PMP Exam Themes – the Perspective You Need To Develop To Be Prepared 1-800-COURSES www.globalknowledge.com Expert Reference Series of White Papers Introduction Questions on the Project Management Professional (PMP®) exam are written from a particular perspective. The examiners assume certain operating conditions are in place without stating those conditions. The problem for project managers (PMs) taking the exam is that these assumptions are never clarified by the Project Management Institute (PMI®). To make matters worse for, these assumptions must be gleaned from the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®). If you know from the outset what perspective should be tak en, studying for the exam is greatly simplified. You need to know how the examiners were thinking when they wrote the questions . Learn to Think Like the PMI If you have extensive project experience you are likely familiar with the old adage “project management is responsibility without authority”. Project managers become experts at getting things done without access to the tools of authority. However, do not let your experience override one of the underlying assumptions inherent in PMP exam ques- tions . As far as the PMI and its exam are concerned, PMs should have, and therefore do have , ultimate authori- ty for a project. In situational exam questions, it is assumed that the PM has the authority to do the right thing in every situation. This is a far cry from the reality that most people experience. In order to answer situational exam questions correctly, you must learn to think “PMI”. That is, you must know the presumptions of the examiners . Only then will you able to choose the best answer among the possible choices. Do not let your personal experience override your PMI thinking. Preparing for the PMP exam, therefore, requires both an understanding of the best practices according to PMI and an understanding of the unwritten perspective of the examiners. These underlying assumptions are key to success on the exam: • Working in PM heaven—PMs hold ultimate authority • Always be proactive • Corrective action is the correct reaction • Planning is king • Update the plan regularly • Product life cycle costing leads to best decisions Brian Denis Egan, Global Knowledge Instructor, PMP PMP Exam Themes – the Perspective You Need To Develop To Be Prepared Copyright ©2006 Global Knowledge T raining LLC. All rights reserved. PMI, PMP , and PMBOK are registered trademarks of the Project Management Institute, Inc. Page 2 • Communication is a PM's primary tool • Err on the side or formality • Avoid gold plating • PMs are stakeholder centric • The importance of lessons learned Working in PM Heaven – PMs Hold Ultimate Authority Unless otherwise stated, examiners assume PMs work in an ideal project environment. It is assumed that the project manager possesses the authority necessary to do what is right for the project. For example, in an ideal situation, PMs would never accept a project plan given to them by others. They would always have the time and resources to re-calculate the plan and make it their own. In an ideal project environment, PMs are able to complete the planning process before work begins. They can refuse to implement changes that have not been analyzed for impacts (without losing their job). In short, they control the project with a degree of authority that is rare in the real world. When answering exam questions, imagine a project environment the way you would like it to be. Such is the environment PMI would like to see become the norm. Always Be Proactive When considering what to do in a particular situation – think proactively. Being proactive means thinking three moves ahead. For example, say you are the PM on a complex IT project that is centralizing customer data across the enter- prise. The vice president of marketing calls you and says that the completion date must be moved up two weeks to mak e the new database available for a critical industry event. What do you do? Immediately ask yourself: Is this a formal change request or just a spur of the moment idea? Does this person have the authority to force the change? With which other stakeholders will I need to confer to assess the impact? Proactive PMs do not just react to situations , they think ahead. In the situation described above , proactive PMs would treat the VP’s request as a routine, although important, change request. PMs would contract senior team members to determine the viability and impact of the request on other constraints, such as budget and scope. When fully informed, the PM meets with the change review board. The change review board would determine what action to take; the PM would implement the board’s decision. Corrective Action Is the Correct Reaction Being proactive is also about detecting potential problems before they occur. It is the core motivation of Monitoring and Controlling processes. We monitor project work results to ensure that they conform to the plan. If they do not, we investigate why and implement corrective actions. When discrepancies are detected they are investigated, not just noted in a journal. Being proactive requires continuous observations and comparison with the plan. Any discrepancies are investigated. Copyright ©2006 Global Knowledge T raining LLC. All rights reserved. Page 3 Planning Is King A PM motto is that ”projects fail at the beginning, not at the end”. This means you must plan success into a project. Failure to plan is planning to fail. Planning is not an option. It is the raison d’etre of project management. For example, say you are the PM on a new project. The sponsor is in a hurry to get going and instructs your team members to start working on modules while you develop the project plan. What should you do? Remember that you have the authority and responsibility to do the right thing. Therefore, you should plan before you execute. Politely inform the sponsor that it is inappropriate for him or her to give assignments directly to your team members. Let that person know that no work can be undertaken until there is a clear understanding of what the project objectives are. Work may ultimately begin before there is a complete project plan, but that work must then be planned. Update the Plan Regularly Project plans are living documents. There is often a huge amount of work that goes into a plan. Once complete it is painful to even consider modifying the plan. However in the perfect project environment changes are fre- quent, thorough, and documented. Every approved change request will typically result in changes to the plan within several of the knowledge areas. To get to PMI’ s version of project heaven you must keep the plan current and make sure you stay on top of everything. Product Life-Cycle Costing Leads to the Best Decisions Pretend you are the PM of a product development project and have to mak e a decision about safety testing. You can save time and money on the project by avoiding child safety testing. The product is specifically for adults and technically does not need to be tested for children. Child safety testing has the advantage of making the company appear to be child friendly and will reduce liability in the event of an injury involving children. What should you do?Life-cycle costing looks at the decision in terms of the long-term interests of the organi- zation. This may be in conflict with the short term interests of the project. It might be cheaper and easier to avoid child safety testing for now. The project would be finished sooner. But how would taking such a narrow view of the issues affect the long-term interests of the organization? To make the best decision you should first consider and determine the implications of not testing, such as increased liability, and balance this against the short-term savings. Prudent PMs thinks long term and looks at the big picture. All PMs are expected to do the right thing for a project, but not at the expense of the enterprise. Copyright ©2006 Global Knowledge T raining LLC. All rights reserved. Page 4 Communication Is a PM's Primary Role PMs can expect to spend 90% of their time communicating. This includes actively monitoring what is happen- ing with their projects and sharing that information with stakeholders. The PM is the heart of a project. Information is the blood that must flow through the heart. If the heart stops beating, then information stops circulating and the project body withers. In a PMI-ideal project environment PMs have the staff necessary to complete the work. They themselves do not act as a resource or spend their time updating records. Someone else updates the plan and collates reports. The PMs manage. This does not include correcting code, working with the troops to speed things up, or filling in for someone who is sick. In the PMI examiners’ view, PMs are accountable for ensuring the project gets done and done right; they are not the ones actually doing the work. PMs watch, listen, and direct – they manage resources. They are not expected to ‘do’. The act of doing takes them away from the art of managing and monitoring. Err on the Side of Formality The PMP examiners will expect you to answer questions as though you conduct your job with utmost formali- ty. Formality includes paper trails and obtaining signatures. For example, say the CEO calls you up and demands a change. You should then respond by e-mailing a change request form, because without a complet- ed and signed form, no action should be taken. PMI’s project management systems are very detailed: there is a management plan for everything; there is a document or log to record everything; every decision is a written decision signed by the authorizing person; and nothing is done casually. Formality also means preparing an audit trail. Every decision, every action, every choice implies an expenditure of time and money . Therefore, every expenditure needs a justification and authorization. The PM is responsible for making sure that these justifications and authorizations are archived. Avoid Gold Plating Gold plating in this instance means overshooting on the scope of a project. It is usually done with the best of intentions. Team members working on a project believe they are ‘adding value’ to a project by going beyond the requirements. Gold plating is a remnant of the past when the motto of project management was to “meet or exceed cus- tomers expectations”. T his motto suggested that overshooting expectations w as a good thing. But overshooting is not a good thing anymore. Experience has shown that adding extras will always take more time to accomplish, and time means money. Changes are almost guaranteed to take more time and money, yet they are not guaranteed to increase customer satisfaction. It makes more sense to concentrate on delivering the project on time, within budget, and within scope. If there is a surplus of time and money at the end of a project let the customer decide how they would like the surplus consumed, if at all. Copyright ©2006 Global Knowledge T raining LLC. All rights reserved. Page 5 PMs Are Stakeholder Centric Project management is a service. It is not manufacturing or engineering or IT or marketing. It is a service like hospital administration is a service. Manufacturing, engineering, IT, and marketing are some of the tools used by project managers to fulfill the desires of their stakeholders. Stakeholders are everyone with an interest in the project. They are not all equally influential but they must all be considered. Successful projects satisfy stakeholder expectations. The only way a PM can ensure that this is accomplished is by focusing attention on the stakeholders’ needs. This does not mean that you deliver what you think they want, but rather what they think they want. Stakeholder needs include both those that are stated as well as those that are implied. The PMP Examiners believe that the best project managers are the ones who learn to manage customer expec- tations first and then manage the project in response to these expectations. The Importance of Lessons Learned In PMI’s project management heaven, organizations do everything possible to make sure that they learn from experience. They improve at project management with each completed project. Within the project life cycle, closing processes accomplish two objectives. One is administrative closure, which is ensuring that all legal and administrative details have been taken care of. The second is creating a project archive, which ensures that the organization benefits from experience. The project archive is a compilation of all project records including: contracts; estimated numbers; correspon- dence; and the executed plan. It is the corporate memory of a project. Lessons learned becomes part of the project archive . Lessons learned is the term PMI uses to refer to the spe - cific records prepared to analyze what went right and what went wrong. Lessons learned are recorded throughout the project, at the end of each phase, and at the end of the project. Sometimes referred to as a ‘post mortem’, they are a critical aspect of helping organizations to learn. This means that in project management heaven you are rarely starting a project from scratch. There is always corporate experience to draw on that will help in the planning and execution of a project. Focusing on corporate learning is beneficial to the organization. It is the reason why project management offices (PMOs) are becoming increasingly popular as repositories of experience and best practices within organizations . Conclusion When taking the exam be sure to put on your PMI hat. The exam assumes an idealized project environment. You must make the same assumptions. Having the right perspective will greatly simplify the interpretation of situational questions . Copyright ©2006 Global Knowledge T raining LLC. All rights reserved. Page 6 I t might not be exactly how you experience project management, but then PMI is trying to move the practice towards an ideal. PMI believes that if we can’t imagine how projects should ultimately be managed, then how will we ever get there? Good luck! Learn More Learn more about how you can improve productivity, enhance efficiency, and sharpen your competitive edge. Check out the following Global Knowledge courses: PMP Exam Prep Boot Camp Introduction to Project Management For more information or to register, visit www.globalknowledge.com or call 1-866-925-7765 to speak with a sales representative. Our courses offer practical skills, exercises, and tips that you can immediately put to use. Our expert instructors draw upon their experiences to help you understand key concepts and how to apply them to your specific work situation. Choose from our more than 700 courses, delivered through Classrooms, e-Learning, and On-site sessions, to meet your IT, project management, and professional skills training needs. About the Author Brian Denis Egan is CEO of a manufacturing company (Book Box Company) and a management consultant. He has written three professional development manuals and numerous white papers on aspects of management science. Since 2000, Brian has been a part-time instructor for Global Knowledge within the Management product line. Copyright ©2006 Global Knowledge T raining LLC. All rights reserved. Page 7 . PMP Exam Themes – the Perspective You Need To Develop To Be Prepared 1-800-COURSES www.globalknowledge.com Expert. for the exam is greatly simplified. You need to know how the examiners were thinking when they wrote the questions . Learn to Think Like the PMI If you