Project Management Professional. (PMP) Exam Preparation - #104. Contents. Course Summary. Detailed Syllabus. Lecture Sample.

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1 ` Project Management Professional Main Page (PMP) Exam Preparation - #104 Contents Course Summary Detailed Syllabus Lecture Sample You will pass the Project Management Institute (PMI) 's Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam with our individual online instruction from a PMP-certified project manager. You can prepare to earn your PMP certification by studying from anywhere. We will fit into your schedule. The PMP certification exam is exceedingly difficult, covering hundreds of concepts, tools and techniques. We will help you learn each and every one of them. In a phone conversation when you begin the course, you ll discuss your learning style and your instructor will tailor your materials to fit the way you learn. You ll get coaching and individual feedback from your instructor on each of the 36 or more PMP practice exams you will take. How You Work With Your Instructor You will have personalized coaching, phone conversations and private video conferences with your instructor whenever you wish. There is no limit. Your instructor will review your progress and identify changes you may need in your study techniques. They'll thoroughly explain any concepts or techniques until you have mastered them. Reading Sample Course Webpage You will study with world-class materials by Dick Billows, PMP. You ll watch high definition videos, read scenarios about applying each process to projects of three different sizes, and read descriptions of the tools and techniques. You can also access our database of hundreds of articles, videos and samples that illustrate every technique you need to know to pass the PMP exam. PMP Passing Guarantee We guarantee our work on our PMP prep course. 95% of our students pass but if you don t, your instructor will work with you until you have your PMP. Examine the materials and see why our course has no equal; online or in a classroom. CAPM, PMI, PMP, PMBOK, the PMI Logo, and the PMI Registered Education Provider logo are registered 4PM.com 3547 S. Ivanhoe St Denver, CO

2 Validate your years of experience and advance your project manager career BECOME A PMP Main Page Get that promotion or higher-paying position with the internationally recognized PMP certification PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL Training with a PMP-certified Instructor Learning Materials 42 Video Lectures Videos of PMs in Action Process Flowcharts 100s of Tool Write-ups Practice Exams We are a PMI Global Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) - #1147. Our PMP Exam Prep course fulfills the entire education requirement. This is the only course you need to pass the PMP exam - guaranteed Our PMP Exam Prep course will prepare you to pass the PMP exam; we guarantee it. Your instructor tailors the course for you and works with you, 1-to-1, until you are a PMP. Working With Your Instructor You will work individually with your PMP-certified instructor. You can questions to your instructor and get a response within 24 hours. You can request a telephone call or a video conference as often as you need them. There are no limits. Your instructor grades each exam and gives you written feedback that includes the correct answers with explanations. They provide coaching on any areas you need to re-study. Online Boot Camp You have a 4-day comprehensive review with your instructor immediately before your test date. You ll do full-size PMP exam simulations and take practice tests focusing on every area covered in the exam. Then you have a video or phone conference with your instructor the night before your exam. 4PM.com 3547 S. Ivanhoe St Denver, CO United States

3 ` Fulfill the Education Requirement Gain an International Credential Practice answering questions on every process group, knowledge area, tool and technique so you're ready to pass the PMP exam MASTER PM BEST PRACTICES Main Page Passing Guaranteed Course Outline -Framework -Initiation -Management Plans -Project Plans -Executing -Monitoring & Control -Closing -Ethics & Professionalism -Comprehensive Final Review You have textbook reading, online lectures and videos and PMP practice exams. You receive personal coaching customized for your learning style, experience and schedule. They will call you the day before your PMP exam to answer any questions and give you final test-taking tips and techniques. PERSONAL INSTRUCTION The best way to pass the PMP exam the first time is with a course tailored to your schedule and learning style. Your instructor, who is a PMP, works with you directly and privately. They answer your questions by phone, or video conference within 24 hours. You can have as many of these as you wish. When you take one of the practice exams (depending on how many you need), your instructor sends you written feedback with the correct answers and explanations of why they are correct. SPECIFICATIONS For Experienced PMs Get 60 Contact Hours Use a PC, Mac or ipad Study When You Want Study From Anywhere Take up to 1 Year Project Management Institute PMI Registered Education Provider #1147 4PM.com 3547 S. Ivanhoe St Denver, CO

4 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e 1 Project Management Professional (PMP) Exam Prep Course Syllabus Passing the PMP Exam the First Time Learning Objectives To pass the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam from The Project Management Institute (PMI) and learn the best practices in project management. How Learning Outcomes Are Measured You must score at least 88% on each PMP practice exam you submit to your instructor. You must continue to take practice exams in each process group until you achieve that score. You must also complete the comprehensive final review and score at least 88% on those exams. If you successfully complete all the modules and take the PMP exam within 2 weeks of completing the course, we will work with you until you pass the PMP exam. Content Delivery System for Individual PMP Exam Training You and your instructor will work together in our content delivery system that will allow your instructor to tailor the course to your needs, assignment by assignment. You ll have video conferences with your instructor on a regular basis plus phone calls and exchanges whenever you wish. There s no limit to these contacts. You and your instructor will begin with a private conference and use the results of your initial assessment to gauge where you need Body of Knowledge,

5 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e 2 more work and where your project management knowledge is complete. That custom tailoring process will continue through the course. Your instructor will assess each of the practice exams you submit, identify weaknesses and select specific materials from our Learning Topics to address them. Planning Your Personalized Course with Your Instructor During your initial call with your instructor, you'll plan the pace of your studies and identify any deadlines you want to hit. Take a look at the passing zone in the graphic above. You'll see that we recommend you study between 4 hours a week (19 weeks to finish) and 18 hours per week (4 weeks to finish). Each process group requires approximately 9 hours of work. How intensely you study is, of course, your decision. We will fit the course to your schedule for your unique situation and you can change it if things change.. Over 97% of our students pass the exam Try to schedule your studies so you can sit for the exam within 7 days. Once you have set your date for the exam, you and your instructor will work on a comprehensive final review during the 4 days immediately before you sit for the PMP exam. You must successfully complete all course assignments and take the PMP exam within 14 days of completing the course in order to meet the terms of our passing guarantee. We are a PMI Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.). PMI has approved this course for 60 hours. It fulfills the education requirement for the PMP exam. Body of Knowledge,

6 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e 3 Adapting the Course to Your Learning Style During the planning video conference with your instructor, you will discuss the strengths and weakness of your current knowledge based on the pre-course assessment test you ll take. Your instructor will ask you about your preferred learning style. Think about whether you are a visual learner, where seeing it done, diagrams and flow charts are a big help, or a logical learner where reading a text is the way you prefer to learn new material. Based on the assessment and your discussion, you and you instructor will plan how you should use the following learning materials to tailor the course to your learning style. 1. Electronic textbook: Purchase A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2013 from 2. Lecture videos. These videos are approximately one to two hours for each process group and contain lectures with illustrations of the key inputs, outputs, tools and techniques for that process. They are available 24/7 and you may watch them as many times as you wish from your PC, ipad, iphone or Android. 3. Project scenarios. These three scenarios illustrate how to apply the information from each process group to a small (intra-department), a medium (cross-departments) and a large (strategic) project. Illustrations of the inputs and output documents are included. 4. Project manager in action videos. These show a project manager, sponsor and team members actually working through the PMI best practices in project management for each process you are studying. 5. Multiple-choice practice exams. You take online simulated PMP exams focused on one process group. These practice questions are like the real PMP exam questions and there are 50questions per exam for each process group. When you submit the exam, it is sent directly to your instructor for review and grading. They will send you written feedback within 24 hours and identify additional reading and videos for you based on your results. You must score at least 88% on the practice exam. If you don t, your instructor will ask you to take another practice exam for that process group. You will continue taking these practice exams until you achieve 88% or higher. Then you can move on. 6. Super scenario essay questions. These help you answer the situational questions on the PMP exam and teach you how to handle these complex situa- Body of Knowledge,

7 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e 4 tions. Your instructor will send you the link to the super scenario essay questions after you pass the multiple-choice exam(s) for a process group. When you submit your super scenario essay responses, they go directly to your instructor for evaluation. They help your instructor determine how well you understand the material in the process group. You will receive written feedback from your instructor within 24 hours. Personalized Interaction with Your Instructor You ll work 1-to-1 with your instructor who holds a PMP certification and has 12+ years of industry experience managing projects. They will guide you through this exam preparation course and answer all your questions. So whenever you have a question, you can either your instructor or request a private video or phone conference so the two of you can discuss your issues. Your instructor will review each practice exam, grade it, explain concepts you missed and suggest areas of additional study to improve your scores. After you score 88% on your multiple choice practice exam(s) for that process group, your instructor will send you the link to the super scenario questions for that process group. These questions are in short essay format and they test your understanding of the concepts in the process group. Your instructor will give you written feedback within 24 hours. Body of Knowledge,

8 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e 5 Your Personal Scorecard While your instructor will keep track of each of your scores, you may want to track your progress against the plan you set. Process Group Target Date Completed Reading Watched Video Lectures 1 st Practice Exam Score 2 nd Practice Exam Score Completed Super Scenario Questions Framework Initiation Management Plans Project Plans Executing Monitoring and Control Closing Ethics Submit Application to PMP After your instructor sends you feedback that you have successfully completed Ethics, you submit your application online to PMI and claim 60 education hours for completing your 4PM.com PMP Prep course. Comprehensive Review: Knowledge Areas While you wait for PMI to approve your application, review the reading and lecture videos of the project management tasks organized by the PMBOK, 5 th edition knowledge areas: communication, cost, human resources, procurement, quality, risk, schedule, scope, stakeholder management and integration. Body of Knowledge,

9 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e 6 Process Group Target Date Completed Reading Watched Video Lectures 1 st Practice Exam Score 2 nd Practice Exam Score Completed Super Scenario Questions Schedule Exam Receive PMI s approval to take the PMP exam & set your date. Allow 4 days for the final review. Comprehensive Review: 4 Day Final Review The 4-day final review begins 4 days prior to your PMP test date. Your instructor will send you specific instructions for the comprehensive review once you set your PMP exam date. 1. Framework Your reading and lectures will cover the framework of information used in all of the project management process groups that follow. 1. Reading: Read pages 1 through 62 in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition. We recommend taking written notes. 2. Lectures: Watch the Framework lecture video on the course website. Add the new information in the lectures to your notes. 3. Practice Exams: Take the Framework multiple-choice practice exam online by clicking the button below the lecture. It will be sent directly to your instructor. They will grade it, send you written explanations for the correct answers and additional feedback within 24 hours. If you do not achieve 88% on the first try, your instructor will suggest studying additional learning topics and ask you to re-take this exam. If you achieved 88%, your instructor will send you the link to the second Framework multiple-choice exam. Finally, they will send you a link to the Framework super scenario essay questions. 4. Learning Topics: Your instructor will send you explanations for the multiplechoice questions and, based on your test scores, they may send you links to additional learning topics to strengthen your Framework knowledge. Body of Knowledge,

10 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e 7 2. Initiation In this process group, you ll learn about the best practices for initiating a new project. These include the business case, defining the high-level scope, identifying stakeholders and risks, then developing and presenting the project charter. 1. Reading: Read pages 63 through 71 and 391 through 398 in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition. We recommend taking written notes. 2. Lecture: Watch the Initiation lecture videos on your course website. Add the new information to your notes. 3. Project Scenarios: Read the scenarios in the link below the last lecture in this process group on your course website. These scenarios apply the best practices to small, medium and large projects. We recommend taking written notes. 4. PM in Action Videos: Watch these videos linked down the left side menu. The section is called Project Manager in Action Videos with Lecture. 5. Practice Exams: Take the Initiation multiple-choice practice exam by clicking the button below the lectures. Complete the exam and it will be sent directly to your instructor. They will grade it, send you written explanations for the correct answers and additional feedback within 24 hours. If you do not achieve 88% on the first try, your instructor will suggest studying additional learning topics and ask you to re-take this exam. If you achieved 88%, your instructor will send you the link to the second Initiation multiple-choice exam. Finally, they will send you a link to the Initiation super scenario essay questions. 6. Learning Topics: Your instructor will send you explanations for the multiplechoice questions and, based on your test scores, they may send you links to additional learning topics to strengthen your Initiation process group knowledge. 3. Management Plans In this process group, we will cover the management plans for each component in the project from scope, to budget, to schedule and more. Body of Knowledge,

11 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e 8 1. Reading: Read the following pages in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition: pages 72 through 76, 105 through 109, 141 through 148, 193 through 199, 227 through 241, 255 through 266, 287 through 296, 309 through 318, 355 through 370, and 399 through 403. We recommend taking written notes. 2. Lecture: Watch the Management Plans lecture videos on your course website. Add the new information to your notes. 3. Project Scenarios: Read the scenarios in the link below the last lecture in this process group on your course website. These scenarios apply the best practices to small, medium and large projects. We recommend taking written notes. 4. PM in Action Videos: Watch these videos linked down the left hand side menu. The section is called Project Manager in Action Videos with Lecture. 5. Practice Exams: Take the Management Plans multiple-choice practice exam by clicking the button below the lectures. Complete the exam and it will be sent directly to your instructor. They will grade it, send you written explanations for the correct answers and additional feedback within 24 hours. If you do not achieve 88% on the first try, your instructor will suggest studying additional learning topics and ask you to re-take this exam. If you achieved 88%, your instructor will send you the link to the second Management Plans multiple-choice exam. Finally, they will send you a link to the super scenario essay questions. 6. Learning Topics: Your instructor will send you explanations for the multiplechoice questions and, based on your test scores, they may send you links to additional learning topics to strengthen your Management Plans process group knowledge. 7. Mid-course video conference: When you have completed the Management Plans process group, you and your instructor will have a mid-course video conference to discuss beginning your application for the PMP exam. You cannot submit the application until you ve received your instructor s feedback that you have successfully completed the Ethics process group. However, you should start documenting your project manager work experience for the application after you talk with your instructor. Body of Knowledge,

12 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e 9 4. Project Plans In this process group, we will cover the planning techniques used to create the scope statement, schedule, budget and risk management. 1. Reading: Read pages the following pages in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition: pages 110 through 132, 149 through 184, 200 through 214, and 319 through 348. We recommend taking written notes. 2. Lecture: Watch the Project Plans lecture videos for this section on your course website. Add the new information to your notes. 3. Project Scenarios: Read the scenarios in the link below the last lecture in this process group on your course website. These scenarios apply the best practices to small, medium and large projects. We recommend taking written notes. 4. PM in Action Videos: Watch these videos linked down the left hand side menu. The section is called Project Manager in Action Videos with Lecture. 5. Practice Exams: Take the Project Plans multiple-choice practice exam by clicking the button below the lectures. Complete the exam and it will be sent directly to your instructor. They will grade it, send you written explanations for the correct answers and additional feedback within 24 hours. If you do not achieve 88% on the first try, your instructor will suggest studying additional learning topics and ask you to re-take this exam. If you achieved 88%, your instructor will send you the link to the second Project Plans multiple-choice exam. Finally, they will send you a link to the super scenario essay questions. 6. Learning Topics: Your instructor will send you explanations for the multiplechoice questions and, based on your test scores, they may send you links to additional learning topics to strengthen your Project Plans process group knowledge. Body of Knowledge,

13 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e Executing In this process group, we ll cover the executing processes, including obtaining and managing resources, executing the project plan, performing quality assurance, implementing change control and maximizing team performance. 1. Reading: Read pages the following pages in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition: pages 79 through 93, 133 through 135, 242 through 247, 267 through 286, 297 through 302, 371 through 378 and 404 through 408. We recommend taking written notes. 2. Lecture: Watch the Executing lecture videos on your course website. Add the new information to your notes. 3. Project Scenarios: Read the scenarios in the link below the last lecture in this process group on your course website. These scenarios apply the best practices to small, medium and large projects. We recommend taking written notes. 4. PM in Action Videos: Watch these videos linked down the left hand side menu. The section is called Project Manager in Action Videos with Lecture. 5. Practice Exams: Take the Executing multiple-choice practice exam by clicking the button below the lectures. Complete the exam and it will be sent directly to your instructor. They will grade it, send you written explanations for the correct answers and additional feedback within 24 hours. If you do not achieve 88% on the first try, your instructor will suggest studying additional learning topics and ask you to re-take this exam. If you achieved 88%, your instructor will send you the link to the second Executing multiple-choice exam. Finally, they will send you a link to the super scenario essay questions. 6. Learning Topics: Your instructor will send you explanations for the multiplechoice questions and, based on your test scores, they may send you links to additional learning topics to strengthen your Executing process group knowledge. Body of Knowledge,

14 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e Monitoring and Control In this process group, we ll cover the Monitoring and Control processes, which happen in parallel with the Executing processes. These processes include measuring project performance, managing changes, performing quality control, controlling the scope, schedule, cost, and communicating status, and performance information to stakeholders. 1. Reading: Read pages the following pages in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition: pages 94 through 99, 136 through 140, 185 through 192, 215 through 226, 248 through 254, 303 through 308, 349 through 354, 379 through 385 and 409 through 416. We recommend taking written notes. 2. Lecture: Watch the Monitoring and Control lecture videos your course website. Add the new information to your notes. 3. Project Scenarios: Read the scenarios in the link below the last lecture in this process group on your course website. These scenarios apply the best practices to small, medium and large projects. We recommend taking written notes. 4. PM in Action Videos: Watch these videos linked down the left hand side menu. The section is called Project Manager in Action Videos with Lecture. 5. Practice Exams: Take the Monitoring and Control multiple-choice practice exam by clicking the button below the lectures. Complete the exam and it will be sent directly to your instructor. They will grade it, send you written explanations for the correct answers and additional feedback within 24 hours. If you do not achieve 88% on the first try, your instructor will suggest studying additional learning topics and ask you to re-take this exam. If you achieved 88%, your instructor will send you the link to the second Monitoring and Control multiplechoice exam. Finally, they will send you a link to the super scenario essay questions. 6. Learning Topics: Your instructor will send you explanations for the multiplechoice questions and, based on your test scores, they may send you links to additional learning topics to strengthen your Monitoring and Control process group knowledge. Body of Knowledge,

15 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e Closing In this process group, we ll cover the seven processes to properly close out a project, including verifying scope acceptance, transferring ownership of deliverables, financial, legal and administrative closure, distributing the final project report, collating lessons learned, archiving project information and measuring customer satisfaction. 1. Reading: Read the following pages in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition: pages 100 through 104 and 386 through 390. We recommend taking written notes. 2. Lecture: Watch the Closing lecture videos on your course website. Add the new information to your notes. 3. Project Scenarios: Read the scenarios in the link below the last lecture in this process group on your course website. These scenarios apply the best practices to small, medium and large projects. We recommend taking written notes. 4. PM in Action Videos: Watch these videos linked down the left hand side menu. The section is called Project Manager in Action Videos with Lecture. 5. Practice Exams: Take the Closing multiple-choice practice exam by clicking the button below the lectures. Complete the exam and it will be sent directly to your instructor. They will grade it, send you written explanations for the correct answers and additional feedback within 24 hours. If you do not achieve 88% on the first try, your instructor will suggest studying additional learning topics and ask you to re-take this exam. If you achieved 88%, your instructor will send you the link to the second Closing multiple-choice exam. Finally, they will send you a link to the super scenario essay questions. 6. Learning Topics: Your instructor will send you explanations for the multiplechoice questions and, based on your test scores, they may send you links to additional learning topics to strengthen your Closing process group knowledge. 8. Ethics 1. Reading: Read the code of ethics at We recommend taking written notes. Body of Knowledge,

16 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e Lecture: Watch the Ethics lecture videos on your course website. Add the new information to your notes. 3. PM in Action Videos: Watch these videos linked down the left hand side menu. The section is called Project Manager in Action Videos with Lecture. 4. Practice Exams: Take the Ethics multiple-choice practice exam by clicking the button below the lectures. Complete the exam and it will be sent directly to your instructor. They will grade it, send you written explanations for the correct answers and additional feedback within 24 hours. If you do not achieve 88% on the first try, your instructor will suggest studying additional learning topics and ask you to re-take this exam. If you achieved 88%, your instructor will send you the link to the second Ethics multiple-choice exam. Finally, they will send you a link to the super scenario essay questions. 5. Learning Topics: Your instructor will send you explanations for the multiplechoice questions and, based on your test scores, they may send you links to additional learning topics to strengthen your Ethics process group knowledge. 6. Submit Your PMP Application: When you receive your instructor s feedback that you have successfully completed the Ethics process group, you may submit your PMP application to PMI. Do it online and you should receive a reply within 3 to 5 business days. 9. Comprehensive Review A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition organizes the project management processes by knowledge areas. They are communication, cost, human resources, procurement, quality, risk, schedule, scope, stakeholder management and integration. While you wait for PMI to approve your PMP application, complete the reading and lectures for this knowledge area section. 1. Reading: Review the PMBOK Guide by knowledge area. We recommend taking written notes. 2. Lecture: Watch the lecture videos linked down the left-hand side menu. The section is called Knowledge Area Lectures, and begins with Communications Knowledge Area and ends with Integration Knowledge Area. Add the new information to your notes. Body of Knowledge,

17 104 PMP Exam Prep Course P a g e Practice Exams: Take the multiple-choice practice exam for each knowledge area by clicking the button below the lectures. Complete the exam and it will be sent directly to your instructor. They will grade it, send you written explanations for the correct answers and additional feedback within 24 hours. If you do not achieve 88% on the first try, your instructor will suggest studying additional learning topics and ask you to re-take this exam. If you achieved 88%, your instructor will send you the link to the second multiple-choice exam for that knowledge are. 4. Approved Application: Tell your instructor when PMI has approved your application and you have scheduled your PMP exam date Day Final Review: When PMI has approved your application and you have scheduled your PMP exam, you and your instructor will lay out a 4-day plan for completing the 4-Day Final Review with exams immediately before you sit for the PMP exam. Your instructor will coach you through this final review and call you the day before your exam with test-taking tips, what to expect at the test center, words of encouragement and answers to any last minute questions. Body of Knowledge,

18 Project Management Scenarios by Dick Billows, PMPThis material is aligned with The Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Three Project Examples of Develop Project Management Plan After the charter is issued, we can move on to the Planning Process Group and the development of the project management plan. The Planning Process Group contains the largest number of tasks and, thus, the integration effort here is the most intense. The project management team is integrating the plans into one cohesive project management plan and its supporting detail. However, it's not the intent to bury projects in paperwork. Therefore, we exercise judgment in deciding what tasks to use and the extent to which we apply them. The plan will detail how we will Execute, Monitor and Control and Close the project. The decisions in this task may be the most critical choices a project manager makes. Let's now consider how we would develop the project management plans in our example projects. Small Project Example: Develop Project Management Plan Chris Pimbock, the project manager, works for Royster Corporation in the Customer Service department managed by Tom Sterns, who directs 15 employees including Chris. The salespeople triggered the project because customers were complaining about service response time. Tom Sterns responded by initiating the Trouble Report Improvement Project (TRIP). The project scope defines success as responding more quickly to customer trouble reports. Other stakeholders outside the department include the Human Resources department, which is involved in some of the training, and the Sales department, which has committed to a higher level of trouble report response for a major customer. Chris tucked the signed copy of the project charter into his clipboard and watched Tom Sterns, his boss, hit the send button on the PC to transmit copies of those documents to all members of the department and the external stakeholders from other departments. Tom said, "Well I guess we start work right now, huh? Chris replied, "The charter isn t enough for us to start work. We have to go through the Project Planning processes. We have to decide how we will manage this project in all the following areas: Scope and the WBS Risk Cost Schedule Quality Human Resources Procurement Communications Stakeholders Tom groaned and said, We aren t building a skyscraper. Do you really need to go through all those steps?" Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., Copyright 2014 The Hampton Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission 22

19 Project Management Scenarios by Dick Billows, PMPThis material is aligned with The Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Chris answered, "It's not just me doing the planning; the project team s involved and so are the stakeholders. Doing the project management plan the right way will save us time down the road because everyone will know exactly what to do, and as importantly, what not to do. Tom s frown deepened into an angry glare, I am not going to let you generate some monstrous project management plan; that serves no purpose for a project this small. I'm even less interested in taking up the time of a third of the people in this department to do this foolishness!" Chris said, I can promise you now that the plan will not take more than 10 pieces of paper and most of those will have just a half page of printing on them. The point is not a lot of paper. The point is to decide what tools and techniques of project management we should use on this project. This is a small effort so we don't need any of the fancy stuff. A good project management plan lets us minimize the number of changes or interruptions that come when you plan as you go. So doing a good job on the planning saves time. What would really waste time would be to start work without having thought through all of the issues. Twenty minutes of thinking about risk now may save dozens of hours of problem solving after a risk event occurs. The thinking about the work breakdown structure and the schedule now also has a big payoff. It may take half an hour to think through the sequence of activities in this project, but if we start work without recognizing the interrelationships, it would be very easy to waste whole days later. Please think of the project planning as problem avoidance. It is insurance and the premium may look large now because we want to start work, but it will help us avoid problems later." two of us, just do the whole thing? Why invite trouble and debate?" Chris answered, "When we involve the team in the planning it becomes their project. They will have a stake in the plan and when we let them participate in the work breakdown structure (WBS) and the duration estimates, they will have commitment to the project which is worth a great deal." Tom nodded again and said, "OK, but how are we going to integrate all those pieces without it taking forever? Chris handed the boss a sheet of paper and said, Here s what I have to do in each area. I ve noted some strategic limits so that all of our tasks are at the right scale for this project. For each area, like quality, we ll write a paragraph or two about how we ll manage it. I ll focus the small groups on their final deliverables for each area and limit their work as you see on the form. I ve also noted my ideas of who will do what. Plan Development Steps Scope and the WBS Area/ Group Spons or, team, stakeh olders Final Deliverables Scope statem ent WBS Limits 3-4 hours, week long assignments in the WBS Tom nodded and said, "Okay, we ll do a project management plan but why does everybody have to be involved? Can't you, or the Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., Copyright 2014 The Hampton Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission 23

20 Project Management Scenarios by Dick Billows, PMPThis material is aligned with The Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Plan Development Steps Area/ Group Final Deliverables Limits Plan Development Steps Area/ Group Final Deliverables Limits and PM Time Schedule Team & PM Duration estimates 4 hours Risk Cost Boss, PM, 1 team memb er PM Risk respons e plan no quantit ative analysi s Resour ce require ments Cost baselin e Qualitative 3 hours 2 hours contracts and labor hours at a standard rate Quality Procureme nt PM, Boss, 1 team memb er PM, 2 team memb ers Project schedul e Quality plan SOWs, RFP/RF Q docume nts 3-4 hours quality metrics 2-3 hours purchases, 10 hours through execution Evaluat ion criteria Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., Copyright 2014 The Hampton Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission 24

21 Project Management Scenarios by Dick Billows, PMPThis material is aligned with The Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Plan Development Steps Communic ations Area/ Group PM Final Deliverables Commu nication s plan Limits 1 hour Multi-department Project Example: Develop Project Management Plan McLaughlin Electronic Enterprises is experiencing a large volume of complaints from customers about their response time on customer trouble reports. Fifteen different functional units are engaged in handling these trouble reports for different types of customers and different product lines. Stakehold ers PM Stakeh older manag ement plan 1 hour Terry Evans, the project manager for this multidepartment project, is from Engineering and just earned her PMP. Terry is concerned about managing the Trouble Report Improvement Project (TRIP) across all of these departmental boundaries. Human Resources PM & boss Staffing plan, Roles & responsibilities.5 hours Tom said, That doesn t sound too bad. I thought you meant a lot of abstract thinking sessions. But you re really getting a lot of stuff out of the way so when I say go; you can get off to a fast start and keep up the momentum. Chris smiled and nodded. The VP of Sales, Gwendolyn Stiles, is the project sponsor and she drove the project through the approval process based on the cost of lost customers. There are more than 200 stakeholders for this project, which will include systems development, construction of new office facilities, training of employees and procurement of computer hardware and other equipment. The project will utilize resources from 15 different departments and technical specialists from four support departments (Information Systems, Construction, Training and Development). Terry joined Gwendolyn at a corner table in a restaurant near the organization's headquarters and opened her ipad to take notes. Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., Copyright 2014 The Hampton Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission 25

22 Project Management Scenarios by Dick Billows, PMPThis material is aligned with The Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management "I thought it would be better if we met in a bit more casual setting," Gwendolyn said. "I want to stress to you how important this project is. The president will be watching this closely, as you know and we need to have a great deal of fast action to get this problem solved." Terry nodded and said, I understand completely and that's why it's very important that we work closely to integrate all the different pieces of this project into a tight knit plan. Then there will not be any wasted effort once we begin to execute. Gwendolyn, looking surprised responded, "I thought the project manager did all the integration." Terry said, "On a project of this size, a lot of people besides me have integration roles so we have to decide how much project management stuff each area should do. That s the game plan for managing the project. We lay it out and make sure that no one does more or less of the procedures that we have defined in the game plan. I ll do most of that; it s like a carpenter pulling the right tools out of his toolbox for each job he does. I ll tailor the game plan to this project and your constraints. Gwendolyn smiled, I like that tailoring idea. Terry nodded, The area where you can make a significant contribution is in getting stakeholder involvement in Define Scope and then helping me get the best possible people engaged in our risk, quality and procurement tasks. Gwendolyn said with a frown, "I thought you were going to do all that." "No, Terry replied, for a project of this size we're going to need fairly independent teams of people doing procurement, risk and quality. I will certainly be involved in all three and I ll make sure information moves between them and into the scheduling, budgeting and human resource activities. That s going to take most of my time. I thought you would lock yourself in a room and do the schedule and budget." Terry laughed and said, "Oh no, when I bring you the final schedule and budget, I want to be able to tell you that the people doing each of these assignments are committed to their duration and cost estimates. A schedule and budget that I created in a locked room would be valueless. We need to take the time now to engage the project team in the planning process. Projects are always more successful when we do that. Gwendolyn nodded slowly and then said, "So exactly what do you want me to do?" "I would like you to get the president and the heads of all 15 departments that are going to have to change their trouble report processes to come to the Collect Requirements meetings. Defining the scope and ensuring we understand all of their requirements are the most important things we can do during Project Planning. The session won't work nearly as well if they send assistants or lower level management." Gwendolyn laughed and said, "I always avoid those sessions like the plague. Usually they re just technical mumbo jumbo with lower level geeks trying to impress the executives with their technical knowledge. Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., Copyright 2014 The Hampton Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission 26

23 Project Management Scenarios by Dick Billows, PMPThis material is aligned with The Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Terry nodded, knowing that many requirements gathering sessions sank to that level and said, "I promise that if you use your influence to get the other vice presidents and division directors to help us plan the scope and requirements, they will leave the session saying that they have made strategic decisions about this project and what the company needs. The big benefit for us is that we surface the requirements up front and don t get surprises late in the project." McCarthy and Associates, is providing both technical expertise and project management services for Globetrotter. Because the project affects so many locations and departments, there are over 1500 stakeholders on this effort. These stakeholders have interests in specific aspects of the project and the talent to contribute. Gwendolyn raised her eyebrows and said, "A scope meeting like that will be a first in this company. It is also the key to integrating all of the stakeholders and their requirements into this project plan. There is no sense in putting this jigsaw puzzle together if we find out three months from now that we are missing several big pieces. If we can engage them in collecting requirements, I m confident we can get the right people involved in tasks like risk, procurement and quality. They will see it's in their best interests. Preston finished ordering breakfast and looked around at the five consultants who were working on the TRIP project. He had managed the two senior consultants, Bill and Winston who each had more than a decade of experience. The other three, Mario, Jill and Pat were junior consultants with whom he had not previously worked. Preston said, "We start project planning with the client today and there are a couple of key points I want you to bear in mind. Gwendolyn smiled, So I m out front as the sponsor getting people to participate in the process that most concerns them while you juggle all the pieces, making sure everyone has the information they need and that they are following the game plan. I like it. "Is this your we need to integrate with the client speech? one of the senior consultants asked. When Preston nodded, the senior consultant closed his eyes and snored. Customer/Client Project Example: Develop Project Management Plan Globetrotter International Enterprises is experiencing problems on its response time to customer trouble reports in all 15 countries in which they operate. This company hired Preston McCarthy, an external consultant to manage the project. Preston s firm, After the consultants finished laughing, Preston said, Laugh all you want, but our success and our bonuses and raises from this project are going to be largely determined by how well we design the project management tasks for both our part of the project and the parts that the client s people will complete. That statement quieted the group down and he had everyone's attention, including the two senior consultants. Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., Copyright 2014 The Hampton Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission 27

24 Project Management Scenarios by Dick Billows, PMPThis material is aligned with The Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Preston uncapped his black and white Monte Blanc fountain pen and continued, "Over the past week, I have been carefully designing the project management tasks that best fit this project. Mr. Fuller, the president of Globetrotter, has invested several hours too and we have his support for the approach. What we have to watch during the planning process is getting so carried away impressing people with our technical expertise that we forget that if they don't use what we produce to improve their business performance, they will judge this project a failure, no matter how brilliant the technical pieces are. Preston replied, OK, the project management design stresses interpersonal skills and engaging the client. Jill, I would like you to take our normal stakeholder management process a bit further. Set up a database of the stakeholders and track their participation in planning, tracking and status meetings so we have early warning on anyone who is disengaging. You ll act to correct those problems and get them back in gear. Jill smiled, excited about the assignment. Preston let those words sink in for a moment and then said, "The design of the project management process is based on a couple of key dimensions. First, the project needs to bring about change in over 700 departments driven by the same number of managers. Mr. Fuller is altering management compensation to reward better performance on trouble reports and we need to get those managers to see the project as a way for their departments to do better and for them individually to do better. Bill said, So we do lots of outreach to identify the stakeholders and get their requirements documented? Winston added with a big smile, And make them members of the project management team. Preston smiled back; Winston caught on quickly. Correct. The risk team, scope team, quality team, cost team and so on will have lots of Globetrotter first and second level managers. Those teams will have a ratio of 10 to 1 Globetrotter people to our people. We ll spend our time getting them engaged and keeping them engaged. We ll have lots of group decision-making, focus groups with employees and Delphi techniques over the web. Preston capped his Monte Blanc pen, Just remember, I don't want the client's people saying to each other, Boy those consultants are sure smart; they know all the answers and put together a great plan for their project. What I want the client s people to be saying is We sure put together a good plan for our project. Bill made one more try, "But the top client won t know that we re earning our fees if his employees say the plan is theirs. Preston smiled and said, I ve already told the president that he should judge the planning effort two ways. First, the project management plan should be a cohesive document that allows us to execute efficiently. Second, the project management plan should closely integrate the work of our consultants and his people, who should be enthused with what they ve put together. One of the senior consultants asked, What did the client say to that? Preston laughed and answered, "He told me that I d go far in the consulting business if I always let the client s people take the bows. Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., Copyright 2014 The Hampton Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission 28

25 Project Management Scenarios by Dick Billows, PMPThis material is aligned with The Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management In these three examples, we ve seen the pieces that have to come together to assemble the project management plan. As importantly, we ve seen the attitude of engaging the people who will be doing the work and those whom the project will impact. The way we engage the stakeholders and team is not through dramatic speeches about how they own the project, it comes from engaging them in the planning. We also have to fight off the idea that the PM or project management team could do it faster without all these stakeholders. Perhaps they could but we'll usually spend the couple of days or weeks we saved addressing the problems that arise from a stakeholder group that is disconnected from the project. Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., Copyright 2014 The Hampton Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission 29