1. Introduction: Why get certified?
Do these problems seem familiar?
Projects don’t have to be this way
Your problems…already solved
What you need to be a good project manager
there are no Dumb Questions
Understand your company’s big picture
Your project has value
Your project follows a lifecycle
Predictive
Adaptive
Iterative
Incremental
Hybrid
Tailoring
Projects, programs, and portfolios have a lot in common
Professions with proven processes
Business value
Deal with constraints
Projects, programs, and portfolios all use charters
Charter
What a project IS…
… and what a project is NOT
A day in the life of a project manager
there are no Dumb Questions
How project managers run great projects
Project management offices help you do a good job, every time
Supportive
Controlling
Directive
Good leadership helps the team work together
Leadership
Team building and trust building
Motivation
Project teams are made of people
Influencing
Conflict management
Coaching
Political and cultural awareness
there are no Dumb Questions
Operations management handles the processes that make your company tick
A PMP certification is more than just passing a test
Meet a real-life PMP-certified project manager
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
2. The organizational environment: In good company
A day in Kate’s life
Kate wants a new job
Organization Magnets
There are different types of organizational structures
The project manager has the most authority and power in a project-oriented organization.
A few more types of organizations
PMOs can be supportive, controlling or directive
there are no Dumb Questions
Kate takes a new job
Kate’s working in an organic organization
Back to Kate’s maintenance nightmare
Managing project constraints
there are no Dumb Questions
Don’t reinvent the wheel
You can’t manage your project in a vacuum
Kate’s project needs to follow company processes
Kate’s project needs clear acceptance criteria
Kate makes some changes…
…and her project is a success!
Organization Magnets Solutions
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
3. The process framework and the project manager’s role: It all fits together
Cooking up a project
Projects are like recipes
If your project’s really big, you can manage it in phases
Phases can also overlap
Iteration means executing one phase while planning the next
Break it down
Process Magnets
Process Magnets
Anatomy of a process
there are no Dumb Questions
Combine processes to complete your project
Knowledge areas organize the processes
Knowledge Area Magnets
Knowledge Area Magnets Solutions
The Project Manager’s Role
Your technical skills make successful projects happen
How does your project fit in?
Leadership is different than management
Styles of leadership
Project managers need to understand how power dynamics affect the team
Types of power
there are no Dumb Questions
The benefits of successful project management
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
4. Project integration management: Getting the job done
Time to book a trip
Larry’s cutting corners
The teachers are thrilled…for now
These clients are definitely not satisfied
Larry’s been let go
The day-to-day work of a project manager
A bird’s-eye view of a project
The seven Integration Management processes
Start your project with the Initiating processes
Integration Management and the process groups
The Develop Project Charter process
Make the case for your project
Use expert judgment and data gathering techniques to write your project charter
Data gathering techniques help everyone understand the goal of your project
Interpersonal and team skills and meetings make sure everyone is on the same page
A closer look at the project charter
Two things you’ll see over and over and over…
there are no Dumb Questions
Plan your project!
The Project Management plan lets you plan ahead
The Project Management plan is a collection of other plans
A quick look at all those subsidiary plans
there are no Dumb Questions
Question Clinic: The just-the-facts-ma’am question
The Direct and Manage Project Work process
The project team creates deliverables
Executing the project includes repairing defects
The three components of the Direct and Manage Project Work process:
Deliverables include everything that you and your team produce for the project
The Manage Project Knowledge process
Knowledge is the lifeblood of any project
Eventually, things WILL go wrong…
…but if you keep an eye out for problems, you can stay on top of them!
Sometimes you need to change your plans
Look for changes and deal with them
Make only the changes that are right for your project
How the processes interact with one another
Changes, defects, and corrections
Decide your changes in change control meetings
Control your changes; use change control
Preventing or correcting problems
there are no Dumb Questions
Finish the work, close the project
You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here
So why INTEGRATION Management?
What else is there?
Project Integration Management Magnets
Project Integration Management Magnets Solution
Integration Management kept your project on track, and the teachers satisfied
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
5. Scope management: Doing the right stuff
Out of the frying pan…
…and right back into the fire
Cubicle conversation
It looks like we have a scope problem
there are no Dumb Questions
You’ve got to know what (and how) you will build before you build it
The power of Scope Management
The six Scope Management processes
Plan your scoping processes
Now you’ve got a roadmap for managing scope
Cubicle conversation
Collect requirements for your project
Talk to your stakeholders
Make decisions about requirements
Understand your requirements
The stakeholders know a lot about the project already
See your ideas better
Use a questionnaire to get requirements from a bigger group of people
Observation can help you see things from a different point of view
A prototype shows users what your product will be like
there are no Dumb Questions
Now you’re ready to write a requirements document
Define the scope of the project
How do you define the scope?
Interpersonal and team skills
Product analysis
Data analysis
Expert judgment
Decision making
there are no Dumb Questions
The project scope statement tells you what you have to do
Fireside Chats
Question Clinic: The which-is-BEST question
Create the work breakdown structure
The inputs for the WBS come from other processes
Breaking down the work
Break it down by project or phase
Decompose deliverables into work packages
Project Scope Management Magnets
More Magnets
Project Scope Management Magnets Solutions
Inside the work package
there are no Dumb Questions
The project scope baseline is a snapshot of the plan
there are no Dumb Questions
The outputs of the Create WBS process
there are no Dumb Questions
Cubicle conversation
Why scope changes
Good change
Bad change
Scope creep
Gold plating
The Control Scope process
Anatomy of a change
A closer look at the change control system
Just two Control Scope tools and techniques
There’s no “right order” for the Control Scope and Validate Scope processes
there are no Dumb Questions
Control Scope Process Magnets
Control Scope Process Magnets Solutions
Make sure the team delivered the right product
The stakeholders give you criteria for deciding when you’re done
Is the product ready to go?
The project is ready to ship!
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
6. Project schedule management: Getting it done on time
Reality sets in for the happy couple
Meet the wedding planner
Schedule management helps with aggressive timelines
Project Schedule Management Magnets
Project Schedule Management Magnets Solution
Plan your scheduling processes
Now you know how you’ll track your schedule
Use the Define Activities process to break down the work
Tools and techniques for Define Activities
Rolling wave planning lets you plan as you go
there are no Dumb Questions
Activity Magnets
Activity Magnets Solution
Define activities outputs
Activity list
Activity attributes
Milestone list
Change requests
Project Management plan updates
The Sequence Activities process puts everything in order
Diagram the relationship between activities
Network diagrams put your tasks in perspective
Dependencies help you sequence your activities
External dependencies
Discretionary dependencies
Mandatory dependencies
Internal dependencies
Leads and lags add time between activities
there are no Dumb Questions
Scheduling software can help you see the sequence of activities
Create the network diagram
Figuring out how long the project will take
Estimation tools and techniques
Create the duration estimate
there are no Dumb Questions
Back to the wedding
Bringing it all together
Question Clinic: The which-comes-next question
One thing leads to another
Use the critical path method to avoid big problems
How does knowing your critical path help?
How to find the critical path
Finding the float for any activity
Float tells you how much extra time you have
there are no Dumb Questions
Figure out the early start and early finish
Early start
Early finish
Figure out the latest possible start and finish
Late start
Late finish
Add early and late durations to your diagrams
Take a backward pass to find late start and finish
Let’s take some time out to walk through this!
there are no Dumb Questions
Crash the schedule
Fast-tracking the project
Use data analysis techniques when you build your schedule
Simulation
Scheduling tool
Other Develop Schedule tools and techniques
Resource optimization techniques
Adjusting leads and lags
Data analysis: schedule compression and schedule network analysis
Agile release planning
Project management information system
Outputs of Develop Schedule
Project schedule
Change requests
Project calendars
Schedule data
Schedule baseline
Project Management plan updates
Project documents updates
there are no Dumb Questions
Influence the factors that cause change
Control Schedule inputs and outputs
What Control Schedule updates
Measuring and reporting performance
Control Schedule tools and techniques
there are no Dumb Questions
Control Schedule Magnets
Another satisfied customer!
Control Schedule Magnets Answers
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
7. Cost management: Watching the bottom line
Time to expand Head First Kitchen
The renovation goes overboard
Kitchen conversation
Introducing the Cost Management processes
Plan Cost Management
Estimate Costs
Determine Budget
Control Costs
Plan how you’ll estimate, track, and control your costs
Now you’ve got a consistent way to manage costs
Cost Management plan
What Alice needs before she can estimate costs
Other tools and techniques used in Estimate Costs
Data analysis
Vendor bid analysis
Reserve analysis
Cost of quality
Project management information system
Decision making
Let’s talk numbers
Benefit-cost ratio (BCR)
Net present value (NPV)
Opportunity cost
Internal rate of return
Depreciation
Lifecycle costing
Now Alice knows how much the Kitchen will cost
Cost estimates
Basis of estimates
Updates to project documents
Kitchen conversation
The Determine Budget process
What you need to build your budget
Determine budget: how to build a budget
there are no Dumb Questions
Question Clinic: The red herring
The Control Costs process is a lot like schedule control
A few new tools and techniques
Data Analysis
Project management information system
To-complete performance index
Look at the schedule to figure out your budget
Budget at completion (BAC)
How to calculate planned value
Earned value tells you how you’re doing
How to calculate earned value
Put yourself in someone else’s shoes
Is your project behind or ahead of schedule?
Schedule performance index (SPI)
Schedule variance (SV)
Are you over budget?
Cost performance index (CPI)
Cost variance (CV)
To-complete performance index (TCPI)
You’re within your budget if…
You’ve blown your budget if…
The earned value management formulas
Interpret CPI and SPI numbers to gauge your project
Forecast what your project will look like when it’s done
Meanwhile, back in the Kitchen
Once you’ve got an estimate, you can calculate a variance!
Finding missing information
there are no Dumb Questions
Keep your project on track with TCPI
To-complete performance index (TCPI)
TCPI for the Head First Kitchen renovation project
A high TCPI means a tight budget
Party time!
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
8. Quality management: Getting it right
What is quality?
You need more than just tests to figure out quality
Once you know what the product is supposed to do, it’s easy to tell which tests pass and which fail
Quality up close
Quality vs. grade
“An ounce of prevention…”
And that’s why you need the three Quality Management processes!
Plan Quality is how you prevent defects
How to plan for quality
The Quality Management plan gives you what you need to manage quality
there are no Dumb Questions
Inspect your deliverables
Use the planning outputs for Control Quality
Tools for data gathering
Tools for data analysis
Inspection, testing, and product evaluation
Tools for data representation
Question Clinic: The which-one question
Control Quality means finding and correcting defects
there are no Dumb Questions
Trouble at the Black Box 3000™ factory
Introducing Manage Quality
A closer look at some tools and techniques
More ideas behind managing quality
Fireside Chats
The Black Box 3000™ makes record profits!
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
9. Project resource management: Getting the team together
Mike needs a new team
Cubicle conversation
Get your team together and keep them moving
Figure out who you need on your team
A closer look at the Plan Resource Management outputs
Important components of the Resource Management plan
The Resource Management plan
there are no Dumb Questions
What you need to estimate resources
Resource calendars
Estimating the resources
Get the team together
Cubicle conversation
Develop your team
Develop the team with your management skills
Your interpersonal and team skills can make a big difference for your team
Lead the team with your management skills
The five kinds of power
Motivate your team
Stages of team development
How’s the team doing?
Cubicle conversation
Managing your team means solving problems
Conflict management up close
Some of the common reasons that conflicts happen
How to resolve a conflict
Make sure to control resources to keep your project on track
Outputs of the Control Resources process
there are no Dumb Questions
The Cows Gone Wild IV team ROCKS!
Question Clinic: The have-a-meeting question
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
10. Communications management: Getting the word out
Party at the Head First Lounge!
But something’s not right
Anatomy of communication
Get a handle on communication
Tell everyone what’s going on
Get the message?
More Manage Communications tools
One of your most important outputs
there are no Dumb Questions
Let everyone know how the project’s going
It all starts with work performance data
Take a close look at the work being done
Now you can get the word out
People aren’t talking!
Count the channels of communication
Counting communication lines the easy way
there are no Dumb Questions
It’s party time!
Question Clinic: The calculation question
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
11. Risk management: Planning for the unknown
What’s a risk?
How you deal with risk
Plan Risk Management
The Risk Management plan is the only output
Use a risk breakdown structure to categorize risks
Anatomy of a risk
What could happen to your project?
Data-gathering techniques for Identify Risks
Useful data gathering techniques
More Identify Risks techniques
Data analysis tools and techniques
Where to look for risks
Now put it in the risk register
Rank your risks
Examine each risk in the register
Data gathering
Data analysis
Data representation
there are no Dumb Questions
Qualitative vs. quantitative analysis
Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
First gather the data…
…then analyze it
Calculate the expected monetary value of your risks
Decision tree analysis uses EMV to help you make choices
there are no Dumb Questions
Update the risk register based on your quantitative analysis results
How do you respond to a risk?
It isn’t always so bad
Add risk responses to the register
Implement Risk Responses
As you respond to risk, you update your project documents
Risk response can find even more risks
Risk Management Exposed
You can’t plan for every risk at the start of the project
Monitor Risks is another change control process
How to monitor your risks
More control risk tools and techniques
there are no Dumb Questions
Question Clinic: The which-is-NOT question
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
12. Procurement management: Getting some help
Victim of her own success
Calling in the cavalry
Agreement Process Magnets
Agreement Process Magnets Solutions
Ask the legal expert
Anatomy of an agreement
You can have several contracts for a single project
Start with a plan for the whole project
Make or Buy Magnets
Make or Buy Magnets
The decision is made
Types of contractual agreements
Fixed price contracts
Cost-reimbursable contracts
Time and materials
More about contracts
Figure out how you’ll sort out potential sellers
Contract Magnets
Get in touch with potential sellers
Use outputs from the Plan Procurement Management process to find the right seller
Pick a partner
there are no Dumb Questions
Two months later…
Keep an eye on the contract
Stay on top of the seller
Data analysis tools
there are no Dumb Questions
Kate closes the contract
Question Clinic: BYO questions
Contract Magnets Solution
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
13. Stakeholder management: Keeping everyone engaged
Party at the Head First Lounge (again)!
Not everybody is thrilled
Understanding your stakeholders
Find out who your stakeholders are
How engaged are your stakeholders?
there are no Dumb Questions
Managing stakeholder engagement means clearing up misunderstandings
Monitor your stakeholders’ engagement
Now you can tell when you need to change the way you deal with stakeholders
Pool Puzzle
Pool Puzzle Solution
It’s party time!
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
14. Professional responsibility: Making good choices
Doing the right thing
The main ideas
Keep the cash?
Fly business class?
New software
Shortcuts
A good price or a clean river?
We’re not all angels
Exam Questions
Exam Answers
15. A little last-minute review: Check your knowledge
Process Magnets
A long-term relationship for your brain
Here’s how to do this next section
Integration and Overall PMBOK® Questions
Scope Questions
Time Questions
Cost Questions
Quality Questions
Human Resource Questions
Communications Questions
Risk Questions
Procurement Questions
Stakeholder Questions
Great job! It looks like you’re almost ready
Process Magnets Solutions
Integration Answers
Scope Answers
Time Answers
Cost Answers
Quality Answers
Human Resource Answers
Communications Answers
Risk Answers
Procurement Answers
Stakeholder Answers
16. Practice makes perfect: Practice PMP exam
Exam Questions
Before you look at the answers...
Exam Answers
Index
