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95 Cards in this Set

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You should have a large project in mind when you answer questions on the exam. Think of a project that is new to the organization, utilizes resources from many countries, has more than 200 people on the team, lasts longer than a year, and has a budget over 10 million

Another thing to keep in mind for the exam is that you should assume project proposals are formally reviewed and approved by management in your organization after a comparison of all proposed projects. Projects are not selected arbitrarily nor informally.

When answering questions, assume there is a PMO in the organization, unless the question states otherwise. Read situational questions carefully to determine if the PMO is supportive, directive or controlling.

The exam typically does not identify the form of organization being discussed. When it does not specify a form, assume matrix organizational structure.

A tight matrix has nothing to do with a matrix organization. It simply refers to Co-location or locating the workspaces for the project team in the same room.

The trick is to think of enterprise environmental factors as they really are - company culture and existing systems that the project will have to deal with our can make use of. They could also be thought of as the company baggage that comes with the project and is outside the control of the project team.

Understand the role of lessons learned and show they are both an input and output of the project.

The processes, tools, techniques, and concepts can be tailored based on the project, organization, and other factors including project life cycle.

Many questions on the exam will include common errors in Project management and require you to know the activities that should be done during each part of the project management process.

Keep the words, work to the project management plan, be proactive, manage, and guide, in mind to summarize executing activities.

Assume you have a formal project management plan that is realistic and complete to the level appropriate for the project

Assume you have plans already in place for how and when you will measure time, cost, and scope performance against the performance measurement baseline.

Assume you are accountable for meeting the performance measurement baseline.

Assume you also measure against other metrics included in the project management plan to see how the project is performing.

Assume you take corrective action to correct any variances that warrant action.

Assume any deviations from the plan should be made up, rather than requesting a change to the project to accommodate them. Submitting a change request should be the very last resort and used only if there is no other way to make up the deviation.

Think about integration as balancing all the progress in the knowledge areas such as scope, time, and cost

The exam has not required test takers to know what constrained optimization method or other project selection methods mean. Instead, just know what categories the methods fall into

You need to understand that there is a process for project selection, what the process is, and that the project must support the company's strategic goals

Read the questions carefully to pick out the relevant data

Remember that Management plans look forward in time, and there are plans for all knowledge areas including: change management, configuration management, requirements management, and process improvement

You will need to understand that deviations from baselines are often due to incomplete risk identification and risk management. The correct answer is likely the one about reviewing the project risk management process

If the exam refers to Monitoring & Controlling Project work, it may but be talking about the entire monitoring and controlling process group, or it may just be referring to the integration process

Remember that Monitoring & Controlling means measuring against the project management plan

A trick for answering questions that ask about the process for making changes is to know that, on a high level basis, the PM should follow the steps: 1. Evaluate the impact, 2. Identify options, 3. Get the change request approved internally, and 4. Get customer buy in

A project manager may get formal acceptance of the project and its deliverables, issue a final report that shows the project has been successful, issue the final lessons learned, and index and archive ask project documents

Assume an organization has historical information and Lessons learned from previous projects incorporated into a corporate knowledge base, and that the information is accessible

Understand how project life cycles differ between plan and change driven and how it would influence how a project is planned and the flow of work.

Understand why a project you are assigned to was selected and manage the project accordingly

Make sure you understand the difference between Executing and Monitoring & Controlling actions, because they continually overlap while the work of the project is going on

In the exam, assume problems do not occur very often and proper project management was done unless the question states otherwise

You should understand what a project charter is, why it is important, and does it is used throughout the life of a project.

Plan the plan. You must plan, in advance, how you will determine scope, as well as monitor and control scope

Ensure scope must be clearly defined and formally approved before work starts

Ensure requirements are gathered from all the stakeholders, not just the assignee

Don't forget, Requirements gathering can take a substantial amount of time

Ensure the requirements are evaluated against business case, ranked, and prioritized

Don't forget a WBS is required on all projects

Ensure that while a project is being completed that only work in scope is being completed and no more

Gold plating or buffering is not allowed

While taking the exam, assume that you will need to determine requirements as part of the project

Assume you are the buyer for all questions on the exam regarding procurement

Remember that PMI considers an activity to be a particular piece of work scheduled for the project

Remember the difference between decomposition and WBS. Decomposition is what you are doing, WBS is the means to do it

In the exam, deconstruction instead of decomposition

Remember, the validate scope process involves frequent, planned meetings with the sponsor to gain formal acceptance of deliverables during project monitoring and controlling

Remember that the validate scope process can be done at the end of each project phase

Don't forget if a team is decomposing work into work packages, they are creating a WBS, if they are decomposing work packages into activities required to produce then, they are in define activities.

Remember that Management plans are the basis for estimating

Remember that estimating should be based off a WBS

Don't forget that time and cost are interrelated

Don't forget that risk should be considered in estimating time and cost

Try to always have the person doing the work do the estimating

Remember that the key to improving estimates is the usage of historical data

Remember that baselines are kept unless a change is approved

Ensure that project schedule activities should be managed to the schedule baseline

Ensure the project costs are managed according to the cost baseline

Don't forget that changes to scope should be requested when problems schedule, cost, scope, quality, or resources occur and cannot be solved using reserves

Remember, a PM should never just accept constraints from management, but analyze the needs of the project, and come up with their own estimate and reconcile differences

Don't forget the PM may periodically recalculates the estimate to complete (or ETC) to make sure the project has adequate resources, time, funds, and so on

Ensure plans are revised during completion of the work

Remember that padding is not an accepted Practice

The PM must meet any agreed upon estimates

Don't forget to ensure that estimates are reasonable upon receipt

Ensure that estimates are realistic through the life of the project

Don't forget that estimates can be decreased by reducing or eliminating risks

A project manager has the responsibility to provide estimates that are as accurate as feasible and to maintain the integrity of those estimates throughout the project

The easiest way to find the critical path is to identify through the network diagram and add the activity durations along each path. The path with the longest duration is the critical path

Don't forget the float formula has two formula using either both start dates or both end dates. Late start minus early start or late finish minus early finish

Remember you can have more than one critical path

Don't forget that a critical path can change and potentially be negative

Don't forget that ideally the critical path will have a float of zero

Warning, for questions about changes to the network diagram, make sure you look for shifts to new critical paths caused by the changes to the network diagram or to activity durations

EV comes first in each of the formulas

If it is a variance, the formula is EV minus something

If it is an index, the formula is EV divided by something

If the formula relates to cost use AC

If the formula relates to schedule, use PV

For variances interpretation, negative is bad and positive is good

For index interpretation, greater than 1 is good, less than 1 is bad

Remember you can revise and reverse the formulas based on information given

If it is a variance, the formula is EV minus something

Project Manager must be assertive, the same attitude you should take the exam

In calculating of network diagrams and critical path, if they use the same diagram in multiple questions, do not use the results from the previous question

When you take the exam, assume the project manager has expended the effort necessary to determine all of the requirements and that those requirements are ranked by order of importance.

For the exam, analogous estimating can be done at various times, and the level of accuracy depends on how closely the project or activity matches the past history

The exam may ask you to calculate a range for an individual activity estimate using weighted averaging

Remember for the exam, that you need to identify all the possible options, and if given a choice between crashing or fast-tracking options, select the choice or combination that has the least negative impacts

The exam assumes that a project manager knows the actual cost of labour when performing detailed cost estimating

For the exam, remember that projects planned using proper project management make sure of a WBS, and that activities to produce the work package deliverables would be broken down to an appropriate level for monitoring and controlling

Expect to see questions that talk about manufacturing on the exam. Don't focus on the industry, but focus on the situation that is being described

PMI wants us to focus on meeting the requirements

Communications are frequently combined with other topics on the exam

Think in terms of large projects

Communications occur internally and externally to the core project team, vertically and horizontally

Understand the concepts that communications must be planned and thought through to include stakeholders in many countries

Keep in mind that communication is essential to success and affects all areas

The trick to correctly answering exam questions about human resource management is to realize that, as a project manager, you have responsibilities regarding team members which could be ethical responsibilities

You will see negotiation frequently referenced on the exam as it relates to gaining resources from within your organization and in procurement situations

The exam may use words or phrases that are unfamiliar to you when it describes situations and the people involved in them

Expect questions that describe a situation and then ask what you should do. To answer these questions, know that penalty is generally an incorrect choice, but make sure it isn't them most appropriate choice for the particular situation described

The seven sources of conflict in order of frequency are: schedule, project priorities, resources, technical options, administrative procedures, cost, and personality

Remember to look for collaborating or problem-solving choices as generally the best answers and forcing as the worst

When questions on the exam require you to solve problems, ask yourself "what is the real problem behind the situation?

The PMP exam tests your knowledge of the process of risk management given a certain situation. It asks which risk management process is being described and you need to understand which actions you and your team should take in each part of the process

You will need to analyze a situation and determine what should be done next

Risk management is very process oriented, so expect to see risk management input and output questions on the exam

Memorize what happens when and know how risk management can change the way projects can change what happens on a project

Sources of risk and risk categories can be used interchangeably on the exam

When receiving questions about risk identification, the best answer is everyone

Documentation review is considered a trick for risk management

Read exam questions carefully, as the risk register contains different information depending on when in the risk management process the question is referencing

To pass the exam, you will need to be able to envision a world that is not a reality for every project manager; you need to envision a world in which proper risk management is done

Assume all the major problems that could have been identified in advance as risks were determined before they occurred and that there was a plan put in place for each of these risks

The best answer to a question describing a major problem on the project would be the choice that talks about implementing the contingency plan

Risk related questions on the exam are asked assuming the project manager has done proper project management

Read situational questions describing suggested changes resulting from risk processes carefully to determine whether the actual work of the project has begun. If the project work has not begun, these suggested changes are likely part of the plan risk response update outputs, otherwise, control risks

Read exam questions carefully, as the risk register contains different information depending on when in the risk management process the question is referencing

The exam focuses on the practices required to produce good estimates, more than it has focused on calculations

There may be questions on the exam that ask you to calculate the contingency reserve for several risk events, which may be a combination of opportunities and threats

The PMBOK guide uses the terms agreement and contract, so you need to be prepared to see both on the exam and understand what each mean

For the exam, understand whether a situational question describes an internal agreement or a contract with an outside party

The exam assumes that you have a close working relationship with the contracts, procurement, or legal departments

Make sure you understand the difference between closing individual procurements and closing the project or project phase. During procurement closure, final reports are submitted lessons learned are documented, and final payment is made

Be careful to read the questions carefully to see if the situation described n the questions is from the buyer's or seller's point of view. If no point of view is mentioned, assume you are the buyer

For large projects, sellers are typically going to provide the complement of a solution, rather than augmenting project team with additional resources

Unless the exam question indicates otherwise, assume the seller is providing all of the work external to the buyer's team rather that supplying resources to supplement the team

When answering situational questions involving contracts, keep in mind these general rules: contracts require formality, should be stated in the contract, if not in the contract a formal change order is required, changes to contracts must be submitted and approved in writing, contracts are legally binding, and contracts should help diminish project risk

Know the authority of the procurement manager, and how the procurement department is organized

For the exam, be aware that even though the buyer would most likely prefer a fixed price contract to control costs, it is not always the best choice, and in some cases may be inappropriate

A trick on the exam is to realize the buyers must select the appropriate type of contract for what they are buying

The project manager should watch out for the following during a bidder conference: collusion, sellers not asking questions in front of the competition, and makings sure all questions and answers are put in writing and issues to all potential sellers

The exam typically only has one or two questions about contract negotiations, and one of these questions usually deals with the reason the project manager must be involved

The exam will require you to know the management efforts, issues, and potential trouble spots of each contract type, meaning there will be different things you will need to do depending on the type of contract you have

Contract interpretation is based on an analysis of the intent of the parties to the contract and a few guidelines. One such guideline is that the contract supersedes any memos, conversations, or discussions that may have occurred prior to the contract signing

When taking the exam, assume, unless stated otherwise, that the project manager has followed the best practices of project management and done everything right

Keep in mind that stakeholders are important throughout the life of a project

Think about what you should be doing in the real world, not what you are doing

Make sure you understand this assertive, proactive attitude, and what it means for how a project manager should act and what a project manager should and should not be doing

The exam can also include questions that assume you are involved with the PMI as a chapter member or chapter officer

When you take the exam, you need to understand the consequences of being untruthful

Assume the project manager has created a management plan for each knowledge area

The most important formulas are those relating to earned value, as earned value is a key component of monitoring and controlling

Practice picking an answer from what appears to be two, three, or even four right answers

Decide in advance what notes you will write down when you are given scratch paper at the actual exam, and practice creating this download sheet before taking the exam

Answer each question from PMI's perspective, not the perspective you have acquired from real-world or life experience

Read all four answer choices, and choose the next best answer

Look for words like: first, last, next, best, never, always, except, not, most likely, less likely, primary, initial, most

Watch out for choices that are true statements but do not answer the question

Choices that represent carefully qualified statements tend to be correct, so be on the alert for words such as: often, sometimes, may, perhaps, and generally

When a question asks you to complete a sentence or fill in a missing word or phrase, the correct answer may not be gramatically correct when inserted into the sentence

Look for the "Hooray for Project Management" answer

Recognize that rules are meant to be broken

Be prepared for questions with multiple problems and 1. determine the immediate problem to address, 2. deal with the root cause first, 3. deal with the problem with the greatest negative impact first, 4. solve the problem that occurred the earliest, and 5. look for a proactive solution

When changes are in question, always consult the Change Control Board

Communications is about knowing when to send the right message to the right people at the right time

Sequential independent deliverables can be considered different projects

Read through the questions carefully for all information given

Answer the question without thinking about implications

Think Ideally

Don't assume things are wrong. Validate your assumptions with information given

Bidder Conferences are not interactive

Changes do not need to go to the change control board if the change does not impact baselines

Prevent rather than control

On personnel issues, once all PM options are exhausted, approach the functional manager

Always assess, if possible, type of organization

Do not just accept risks and constraints from sponsors, validate

Identify the root issue before anwering

Assume senior management and PMs are correct based on their experience

If there are many late unexpected changes, suspect a late coming stakeholder

All special cause variations, or assignable causes, are addressed by the operator

When a data point is outside of control limits, it is considered a special cause variation, or an assignable cause

Assignable causes is an indication of being out of control

It is the responsibility of the project manager to prioritize changes

It is the responsibility of the project manager not to negatively impact or distract the team with change requests

Earned value management s-curve is the cumulation of Earned Value (EV) and Actual Cost (AC)

Risk responses are planned during Plan Risk Management, but are executed during Control Risks

The word audit indicates a control process

Project Charter should have no details, everything should be high-level

Ouchi motivational theory states a job for life increases loyalty

Juran promoted conformance and quality by design

Training is the responsibility of the functional manager in a matrix environment

Time & Material contracts have aspects of both fixed price and cost-reimbursable contracts

Change requests can be verbal

Not all change requests result in baseline changes, however, all baseline changes require change requests

Earned value management does not have a large role in quality management

Charter development is part of Integration Management

Deming stated that quality is a management problem 85% of the time

Reserve analysis compares the amount of contingency remaining to the amount of risk remaining

While the functional manager is responsible for formal training of employees, it is up to the project manager for team development