most of these definitions in my FREE PMP Webinars on Tuesdays or follow these tutorials. Below is the list of questions you should know to master project basics along with article numbers. What is a Project? What is project management? Define the role of a project manager? What is a project team? Define and list the roles in a project team? Who are project stakeholders? What is a project governance? Define the project life cycle? What are project phases? Differentiate between Project and Product? What is an operation? Define the relationship between projects and operations? What is a Program? What is a Portfolio? What is a Project Management Office (PMO)? Define the relationship between Portfolio, Program, and Projects? What is an Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3)?

02. Understanding PMBOK Guide This is article is 02nd  entry of PMI PMP Exam Preparation Tutorials, by Aditya Chinni. This article reviews PMBOK Guide structure Process Definition 47 Processes and Process Chart Understanding PMBOK Guide fifth edition A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) is STANDARDS document published by Project Management Institute (PMI) for project management professional practices. This guide is an ANSI standard and gets updated every 4 years and fifth edition is the latest edition. The PMBOK® Guide identifies the good practices of the project management practice. The PMBOK® Guide provides and promotes a common vocabulary within the project management profession for using and applying project management concepts. The PMI Lexicon of Project Management Terms provides the foundational professional vocabulary that can be consistently used by project, program, and portfolio managers and other stakeholders. Understanding the PMBOK Guide and Lexicon is crucial for your success in the exam. The PMBOK Guide is categorized in to 3 major parts. Part 1: Defines key terms in Project, Program and Portfolio environment and other organizational structures Part 2: Overview of the 5 Process Groups, 10 Knowledge areas and interactions among those items. Part 3: Which is sub divided in to chapters 4 to 13 provides project management body of knowledge. Each one of those chapter talks about individual knowledge area and processes in that knowledge area. To understand "Knowledge Areas" term, we can map it with the term project constraint. A project constrain is limitation or a condition that you need to satisfy to move forward or needs your special attention.  In this series of articles, I will cover most of these terms and you can also check the Project Management Glossary What is a Process A process is a sequence of activities designed to achieve a pre specified objective such as products or services. To perform "a sequence of activities" you need ingredients called INPUTS and Tools and Techniques. As we know the purpose of these sequence of steps is to produce Outputs.   Processes are categorized as 1. Project oriented processes (covered in PMBOK Guide) (are Project Management Processes) 2. Product oriented processes (Related to implementing domain) Performing project team needs to select appropriate processes in appropriate time to meet project objectives. PMBOK Guide defines 47 project management processes to mange the project. We can further categorize Project Oriented processes in 5 process groups. Those 5 process Groups are  Initiation Process Group Planning Process Group Execution Process Group Monitoring and Control Process Group Closing Process Group Those 47 Process categorized by process groups are Process Groups # of Processes Process Names Initiation 2 4.1 Develop Project Charter 13.1 Identify Stakeholders Planning 24 4.2 Develop Project Management Plan 5.1 Plan Scope Management 5.2 Collect Requirements 5.3 Define Scope 5.4 Create WBS 6.1 Plan Schedule Management 6.2 Define Activities 6.3 Sequence Activities 6.4 Estimate Activity Resources 6.5 Estimate Activity Durations 6.6 Develop Schedule 7.1 Plan Cost Management 7.2 Estimate Costs 7.3 Determine Budget 8.1 Plan Quality Management 9.1 Plan Human Resource Management 10.1 Plan Communications Management 11.1 Plan Risk Management 11.2 Identify Risks 11.3 Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis 11.4 Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis 11.5 Plan Risk Responses 12.1 Plan Procurement Management 13.2 Plan Stakeholder Management Execution 8 4.3 Direct and Manage Project Work 8.2 Perform Quality Assurance 9.2 Acquire Project Team 9.3 Develop Project Team 9.4 Manage Project Team 10.2 Manage Communications 12.2 Conduct Procurements 13.3 Manage Stakeholder Engagement Monitoring and Control 11 4.4 Monitor and Control Project Work 4.5 Perform Integrated Change Control 5.5 Validate Scope 5.6 Control Scope 6.7 Control Schedule 7.4 Control Costs 8.3 Control Quality 10.3 Control Communications 11.6 Control Risks 12.3 Control Procurements 13.4 Control Stakeholder Engagement Closing 2 4.6 Close Project or Phase 12.4 Close Procurements Total 47

01. Understanding the PMP Exam

Project Management Professional (PMP)

Recently if you are looking for a new project management job or if you might have asked for a promotion with in your company then you might have heard about PMP credentials!!. It is true that Project Management Professional (PMP) credential is one of the most sought certifications by employers and employees alike. Lets look in to the details of this credential and chart out the steps to achieve it. Also my article series under the title "PMP Exam Prep Tutorials" will provide you a good start.

In this article following 4 topics are covered

1. Who should apply?
2. PMP Eligibility criteria
3. PMP Exam Overview
4. Application Process

Who should apply?

•  If you’re an experienced project manager looking to solidify your skills, stand out to employers and maximize your earning potential, the PMP credential is the right choice for you.
• If you’re a less experienced project practitioner looking to demonstrate your commitment to project management, then CAPM certification is right for you. Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is an entry-level certification for project practitioners. Designed for those with little or no project experience, the CAPM® demonstrates your understanding of the fundamental knowledge, terminology and processes of effective project management.

PMP Eligibility Criteria

To apply for the PMP, you need to have either:

• A secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree, or the global equivalent) with at leastfive years / 60 months of non-overlapping project management experience, with 7,500 hours leading and directing projects and 35 hours of project management education.
  OR
• A four-year degree (bachelor’s degree or the global equivalent) and at least three years  / 36 months of non-overlapping project management experience, with 4,500 hours leading and directing projects and 35 hours of project management education.
• You can get 35 hours project management education from any PMI's Registered Education Providers orfrom these articles. And I will share you those details in one of these articles. So please follow my articles and read them carefully.
• How to calculate non-overlapping work? This picture shows an example of overlapping work:

PMP Exam Overview

• The PMP examination is comprised of 200 multiple-choice questions.
• Of the 200 questions, 25 are pretest questions which are not for final score
• Unfortunately you will not know which are pretest questions and which are real questions. So you have answer all 200 questions. Once you submit your answers, the testing software will remove 25 pretest questions and will score you for 175 questions.
• The allotted time to complete the computer-based examination is four hours
• PMP examination questions are developed in accordance with the ISO/IEC 17024 standard, by global work groups of PMP credential holders and satisfy the test specifications of the PMP Examination Content Outline.
• The examination blueprint details the percentage of questions contained in each project management process group as shown below
  

  Initiation	13%
  Planning	24%
  Execution	30%
  Monitoring and Control	25%
  Closing	8%
  Total	100%

  
  

The Application Process

Step 1: Create an user account on http://PMI.org

Step 2: Pay the yearly membership dues and become a paid member

Step 3: Complete and submit your PMP application

Step 4: PMI will confirm the receipt of the application and requests you to pay the exam fee

Step 5: PMI reviews the application, once you submit the fee. In case your application is selected for audit, you have to submit all required details to PMI

Step 6: If you satisfy all required conditions, PMI will approve your application and  you will receive an  Authorization to Test (ATT) letter with an “Eligibility ID”

Step 7: Using that “Eligibility ID” you have to schedule an exam date with http://prometric.com

Step 8: Appear for the exam and successfully pass to become a Project Management Professional (PMP)