PMP Exam Study Summary
A summary of my studies for the PMP exam.
Overview
PMP is a project management certification. It is based on a guidebook called PMBOK (latest 7th edition). The PMP exam is 230 minutes long and consists of 180 questions, but 5 of them are dummy questions, so you pass if you answer 106 or more of the 175 questions correctly. The answers are multiple-choice, mostly with 4 options, but some have 5 options or are multiple-select.
Servant Leadership
A leadership style that supports from the bottom rather than commanding from the top.
10 Principles (Characteristics) of Servant Leadership
- Listening
- Empathy
- Healing
- Awareness
- Persuasion
- Conceptualization
- Foresight
- Stewardship
- Commitment to the Growth of People
- Building Community
Agile Manifesto 4 Values
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the left, we value the items on the right more.
12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto
- Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
- Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
- Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
- Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
- Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
- The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
- Working software is the primary measure of progress.
- Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
- Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
- Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential.
- The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
- At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Principles behind the Agile Manifesto
Terminology
- Epic (Outline)
- User Story (Unit to be registered in the product backlog, unit for prioritization)
- Task (Technical work item, target for time estimation)
- Product Backlog / Product Backlog Item
- Product Owner
- Stakeholder
- Agile Practice Guide (Book)
- Lean Development
- Kanban
- Value Chain
- AC (Actual Cost)
- EV (Earned Value)
- PV (Planned Value)
- EVA (Earned Value Analysis)
- SPI (Schedule Performance Index = EV / PV)
- CPI (Cost Performance Index = EV / AC)
- EVM (Earned Value Management)
- BAC (Budget at Completion)
- ETC (Estimate To Complete)
- EAC (Estimate At Completion)
- Functional Organization
- Matrix Organization
- Projectized Organization
- Servant Leadership
- Tuckman’s Model (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning)
- Team Charter
- Planning Poker (Fibonacci sequence)
- Retrospective (Looking back activity)
- Virtual Team
- Project Charter
- Conflict (6 Coping methods: Confronting/Problem Solving, Collaborating, Compromising, Smoothing/Accommodating, Forcing, Withdrawing/Avoiding)
- Value Stream Mapping
- Mentoring
- Coaching
- Training
- Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
- SWOT Analysis: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat
- SECI Model (Socialization, Externalization, Combination, Internalization)
- PDCA, PDSA
- PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental)
- VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity)
- Monte Carlo Method
- Decision Tree Analysis
- Expected Monetary Value (EMV)
- Net Promoter Score
- Cost-Benefit Analysis
- Sprint Review
- Release Management
- SOW (Statement of Work) “Document containing a detailed description of the project scope, objectives, deliverables, duration, resources, etc.”
- P-SOW (Procurement Statement of Work)
- RFI (Request For Information)
- RFP (Request For Proposal)
- Fixed Price Contract (FP: Fixed Price)
- Time and Material Contract (T&M: Time and Material)
- Cost Reimbursable Contract (CR: Cost Reimbursable)
- Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIF)
- Scope Creep
- Kano Analysis
- Funding Limit Reconciliation
- 100 Points Method
- MoSCoW Method (Must, Should, Could, Would)
- Traceability Matrix
- WBS Dictionary
- Velocity (Number of story points achieved in each iteration)
- Velocity Chart
- Engagement Assessment Matrix (Unaware, Resistant, Neutral, Supportive, Leading)
- Phase Gate
- Information Radiator
- Burndown Chart
- Burnup Chart
- Cumulative Flow Diagram
- QCD (Quality, Cost, Delivery)
- Spiral Model
- Critical Chain
- Feature
- Iteration / Sprint
- Iterative
- Incremental
- Increment (Deliverable of an increment)
- Resilience / Resiliency
- Stewardship: Sincere, trustworthy behavior and responsible actions (decision making)
- Escalation
- KPT (Keep, Problem, Try)
- RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed)
- PMO (Project Management Office): Supportive, Controlling, Directive
- Cadence
- Tailoring
- Neurological Levels (Environment, Behavior, Capabilities, Beliefs/Values, Identity)
- Business Case (Document outlining project objectives, benefits, risks, ROI, etc.)
- Trend Analysis (Executed using run charts, mathematical techniques to predict future outcomes based on results)
- Quality Management Plan (Defines the strategy and approach for project deliverables’ quality)
- Governance Process
- Product Owner (Product vision, product backlog prioritization, product release)
- Project Owner (Project sponsor/client)
- Project Manager (Manages the overall project)
- Project Leader (Directs on site)
- Project Member (Drives the project)
- Hybrid Approach
- Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
- Iteration Review
- Workshop
- Project Benefits Management Plan (Target benefits of project objectives, strategic means to realize them, and timeframes)
- Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
- On-site (In the field, locally)
- Analogous Estimating
- Three-Point Estimating
- Parametric Estimating
- Project Review
- Big Bang Approach
- DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method)
- Brooks’s Law
- Big Bang Approach (Introducing everything all at once)
- Risk Register (Document used as a risk management tool to identify potential setbacks in a project)
- Risk Register
- Situational Leadership Theory (SL Theory) (4 behaviors matched to the other party’s situation)
- Competence
- Commitment
References
- Scrum Guide (Ken Schwaber & Jeff Sutherland)
- PMI ECO (Japanese Version) Page
- Agile Practice Guide
- PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
