Becoming a PMP® Certified Professional

Cover
Copyright
Contributors
Table of Contents
Preface
Section 1: Introduction to Project Management and People
Chapter 1: Introduction to the PMP® Exam
	Why get a Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification?
	What will you learn about?
	Who is this book for?
	Frequently asked questions
		Who exactly is the PMI®?
		What is The PMBOK® Guide – 6th Edition?
		I heard Agile is included – what is the deal with that?
		Predictive and adaptive? What does that mean?
		I heard the PMP® exam is super difficult, is that true?
		Can I cram for this exam? I have like zero time to study
		100 hours of study???
		Will your practice exams match my exam?
		Am I going to pass the exam the first time?
		Do I need other study materials?
		I heard the application is difficult. Are you going to cover that in this guide?
		What are the qualifications for the PMP® exam?
		What does project management education mean?
		I took a PMP® boot camp 4 years ago, does that count?
	How to apply for the exam
		What if the organization has closed or the people I worked with are gone and I can't find them?
		The application
	What to expect on exam day – if you take the exam at a testing center
		What to expect on exam day if you take your PMP® exam online at home… in your pajamas…
	Common questions you may be thinking to yourself after all of that
		Do I need to be proficient in everything? How will I know?
		Will anyone be able to see my results? As in, will PMI® post my results anywhere?
		If I get below target in any domain, will I fail the exam?
		What score should I be aiming for in practice exams?
		I have zero time to study and that study for 100 hours bit is making me nervous. How can I still work and have a life, but also still study?
		Study tips
	Learning styles
		The seven learning styles
	Summary
	Assessment exam
Chapter 2: Introduction to Project Management
	What are process groups?
	Overview of knowledge areas
	Introduction to the 49 processes
	Inputs, tools/techniques, and outputs
		Inputs – what do I need before I can make a PB&J?
		Tools and techniques – what tools/techniques will I use to create my sandwich?
		Outputs – what will I have when I am finished?
	Organizational process assets and enterprise environmental factors
		Enterprise environmental factors
		Organizational process assets
	The documents and plans
		The project management plan and project documents
	Summary
	Assessment exam
Chapter 3: Pre-Project Initiation
	Defining a project
		Temporary
		Unique
		What is a program?
		What is a portfolio?
		Key phrases that pay
	What is project management?
	Spot check exercise
		Spot check exercise answers
	Types of project management
		Predictive or waterfall project management
		Adaptive or agile project management
	Project and development life cycles
	Project phases
		Phase gates
		Spot check exercise
		Spot check exercise answers
	Project management data and information
		Work performance data
		Work performance information
		Work performance reports
		Key phrases that pay
	Project selection techniques
		Creating a case for business
		Constrained optimization
		Expert judgment
		Spot check exercise
		Spot check exercise answers
		Feasibility analysis
		The business case
		Key phrases that pay
	Key project stakeholders
		Project management offices (PMOs)
		Change control board (CCB)
		Sponsor
		Spot check
		Spot check answers
		Functional manager
		Procurement administrator/vendors
		Customers/end users
		Key phrases that pay
	Understanding organizational structures
		Organizational structures and their elements
		Spot check exercise
		Spot check exercise (possible) answers
	The role of the project manager
	Summary
	Assessment exam
Chapter 4: Charters and Stakeholders
	Politics, power, and leadership
		Leadership versus management
	Spot check
		Personality traits
	The project manager and project integration
		The process level
		The cognitive level
		The context level
	Goals and objectives of a project charter
	Documenting high-level requirements
	Spot check
	Criteria of a project charter
		Typical headings in a project charter
	Agile project charters
		Typical heading on an Agile charter
	Project stakeholder management
	Identifying the stakeholder's process
		Project coordinator
		Scheduler
		Project team
		Project Management Office (PMO)
		Change Control Board (CCB)
		Functional managers
		Sellers, vendors, and suppliers
		Procurement managers
	Data analysis
	Data representation
		Power/interest grid, power/influence grid, or impact/influence grid
		Stakeholder cube
		Salience model
		Directions of influence
		Prioritization
	Stakeholder register
	Spot check
	Wrapping up
	Summary
	Assessment exam
Chapter 5: Introduction to Agile Considerations
	The history of Agile and the Agile Manifesto
		The Agile Manifesto
		Key phrases that pay
		The 12 principles of the Agile Manifesto
	Scrum and empirical process control
	Spot check
		Spot check solution
	Agile versus predictive project management
		The benefits of using Agile approaches in any industry
		The Agile mindset
	Scrum overview
		Transparency
		Inspection
		Adaptation
	Agile team roles
		The product owner
		The development team
		Scrum master/coach/Agile project manager
	The Agile life cycle
		Sprint planning
		The Sprint
		Daily Scrum or stand-up meetings
		Sprint reviews
		The retrospective
	Summary
	Assessment exam
Chapter 6: Creating and Leading a Team
	Interpreting the source and stage of the conflict
	Analyzing the context of the conflict
	Conflict resolution strategies
		Collaborate and problem-solve
		Compromise/reconcile
		Smooth/accommodate
		Force/direct
		Withdraw/avoid
		Negotiate
	Setting a clear vision and mission
		Leadership
		Team-building
		Communication
		Active listening
	Supporting diversity and inclusion
		Responsibility – aspirational standards
		Responsibility – mandatory standards
		Respect – aspirational standards
		Respect – mandatory standards
		Fairness – aspirational standards
		Fairness – mandatory standards
		Honesty – aspirational standards
		Honesty – mandatory standards
	Value servant leadership
	Inspiring, motivating, and influencing
	Motivational theories
		Maslow's hierarchy of needs
		Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y
		Dr. William Ouchi's Theory Z
		Frederick Herzberg's theory of hygiene
		David McClelland's theory of needs
	Reward and recognition
	Analyzing team members' and stakeholders' influence
	Key phrases that pay
	Summary
	Assessment exam
Section 2: Project Management Processes
Chapter 7: Scope Management
	Key concepts and scope management trends
		Tailoring considerations
		Agile considerations
	Developing a scope and requirements management plan
	Collecting requirements
	Defining the scope and creating the scope statement
	The Work Breakdown Structure
		The WBS dictionary
	Monitoring and controlling scope
		The Validate Scope process
		The Control Scope process
	Key phrases that pay
	Summary
	Assessment exam
Chapter 8: Schedule and Cost Management
	Key concepts for schedule management
		Trends and emerging best practices in scheduling
		Tailoring considerations for scheduling
		Considerations for Agile and adaptive environments
	Developing a schedule management plan
		Schedule management plan considerations
	Define activities
	Sequencing activities
		Dependencies
	Relationships
		Finish to Start relationships
		Start to start relationships
		Finish to finish relationships
		Start to finish relationships
	Lead and lag time
	Estimating durations
		Dates
		Effort
		Duration
	Developing the project schedule
		Critical path
		Critical chain
		Monte Carlo technique
		Schedule compression
		Resource optimization
	Schedule baseline
	Key concepts for project cost management
		Trends and emerging best practices of cost management
		Tailoring considerations for cost management
		Considerations for Agile and adaptive environments
	Plan cost management
	Estimating costs
	Determining budget
	Controlling schedule and budget
		Tracking and reporting cost/schedule performance
		Earned value management (EVM)
	Key phrases that pay
	Summary
	Assessment questions
Chapter 9: Quality Management
	Key concepts for quality management
		Quality versus grade
		Precision versus accuracy
		Other considerations for quality management planning
	Trends and emerging practices in quality management
	Tailoring considerations
	Agile/adaptive environments – retrospectives
	Spot check
	Planning for quality management
		Data representation
		The quality management plan
		Quality metrics
		Quality checklists
	The gurus of quality management
		W. Edwards Deming and Walter A. Shewhart
		Joseph Juran
		Vilfredo Pareto
		Bill Smith
		Phillip Crosby
		Genichi Taguchi
	Key phrases that pay
	The Manage Quality process
	The Control Quality process
		Histograms
		Fishbone diagrams
		Pareto diagrams
		Run charts
		Scatter diagrams
		Control charts
	Summary
	Assessment exam
Chapter 10: Resources and Communication Management
	Key concepts in resource management
	Trends and emerging best practices
	Resource management planning
		Plan resource management
		Key phrases that pay
	Estimating activity resources
		Key phrases that pay
	Acquiring resources, developing, and managing a team
		Acquiring resources
		Developing and managing a team
	Supporting your team's performance
		Peter Drucker's MBO
	Controlling resources
	Key concepts in communications management
		Trends and emerging best practices
		Tailoring
		Agile considerations
	Communication considerations
	Communications management planning
		Key phrases that pay in communications management
	Spot check
	Managing communications
	Monitoring communications
	Summary
	Assessment questions
Chapter 11: Risk Management
	Key concepts for risk management
	Trends and emerging best practices in project risk management
		Non-event risks
	Tailoring considerations for risk management
	Considerations for Agile and Adaptive environments
	Plan risk management
		The risk management plan
	Identify risks process
		Root cause analysis
		SWOT analysis
		Prompt lists
		Creating the risk register
		The risk report
	Performing qualitative risk analysis
		Key phrases that pay
	Performing quantitative risk analysis
		Expected monetary value (EMV)
	Plan risk responses
		Creating risk responses for threats
		Opportunity responses
		Strategies for overall project risk
		Issue logs
		Spot check
		Spot check answers
	Implement risk responses
		Secondary risks
		Residual risk events
	Monitor risks
	Summary
	Assessment exam
Chapter 12: Procurement Management
	Key concepts for procurement management
	Trends and emerging best practices in project procurement management
	Considerations for Agile/Adaptive environments
	Planning procurement management
		Contract types
		Roles in procurement
		Key phrases that pay
	Conduct procurements
		Bidder conferences
		Proposal evaluation
	Partner-centric procurement documents
		Letter of intent
		Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
		Breach of contract
		Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
		Purchase Order (PO)
		Nondisclosure agreement (NDA)
		Cease and desist letter
	Control procurements
		Claims administration
		Data analysis
		Inspections and audits
		Seller surveys
		Warranty
		Waivers
	Summary
	Assessment questions
Chapter 13: Stakeholder Engagement
	Planning stakeholder engagement
	Managing stakeholder engagement
	Monitoring stakeholder engagement
	Summary
	Assessment questions
Chapter 14: Integration Management
	Developing the project management plan
	Directing and managing project work
	Managing project knowledge
	Monitoring and controlling project work
	Performing integrated change control
	Closing the project or phase
	Spot check
	Summary
	Assessment questions
Section 3: Revision
Chapter 15: Next Steps and Study Tips
	Why project management certification?
		Where can I find the information?
		Other changes and information
	Study tips
	Stuff to know about projects
		Why projects are necessary
		What is the difference between a portfolio, program, and project?
		Project management documents
		Skills of a project manager
		Organizational structure types
		Other important terms to be aware of
	Final thoughts
		On exam day
		Question types
	Summary
Chapter 16: Final Exam
	Questions
	Answers
Assessment
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 1)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 2)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 3)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 4)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 5)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 6)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 7)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 8)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 9)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 10)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 11)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 12)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 13)
	Assessment exam answers (Chapter 14)
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Index