In this document, there are more
than 1000 useful tips and tricks which
gathered from (PMI)® publications
and many other resources to help
who is willing to get (PMP)®
certification
Want to be a (PMP)®
with 1250 memorizing notes
Want to be a (PMP)®
with 1250 memorizing notes
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Table of Contents
Introduction ……….………... 3
Important Definitions ………... 11
Types of Questions ………... 20
Frame Work ………... 22
Integration ………... 29
Project Charter ………... 35
Configuration ... 36
Change Control ...…... 37
Scope ………... 39
Time and Schedule ………... 47
Cost ………... 61
Earned Value ………... 64
Quality ………... 76
Human Resources ………... 95
Motivation ………... 98
Conflict Management ………... 106
Communication ………... 108
Risk ………... 115
Procurement ………... 133
Stakeholders ………... 152
Project Manager Power ………... 156
Leadership Style ………..……….. 156
Meetings ………..……….. 158
Process Group ……….……….. 159
Code of Ethics ……….………. 165
Comparisons ……….……… 172
ITTO ……….……… 176
Passing Exam Lesson Learned ……….………. 181
Introduction
During my preparation for (PMP)® exam, I tried my best to list the most important notes to
be a useful tool for the last days general quick memorizing process. In this document, the
most expected, high probability concepts and knowledge that will be tested where
highlighted.
These 1250 note were solicited from (PMI)® publications such as: PMBOK ® Guide 5th
edition and Project Management Professional Exam Outline 2015. Also, many other notes
were quoted from Rita Mulcahy's (PMP)® exam preparation 8th Edition Tricks of the Trade®
and the book useful exercises.
Finally, a Self-Study Notes were documented as a lessons learned from many
recommended exams included but not limited to: PMstudy, Oliver Lehmann, Sean Whitaker
PMP®2016 and many others.
Because of the overlapping and iteration nature of projects, the reader may experiment the
same titles in different areas in here. This will help the reader to comprehend the
information. That is why I recommend to use this document during the last days just before
the exam.
Hopefully this document will be a real assistant to has the willing to gain his/her (PMP)®
certification and it's subjected to be reviewed for any unintentional mistakes.
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PMBOK® GUIDE 5
thEDITON
The 47 project management processes identified in the PMBOK ® Guide 5th edition are furthure grouped into ten seperste Knowledge Areas. A Knowledge Area represents a complete set of concepts, terms and activities that make up a profecional field or area of specialization. These ten Knowledge Area are used on most projects most of the time. Project team should utililize these ten knowledge area and othere knowledge areas, as properate, for their specific project. The Knowledge Areas are:
1- Project Intigration Management 2- Project Scope Management 3- Project Time Management 4- Project Cost Management 5- Project Quality Management
6- Project Human Resources Management 7- Project Communication Management 8- Project Risk Management
9- Project Procurement Management 10- Project Stackholder Management
Each Knowledge Area within the PMBOK ® Guide 5th edition is contained in separate section. Here, the same sequence were used.
PMBOK® GUIDE 5
thEDITON
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Questions on the (PMP)® certification exam are designed to test your analytical abilities, application
experience, and general project management knowledge. The most important and useful definitions,
tips and the types of questions you will see on the exam will fall into the following:
Important Definitions
1. Acceptance Criteria. A set of conditions that are met before deliverables are accepted. See also deliverable and requirement.
2. Activity. A distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during the course of a project.
3. Activity Code. An alphanumeric value assigned to each activity that enables classifying, sorting, and filtering. See also activity identifier and activity label.
4. Activity Identifier. A unique alphanumeric value assigned to an activity and used to differentiate that activity from other activities. See also activity code and activity label.
5. Activity Label. A phrase that names and describes an activity. See also activity code and activity identifier. 6. Actual Cost (AC). The realized cost incurred for the work performed on an activity during a specific time
period. See also budget at completion (BAC), earned value (EV), estimate at completion (EAC), estimate to complete (ETC), and planned value (PV).
7. Analogous Estimating. A technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical data from a similar activity or project. See also bottom‐up estimating, parametric estimating, program evaluation and review technique (PERT), and three‐point estimating.
8. Apportioned Effort. An activity where effort is allotted proportionately across certain discrete efforts and not divisible into discrete efforts. [Note: Apportioned effort is one of three earned value management (EVM) types of activities used to measure work performance]. See also discrete effort and level of effort.
9. Assumption. A factor in the planning process considered to be true, real, or certain, without proof or demonstration.
10. Backward Pass. A critical path method technique for calculating the late start and late finish dates by working backward through the schedule model from the project end date. See also forward pass.
11. Baseline. The approved version of a work product that can be changed using formal change control procedures and is used as the basis for comparison to actual results. See also cost baseline, performance measurement baseline, schedule baseline, and scope baseline.
12. Bottom‐Up Estimating. A method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower‐level components of the work breakdown structure (WBS). See also analogous estimating, parametric estimating, program evaluation and review technique (PERT), and three‐point estimating.
13. Budget at Completion (BAC). The sum of all budgets established for the work to be performed. See also actual cost (AC), earned value (EV), estimate at completion (EAC), estimate to complete (ETC), and planned value (PV)
14. Change Control. A process whereby modifications to documents, deliverables, or baselines associated with the project are identified, documented, approved, or rejected. See also change control board and change control system.
15. Change Control Board. A formally chartered group responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, delaying, or rejecting changes to the project, and for recording and communicating such decisions. See also change control and change control system.
16. Change Control System. A set of procedures that describes how modifications to the project deliverables and documentation are managed and controlled. See also change control and change control board.
17. Change Request. A formal proposal to modify any document, deliverable, or baseline.
18. Code of Accounts. A numbering system used to uniquely identify each component of the work breakdown structure.
19. Communications Management Plan. A component of the project, program, or portfolio management plan that describes how, when, and by whom information will be administered and disseminated. See also project management plan.
20. Configuration Management System. A collection of procedures used to track project artifacts and monitor and control changes to these artifacts.
21. Constraint. A limiting factor that affects the execution of a project, program, portfolio, or process. Contingency Plan. A document describing actions that the project team can take if predetermined trigger conditions occur.
22. Contingency Reserve. Time or money allocated in the schedule or cost baseline for known risks with active response strategies. See also management reserve and project budget.
23. Control Account. A management control point where scope, budget, actual cost, and schedule are integrated and compared to earned value for performance measurement.
24. Corrective Action. An intentional activity that realigns the performance of the project work with the project management plan. See also preventive action.
25. Cost Baseline. The approved version of work package cost estimates and contingency reserve that can be changed using formal change control procedures and is used as the basis for comparison to actual results. See also baseline, performance measurement baseline, schedule baseline, and scope baseline.
26. Cost Management Plan. A component of a project or program management plan that describes how costs will be planned, structured, and controlled. See also project management plan.
27. Cost Performance Index (CPI). A measure of the cost efficiency of budgeted resources expressed as the ratio of earned value to actual cost. See also schedule performance index (SPI).
28. Cost Variance (CV). The amount of budget deficit or surplus at a given point in time, expressed as the difference between the earned value and the actual cost. See also schedule variance (SV).
29. Crashing. A schedule compression technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources. See also fast tracking and schedule compression.
30. Critical Chain Method. A schedule method that allows the project team to place buffers on any project schedule path to account for limited resources and project uncertainties.
31. Critical Path. The sequence of activities that represents the longest path through a project, which determines the shortest possible duration. See also critical path activity and critical path method.
32. Critical Path Activity. Any activity on the critical path in a project schedule. See also critical path and critical path method.
33. Critical Path Method. A method used to estimate the minimum project duration and determine the amount of scheduling flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model. See also critical path and critical path activity.
34. Data Date. A point in time when the status of the project is recorded.
35. Decision Tree Analysis. A diagramming and calculation technique for evaluating the implications of a chain of multiple options in the presence of uncertainty.
36. Decomposition. A technique used for dividing and subdividing the project scope and project deliverables into smaller, more manageable parts.
37. Defect Repair. An intentional activity to modify a nonconforming product or product component.
38. Deliverable. Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is produced to complete a process, phase, or project.
39. Discrete Effort. An activity that can be planned and measured and that yields a specific output. [Note: Discrete effort is one of three earned value management (EVM) types of activities used to measure work performance.] See also apportioned effort and level of effort.
40. Duration. The total number of work periods required to complete an activity or work breakdown structure component, expressed in hours, days, or weeks. See also effort.
41. Early Finish Date. In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can finish based on the schedule network logic, the data date, and any schedule constraints. See also early start date, late start date, late finish date, and schedule network analysis.
42. Early Start Date. In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can start based on the schedule network logic, the data date, and any
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schedule constraints. See also early finish date, late finish date, late start date, and schedule network analysis.
43. Earned Value (EV). The measure of work performed expressed in terms of the budget authorized for that work. See also actual cost (AC), budget at completion, estimate at completion (EAC), estimate to complete (ETC), and planned value (PV).
44. Earned Value Management. A methodology that combines scope, schedule, and resource measurements to assess project performance and progress.
45. Effort. The number of labor units required to complete a schedule activity or work breakdown structure component, often expressed in hours, days, or weeks. See also duration.
46. Enterprise Environmental Factors. Conditions, not under the immediate control of the team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program, or portfolio.
47. Estimate at Completion (EAC). The expected total cost of completing all work expressed as the sum of the actual cost to date and the estimate to complete. See also actual cost (AC), budget at completion (BAC), earned value (EV), estimate to complete (ETC) and planned value (PV).
48. Estimate to Complete (ETC). The expected cost to finish all the remaining project work. See also actual cost (AC), budget at completion (BAC), earned value (EV), estimate at completion (EAC), and planned value (PV). 49. Fast Tracking. A schedule compression technique in which activities or phases normally done in sequence are
performed in parallel for at least a portion of their duration. See also crashing and schedule compression. 50. Finish‐to‐Finish. A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity
has finished. See also finish‐to‐start, start‐to‐finish, start‐to‐start, and logical relationship.
51. Finish‐to‐Start. A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has finished. See also finish‐to‐finish, start‐to‐finish, start‐to‐start, and logical relationship.
52. Fixed Formula Method. A method of estimating earned value in which a specified percentage of the budget value of a work package is assigned to the start milestone and the remaining percentage is assigned when the work package is complete. See also weighted milestone method.
53. Forward Pass. A critical path method technique for calculating the early start and early finish dates by working forward through the schedule model from the project start date or a given point in time. See also backward pass.
54. Free Float. The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint. See also total float, critical path, near‐critical activity, and near‐critical path.
55. Functional Organization. An organizational structure in which staff is grouped by areas of specialization and the project manager has limited authority to assign work and apply resources. See also matrix organization and projectized organization.
56. Gantt Chart. A bar chart of schedule information where activities are listed on the vertical axis, dates are shown on the horizontal axis, and activity durations are shown as horizontal bars placed according to start and finish dates.
57. Human Resource Management Plan. A component of the project or program management plan that describes the roles and responsibilities, reporting relationships, and staff management. See also project management plan and staffing management plan. Issue. A threat that has occurred. See also opportunity, risk, and threat.
58. Lag. The amount of time whereby a successor activity will be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity. See also lead.
59. Late Finish Date. In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can finish based on the schedule network logic, the project completion date, and any schedule constraints. See also early finish date, early start date, late start date, and schedule network analysis.
60. Late Start Date. In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can start based on the schedule network logic, the project completion date, and any schedule constraints. See also early finish date, late finish date, early start date, and schedule network analysis.
61. Lead. The amount of time whereby a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity. See also lag.
62. Lessons Learned. The knowledge gained during a project which shows how project events were addressed or should be addressed in the future for the purpose of improving future performance.
63. Level of Effort. An activity that does not produce definitive end products and is measured by the passage of time. [Note: Level of effort is one of three earned value management (EVM) types of activities used to measure work performance.] See also apportioned effort and discrete effort.
64. Logical Relationship. A dependency between two activities or between an activity and a milestone. See also finish‐to‐finish, finish‐to‐start, start‐to‐finish, and start‐to‐start.
65. Management Reserve. Time or money that management sets aside in addition to the schedule or cost baseline and releases for unforeseen work that is within the scope of the project. See also contingency reserve and project budget.
66. Matrix Organization. An organizational structure in which the project manager shares authority with the functional manager temporarily to assign work and apply resources. See also functional organization and projectized organization.
67. Milestone. A significant point or event in a project, program, or portfolio.
68. Milestone Schedule. A type of schedule that presents milestones with planned dates.
69. Most Likely Duration. An estimate of the most probable activity duration that takes into account all of the known variables that could affect performance. See also optimistic duration, and pessimistic duration. Near‐ Critical Activity. An activity with a total float that is deemed to be low based on expert judgment. See also critical path, free float, near‐critical path, and total float.
70. Near‐Critical Path. A sequence of activities with low float which, if exhausted, becomes a critical path sequence for the project. See also critical path, free float, near‐critical activity, and total float.
71. Network Logic. All activity dependencies in a project schedule network diagram. See also early finish date, early start date, late finish date, late start date, and network path.
72. Network Path. A sequence of activities connected by logical relationships in a project schedule network diagram. See also early finish date, early start date, late finish date, late start date, and network logic.
73. Node. A point at which dependency lines connect on a schedule network diagram. See also precedence diagramming method (PDM) and project schedule network diagram.
74. Opportunity. A risk that would have a positive effect on one or more project objectives. See also issue, risk, and threat.
75. Optimistic Duration. An estimate of the shortest activity duration that takes into account all of the known variables that could affect performance. See also most likely duration and pessimistic duration.
76. Organizational Breakdown Structure. A hierarchical representation of the project organization, which illustrates the relationship between project activities and the organizational units that will perform those activities. See also resource breakdown structure, risk breakdown structure, and work breakdown structure (WBS).
77. Organizational Enabler. A structural, cultural, technological, or human‐resource practice that the performing organization can use to achieve strategic objectives. See also organizational project management.
78. Organizational Process Assets. Plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases specific to and used by the performing organization.
79. Organizational Project Management. A framework in which portfolio, program, and project management are integrated with organizational enablers in order to achieve strategic objectives. See also organizational enabler.
80. Organizational Project Management Maturity. The level of an organization’s ability to deliver the desired strategic outcomes in a predictable, controllable, and reliable manner.
81. Parametric Estimating. An estimating technique in which an algorithm is used to calculate cost or duration based on historical data and project parameters. See also analogous estimating, bottom‐up estimating, program evaluation and review technique (PERT), and three‐point estimating.
82. Path Convergence. A relationship in which a schedule activity has more than one predecessor. See also path divergence, predecessor activity, and successor activity.
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83. Path Divergence. A relationship in which a schedule activity has more than one successor. See also path convergence, predecessor activity, and successor activity.
84. Percent Complete. An estimate expressed as a percent of the amount of work that has been completed on an activity or a work breakdown structure component.
85. Performance Measurement Baseline. Integrated scope, schedule, and cost baselines used for comparison to manage, measure, and control project execution. See also baseline, cost baseline, schedule baseline, and scope baseline.
86. Performing Organization. An enterprise whose personnel are the most directly involved in doing the work of the project or program.
87. Pessimistic Duration. An estimate of the longest activity duration that takes into account all of the known variables that could affect performance. See also most likely duration, and optimistic duration.
88. Phase Gate. A review at the end of a phase in which a decision is made to continue to the next phase, to continue with modification, or to end a project or program. See also project phase.
89. Planned Value (PV). The authorized budget assigned to scheduled work. See also actual cost (AC), budget at completion (BAC), earned value (EV), estimate at completion (EAC), and estimate to complete (ETC).
90. Portfolio. Projects, programs, sub-portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives. See also program and project.
91. Portfolio Balancing. The process of optimizing the mix of portfolio components to further the strategic objectives of the organization.
92. Portfolio Charter. A document issued by a sponsor that authorizes and specifies the portfolio structure and links the portfolio to the organization’s strategic objectives. See also program charter and project charter. 93. Portfolio Management. The centralized management of one or more portfolios to achieve strategic
objectives. See also program management and project management.
94. Portfolio Management Plan. A document that specifies how a portfolio will be organized, monitored, and controlled. See also program management plan and project management plan.
95. Portfolio Manager. The person or group assigned by the performing organization to establish, balance, monitor, and control portfolio components in order to achieve strategic business objectives. See also program manager and project manager.
96. Precedence Diagramming Method. A technique used for constructing a schedule model in which activities are represented by nodes and are graphically linked by one or more logical relationships to show the sequence in which the activities are to be performed. See also node and project schedule network diagram. 97. Predecessor Activity. An activity that logically comes before a dependent activity in a schedule. See also
successor activity and summary activity.
98. Preventive Action. An intentional activity that ensures the future performance of the project work is aligned with the project management plan. See also corrective action.
99. Probability and Impact Matrix. A grid for mapping the probability of occurrence of each risk and its impact on project objectives if that risk occurs. See also risk.
100. Procurement Management Plan. A component of the project or program management plan that describes how a team will acquire goods and services from outside of the performing organization. See also project management plan.
101. Product Life Cycle. The series of phases that represent the evolution of a product, from concept through delivery, growth, maturity, and to retirement. See also project life cycle.
102. Program. A group of related projects, subprograms, and program activities that are managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually. See also portfolio and project.
103. Program Charter. A document issued by a sponsor that authorizes the program management team to use organizational resources to execute the program and links the program to the organization’s strategic objectives. See also portfolio charter and project charter.
104. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). A technique used to estimate project duration through a weighted average of optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely activity durations when there is uncertainty with the individual activity estimates. See also analogous estimating, bottom‐up estimating, parametric estimating, and three‐point estimating.
105. Program Management. The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to a program to meet the program requirements and to obtain benefits and control not available by managing projects individually. See also portfolio management and project management.
106. Program Management Office. A management structure that standardizes the program‐related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques. See also project management office.
107. Program Management Plan. A document that integrates the program’s subsidiary plans and establishes the management controls and overall plan for integrating and managing the program’s individual components. See also portfolio management plan and project management plan.
108. Program Manager. The person authorized by the performing organization to lead the team or teams responsible for achieving program objectives. See also portfolio manager and project manager.
109. Progressive Elaboration. The iterative process of increasing the level of detail in a project management plan as greater amounts of information and more accurate estimates become available.
110. Project. A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. See also portfolio and program.
111. Project Budget. The sum of work package cost estimates, contingency reserve, and management reserve. See also contingency reserve and management reserve.
112. Project Calendar A calendar that identifies working days and shifts that are available for scheduled activities. 113. Project Charter. A document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence
of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. See also portfolio charter and program charter.
114. Projectized Organization. An organizational structure in which the project manager has full authority to assign work and apply resources. See also functional organization and matrix organization.
115. Project Life Cycle. The series of phases that a project passes through from its initiation to its closure. See also product life cycle.
116. Project Management. The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. See also portfolio management and program management.
117. Project Management Office. A management structure that standardizes the project‐related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques. See also program management office.
118. Project Management Plan. The document that describes how the project will be executed, monitored and controlled, and closed. See also portfolio management plan, program management plan, communications management plan, cost management plan, human resource management plan, procurement management plan, quality management plan, requirements management plan, risk management plan, schedule management plan, scope management plan, staffing management plan, and stakeholder management plan. 119. Project Manager. The person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible
for achieving the project objectives. See also portfolio manager and program manager.
120. Project Phase. A collection of logically related project activities that culminates in the completion of one or more deliverables. See also phase gate.
121. Project Schedule. An output of a schedule model that presents linked activities with planned dates, durations, milestones, and resources.
122. Project Schedule Network Diagram. A graphical representation of the logical relationships among the project schedule activities. See also node and precedence diagramming method (PDM).
123. Project Scope. The work performed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions.
124. Project Scope Statement. The description of the project scope, major deliverables, assumptions, and constraints.
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125. Quality Management Plan. A component of the project or program management plan that describes how an organization’s quality policies will be implemented. See also project management plan.
126. Requirement. A condition or capability that is required to be present in a product, service, or result to satisfy a contract or other formally imposed specification.
127. Requirements Management Plan. A component of the project or program management plan that describes how requirements will be analyzed, documented, and managed. See also project management plan.
128. Requirements Traceability Matrix. A grid that links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them.
129. Residual Risk. The risk that remains after risk responses have been implemented. See also secondary risk. 130. Resource Breakdown Structure. A hierarchical representation of resources by category and type. See also
organizational breakdown structure, risk breakdown structure, and work breakdown structure (WBS). 131. Resource Calendar. A calendar that identifies the working days and shifts upon which each specific resource
is available.
132. Resource Leveling. A resource optimization technique in which adjustments are made to the project schedule to optimize the allocation of resources and which may affect critical path. See also resource smoothing and resource optimization technique.
133. Resource Optimization Technique. A technique in which activity start and finish dates are adjusted to balance demand for resources with the available supply. See also resource leveling and resource smoothing. 134. Resource Smoothing. A resource optimization technique in which free and total float are used without
affecting the critical path. See also resource leveling and resource optimization technique.
135. Responsibility Assignment Matrix. A grid that shows the project resources assigned to each work package. 136. Risk. An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on one or more
project objectives. See also issue, opportunity, and threat.
137. Risk Acceptance. A risk response strategy whereby the project team decides to acknowledge the risk and not take any action unless the risk occurs. See also risk avoidance, risk enhancement, risk exploiting, risk mitigation, risk sharing, and risk transference.
138. Risk Appetite. The degree of uncertainty an organization or individual is willing to accept in anticipation of a reward. See also risk threshold and risk tolerance.
139. Risk Avoidance. A risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to eliminate the threat or protect the project from its impact. See also risk acceptance, risk enhancement, risk exploiting, risk mitigation, risk sharing, and risk transference.
140. Risk Breakdown Structure. A hierarchical representation of risks that is organized according to risk categories. See also organizational breakdown structure, resource breakdown structure, and work breakdown structure (WBS).
141. Risk Category. A group of potential causes of risk.
142. Risk Enhancement. A risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to increase the probability of occurrence or impact of an opportunity. See also risk acceptance, risk avoidance, risk exploiting, risk mitigation, risk sharing, and risk transference.
143. Risk Exploiting. A risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to ensure that an opportunity occurs. See also risk acceptance, risk avoidance, risk enhancement, risk mitigation, risk sharing, and risk transference.
144. Risk Exposure. An aggregate measure of the potential impact of all risks at any given point in time in a project, program, or portfolio.
145. Risk Management Plan. A component of the project, program, or portfolio management plan that describes how risk management activities will be structured and performed. See also project management plan. 146. Risk Mitigation. A risk response strategy whereby the project team acts to decrease the probability of
occurrence or impact of a threat. See also risk acceptance, risk avoidance, risk enhancement, risk exploiting, risk sharing, and risk transference.
147. Risk Owner. The person responsible for monitoring the risk and for selecting and implementing an appropriate risk response strategy.
149. Risk Sharing. A risk response strategy whereby the project team allocates ownership of an opportunity to a third party who is best able to capture the benefit of that opportunity. See also risk acceptance, risk avoidance, risk enhancement, risk exploiting, risk mitigation, and risk transference.
150. Risk Threshold. The level of risk exposure above which risks are addressed and below which risks may be accepted. See also risk appetite and risk tolerance.
151. Risk Tolerance. The degree of uncertainty that an organization or individual is willing to withstand. See also risk appetite and risk threshold.
152. Risk Transference. A risk response strategy whereby the project team shifts the impact of a threat to a third party, together with ownership of the response. See also risk acceptance, risk avoidance, risk enhancement, risk exploiting, risk mitigation, and risk sharing.
153. "Deflect" is another word for "transfer."
154. Rolling Wave Planning. An iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while the work in the future is planned at a higher level.
155. Schedule Baseline. The approved version of a schedule model that can be changed using formal change control procedures and is used as the basis for comparison to actual results. See also baseline, cost baseline, performance measurement baseline, and scope baseline.
156. Schedule Compression. A technique used to shorten the schedule duration without reducing the project scope. See also crashing and fast tracking.
157. Schedule Management Plan. A component of the project or program management plan that establishes the criteria and the activities for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule. See also project management plan.
158. Schedule Model. A representation of the plan for executing the project’s activities, including durations, dependencies, and other planning information, used to produce a project schedule along with other scheduling artifacts. See also schedule model analysis.
159. Schedule Model Analysis. A process used to investigate or analyze the output of the schedule model in order to optimize the schedule. See also schedule model.
160. Schedule Network Analysis. A technique to identify early and late start dates, as well as early and late finish dates, for the uncompleted portions of project activities. See also early finish date, early start date, late finish date, and late start date.
161. Schedule Performance Index (SPI). A measure of schedule efficiency expressed as the ratio of earned value to planned value. See also cost performance index (CPI).
162. Schedule Variance (SV). A measure of schedule performance expressed as the difference between the earned value and the planned value. See also cost variance (CV).
163. Scope Baseline. The approved version of a scope statement, work breakdown structure (WBS), and its associated WBS dictionary that can be changed using formal change control procedures and is used as the basis for comparison to actual results. See also baseline, cost baseline, performance measurement baseline, and schedule baseline.
164. Scope Creep. The uncontrolled expansion to product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources.
165. Scope Management Plan. A component of the project or program management plan that describes how the scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled, and validated. See also project management plan. 166. S‐Curve Analysis. A technique used to indicate performance trends by using a graph that displays cumulative
costs over a specific time period.
167. Secondary Risk. A risk that arises as a direct result of implementing a risk response. See also residual risk. 168. Sponsor. An individual or a group that provides resources and support for the project, program, or portfolio,
and is accountable for enabling success. See also stakeholder.
169. Staffing Management Plan. A component of the human resource plan that describes when and how team members will be acquired and how long they will be needed. See also human resource management plan. 170. Stakeholder. An individual, group, or organization that may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be
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171. Stakeholder Management Plan. A component of the project management plan that describes how stakeholders will be engaged in project decision making and execution. See also project management plan. 172. Start‐to‐Finish. A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity
has started. See also finish‐to‐finish, finish‐to‐start, start‐to‐start, and logical relationship.
173. Start‐to‐Start. A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has started. See also finish‐to‐finish, finish‐to‐start, start‐to‐finish, and logical relationship.
174. Successor Activity. A dependent activity that logically comes after another activity in a schedule. See also predecessor activity and summary activity.
175. Summary Activity. A group of related schedule activities aggregated and displayed as a single activity. See also predecessor activity and successor activity.
176. Threat. A risk that would have a negative effect on one or more project objectives. See also issue, opportunity, and risk.
177. Three‐Point Estimating. A technique used to estimate cost or duration by applying an average or weighted average of optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely estimates when there is uncertainty with the individual activity estimates. See also analogous estimating, bottom‐up estimating, parametric estimating, and program evaluation and review technique (PERT).
178. To‐Complete Performance Index (TCPI). A measure of the cost performance that is achieved with the remaining resources in order to meet a specified management goal, expressed as the ratio of the cost to finish the outstanding work to the remaining budget. See also actual cost (AC), budget at completion (BAC), earned value (EV), and estimate at completion (EAC).
179. Total Float. The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or extended from its early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a schedule constraint. See also free float, critical path, near‐critical activity, and near‐critical path.
180. Trend Analysis. An analytical technique uses mathematical models to forecast future outcome based on historical results. It's a method of determining the variance from a baseline of a budget, cost, schedule or scope parameter by using prior progress reporting periods' data and projecting how much that parameters' variance from baseline might be at some future point in the project if no change are made in executing the project.
181. Trigger Condition. An event or situation that indicates that a risk is about to occur. 182. Unanimity. Agreement by everyone in the group on a single course of action.
183. Validate Scope. A process of formalizing acceptance of the complete project deliverables.
184. Validation. The assurance that a product, service or system meets the needs of the customer and other identified stakeholders. It often involves acceptance and suitability with external customers. Contrast with verification.
185. Value Engineering. An approach used to optimize project life cycle costs, save time, increase profits, improve quality, expand market share, solve problems and/or use resources more effectively.
186. Variance. A quantifiable deviation, departure or divergence away from a known baseline or expected value. 187. Variance Analysis. A technique for determining the cause and degree of difference between the baseline and
actual performance. See also cost variance (CV), schedule variance (SV), and variance at completion.
188. Variance at Completion (VAC). A projection of the amount of budget deficit or surplus, expressed as the difference between the budget at completion and the estimate at completion. See also budget at completion (BAC), cost variance (CV), estimate at completion (EAC), and variance analysis.
189. Variation. An actual condition that is deferent from the expected condition that is continued in the baseline plan.
190. Velocity. A measure of a team productivity rate at which the deliverables are produced, validated and accepted within predefined intervals. Velocity is a capacity planning approach frequently used to forecast future project work.
191. Voice of the Customer. A planning technique used to provide products, services and results that truly reflect customer requirement by translating those customer requirement into the appropriate technical requirement for each phase of project product development.
192. WBS Dictionary. A document that provides detailed deliverable, activity, and scheduling information about each component in the work breakdown structure. See also work breakdown structure (WBS).
193. Weighted Milestone Method. A method of estimating earned value in which the budget value of a work package is divided into measurable segments, each ending with a milestone that is assigned a weighted budget value. See also fixed formula method.
194. What‐If Scenario Analysis. The process of evaluating scenarios in order to predict their effect on project objectives.
195. Workaround. An immediate and temporary response to an issue for which a prior response had not been planned or was not effective. See also risk mitigation.
196. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables. See also organizational breakdown structure, resource breakdown structure, risk breakdown structure, and WBS dictionary.
197. Work Package. The work defined at the lowest level of the work breakdown structure for which cost and duration can be estimated and managed.
Types of Questions in the Exam
198. Situational Questions: A scenario or situation will be presented to you in which must analyze the question and choose the best answer based on your experience, analysis, and knowledge. Many test takers state that the predominant percentages of questions on the exam are situational.
199. More than one right answer Questions: Frequently, a test question will have two or more correct answers; however there will always be one answer that is more correct than the others. In this situation it is usually simple to eliminate at least two of the answers. Focus your attention on what the project manager needs to do next.
200. Extraneous information Questions: (PMI)® is famous for the wordy multi-paragraph question, loaded with misdirection (red herrings) and nonessential information that has nothing to do with the actual question. When encountering such questions for the first time, read the answer set and the final paragraph first - this is usually the place where the actual question is contained.
201. Something you never heard of Questions: Don't be surprised to see a question containing something you have never seen before. The field of project management changes on a daily basis and the tools and techniques used by the project manager are expanding seemingly at a geometric rate. Take your best guess and move on.
202. Mathematical Questions: Expect to see anywhere from 5 to 10 questions involving formula computations. Earned value, PERT or questions involving standard deviation are typical computation questions.
203. Diagrams Questions: You may be asked to interpret a graph or construct a precedence diagram from instructions. On the computer at the test center, there may be a button on the screen that you can push that will bring up a graphic or some other diagram. Take advantage of all information provided.
204. Correct answer to a different question: You will sometimes see answers that may be correct statements by themselves, but do not answer the question.
205. A new approach to a known topic Questions: You will frequently see questions that will present a different point of view or skew to a known topic. These questions will test concepts but using language that is different from what you studied for the exam. Thus it is critical that the concepts be understood ahead of simple rote memorization of project management knowledge.
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206. Double negatives Questions: A number of questions are designed to be deliberately confusing ("which of the following would NOT be the least likely choice to make..."), which is another way of saying; "what would be your most likely choice".
207. Recall Questions: There will be a few fairly short questions that test your inventory of certain project management facts and knowledge areas.
208. Critical Note: Make sure you do a careful and thorough read of each question - many of the answers to exam questions turn on a single word. If you skim over or miss that key word, you will get the question wrong. Read all questions carefully. Answer what is asked!
209. Notice the phrasing of this question, "most likely NOT do." Expect to see questions worded on the exam in ways that can cause you to misinterpret them. You will also see questions about things we forget to do in the real world. "Who has time," you might say, "to determine if each problem is really solved?" One could respond with, "Who has time not to do this? Who has time to deal with the same problem twice?" The final steps of problem solving include: implement a decision, review it and confirm that the decision solved the problem.
210. The exam does not test memorization. Being a quiz kid with an eidetic memory will not help you pass the (P MP)® examination. You could memorize the PMBOK® Guide 5th edition cover to cover and easily fail the exa m. The (PMP)® exam tests your experience as a project manager as well as your understanding of project m anagement concepts, and your ability to correctly analyze situations that occur on projects. While some me morization is required it is not the focal point of the examination.
211. Answer all questions. You do not get any credit for an unanswered question.
212. If you are completely stumped by a question there are only four possible answer alternatives. You have at least a 25% chance of getting it right. If you can eliminate at least two apparently incorrect answers your chances have improved to 50-50. Always answer a question even if time is running out.
213. Fill in the blanks. With a fill-in-the-blanks type of question, sometimes the correct answer is not grammatically correct. Don't let that stop you from filling in the correct answer.
214. Look for sweeping generalizations. Frequently you will see broad generalizations and questions using terms such as; "MUST, NEVER, AWAYS, COMPLETELY" or other absolutes.
215. When referring to the project manager's actions, these terms are almost always wrong.
216. Make sure you understand (PMI)® point of view first before attempting to answer questions containing these terms. NEXT, BEST, WORST, LEAST, MOST, FIRST, LAST. On a number of exam questions you will be asked what is the BEST or FIRST action you should take regarding a specific situation. When we see questions like this, it is a tipoff that there is usually more than one correct answer. Read these questions carefully and understand what is being asked.
217. Cheerleader answers. There are a fair number of question responses that are what we call 'cheerleader' answers. Statements such as "quality is really important" or "scope verification is really time consuming" are answer choices that are guaranteed incorrect.
218. Also keep an eye out for answers in which there is some type of emotional response to a situation. Project managers manage projects with data and fact. “Touchy-feely” answers can usually be eliminated immediately from consideration.
Frame Work
219. 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 (it has not been done before), utilizes resources from many countries, has more than 200 people on the team, lasts longer than one year, and has a budget of over US $10 million. Regardless of whether you work on such projects, you will need to answer questions on the exam as if you do. There is a big difference between managing small and large projects. For example, on a small project, you walk over to the person you need to speak to when you have an issue to resolve. On a large project, you may have spent weeks planning communications. When there is an issue, you have to figure out who is involved and where they are located, look up their preferred method of communication and their contact information, and then communicate with them in that way. If you keep this large-project focus in mind as you read this book, you will see that the many different elements being described here as part of project management make sense, are necessary, and add value. And if the concepts make sense to you, you do not have to memorize them-you can use logic to answer questions on the exam!
220. 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 or informally.
221. When answering exam questions there is a PMO in the organization, unless the questions state otherwise. Read situational questions carefully to determine if the PMO is supportive, controlling, or directive.
222. The exam typically does not identify the form of organization being discussed. When it does not specify a form, assume matrix. If you remember this, you should get a few more questions right.
223. A tight matrix has nothing to do with a matrix organization. It simply refers to "colocation;' or locating the work spaces for the project team in the same room. Because it sounds similar to the other forms of organization, it has often been used as a fourth choice for these questions on the exam.
224.
You may see the term 'tight matrix' on an exam question. A tight matrix simply means that the
offices for the project team are co-located in the same room.
225. Think of enterprise environmental factors as what they really are-company culture and existing systems that the project will have to deal with or 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. Use this trick to more easily understand the meaning of questions or the choices on the exam, no matter how the term "enterprise environmental factors" is used.
226. Enterprise Environmental Factors. Conditions, not under the immediate control of the team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program, or portfolio.
227. Government regulations are part of enterprise environmental factors.
228. Personnel skill updates are an example of an enterprise environmental factor that may require updates as a result of the manage project team process along with inputs to the organizational performance appraisals. 229. The enterprise environmental factor (EEF) that ensures that the correct work gets done in the correct
sequence is called a _work authorization system_, while the EEF that keeps track of information storage and distribution in an automated fashion for the project is called a PMIS.
230. Work Authorization system Ensures that work is done at RIGH T TIME and in proper sequence
231. Enterprise Environmental Factors_ basically describes the organization’s culture while _Organizational Process Assets__ describe how the organization does projects 2.
232. The work authorization system is a part of your company’s Enterprise Environmental Factors, and it’s generally part of any change control system. It defines how work is assigned to people. If work needs to be approved by specific managers, the work authorization system will make sure that the right people are notified when a staff member’s work assignments change.
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233. Since the beginning of time, project managers have also been dealing with existing processes, procedures, and historical information. The PMBOK® Guide 5th edition calls these "organizational process assets;' and they are inputs to the majority of processes in all the project management process groups. They provide direction and guidance in planning and help the project benefit from past company experience. The trick is to think of organizational process assets as what they really are-processes, procedures, and historical information.
234. A decision tool that is best used in which the participants could become contentious is known as the Delphi technique 6.
235. Management by Objectives (MBO) is a term that was first introduced by Peter Drucker in his 1954 book 'The Practice of Management'. MBO will only work if it is supported by management.
236. OPM3™- the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model. The model was based on the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) for software. OPM3™ helps organizations determine their level of maturity in project management.
237. Many project managers do not understand the role of lessons learned on projects. The following graphic helps their function:
As a project manager, you need to collect and review lessons learned from similar projects before starting work on a new project. Why make the same mistakes or face the same problems others have faced? Why not benefit from others' experience? Imagine you could reach into a filing cabinet or access a database to see such data for all the projects your company has undertaken. How valuable would that be?
Once your project is underway, you are required to add lessons learned to the company database (the organizational process assets).
238. Documenting lessons learned is a required project management practice. Lessons learned are both an input to and an output of projects. As an input, they help improve the current project. As an output, they help make the organization better.
239. Lessons learned are realized throughout the project and should be shared with the project team to improve the current project and with the organization as part of the Manage Communications process (see the Communications Management chapter). They are then finalized during closing.
240. Project Life Cycle
The project life cycle is sometimes referred to as the performing organization's or department's methodology for projects. This is the logical breakdown of what you need to do to produce the deliverables of the project.
There are many different types of project life cycles, depending on the type of product being developed, the industry, and the organization's preferences.
Project life cycles range from plan-driven to change-driven.
Plan-driven projects have predictive life cycles (sometimes referred to as waterfall or traditional life cycles) that require scope, schedule, and cost to be determined in detail early in the life of the project, before the work begins to produce the project deliverables.
For example, a construction project would typically be managed using a predictive approach, undergoing the life cycle phases of feasibility, planning, design, production, turnover, and startup. Change-driven projects, on the other hand, use iterative, incremental, or adaptive (agile) life cycles,
and will have varying levels of early planning for scope, schedule, and cost. (Note that the PMBOK® Guide 5th edition classifies only adaptive as change driven, though incremental and iterative can also be considered change driven.)
Incremental and iterative life cycles involve early planning of high-level scope sufficient enough to allow for preliminary estimates of time and cost; scope is developed a little more with each Iteration Incremental delivers a complete, usable portion of the product for each Iteration With iterative, the complete concept is built in successive levels of detail to create the end result. For example, a project to build a website using an incremental life cycle would involve prioritizing requirements into iterations that deliver a fully functioning portion of the website at the end of each iteration. To build the same project using an iterative life cycle would involve first creating a prototype of the entire website; the basic skeleton of the site is built, and each successive iteration adds more detail and resonance until there is a complete, fully functioning site upon delivery. Note that a project may use a combination of incremental and iterative life cycles throughout the project or for phases of the project.
241. Prototypes
Prototype is an example of progressive elaboration (change-driven and iterative project life cycle). Prototype is a high level planning for the project and product scope.
Prototype is a risk mitigation strategy.
242. Project management methodologies often work best if they are structured around Life-cycle phases. project management in their content there is procedures and processes which have already has tailored to take these into account . Next step to make it working well to specific life cycle.
243. You are project manager for Developing a new software adopting biweekly (two weeks) work cycle duration. If you have done some deliverables and you want to reprioritize the remaining work plan, this can be done throughout Control schedule. That means time and cost is more priority comparing to scope in monitoring and controlling the project.
244. Adaptive life cycles involve fixed time and cost, and scope is broadly defined with the understanding that it will be refined as the project progresses. The customer's requirements are documented and prioritized in what's known as a backlog, which can be adjusted as the project progresses. Work is planned in quick brief
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increments to allow the customer to change and reprioritize requirements within time and cost constraints. A new software development project may follow an adaptive approach, undergoing a high level feasibility, design, and planning effort, followed by short, iterative periods of detailed design, coding testing release 245. The processes, tools and techniques, and concepts identified in PMBOK® Guide 5th edition and discussed in
this book can be tailored based on the project, the organization, and various other factors, including the project life cycle. It's often useful to think in a terms of plan-driven life cycle. Just remember that these processes, tools, and techniques can be used on change-driven projects as well, and that tailoring project management practices to the situation and the needs of the project and organization is your responsibility as a project manager
246. An input means: What do I need before I can … 247. An output means:
What will I have when I am done with
Or, what am I trying to achieve when I am doing
248. Moving window is another tittle of roll wave planning. Closing process for a multi-phase project will be conducted as = (number of phases + 1).
249. Operations: are ongoing and repetitive
250. Getting coffee from Wife is a Project, Getting Coffee from Vending Machine is OPERATION 251. Conflicting priorities in resource assignments – is an issue in the Matrix structure
252. Functional – FM has more power 253. Projectized – PM has more power
254. The three basic organizational types are; functional, matrixed, and projectized.
255. The term used to describe the process of delivering more accurate estimates for time and budget as the project progresses is called progressive elaboration.
256. Clearly defined career paths and much contention for resources is an advantage and a disadvantage of a functional organization.
257. Project loyalty and the possibility of not having a job after the project completes describes an advantage and a disadvantage of a projectized organization.
258. Increased PM control and multiple bosses describe an advantage and a disadvantage of a matrixed organization.
259. A project expediter has very little decision making authority on a project whereas the project coordinator has some decision making authority.
260. The three types of matrixed organizations are referred to as: weak matrix, balanced matrix and strong matrix.
261. The three types of project lifecycles defined by PMBOK® Guide 5th edition are predictive, iterative and adaptive.
263. A project is temporary, unique and delivers a product, processor result.
264. Three key constraints on a project are time, cost, and scope as well as quality, resources and risk. 265. Three key characteristics of the project manager include; knowledge, performance, and personal
effectiveness.
266. A program is a group of related projects.
Programs Projects
Programs have a wide scope that may have to change to meet the benefit expectations of the organization.
Projects have a narrow scope with specific deliverables
Program managers have to expect and even
embrace change. The project manager tries to keep change to a minimum. Success is measured in terms of Return On
Investment (ROI), new capabilities, benefit delivery
Success is measured by budget, on time, and products delivered to specification. Leadership style focuses on managing
relationships and conflict resolution. Program managers need to facilitate and manage the political aspects of the stakeholder relationships.
Leadership style focuses on task delivery and directive in order to meet the success criteria
Program managers manage project managers Project managers manage technicians, specialists etc
Program managers are leaders providing vision and leadership
Project managers are a team player motivating by knowledge and skills
Program managers create high-level plans providing guidance to projects where detailed plans are created.
Project managers conduct detailed planning to manage the delivery of the products of the project.
Program managers monitor projects and ongoing work through governance structures.
Project managers monitor and control tasks and the work of producing the project’s products.
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267. A portfolio can be a collection of projects, programs or sub-projects.
Portfolios Programs
Portfolios business objectives change with the organisational strategy
Programs have a wide scope that may have to change to meet the benefit expectations of the organization.
Portfolio Manager continuously monitors change in the broad environment and provide direction
Program managers have to expect and even embrace change.
Success is measured by aggregate performance of portfolio components.
Success is measured in terms of Return On Investment (ROI), new capabilities, benefit delivery
Leadership focuses establishing, maintaining & communicating the overall vision
Leadership style focuses on managing relationships and conflict resolution. Program managers need to facilitate and manage the political aspects of the stakeholder relationships.
Project managers manage portfolio staff & Program Managers
Program managers manage project managers
Portfolio managers monitor and control overall value of the aggregate components of portfolio.
Program managers monitor projects and ongoing work through governance structures.
268. A PMO centralizes and co-ordinates the management of portfolios, programs and projects.
269. The project lifecycle deals with the work done to accomplish the goals of the project, while the product lifecycle deals with the lifetime of the deliverable(s).
270. The three categories of multi-phase project types are; sequential, overlapping, and iterative.
271. PMBOK ® Guide 5th edition defines how a project will tighten its estimates for budget and timeline as more is learned about the project as a progressive elaboration.
272. Dedicated and part-time project team members can exist in any of the organizational structures: functional, matrix, projectrized, or composite.
273. Functional organization in which she is managing the project will typically lack management systems to support project needs. The absence of a project-oriented system will make it difficult for her to run the project efficiently. She will need to spend considerable time managing the communications needs of the project. Communication will generally cascade upwards to the functional manager who will then
communicate with other functional managers. They cascade the communication down into their
departments in turn. The return communication follows the reverse path. [PMBOK ® Guide 5th edition , Page 22]
274. Project Governance is the alignment of the project objectives to the organization strategic plan.
275. You can use an expeditor form of project organization when the project cost and importance is relatively low.
276. Complex project will best fit in MATRIX org structure
277. large number of simultaneously performed projects utilize the same groups of human and other resources – is called RESOURCE POOLING
278. What is quantifiable expectation? : It’s very hard to figure out whether or not your project is successful unless you can measure that success. That’s why you need to come up with goals that have numbers attached to them which is what quantifiable means.
