Fast Facts To Remember

PMSTAR.
org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember
PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember
PMP Exam Prep Fast Facts to Remember ALL KNOWLEDGE AREAS

PMBOK Guide - Fourth Edition
FAST FACTS to REMEMBER - TABLE OF CONTENTS
FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................................3 INTEGRATION ..............................................................................................................................4 SCOPE..........................................................................................................................................5 TIME ............................................................................................................................................6 COST ...........................................................................................................................................7 QUALITY ......................................................................................................................................8 HUMAN RESOURCES .....................................................................................................................9 COMMUNICATIONS ..................................................................................................................... 10 RISK .......................................................................................................................................... 10 PROCUREMENT........................................................................................................................... 11 PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY ................................................................................................ 12
Prepared by:
Cindy J. Bell, PMP, PMI-RMP
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PM Star has been approved as a provider of project management training by the Project Management Institute (PMI). As a PMI Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) #2023, PM Star has been approved by PMI to issue professional development units (PDUs) for its training courses and has agreed to abide by PMI established quality assurance criteria. This publication is a derivative work of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) Fourth Edition, which is copyrighted material of and owned by, Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI), Copyright 2008. This publication has been developed and reproduced with the permission of PMI. Unauthorized reproduction of this material is strictly prohibited. The derivative work is the copyrighted material of and owned by, Project Management Strategic Training & Resources (PM Star), Copyright 2011. "PMP," "PMBOK," CAPM and "PMI" are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
Copyright PM-Star 2002. All rights reserved Last update: May 2011 Single use only. Do not distribute electronically or print additional copies.
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PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember FRAMEWORK Over 90% of the TnT are unique to one process. Very few are required in more than one process. Outputs are unique to one process. i.e. the WBS is only created in the Create WBS process or the evaluation criteria is created in the Plan Contracting process. INTEGRATION has processes in all 5 process groups. 4 knowledge areas: SCOPE, TIME, COST and RISK have processes in only 2 of the 5 process groups: planning, and monitor and controlling. There are no executing, initiating or close out processes for these 4 knowledge areas. PROCUREMENT has processes in 4 process groups. There are no initiating processes. COMMUNICATIONS has processes in 4 process groups. There are no closing processes. INTEGRATION and COMMUNCIATIONS are the only 2 that have initiating processes. QUALITY, is the only one that has 3 processes in 3 process groups - planning, executing and monitor and controlling. All knowledge areas have at least one process in the planning process group. All knowledge areas have at least one process in the monitoring and control process group except for HUMAN RESOURCES. All knowledge areas develop a plan specific to the knowledge area during the planning process that is integrated into the overall project plan. A program is a group of logically related projects. Progressive: proceeding in steps; continuing steadily by increments; Elaboration: worked out with care and detail; developed thoroughly. Characteristics of a project unique, beginning, end, goal, budget, timeline Organizational structure: Functional, Matrix and Projectized Most PLC phases share a number of common characteristics: risk, burn rate, influence etc. Stakeholders are the key to a successful project Organizational process assets both an input and output to all knowledge areas total 27 times. Enterprise environmental factors - both an input and output to all knowledge areas 17 times. Weak vs. strong matrix, projectized, functional organizations and their implications know the matrix chart expeditor vs. co-coordinator roles; tight vs. loose There are 42 processes, 9 knowledge areas and 5 process groups. Each process has inputs, tools and techniques and outputs. Initiating and planning are the most important phases in any project. Initiating process group: project selection, determine business needs, objectives, develop project charter, preliminary projects scope statement, determine high level deliverables and estimates, develop product description, identify the PM with the best qualifications, determine high level resource requirements and obtain project initiation approval. Planning process group: Identify the specific work to be accomplished with measures of success; document schedule, budget, resources required, develop various project
PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember plans, quality metrics, identify and plan for risks, risk register, determine roles and responsibilities, procurement planning if required; project plan approval and baselines. Executing process group: conduct, coordinate and manage the ongoing work activities as per the project plan, perform ongoing QA activities to ensure project objectives are met, gather and disseminate information to stakeholders, team building, reward and recognition, team assessments, procurement documents and contract negotiations. Monitoring and controlling process group: QC measurements, conflict management, maintain issue logs, risk registers, identify unplanned risks, execute contingency plans, contract admin, change requests, performance measurements, corrective and preventive actions, forecasts. Closing process group: contract and project closeout procedures, formalize customer acceptance, document lessons learned, archive project records, reassign resources and project celebration. INTEGRATION Develop Project Charter: Project charter formally authorizes the project and/phase and allows the PM to obtain organizational resources to complete project activities. Contains requirements, business needs, justification, assumptions, constraints and summary budget and schedule. Links the project to the ongoing work of the performing organization Develop Project Management Plan: Its all the subsidiary management plans from knowledge areas and the baselines for scope, schedule, cost and quality. Its the baseline for progress measurement and control of the project. Direct and Manage Project Execution execute all the work defined in the project management plan to achieve the scope statement and project objectives. Monitor and Control Project Work to meet the performance objectives. Perform Integrated Change Control: All changes, no matter how small, must go through integrated change control for approval. The project manager's job when changes are requested is to: 1. Evaluate change impact 2. Create options for minimizing change impact 3. Get approval from Change Control Board 4. Get approval from customer (where required) Close Project/phase: must always be done, even for cancelled projects or failed projects. Done at end of phase and end of project. Involves developing and executing administrative closure procedures and developing procurement closure procedures. Early identification of stakeholders is critical to successful project management. Stakeholders needs, expectations and requirements. Stakeholders risk tolerance. Project changes and change control Configuration management applied to control changes to the product and the project documents Subsidiary plans: Scope, Schedule, Cost, Quality, Risk and Procurement.
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PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember PMIS an automated system used to disseminate and integrate the various outputs of the project management processes. Includes the configuration management system and change control system. Baseline the original plan plus all approved changes Assumptions things we believe to be true Constraints limits the teams options Enterprise environmental factors can be internal or external, and include things like organizational culture, government regulations, stakeholder risk tolerance, PMIS and commercial databases. Organizational process assets include the organizations processes and procedures for conducting work and the corporate knowledge base for storing and retrieving information, as well as historical information about past work. Project management methodology. What components of the PMBOK Guide will you use? This tool is used in every Integration process. Skills of the project manager Project selection methods/decision models: benefit measurement and mathematical models Project SOW a narrative description of the product/service to be supplied by the project The effective use of people skills is essential to achieve success during project execution Earned value management is a key tool used to help measure past/current performance and also predict with good probability the future project performance Corrective actions actions required to bring expected future performance into conformance with the project plan Preventive actions actions required to reduce the probability of negative consequences associated with project risks CCB change control boards Re-baselining is for extenuating situations The PM is responsible to discourage unnecessary changes SCOPE Collect Requirements: Defining and documenting stakeholders' needs to ensure project objectives are met. Define Scope: Creates scope statement; this will guide future decisions. Describes deliverables and work required to create them. Create WBS: Deliverable oriented hierarchy that breaks down the work to be done. Verify Scope: Validating and approving project deliverables against the baseline and gaining acceptance from the customer. Acceptance of the work/deliverables accomplished. Control Scope: Controlling changes related to scope. Approved scope must be exactly what is implemented; no more, no less. Integrated with other knowledge areas.
PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember Process outputs are sequential: collect requirements, scope statement, WBS, obtain ongoing formal acceptance of deliverables and manage scope creep and change control. The WBS is one of the single most important project management tools for the PM. WBS identifies all work to be performed; if it's not in the WBS, it shouldn't be in the project. Beware of scope creep and gold-plating! WBS dictionary a tool that works with the WBS to ensure the right work happens in the right order by the assigned resources. Work package is the lowest level of the WBS. WBS does not show dependencies the way a network diagram does. WBS is input to many other processes as part of the scope baseline: Estimate Costs, Determine Budget, Define Activities, Plan Quality, Identify Risks and Plan Procurement. Decomposition breaking down the work of the project into smaller more manageable pieces. Alternatives identification generates different approaches to execute and perform the work. Delphi technique a technique to gain consensus with a group of experts without unduly influencing the outcome. Scope baseline includes the project scope statement, WBS and WBS dictionary. Prevent gold plating give the customer only what they asked for nothing more. Product scope is requirements that relate to the production of a product; project scope is the work required to complete the project. Configuration management - think paperwork, traceability. It is the identification, tracking and managing of the assets of the project. Subset of change control. All change must be screened, tracked, accepted, approved and the process updated. TIME Define Activities: Breaking down the work packages in the WBS (from Scope) to activities which can be completed in two weeks or less. Sequence Activities: Creating a network diagram from activities, showing the dependencies. Estimate Activity Resources: After sequencing, resource needs must be determined. Resources may be people, equipment or materials. Estimate Activity Durations: Determine how long each activity will take. Develop Schedule: Analyzing activity sequences, durations and resource requirements to create the project schedule. Control Schedule: Managing changes to the schedule. Remember all changes must go through Integrated Change Control. Precedence diagrams (PDM or AON), FS, FF, SS, SF, leads and lags Arrow diagrams (ADM or AOA), dummy activities. Know why PDM is preferred? Dependencies: soft/discretionary, hard/mandatory, external, constraints Leads and Lags - A lag is a delay in starting a successor. A lead is when the successor can be started before the current task is complete.
Copyright PM-Star 2002. All rights reserved Last update: May 2011 Single use only. Do not distribute electronically or print additional copies. Page 6 of 13
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PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember Estimating methods: One time estimate, analogous estimate, parametric estimate, heuristics, three point estimate Reserve analysis should be done for estimates (time and cost). Contingency reserve covers known unknowns; Management Reserve covers unknown unknowns. Critical path - the longest duration path through a network can be more than one. Activity float: LS - ES or LF EF. Activities with zero float are on the critical path. Total Float: amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project. Free Float: amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying its successor. Project Float: amount of time the project can be delayed without delaying the date requested by the customer or senior management. CPM is deterministic, using specific durations; PERT is probabilistic, using statistical estimates of durations. PERT estimates use multipoint estimates pessimistic, most likely and optimistic. CPM just sums up activity durations. Schedule compression - techniques include crashing (adding resources) is costly and fast tracking (performing activities in parallel that would normally be done sequentially). What-if - Monte Carlo analysis performed by computer allows us to evaluate the likelihood of various outcomes. Resource Leveling - Allowing schedule and cost slip in order to deal with limited resources. Critical Chain - Adding duration buffers to various milestones to increase the probability of success.
PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember Funding limit reconciliation - Budget must be checked against cash flow. Usually requires rework of the schedule to move dollars from year to year or quarter to quarter to meet corporate bottom line. Variable and fixed costs, direct vs. indirect cost, sunk costs, opportunity cost. Benefit-cost ratio; payback period; present value, IRR Estimating confidence levels: o Magnitude -25% to +75% o Budget -10% to +25% o Definitive -5% to +10% Know the earned value acronyms and formulas: SV, SPI, CV, CPI, EAC, VAC, ETC Reporting earned value percent complete: 50/50 method (report half when started, the rest when done), 0/50/100 method, 0/100 method, by milestones. Other methods are cost formula, equivalent units, level of effort. QUALITY
COST Estimate costs: developing an approximation of the costs Determine budget: establishes the cost baseline to measure performance. Control costs: forecasts, controlling and influence factors affecting budget. Cost baseline from determine budget is a time-phased budget that is used to control cost performance. S-curve shaped. Cost account codes: one level above the WBS work packages. Work package costs are rolled up to this level and compared with budget. Rolling wave planning can be used to estimate risky projects. Re-estimate as you move forward. Life Cycle Costing - consider the full product life, not just project life, when doing costing. Cost aggregation: roll up activity costs to work package, work package costs to control account, control account costs to project. Project plus contingency reserve = cost baseline, cost baseline plus management reserve = cost budget. Contingency reserve is included in cost baseline; management reserve is not. No approval required for contingency reserve, approval required to spend management reserve.
Quality planning is the philosophy, develops quality baseline with metrics. Quality Assurance is the management aspect, we know the target, now we prove its right or take corrective action. We measure the progress to ensure it meets standards. Conduct quality audits on large projects. Quality Control is the technical aspect. Includes checking, measuring, testing and monitoring variance. Supervising correcting of errors found. Quality is planned in not inspected. Understand the difference between Quality Control and Quality Assurance. Project characteristics and attributes (the abilities A Map For Us) Cost Trade-offs Cost of quality includes cost of conformance and cost of non conformance Major cost categories - Prevention, Appraisal and Failure Difference between Deming, Juran, Crosby, Taguchi and Ishikawa management approaches Basic statistics: mean, median, mode, variance, range, standard deviation, normal distributions. Sigma another name for standard deviation -6 sigmazero defect what we strive for 68% 1 SD from mean, 95% 2 SD from mean; 99.7% 3 SD from mean; 99.999 6 SD from mean. Operational definitions (metrics) PQM is concerned about getting things right the first time. Principal benefit of PQM is the reduction in unnecessary work. Tolerance: result is acceptable if it falls within tolerance. Control limits: process is in control if results fall within control limits. Specification limits: customer's expectation of quality. Specification limits must be outside control limits or the performing organization will have trouble meeting the contract terms. Quality Control Tools: 7 basic tools of Quality.
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PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember Cause & effect diagram (fishbone, Ishikawa) - creative way to look at possible problem causes. Control charts - shows how a process behaves over time; plots results against control limits (usually +/- 3 sigma). Data within limits indicate the process is in control, but watch for rule of 7: 7 consecutive results on one side of the mean could indicate a problem. Flowcharting - graphical representation of a process. Histogram - bar chart showing distribution of variables. Each column is an attribute of a problem; height of the column shows its frequency. Pareto chart: type of histogram ordered by frequency of occurrence. Problems are on the X axis and frequency is on the Y axis. Summarizes 80/20 analyses. Run Chart: Shows history and patterns of variation; used for trend analysis and predicting future outcomes based on historical results. Similar to a control chart but without the upper and lower limits. Scatter Diagram: Tracks two variables to see if they are related. If the points form a diagonal line, they are related.
PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember The PM creates a reward and recognition system during HR planning. A staffing management plan is developed during HR planning to identify when and how team members will be added to and released from the project. COMMUNICATIONS Identify Stakeholders: Documenting stakeholders interest, power and expectations. Plan Communications: creates the plan, whom, what, when and how to communicate Distribute Information: executing/following the communication plan. Manage Stakeholders: make stakeholders feel their needs and concerns are being considered, even if not agreed to. Report Performance: updating stakeholders with various types of performance data (status, earned value, variance, trends, progress, etc.) Importance of PMs communication role - PMs spend >80% of their time communicating Communication process: sender (encoder) receiver (decoder) Bottlenecks in communication Communication in a matrix; communication process, barriers Communication links n(n-1)/2 Things that impede communication: noise, distance, language, culture, etc. Methods of communications - formal written, formal verbal, informal written, informal verbal. Effective listening techniques Project reports.status, trends, forecast, variance exception Histograms, tables, S-curves, bar charts Lessons learned - Capture what was done right, wrong, and what would be done differently if it was done again. Lessons learned documents become part of the organizational process assets. Baseline is the original plan plus or minus any approved changes Issue management PM must ensure issues are resolved to avoid major conflict.
HUMAN RESOURCES Develop HR Plan: develops staff management plan and R&R charts. Acquire project team: Negotiation is an important component. Remember that Professional/Social Responsibility comes into play here. Develop project team: team building, ground rules, co- location, giving out recognition and rewards. Manage the project team: manage conflict and team performance. Enterprise environmental factors organizational, technical, interpersonal. Weak vs. strong matrix, projectized, functional organizations and their implications know the matrix chart expeditor vs. co-coordinator roles; tight vs. loose see Framework section. The RACI chart roles and responsibility is developed during HR planning. Motivating expectancy theory the expectation of a positive outcome drives motivation; also means people become what you expect of them; great or lousy. Leadership styles, approaches, contingency models. Motivational theories- compare Maslows hierarchy of needs, Herzbergs motivation & hygiene factors, McGregors theory X & Y Herzberg Hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction, while Motivators lead to satisfaction M.B.W.A. Conflict resolution: problem-solving; avoidance; smoothing; compromise; forcing when to use which one. 9 conditions predispose organizations to conflict. Sources of conflict top 3: priorities, admin, schedule. PM has most conflict with functional manager; personality conflicts most difficult to manage.
RISK Plan risk management: creates the Risk Management Plan. This plan identifies the risk management methodology, roles and responsibilities, reporting format and definitions of probability and impact. Identify risks: creates the risk register with risks. Techniques - nominal group, delphi, brainstorming, root cause analysis. The risk register is developed during identify risk and is an input and updated as an output to the, qualitative, quantitative, response planning and monitoring and control processes. It is also an input to schedule development and cost estimating processes. Perform qualitative risk analysis: focuses on probability times impact. This leads to risk prioritization. Uses words, text vs numbers in quantitative analysis.
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PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember Perform quantitative risk analysis: uses mathematical models to further refine risk prioritization. Examines trade-off decisions. Plan risk responses: For threats: Avoid; Transfer (Deflect, Allocate); Mitigate; Accept (passively or actively). For Opportunities: Share; Exploit; Enhance. Monitor & control risks: process of keeping track of the identified risks, monitoring residual risks and identifying new risks, ensuring the execution of risk plans, and evaluating their effectiveness in reducing risk, risk audits. There are no executing processes. The goal is to plan for risks therefore there is no executing to do. By then it would be too late to be proactive about risks. 5 processes are planning and then 1 in monitor & control. We plan, identify, analyze and monitor and control for risk throughout the project life cycle. Anatomy of risk: probability of occurrence and amount at stake/impact. They are independent ratings. i.e. probability can be high with a very low impact. Overall risk rating probability times impact. Risk categories: external - unpredictable, external - predictable, internal non technical, internal - technical, legal. Knowledge of simple probability distributions, normal curves Risk attitude or tolerance levels risk taker, risk neutral and risk seeker. Also referred to utility factor. Contingency reserve project manager controls approval not required. Management reserve senior management controls approval required. Monte Carlo is a simulation technique that shows the probability with confidence levels of all the possible project completion dates or budget outcomes. Decision trees - EMV calculations probability times outcome Risk triggers indicate that a risk is about to occur or has occurred. These can also be tracked in the Risk Register.
PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember Make or buy analysis: buying may reduce triple constraint risk, but consider whole costs of buying, including costs of managing procurement. Building may be appropriate if you have extra capacity or want to maintain control. A "buy or lease" problem is similar to a "make or buy" problem - consider all costs and see where it becomes more expensive to lease.
Procurement SOW goes with contract type; SOW for FP will be very complete and focus on design of solution; SOW for CR will leave room for interpretation and will focus on the functional and performance attributes of the desired product - the design will be left up to the seller.
Contract type selection determines how the risk will be distributed between the buyer and the seller. Fixed price is most risky to the seller; CR is most risky to the buyer. Contract types: Use fixed price contracts for long-term projects with high value to the company; cost reimbursable contracts for projects with uncertainty and large investments early in the project life. Time and materials: has elements of fixed price (fixed hourly rate) and cost reimbursable (total costs are unknown). CR: seller's costs are reimbursed plus an additional amount, usually a percentage of cost. Research projects where there are many unknowns are well suited to CR contracts. Legal contract = offer, acceptance, consideration, legal capacity, legal purpose. Negotiation tactics: deadline, surprise, withdrawal. 5 Stages negotiations: protocol, probing, scratch bargaining, closure, agreement Sole-source selection Warranty types: Expressed, Implied, Waiver Weighting and screening methods Breach of contract
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY Read the PMI code of conduct 2 or 3 times. Its only 6 pages. All questions are related to the behavioral aspects of the project manager. They are based on situations or scenarios that require an understanding of the PMP Code of Professional Conduct and the importance of professional ethics, awareness of legal issues, cultural sensitivity and managing conflict of interest across all 9 body of knowledge areas. Be truthful in all of your professional activities. Maintain a high integrity in all of your professional activities. Follow through on all your commitments. Respond to ethical challenges by choosing to do the right thing. Understand that perceptions and behaviors are different between cultures. Maintain a professional sensitivity to these differences. Respect these differences. Tell the truth and tell it fast! Care about other people more than yourself. (community vs. the success of your project) Care about your customer more than yourself.
PROCUREMENT
Fast Facts to Remember!

Plan Procurements: determine make/buy, create plan with contract types. develops evaluation criteria, procurement documents (RFB; RFQ; RFP; IFB; and RFI). Procurement documents and contract types (generally) go together: RFPs are well suited for CR contracts, RFQs are well suited for FP contracts. Conduct Procurements: waiting to receive the proposals. Contract signed based on weighting and negotiations. Specific to one contract, talks about contract administration, contains a list of major to do items, performance criteria/measurements. Administer Procurements: managing the vendor relationship, claims and changes. Close Procurement: is prior to administrative closure and only occurs once at the end of the contract. (Administrative closure may be done at the end of every phase.) In some companies, contract management staff are centralized; in others, they are decentralized. The advantages and disadvantages of these approaches are analogous to functional vs. projectized organizations.
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PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember Work out problems with the person you have a problem with, not their boss or your boss. Usually more than one solution challenge is to select the best ethical result Multinational PMs must manage relationships by building relationships based on mutual trust and acceptance and recognizing and respecting diverse cultures and ethnic beliefs. The project manager: o Embraces diversity o Prevents culture shock o Expects and anticipates cultural differences by: Adhering to clear communication to right people in right format Uncovers cultural differences during stakeholder analysis Stresses feedback and clarification
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PMSTAR.

org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember

PMSTAR.org PMP Exam - Fast Facts to Remember

PMP Exam Prep Fast Facts to Remember ALL KNOWLEDGE AREAS

FAST FACTS to REMEMBER - TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cindy J. Bell, PMP, PMI-RMP

Fast Facts to Remember!

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