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In this issue... |
 Hi again ,
We all know that we have the ability to utilize our mind's natural process for learning information and one technique in doing so is through memorization. However, memorization alone will not suffice. It has to be accompanied with comprehension. This is very much true in studying for the PMP exams. Many project managers have successfully passed the PMP exam without any
memorization. The current PMP exam is all about an in-depth
understanding of applying project management concepts and principles
from the PMBOK Guide as well as general management knowledge from other
sources to project situations.
This boils down to my tip of the week: Read and understand your books.
Also let me help you answer this question - "Should you learn ITTO's by heart?"
Read on and enjoy!
Until Next Time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
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Should you learn ITTO's by heart
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 Do you feel that in order to pass the Project
Management Professional (PMP) exam you should memorize the PMBOK Guide's
ITTOs (Inputs, Tools, Techniques and Outputs)? Do you think that the
PMP exam is full of IITO type of questions? Many people still believe
this myth. Well, let me clear some misconceptions...
Many project managers have successfully passed the PMP exam without any
memorization. The current PMP exam is all about an in-depth
understanding of applying project management concepts and principles
from the PMBOK Guide as well as general management knowledge from other
sources to project situations.
Granted, ITTOs are a major part of the PMBOK Guide and about 75% of
material for the PMP Exam is taken from the PMBOK Guide. So it's
understandable that we assume because there are hundreds of ITTOs in the
Guide the exam must be full of knowledge-based questions about them.
And sample questions like "Which of the following is not an Input of the
Create WBS process?" are plentiful on the internet.
So should you, or should you not memorize them?
Here is my story: When I studied for my PMP exam I knew them by heart. I
could tell you exactly which ITTO is used in which process. But I took
my exam years ago. Since then the PMP exam has become more
experience-based using situational questions over knowledge-based
questions.
Therefore a change in approach is needed.
It is still important to have a general understanding about which ITTO
is used in which process, but you do not need to be able to recite them
by heart. It is much more important to understand the concept of "Why is
this ITTO used in this process?" Your knowledge about WHY an ITTO is
used in a process will definitely help you to arrive at the right
answer.
Additionally, this new approach is much more helpful for you as a
project manager in the long run. Frankly speaking, who cares whether an
ITTO is part of a particular process or not after you have passed the
PMP exam? If you need to know, you can just look it up! But knowing what
they are, why you need them and how to apply them successfully on your
projects greatly enhances your project management skills. It goes a long
way in making you an exceptional project manager.
As you are studying the ITTOs for your PMP Exam, keep the following concepts in mind:
First of all, Inputs and Outputs are always "things", like a project
management plan, a measurement, a result, an update to a plan, a
document or a deliverable. You can touch Inputs and Outputs.
Second, it is very common that an Output from one process becomes an
Input to another process. Focus your studies on understanding how these
items flow through the many processes in the PMBOK Guide in order to
produce our project deliverables. Use the many charts that the Guide
provides to see this graphically.
Third, Tools & Techniques very often have some form of "action"
attached to them, like a meeting, a methodology, a technique, a form
that you must fill in, or a matrix that you create.
And lastly, don't forget to read the complete PMBOK® Guide glossary.
Study and understand the definitions of the roughly 350 terms that you
find here. Again, you are not doing this for memorization sake, but
instead you want to learn "the language" of the PMP exam. Often we use
project management terms loosely and interchangeably in our day to day
work. But for the exam we have to know exactly what each term means.
Reading the glossary ensures that you know the correct definitions, and,
as a bonus, the glossary indicates for each term if it is an
input/output, tool or technique.
So move beyond a third-graders approach of fact memorization. Instead,
study the big picture, the data flows and how the ITTOs are the glue
between the processes.
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| Read and understand your books |
 Reading and understanding the PMBOK Guide concepts and your Exam Prep book will help you obtain your PMP Certification. |
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Sample PMP Exam Question
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You are managing a telecom project. You have got two teams reporting to you. One team is responsible for equipment installation and the other team is responsible to commission and test that equipment. Both teams are working in parallel such that as soon as the installation teams finishes equipment installation at one site they move on to another site for installations and the commissioning and testing team start their activities on the newly installed site. The reporting structure is such that each of the teams have 5 engineers headed by a team lead. Each team member interacts with each other, however only the team leads interact with you. Both the team leads also interact with each other to synchronize their operations.
How many communication channels do you have in your project?
A. 33
B. 23
C. 42
D. 78
Hint: Calculate communication channels for each team and add them together.
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Exam Tip: Manage The Time During Your PMP Exam
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One important recommendation I have for those taking
the PMP Exam is that to manage the time allotted to answer each question on the exam. Call it budgeting, call it time management, call it whatever you want; but do it! You need to walk into the examination room with a clear plan on how many questions you will answer per hour, when you plan on taking a break, and what you will do if time seems to be running out.
Remember that the exam is composed of 200 questions that you must answer within 4 hours. That's 1.2 minutes per question. Once you begin, the clock starts and will not stop even when you take a break. So plan your approach - say for the first 2 hours, answer all easy questions first and mark those difficult ones for later. Be sure to read all the questions carefully and understand them before you answer. Then take a 10 minute break before going back to the harder questions for the rest of the allotted time. By doing this you will be able to finish the whole exam on time.
But that's just one of many possible approaches and you should define your own. And by having a plan and implementing it you will relieve a lot of the exam pressure. So plan well, and budget your time wisely to succeed.
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Solution
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The correct answer is: A
Reference: PMBOK4 - pg:253
Explanation: This was a hard question, wasn't it? Lets analyze the scenario to calculate the answer. Here we have two independent teams. Each team has 6 members, i.e., 5 engineers and one team lead. Each team member is interacting with each other, so communication channels for each team are (6)(6-1)/2=15. Both the team leads are communicating with you so there are two communication channels for this interaction. Further since both the team leads are interacting with each other there is an another communication channel between them. Hence the total communication channels in your project is 15+15+2+1=33. Choice A is the only correct answer to this question.
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Lessons Learned from Tanmoy Choudhury
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Couple of hours ago I cleared my PMP exam on first try. Here is my lesson learned
Materials Followed
- The PM Prepcast
- PMBOK by Project Management Institute
- Rita's PMP Prep Book
- Q & A for the PMBOK Guide, Project Management Institute
- Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling by Harold Kerzner (only exercise)
- Ucertify PMP Prep
Methodology
Followed PM Prepcast with PMBOK Guide to clarify basic understanding. Read Rita thoroughly for clearing additional concepts and exercise. I have revised PMBOK and Rita more than twice and also prepared note with my understanding. I took ucertify, Lehman, PM Study and Headfirst Free exams. My results came just above average. Some days back while browsing PMP site i came across Q & A for the PMBOK Guide and Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling by Harold Kerzner, ecopy which is free for members. I have gone through the Q&A for PMBOK and only exercise for Kerzer book as I did not have enough time to go through the book, but i feel that would be a great book to strength our understanding on project management concepts.
And i went ahead for the exam after rescheduling exam for more than 4times !!! I studied on and off for last 1 year.
Read more lessons learned from new PMPs here..
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