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The PMP exam has been characterized by about.com as as one of the most intense certification exams out there. It is a grueling 200 question, four hour exam. What makes it difficult is that, although the exam is knowledge based, the questions center around the application of best Project Management Practices. The Project Management Institute (PMI) has an ambitious goal of documenting all of those best practices in a book they call the "Guide to the Project Management Body Of Knowledge", or the PMBOK Guide for short. The PMBOK guide has the documented best practices and methodologies and is a volume that every PMP applicant needs to own and use.
The PMP Exam is About Application
Many of the questions on the PMP exam are situational in nature, they will state a specific situation with a fictional company and give you some details about the company and the situation. Perhaps the information will be needed to answer then next three or four questions--so the information given will be more than what is needed to answer the current question. The most important detail about answering the questions on the PMP exam is to take the time to read and understand the question thoroughly. The wording is often long and purposely wordy, and will sometimes need to be broken down to capture what is part of the question and what is part of the situational information.
The PMI is Process Oriented
As you read the PMBOK guide you will notice immediately that it revolves around the processes that project team members may be involved in. Project Management then, is managing these processes in a way to make the most efficient use of resources and time to produce something unique and never produced before. The PMBOK guide spells out the inputs, outputs, tools and techniques associated with each process. If you know that the processes make up the bulk of the best practices documented in the PMBOK guide, then you know that those processes will be the focus of the PMI's PMP test. The trick that will help the most on the PMP exam is to ask yourself, "what process am I in right now?" That may need to be followed up with, "what process should come next?" and "what processes have been completed to get to this point?" How will knowing what process you are in be helpful? The PMI is good at creating answer choices that are truths or best practices, but are not the BEST answer to the current question.
Using the Current Process Trick to Eliminate the Incorrect Answers on the PMP Test
It seems like identifying incorrect answers should be easy, but the PMI has crafted every multiple choice answer in a way that they seem right (as have many of the authors of sample exam question). After reading the materials in study prep texts then trying to answer the questions at the back of the chapter, there were times when I would read a question and feel like there were at least three different choices that could be right. The experience was so frustrating! When I looked at the correct answers I could understand how the answer that was marked as the correct answer was in fact "right", but I couldn't see how the other three answers were "wrong". I finally made an appeal directly to the PMBOK guide. I found the process that the question was about and could see how the "correct" answer could be construed by the process documented in the PMBOK guide, but as I turned the pages to other processes, I also found that the statements that made up the other answers were also true! How could I select only one of the answers as the "best" answer, if all of the answers were "true." That is when the concept of understanding what process I was in began to make sense.
A Risky Example
To illustrate the concept I will use an example: As you read a question you begin to realize that you are in the risk identification process, the question includes information like the following--You are a project manager for XYZ corporation, you have learned that materials needed later in your project may be delayed, what should you do next? Included in the answers are A) Communicate with stake holders the need for a schedule change, B) Crash the schedule to make up for the delay, C) Implement the risk response planned for this risk, D) Add the risk to the risk register.
As you look over the possible answers you may believe, and rightly so, that each of these actions should be done, and each of these should be done "next", because they haven't been done yet. So how do you determine which of the answers are the best answer? Well, start with what process you think you are in. If you are in the risk identification process, then which answers are outside of that process? Looking at answer A, communicate with stake holders, although critical to the success of this project and absolutely essential to resolve this issue to the satisfaction of those involved, it is outside of the risk identification process, and probably isn't the BEST answer to this question. Then looking at answer B, crashing the schedule may become necessary to get back on track after a delay, but, it is clearly in the time management process and probably isn't the BEST thing to do next. Looking at Answer C, implement the risk response planned for this risk--now this one is a little tougher. It is related to the risk identification process that we believe we are in at this time. Does it appear that you have finished the current process and are ready to go on to the next process? If so, is implementing the risk response planned for this risk the very next process? If not, this may not be the "next" thing to do. Looking at answer D add the risk to the risk register is an activity in the risk identification process, it is a good candidate for the "next" thing that you should do.
Conclusion
Notice that identifying the current process may not immediately give you the right answer, but it may help you eliminate one or more of the wrong answers. This could improve your odds of getting to the right answer by 25-50% per question. This is not by any means a silver bullet that will guarantee your success on the PMP exam, but is a tool that could make you more successful. The PMP exam is a step on that road to becoming a better project manager. The PMI created the PMP credential, not as a status symbol, but as a way to get more people involved in living the best practices of project management. Implementing the methodologies of the PMI will make your projects more successful. The payoff will include better quality projects, happier project team members, and more satisfaction with the project work. Realize that as a project manager your team depends on you. For their sake, and for yours, just take the time to get PMP certified, get trained as a project manager, and get your projects back on track.
Article by Elroy King. Preparing for the PMP exam is the a matter of setting aside the time to study, figuring out what to study. And finding the best PMP Exam Prep Resources. I can help you get that jump start on PMP certification. Regardless of what resources you find, you owe it to yourself and your project team to get PMP certified, learn the PMI methodologies and get your projects under control.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elroy_King
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