Head First PMP: A Learner’s Companion to Passing the Project Management Professional Exam

Table of Contents......Page 11
How to Use This Book......Page 27
 Who should probably back away from this......Page 28
 And we know what your brain is thinking.......Page 29
 Metacognition: thinking about thinking......Page 31
 Here’s what WE did:......Page 32
 Here’s what YOU can do to bend your brain into submission......Page 33
 Read me......Page 34
 The technical review team......Page 36
 Acknowledgments......Page 37
 Safari Books Online......Page 38
Chapter 1: Introduction......Page 39
 Do these problems seem familiar?......Page 40
 Projects don’t have to be this way......Page 42
 Your problems…already solved......Page 43
 What you need to be a good project manager......Page 44
 Understand your company’s big picture......Page 48
 Your project has value......Page 49
 Portfolios, programs, and projects have a lot in common......Page 50
 Portfolios, programs, and projects all use charters......Page 51
 … and what a project is NOT......Page 55
 A day in the life of a project manager......Page 57
 How project managers run great projects......Page 59
 Project management offices help you do a good job, every time......Page 60
 Good leadership helps the team work together......Page 61
 Project teams are made of people......Page 62
 Operations management handles the processes that make your company tick......Page 64
 A PMP certification is more than just passing a test......Page 68
 Meet a real-life PMP-certified project manager......Page 69
 Exam Questions......Page 70
Chapter 2: Organizations, constraints, and projects......Page 75
 A day in Kate’s life......Page 76
 Kate wants a new job......Page 77
 There are different types of organizations......Page 80
 Kate takes a new job......Page 85
 Stakeholders are impacted by your project......Page 87
 More types of stakeholders......Page 88
 Your project team has lots of roles too......Page 89
 Back to Kate’s maintenance nightmare......Page 90
 Managing project constraints......Page 92
 You can’t manage your project in a vacuum......Page 96
 Kate’s project needs to follow company processes......Page 97
 Kate makes some changes…......Page 98
 Exam Questions......Page 102
Chapter 3: The process framework......Page 107
 Cooking up a project......Page 108
 Projects are like recipes......Page 110
 If your project’s really big, you can manage it in phases......Page 112
 Phases can also overlap......Page 113
 Break it down......Page 114
 Anatomy of a process......Page 117
 Combine processes to complete your project......Page 120
 Knowledge areas organize the processes......Page 121
 The benefits of successful project management......Page 127
 Exam Questions......Page 129
Chapter 4: Project integration management......Page 135
 Larry’s cutting corners......Page 136
 The teachers are thrilled…for now......Page 137
 These clients are definitely not satisfied......Page 138
 A bird’s-eye view of a project......Page 139
 The six Integration Management processes......Page 140
 Start your project with the Initiating processes......Page 143
 Integration Management and the process groups......Page 144
 The Develop Project Charter process......Page 146
 Make the case for your project......Page 147
 Use expert judgment and facilitation techniques to write your project charter......Page 148
 A closer look at the project charter......Page 150
 Two things you’ll see over and over and over......Page 153
 Plan your project!......Page 156
 The Project Management plan lets you plan ahead for problems......Page 157
 A quick look at all those subsidiary plans......Page 159
 Question Clinic: The “just-the-facts-ma’am\" question......Page 162
 The Direct and Manage Project Work process......Page 164
 The project team creates deliverables......Page 165
 Executing the project includes repairing defects......Page 166
 Eventually, things WILL go wrong…......Page 168
 Sometimes you need to change your plans......Page 169
 Look for changes and deal with them......Page 170
 Make only the changes that are right for your project......Page 171
 Decide your changes in change control meetings......Page 172
 How the processes interact with one another......Page 173
 Control your changes; use change control......Page 174
 Preventing or correcting problems......Page 176
 Finish the work, close the project......Page 178
 You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here......Page 179
 So why INTEGRATION Management?......Page 180
 Integration Management kept your project on track......Page 183
 Exam Questions......Page 190
Chapter 5: Scope management......Page 201
 Out of the frying pan…......Page 202
 …and right back into the fire......Page 203
 Cubicle conversation......Page 204
 It looks like we have a scope problem......Page 207
 You’ve got to know what (and how) you wiill build before you build it......Page 209
 The power of Scope Management......Page 210
 The six Scope Management processes......Page 211
 Plan your scoping processes......Page 212
 Now you’ve got a roadmap for managing scope......Page 213
 Cubicle conversation......Page 214
 Collect requirements for your project......Page 215
 Talk to your stakeholders......Page 216
 Make decisions about requirements......Page 217
 Help your team to get creative......Page 218
 Use a questionnaire to get requirements......Page 220
 A prototype shows users what your product will be like......Page 221
 Now you’re ready to write a requirements document......Page 222
 Define the scope of the project......Page 225
 How do you define the scope?......Page 226
 The project scope statement tells you what you have to do......Page 228
 Question Clinic: The “which-is-BEST” question......Page 232
 Create the work breakdown structure......Page 234
 The inputs for the WBS come from other processes......Page 235
 Breaking down the work......Page 236
 Break it down by project or phase......Page 237
 Decompose deliverables into work packages......Page 238
 Inside the work package......Page 244
 The project scope baseline is a snapshot of the plan......Page 246
 The outputs of the Create WBS process......Page 248
 Cubicle conversation......Page 250
 Why scope changes......Page 251
 The Control Scope process......Page 253
 Anatomy of a change......Page 254
 A closer look at the change control syst......Page 256
 Just one Control Scope tool/technique......Page 257
 Make sure the team delivered the right product......Page 261
 The stakeholders decide when the project is done......Page 262
 Is the project ready to go?......Page 263
 The project is ready to ship!......Page 265
 Exam Questions......Page 269
Chapter 6: Time management......Page 281
 Reality sets in for the happy couple......Page 282
 Meet the wedding planner......Page 283
 Time management helps with aggressive timelines......Page 284
 Plan your scheduling processes......Page 288
 Now you know how you’ll track your schedule......Page 289
 Use the Define Activities process to break down the work......Page 290
 Tools and techniques for Define Activities......Page 291
 Rolling wave planning lets you plan as you go......Page 292
 Define activities outputs......Page 295
 The Sequence Activities process puts everything in order......Page 297
 Diagram the relationship between activities......Page 298
 Network diagrams put your tasks in perspective......Page 299
 Dependencies help you sequence your activities......Page 302
 Leads and lags add time between activities......Page 303
 Create the network diagram......Page 305
 Rob and Rebecca have resource problems......Page 306
 What you need to estimate resources......Page 307
 Estimating the resources......Page 308
 Figuring out how long the project will take......Page 310
 Estimation tools and techniques......Page 313
 Create the duration estimate......Page 316
 Back to the wedding......Page 317
 Bringing it all together......Page 318
 Question Clinic: The “which-comes-next” question......Page 320
 One thing leads to another......Page 322
 Use the critical path method to avoid big problems......Page 323
 How to find the critical path......Page 324
 Finding the float for any activity......Page 326
 Float tells you how much extra time you have......Page 328
 Figure out the early start and early finish......Page 331
 Figure out the latest possible start and finish......Page 332
 Add early and late durations to your diagrams......Page 333
 Take a backward pass to find late start and finish......Page 334
 Let’s take some time out to walk through this!......Page 335
 Crash the schedule......Page 340
 Fast-tracking the project......Page 341
 Modeling techniques......Page 342
 Other Develop Schedule tools and techniques......Page 343
 Outputs of Develop Schedule......Page 344
 Influence the factors that cause change......Page 348
 Control Schedule inputs and outputs......Page 349
 What Control Schedule updates......Page 350
 Measuring and reporting performance......Page 351
 Control Schedule tools and techniques......Page 352
 Another satisfied customer!......Page 356
 Exam Questions......Page 363
Chapter 7: Cost management......Page 373
 Time to expand the Head First Lounge......Page 374
 The guys go overboard......Page 375
 Lounge conversation......Page 376
 Introducing the Cost Management processe......Page 377
 Plan how you’ll estimate, track, and control your costs......Page 378
 Now you’ve got a consistent way to manage costs......Page 379
 What Alice needs before she can estimate costs......Page 380
 Other tools and techniques used in Estimate Costs......Page 383
 Let’s talk numbers......Page 384
 Now Alice knows how much the Lounge will cost......Page 386
 Lounge conversation......Page 387
 The Determine Budget process......Page 388
 What you need to build your budget......Page 389
 Determine budget: how to build a budget......Page 390
 Question Clinic: The red herring......Page 394
 The Control Costs process is a lot like schedule control......Page 396
 A few new tools and techniques......Page 399
 Look at the schedule to figure out your budget......Page 400
 How to calculate planned value......Page 401
 Earned value tells you how you’re doing......Page 403
 How to calculate earned value......Page 404
 Put yourself in someone else’s shoes......Page 406
 Is your project behind or ahead of schedule?......Page 408
 Are you over budget?......Page 410
 The earned value management formulas......Page 411
 Interpret CPI and SPI numbers to gauge your project......Page 412
 Forecast what your project will look like when it\'s done......Page 416
 Once you’ve got an estimate, you can calculate a variance!......Page 417
 Finding missing information......Page 420
 Keep your project on track with TCPI......Page 423
 A high TCPI means a tight budget......Page 424
 Party time!......Page 425
 Exam Questions......Page 433
Chapter 8: Quality management......Page 445
 What is quality?......Page 446
 You need more than just tests to figure out quality......Page 447
 Once you know what the product is supposed to do, it\'s easy to tell which tests pass and which fail......Page 448
 Quality up close......Page 449
 Quality vs. grade......Page 450
 “An ounce of prevention…”......Page 452
 Plan Quality is how you prevent defects......Page 455
 How to plan for quality......Page 456
 The Quality Management plan gives you what you need to manage quality......Page 458
 Inspect your deliverables......Page 461
 Use the planning outputs for Control Quality......Page 462
 The seven basic tools of quality......Page 463
 Pareto charts, flowcharts, and histograms......Page 464
 More quality control tools......Page 465
 Question Clinic: The “which-one” question......Page 470
 Quality control means finding and correcting defects......Page 472
 Trouble at the Black Box 3000 factory......Page 475
 Introducing Quality Assurance......Page 476
 A closer look at some tools and techniques......Page 477
 More ideas behind quality assurance......Page 478
 The Black Box 3000 makes record profits!......Page 483
 Exam Questions......Page 488
Chapter 9: Human resource management......Page 497
 Mike needs a new team......Page 498
 Cubicle conversation......Page 499
 Get your team together and keep them moving......Page 500
 Figure out who you need on your team......Page 502
 The Staffing Management plan......Page 506
 Get the team together......Page 508
 Cubicle conversation......Page 511
 Develop your project team......Page 512
 Develop the team with your management skills......Page 513
 Your interpersonal skills can make a big difference for your team......Page 514
 Lead the team with your management skills......Page 516
 Motivate your team......Page 518
 Stages of team development......Page 520
 How’s the team doing?......Page 522
 Cubicle conversation......Page 523
 Managing your team means solving problems......Page 524
 Conflict management up close......Page 525
 How to resolve a conflict......Page 526
 The Cows Gone Wild IV team ROCKS!......Page 531
 Question Clinic: The “have-a-meeting” question......Page 532
 Exam Questions......Page 539
Chapter 10: Communications management......Page 547
 Party at the Head First Lounge!......Page 548
 But something’s not right......Page 549
 Anatomy of communication......Page 550
 Get a handle on communication......Page 552
 Tell everyone what’s going on......Page 558
 Get the message?......Page 560
 More Manage Communications tools......Page 562
 One of your most important outputs......Page 563
 It all starts with work performance data......Page 565
 Take a close look at the work being done......Page 566
 Now you can get the word out......Page 569
 People aren’t talking!......Page 571
 Count the channels of communication......Page 572
 It’s party time!......Page 575
 Question Clinic: The calculation question......Page 576
 Exam Questions......Page 582
Chapter 11: Project risk management......Page 589
 What’s a risk?......Page 590
 How you deal with risk......Page 591
 Plan Risk Management......Page 592
 Use a risk breakdown structure to categorize risks......Page 594
 Anatomy of a risk......Page 596
 What could happen to your project?......Page 598
 Information-gathering techniques for Identify Risks......Page 599
 More Identify Risks techniques......Page 600
 Where to look for risks......Page 602
 Now put it in the risk register......Page 603
 Rank your risks......Page 604
 Examine each risk in the register......Page 605
 Qualitative vs. quantitative analysis......Page 610
 Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis......Page 611
 First gather the data…......Page 612
 …then analyze it......Page 613
 Calculate the expected monetary value of your risks......Page 614
 Decision tree analysis uses EMV to help you make choices......Page 616
 Update the risk register based on your quantitative analysis results......Page 618
 How do you respond to a risk?......Page 620
 Response planning can even find more risks......Page 621
 Add risk responses to the register......Page 623
 You can’t plan for every risk at the start of the project......Page 625
 Control Risks is another change control process......Page 626
 How to control your risks......Page 627
 More control risk tools and techniques......Page 628
 Question Clinic: The “which-is-NOT” question......Page 634
 Exam Questions......Page 639
Chapter 12: Procurement management......Page 649
 Victim of her own success......Page 650
 Calling in the cavalry......Page 651
 Ask the legal expert......Page 655
 Anatomy of an agreement......Page 656
 You can have several contracts for a single project......Page 657
 Start with a plan for the whole project......Page 658
 The decision is made......Page 663
 Types of contractual agreements......Page 664
 More about contracts......Page 667
 Figure out how you’ll sort out potential......Page 668
 Get in touch with potential sellers......Page 671
 Pick a partner......Page 672
 Two months later…......Page 678
 Keep an eye on the contract......Page 679
 Stay on top of the seller......Page 680
 Close the contract when the work is done......Page 684
 Kate closes the contract......Page 686
 Question Clinic: BYO questions......Page 687
 Exam Questions......Page 691
Chapter 13: Stakeholder management......Page 697
 Party at the Head First Lounge (again)!......Page 698
 Not everybody is thrilled......Page 699
 Understanding your stakeholders......Page 700
 Find out who your stakeholders are......Page 702
 Stakeholder analysis up close......Page 704
 How engaged are your stakeholders?......Page 710
 Managing stakeholder engagement means clearing up misunderstandings......Page 713
 Control your stakeholders’ engagement......Page 718
 Now you can tell when you need to change the way you deal with stakeholders......Page 720
 It’s party time!......Page 724
 Exam Questions......Page 727
Chapter 14: Professional responsibility......Page 733
 The main ideas......Page 734
 Keep the cash?......Page 736
 Fly business class?......Page 737
 New software......Page 738
 Shortcuts......Page 739
 A good price or a clean river?......Page 740
 We’re not all angels......Page 741
 Exam Questions......Page 742
Chapter 15: A little last-minute review......Page 747
 Here’s how to do this next section......Page 755
 Integration Questions......Page 756
 Scope Questions......Page 757
 Time Questions......Page 758
 Cost Questions......Page 759
 Quality Questions......Page 760
 Human Resource Questions......Page 761
 Communications Questions......Page 762
 Risk Questions......Page 763
 Procurement Questions......Page 764
 Great job! It looks like you’re almost ready......Page 765
 Integration Answers......Page 771
 Scope Answers......Page 772
 Time Answers......Page 773
 Cost Answers......Page 774
 Quality Answers......Page 775
 Human Resource Answers......Page 776
 Communications Answers......Page 777
 Risk Answers......Page 778
 Procurement Answers......Page 779
 Stakeholder Answers......Page 780
Chapter 16: Practice PMP exam......Page 781
 Exam Questions......Page 782
 Before you look at the answers.........Page 825
 Exam Answers......Page 826
Index......Page 865