PMP Exam Prep Simplified

1. PMP Certification: A Path to Recognition

A PMP certification generally means better pay and more respect from your peers.

Career Advancement. The PMP (Project Management Professional) certification is a globally recognized credential that signifies a high level of competence in project management. Achieving this certification can lead to increased earning potential and greater professional recognition within the project management field. It demonstrates a commitment to the profession and a mastery of project management principles.

Application Requirements. The path to PMP certification involves meeting specific educational and experiential requirements. This includes completing 35 hours of project management education, possessing a bachelor's degree with 36 months of project management experience (or a high school diploma with 60 months of experience), and successfully passing the PMP exam. The application process also requires verification of work experience from sponsors or managers.

Exam Structure. The PMP exam consists of 200 multiple-choice questions, with 175 questions contributing to the final score and 25 unscored pretest questions. The exam is designed to assess a candidate's ability to apply project management concepts and best practices in real-world scenarios. Candidates have four hours to complete the exam, and the results are provided immediately upon completion.

2. PMBOK Guide: The Project Management Standard

The PMP exam is based on the current version of the PMBOK® Guide Version 6.

Best Practices. The PMBOK® Guide (Project Management Body of Knowledge) is a comprehensive resource that outlines the generally accepted best practices in project management. It serves as the foundation for the PMP exam and provides a standardized framework for managing projects across various industries. It outlines all of the processes that a project will follow from beginning to end.

Not a Study Guide. It's crucial to recognize that the PMBOK® Guide is not an exam study guide. While it provides a wealth of information, it lacks practice questions, exam tips, and specific guidance on what to focus on for the PMP exam. This book will cover the PMBOK in detail and include just what you need to know to pass the exam.

Exam Focus. The PMP exam tests your ability to apply the concepts taught in the PMBOK® Guide, not simply memorize them. Understanding the underlying principles and how to apply them in different project scenarios is essential for success. The exam emphasizes selecting the best answer, which often requires critical thinking and a deep understanding of project management principles.

3. Understanding Project vs. Operations

A temporary endeavor to create a unique product, service, or result.

Temporary vs. Ongoing. Projects are temporary endeavors with a defined start and end date, aimed at creating a unique product, service, or result. Operations, on the other hand, are ongoing and repetitive activities that sustain a business. The key difference lies in their nature: projects are temporary and unique, while operations are continuous and standardized.

Project Examples. Projects can range from building a house to developing new software, installing a computer network, or redesigning a business process. Each project has a specific goal, a defined timeline, and a unique deliverable. The output of the project has to be unique and is unique to the customer.

Operations Examples. Operations include day-to-day activities such as sales, IT support, or manufacturing cars on an assembly line. These activities are ongoing, have no defined end date, and produce standardized outputs. The main difference for your exam is: projects are temporary and unique, whereas operations have no start date, no end date, and are not unique.

4. Mastering the 49 Project Management Processes

All processes have inputs, tools and techniques, and Outputs

Process Groups. The 49 project management processes are organized into five process groups: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Each process group represents a distinct phase in the project lifecycle, and all phases on a project will contain these five process groups.

Knowledge Areas. The 49 processes are also categorized into ten knowledge areas, which represent specific areas of project management expertise. These knowledge areas include integration, scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, communications, risk, procurement, and stakeholders. These knowledge areas make up the chapters of this book and the PMBOK.

ITTOs. Each of the 49 processes has inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs (ITTOs). Inputs are the information or resources required to start the process, tools and techniques are the methods used to execute the process, and outputs are the results or deliverables produced by the process. Understanding the ITTOs for each process is crucial for the PMP exam.

5. The Crucial Role of the Project Manager

PMs are always in control of the project and are authorized to use all project resources.

Leadership and Management. The project manager is responsible for leading the project team, managing resources, and ensuring that the project delivers the desired outcomes within the defined constraints. This role requires a combination of leadership skills, technical expertise, and business acumen. The project manager is usually assigned by the sponsor, PMO, program manager, or portfolio manager to lead the project team to complete the project objectives.

Communication Skills. Effective communication is paramount for project managers. They must be able to communicate clearly and concisely with stakeholders, manage conflicts, and facilitate collaboration among team members. Good communication skills generally include: Having concise and clear writing and speaking skills, Understanding stakeholders needs on a project, Simplifying communications among stakeholders, Giving and getting feedback from stakeholders.

PMI Talent Triangle. The PMI Talent Triangle highlights the key skill areas for project managers: technical project management, strategic and business management, and leadership. Technical project management skills involve applying project management methodologies and tools. Strategic and business management skills focus on aligning projects with organizational goals. Leadership skills encompass communication, negotiation, and team building.

6. Integration: The Heart of Project Management

The project manager’s main job is to perform integration, and that means the integration of all the other knowledge areas such as scope, time, cost, and quality.

Unifying Force. Project integration management is the overarching knowledge area that unifies all other knowledge areas. It involves coordinating and integrating all aspects of the project to ensure that they work together seamlessly to achieve the project objectives. The processes that are listed under the integration knowledge area roll up to create the integration knowledge area.

Key Processes. The integration management knowledge area includes processes such as developing the project charter, developing the project management plan, directing and managing project work, managing project knowledge, monitoring and controlling project work, performing integrated change control, and closing the project or phase. These processes are iterative and interconnected, requiring the project manager to continuously integrate and coordinate various project elements.

Change Control. A critical aspect of integration management is change control. Any changes to the project management plan or project deliverables must go through a formal change control process to assess their impact and ensure they are aligned with the project objectives. Only an approved change requests can change a plan once it has been approved.

7. Scope Management: Defining What's In and Out

The scope should include the work required and only the work required to complete the project.

Defining the Boundaries. Project scope management is about defining and controlling what is included in the project and what is not. It involves processes such as planning scope management, collecting requirements, defining scope, creating the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure), validating scope, and controlling scope. As a project manager, you should never gold plate a project.

Scope Statement. A key output of scope management is the project scope statement, which provides a detailed description of the project deliverables and the work required to create them. The scope statement serves as a baseline for evaluating changes and ensuring that the project stays focused on its objectives. The scope statement tells you what the project will not be doing, not just what it will be doing.

WBS. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical decomposition of the project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components. The WBS provides a framework for organizing and managing the project work, and it serves as a basis for estimating costs, scheduling activities, and assigning resources. The scope baseline includes the scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary.

8. Schedule Management: Keeping Projects on Track

All projects are limited to time and cost.

Time is of the Essence. Project schedule management is about planning, developing, and controlling the project schedule to ensure timely completion. It involves processes such as planning schedule management, defining activities, sequencing activities, estimating activity durations, developing the schedule, and controlling the schedule.

Critical Path Method. A key technique in schedule management is the Critical Path Method (CPM), which identifies the longest sequence of activities in the project and determines the shortest possible project duration. Activities on the critical path have no float, meaning any delay in these activities will directly impact the project's end date. The critical path is defined as the longest path through a network diagram.

Schedule Compression. When a project schedule needs to be shortened, techniques such as crashing (adding resources) and fast tracking (performing activities in parallel) can be used. However, these techniques often come with increased costs or risks. Crashing increases cost and fast tracking increases risk.

9. Cost Management: Budgeting and Control

All projects are limited to time and cost.

Budgeting and Control. Project cost management is about planning, estimating, budgeting, and controlling project costs to ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget. It involves processes such as planning cost management, estimating costs, determining the budget, and controlling costs.

Earned Value Management. A key technique in cost management is Earned Value Management (EVM), which integrates scope, schedule, and cost data to measure project performance. EVM provides metrics such as Cost Variance (CV), Schedule Variance (SV), Cost Performance Index (CPI), and Schedule Performance Index (SPI) to assess project status and forecast future performance.

Cost Baseline. The cost baseline is the approved budget for the project, against which actual costs are compared. It includes all approved costs, including contingency reserves, but excludes management reserves. The cost baseline represents the project cost, which includes the contingency reserves.

10. Risk Management: Preparing for the Unexpected

Project risk is highest at the beginning of the project and reduces as the project approaches its end.

Identifying and Responding. Project risk management is about identifying, analyzing, and responding to risks that could affect the project objectives. It involves processes such as planning risk management, identifying risks, performing qualitative risk analysis, performing quantitative risk analysis, planning risk responses, implementing risk responses, and monitoring risks.

Risk Register. A key output of risk management is the risk register, which documents all identified risks, their potential impact, and planned responses. The risk register describes individual project risks and the risk report describes overall project risks.

Risk Response Strategies. Risk responses can be either positive (opportunities) or negative (threats). Strategies for threats include avoidance, transfer, mitigation, and acceptance. Strategies for opportunities include exploit, share, enhance, and acceptance.

11. Procurement Management: Acquiring External Resources

Sellers (vendors) are companies that provide supplies or services to the project and are external to the organization hosting the project.

Contracts and Agreements. Project procurement management is about acquiring goods and services from outside the project team. It involves processes such as planning procurement management, conducting procurements, and controlling procurements. Agreements and contracts are generally considered the same on this exam.

Contract Types. A key aspect of procurement management is understanding different contract types, such as fixed price, cost reimbursable, and time and material. Each contract type has different risk allocations between the buyer and seller. Fixed price contracts shift the risk to the seller, while cost reimbursable contracts shift the risk to the buyer.

Procurement Documents. It’s critical for success on the exam to understand the difference between the four different types of procurement documents. They are the procurement management plan, procurement strategy, procurement statement of work, and bid documents.

12. Stakeholder Engagement: Communication is Key

A stakeholder is any individual or business that may be positively or negatively affected by the project.

Identifying and Engaging. Project stakeholder management is about identifying stakeholders, planning stakeholder engagement, managing stakeholder engagement, and monitoring stakeholder engagement. The main goal in this area is to keep the stakeholders engaged on the project and make sure their needs are met.

Stakeholder Register. A key output of stakeholder management is the stakeholder register, which documents all project stakeholders, their interests, influence, and communication requirements. The stakeholder register is a document that lists all of the project stakeholders and their classifications.

Communication is Key. Effective communication is essential for managing stakeholder expectations and ensuring their engagement throughout the project. The stakeholder engagement plan outlines how to communicate with stakeholders and keep them informed about project progress. The stakeholder engagement plan says why we need the engagements and the communication plan states how and when the engagements will be done.

Last updated: March 19, 2025