PMP Review Tips

 

In the course of my review for the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, here are important information that would edge one to pass the exam.

• The PMP exam is all about PMI-ism, i.e., how the Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org) thinks about how project management is done. Hence, try to forget all your past knowledge about project management or reconcile them with that of PMI.
• Internalize Process Group vs Knowledge Area Process Matrix
• Understand which process comes before or after which process
• Familiarize Inputs, Tools & Techniques, Outputs for each process.
• Know the mathematical formula.
• Answer tons of sample PMP questions!
• Find the real question in a wordy question.
• Notice which choices twist around the truth to make them incorrect.
• Go for that choice that “take action”, i.e., project manager acts upon the situation rather than being passive
• Watch out for made-up terms and misused terms that seem to fit on the exam
• Select the ‘best’ answer for the question.
• Contextualize the options based where it occurs on Process Groups or sequence of processes.
• Be keen to notice “not”, “except”, “least”, “most” and other similar generalizing (key) words in the question.

Hope these help you! Break a leg!

 

The Evolution of Project (Part 2)

Projects in the corporate world are way beyond comparison with the previously mentioned project scenarios. This time a project is part of your employment responsibilities. It is your bread and butter. It defines your career. It affects your future. It becomes synonymous to being who you are, profession-wise.

 

Before, when project schedule slides, it’s you and your grade that are affected. Now, two organizations are distressed: the buying organization and the selling organization. The buying organization is the one (financially) sponsoring the project and desires the resulting product whereas the selling organization is the one performing the work that builds the product. These organizations expects profit margin due their investments. They somehow keep track cost schedules and forecast profitability in the remaining days attributed to the project. Nevertheless, within these organizations are people who does the leg work, who skillfully builds the product components, who ensures that product meets (and exceeds) expectations, who are willing to spend long hours of hard labor to meet due dates and beat deadlines. These very people are in turn have families to support, at the very least financially. These very people are the building blocks to the project’s success, to achieve the project goals, to make the sponsor rich, and to give authorities pure satisfaction of job well done.

 

We saw projects in its simplest form to one situation and being so complex with another. The latter is what we have to think about. Handling large projects must not be that overwhelming. There must be a better way of doing it, a cohesive set of action items that facilitates harmonious dealings to all involved.

The Evolution of Project

During those elementary years (1980s) I remember what a “project”
means. I’m sure you’ll agree that it is some subject requirement by the teacher that has to be accomplished by the pupil and submitted at the end of the quarter or school year. As far as my memory recalls, I was once required to produce a trash bin made of coconut leaves stick, on another subject a knitted table cloth, and salted egg on another. Oh you won’t forget that garden plot that you have to plow, plant seeds, grow the eggplant or okra until it bears fruit and get harvested. At times you get help from your relatives or parents to the point they do the work for you. It was so much fun!

In high school it’s pretty much the same, but requires you more money to shell out such as that sound system which I was tasked to produce. The learning was leaps and bounds and the satisfaction was immense in spite of spending a significant amount of money.

College brings a different perspective. Projects usually have to be accomplished in groups. Everyone has to share a lot to the success of the project. In some cases, the wealthy provides the money and manual labor while the brainy does the thinking and core/fundamental work. You spend many hours on a group mate’s house in one occasion and to another location at some other time. In the end everyone receives the same grade. Everybody feels happy and accepts that it is just fair enough.

to be continued…