PMP Certification All-in-One For Dummies

This completely updated guide prepares you for taking the PMP® certification exam As the most popular project management certification available, the PMP certification is very difficult to obtain and demands stringent requirements. Thankfully, this All-in-One guide is packed with valuable information that has been completely updated to offer you the most accurate and helpful information for taking the exam. The book features up-to-date content that reflects the changes in the Fifth Edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) and helps you navigate the various requirements to become PMP certified. Plus, new review questions written by the author serve to enhance your learning process. Contains all things related to becoming PMP certified, from signing up to take the exam to becoming savvy with the essential areas of PMBOK Helps you make sense of each domain of the PMBOK: communications management, cost management, human resources management, integration management, procurement management, quality management, risk management, scope management, and time management Offers complete coverage of the challenging PMP certification requirements as well as a large selection of practice questions Features an accompanying website that contains the Dummies Test Engine that boasts hundreds of sample questions This comprehensive guide will put you on your way to becoming PMP certified. (PMP, PMI and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.)

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 How This Book Is Organized 3 Book I: PMP Foundation 3 Book II: Starting Off Right 3 Book III: Planning Integration, Scope, and Schedule 3 Book IV: Planning Cost, Quality, Human Resources, and Communication 3 Book V: Planning for Risks, Procurement, and Stakeholder Management 4 Book VI: Managing Your Project 4 Book VII: Controlling Scope and Schedule 4 Book VIII: Controlling Cost, Quality, and More 4 Book IX: Closing Your Project and the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct 4 Appendixes 4 Icons Used in This Book 5 Beyond the Book 6 Where to Go from Here 7 Book I: PMP Foundation 9 Chapter 1: The PMP Exam 11 The PMP Exam Blueprint 12 Knowledge and skills 12 Cross-cutting skills 13 Code of ethics and professional conduct 13 Exam scoring 14 The Exam Domains 14 Initiating the project 15 Planning the project 15 Executing the project 16 Monitoring and controlling the project 16 Closing the project 16 Applying for the Exam 17 The application process 17 Scheduling your exam 19 Taking the Exam 19 Exam day 20 Types of questions 21 Exam-taking tips 22 Getting your results 23 Preparing for the Exam 23 Chapter 2: Foundations of Project Management 25 Grasping the Terminology 28 Definition of a project 28 Projects, programs, and portfolios 29 Project management 30 Projects and organizational strategy 33 The Project Management Office 34 Understanding Environmental Constraints 35 Enterprise environmental factors 35 Project governance 36 Key Terms 36 Chapter Summary 37 Chapter 3: Project Life Cycles, Organizational Structures, and Organizational Process Assets 41 The Project Life Cycle 44 Project phases 44 Predictive life cycles 45 Iterative and incremental life cycles 46 Adaptive life cycles 48 Phase reviews 49 Product versus project life cycle 49 Organization Structures 49 Functional organization 50 Matrix organization 50 Projectized organization 51 Comparing organization types 51 Leveraging Your Organization’s Assets 53 Key Terms 54 Chapter Summary 55 Chapter 4: It’s All about the Process 61 Managing Your Project Is a Process 64 Understanding Project Management Process Groups 65 Before the Project Begins 67 Initiating processes 68 Planning processes 69 Executing processes 74 Monitoring and Controlling processes 75 Closing processes 77 The Ten Knowledge Areas 79 Project Integration Management 79 Project Scope Management 79 Project Time Management 80 Project Cost Management 80 Project Quality Management 81 Project Human Resource Management 81 Project Communications Management 81 Project Risk Management 82 Project Procurement Management 82 Project Stakeholder Management 83 Mapping the 47 Processes 83 Key Terms 86 Chapter Summary 87 Book II: Starting Off Right 91 Chapter 1: OMG! It’s a Project! 93 Knowledge and Skills for the Initiating Processes 96 Internal Needs or External Influences 96 Organizational need 97 Market demand 97 Customer request 97 Technological advance 98 Legal requirement 99 Ecological impacts 99 Social need 99 Selecting the Right Projects 100 Project portfolio committee 100 Project Management Office (PMO) 101 Criteria for project selection 101 Alphabet Soup: ROI, NPV, FV and Other Project-Selection Metrics 102 Financial metrics 102 Financial terms 105 Nonfinancial metrics 106 Key Terms 107 Chapter Summary 107 Chapter 2: Chartering Your Project 113 What a Project Charter Is and Why You Need One 116 Develop Project Charter: Inputs 117 Project statement of work 117 Business case 119 Agreements 119 Enterprise environmental factors 119 Organizational process assets 120 Develop Project Charter: Tools and Techniques 121 Develop Project Charter: Outputs 122 Key Terms 128 Chapter Summary 128 Chapter 3: Identifying Project Stakeholders 133 Who Cares about Your Project? 136 Identify Stakeholders: Inputs 136 Project charter 136 Procurement documents 137 Enterprise environmental factors 137 Organizational process assets 137 Common stakeholders 138 Identify Stakeholders: Tools and Techniques 139 Stakeholder analysis 139 Expert judgment 142 Meetings 143 Identify Stakeholders: Outputs 143 Stakeholder register 143 Key Terms 146 Chapter Summary 147 Book III: Planning Integration, Scope, and Schedule 151 Chapter 1: Constructing the Project Management Plan 153 Knowledge and Skills for the Planning Processes 156 The Project Management Plan 156 Develop Project Management Plan: Inputs 157 Planning for change 160 Introduction to configuration management 162 Develop Project Management Plan: Tools and Techniques 162 Expert judgment 162 Facilitation techniques 164 Develop Project Management Plan: Outputs 165 The Project Management Plan and the Executing, Controlling, and Closing Processes 167 Project documents 168 Project management plan approval 169 The project kick-off meeting 169 Key Terms 170 Chapter Summary 170 Chapter 2: Defining Project Scope 175 Project and Product Scope 178 Plan Scope Management 179 Plan Scope Management: Inputs 179 Plan Scope Management: Tools and Techniques 180 Plan Scope Management: Outputs 180 Collect Requirements 181 Collect Requirements: Inputs 182 Collect Requirements: Tools and Techniques 183 Collect Requirements: Outputs 190 Define Scope 192 Define Scope: Inputs 192 Define Scope: Tools and Techniques 193 Define Scope: Outputs 194 Create WBS 197 Create WBS: Inputs 197 Create WBS: Tools and Techniques 197 Create WBS: Outputs 201 Key Terms 205 Chapter Summary 206 Chapter 3: Creating Your Schedule 211 Planning Schedule Management 214 Plan Schedule Management: Inputs 214 Plan Schedule Management: Tools and Techniques 215 Plan Schedule Management: Outputs 215 Define Activities 216 Define Activities: Inputs 216 Define Activities: Tools and Techniques 216 Define Activities: Outputs 217 Sequence Activities: Inputs 220 Sequence Activities: Tools and Techniques 221 Sequence Activities: Outputs 224 Estimate Activity Resources: Inputs 225 Estimate Activity Resources: Inputs 225 Estimate Activity Resources: Tools and Techniques 226 Estimate Activity Resources: Outputs 227 Estimating Activity Durations 229 Estimate Activity Durations: Inputs 231 Estimate Activity Durations: Tools and Techniques 232 Estimate Activity Durations: Outputs 235 Developing the Schedule 235 Develop Schedule: Inputs 235 Develop Schedule: Tools and Techniques 236 Develop Schedule: Outputs 247 Key Terms 252 Chapter Summary 254 Book IV: Planning Cost, Quality, Human Resources, and Communication 261 Chapter 1: Estimating the Price Tag 263 Plan Cost Management 266 Plan Cost Management: Inputs 266 Plan Cost Management: Tools and Techniques 266 Plan Cost Management: Outputs 267 Estimate Costs 268 Estimate Costs: Inputs 269 Estimate Costs: Tools and Techniques 270 Estimate Costs: Outputs 275 Determine Budget 276 Determine Budget: Inputs 277 Determine Budget: Tools and Techniques 278 Determine Budget: Outputs 280 Key Terms 282 Chapter Summary 283 Chapter 2: Planning for Quality 289 Basic Quality Concepts 292 Basic Statistics 295 Plan Quality Management 299 Plan Quality Management: Inputs 299 Plan Quality: Tools and Techniques 300 Plan Quality Management: Outputs 306 Key Terms 307 Chapter Summary 308 Chapter 3: Identifying Your Team Members 313 Plan Human Resource Management 316 Plan Human Resource Management: Inputs 317 Plan Human Resource Management: Tools and Techniques 318 Plan Human Resource Management: Outputs 322 Key Terms 323 Chapter Summary 324 Chapter 4: 90 Percent of Your Job Is Communication 329 Communication Building Blocks 332 Formal and informal, written and verbal 332 Words, tone, and body language 333 Communication skills 334 Plan Communications Management 334 Plan Communications Management: Inputs 335 Plan Communications Management: Tools and Techniques 335 Plan Communications Management: Outputs 339 Key Terms 341 Chapter Summary 341 Book V: Planning for Risks, Procurement, and Stakeholder Management 347 Chapter 1: Identifying What Could Go Wrong 349 Projects Breed Uncertainty 352 Plan Risk Management 353 Plan Risk Management: Inputs 354 Plan Risk Management: Tools and Techniques 354 Plan Risk Management: Outputs 355 Identify Risks 358 Identify Risks: Inputs 358 Identify Risks: Tools and Techniques 360 Identify Risks: Outputs 362 Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis 363 Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis: Inputs 363 Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis: Tools and Techniques 364 Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis: Outputs 367 Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis 368 Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis: Inputs 368 Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis: Tools and Techniques 369 Scenarios, modeling, and simulations 370 Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis: Outputs 376 Plan Risk Responses 377 Plan Risk Responses: Tools and Techniques 377 Plan Risk Responses: Outputs 382 Key Terms 386 Chapter Summary 387 Chapter 2: Getting Help — Procuring Project Scope 395 Procurement Basics 398 Plan Procurement Management 398 Plan Procurement Management: Inputs 399 Picking the right contract type 400 Plan Procurements: Tools and Techniques 405 Plan Procurements: Outputs 406 The procurement management plan 406 Source selection criteria 409 Procurement statement of work 410 Procurement documents 411 Key Terms 411 Chapter Summary 412 Chapter 3: Who Are All These People? Planning Stakeholder Management 419 Plan Stakeholder Management 422 Plan Stakeholder Management: Inputs 422 Plan Stakeholder Management: Tools and Techniques 423 Plan Stakeholder Management: Outputs 424 Key Terms 426 Chapter Summary 428 Book VI: Managing Your Project 433 Chapter 1: Managing the Work and Assuring Quality 435 Knowledge and Skills for the Executing Processes 438 Direct and Manage Project Work 438 Direct and Manage Project Work: Inputs 440 Direct and Manage Project Work: Tools and Techniques 443 Direct and Manage Project Work: Outputs 444 Perform Quality Assurance 446 Perform Quality Assurance: Inputs 447 Perform Quality Assurance: Tools and Techniques 448 Perform Quality Assurance: Outputs 451 Key Terms 452 Chapter Summary 453 Chapter 2: Managing the People Side of Your Project 459 Acquire Project Team 462 Acquire Project Team: Inputs 462 Acquire Project Team: Tools, Techniques, and Outputs 463 Develop Project Team 465 Develop Project Team: Inputs, Tools, and Techniques 466 Develop Project Team: Outputs 474 Manage Project Team 475 Manage Project Team: Inputs 475 Manage Project Team: Tools and Techniques 476 Manage Project Team: Outputs 483 Key Terms 484 Chapter Summary 486 Chapter 3: Getting the Word Out to Stakeholders and Contractors 493 Manage Communications 496 Manage Communications: Tools and Techniques 496 Manage Communications: Outputs 501 Manage Stakeholder Engagement 501 Manage Stakeholder Engagement: Inputs 502 Manage Stakeholder Engagement: Tools and Techniques 502 Manage Stakeholder Engagement: Outputs 503 Conduct Procurements 507 Conduct Procurements: Inputs 507 Conduct Procurements: Tools and Techniques 508 Conduct Procurements: Outputs 512 Key Terms 513 Chapter Summary 514 Book VII: Controlling Scope and Schedule 519 Chapter 1: Monitoring, Controlling, and Managing Change 521 Knowledge and Skills for the Monitoring and Controlling Processes 524 Monitor and Control Project Work 525 Monitoring versus controlling 525 Monitor and Control Project Work: Inputs 526 Monitor and Control Project Work: Tools and Techniques 528 Monitor and Control Project Work: Outputs 533 Taking responsibility for project performance 540 Perform Integrated Change Control 541 A Change Control process 543 Configuration management 546 Comparing Control Processes 549 Key Terms 550 Chapter Summary 550 Chapter 2: Controlling Project Scope 555 Validate Scope 558 The flow of deliverables 559 Validate Scope: Inputs 560 Validate Scope: Tools, Techniques, and Outputs 560 Control Scope 563 Creep versus change 563 Control Scope: Inputs 566 Control Scope: Tools and Techniques 567 Control Scope: Outputs 567 Key Terms 568 Chapter Summary 569 Chapter 3: Controlling Your Schedule 573 Control Schedule 576 Control Schedule: Inputs 577 Control Schedule: Tools and Techniques 578 Performance reviews 578 Resource optimization 580 Modeling techniques 580 Leads and lags 580 Schedule compression 580 Project management software and scheduling tool 584 Control Schedule: Outputs 584 Key Terms 586 Chapter Summary 586 Book VIII: Controlling Cost, Quality, and More 591 Chapter 1: Controlling Cost and Using Earned Value 593 Control Costs 596 Control Costs: Inputs 597 Control Costs: Tools and Techniques 599 Earned value management 599 Planning with EVM 600 Monitoring with EVM 604 More cost control techniques 613 Control Cost: Outputs 614 Key Terms 616 Chapter Summary 617 Chapter 2: Controlling Quality 623 Quality Control Basics 626 Control Quality: Inputs 626 Validating change requests 627 Example of validating change requests 628 Control Quality: Tools and Techniques 628 Flow charts 629 Cause-and-effect diagrams 631 Checksheets 632 Histograms and Pareto charts 632 Run charts and control charts 634 Scatter diagrams 637 Control Quality: Outputs 640 Key Terms 642 Chapter Summary 643 Chapter 3: Controlling Communications and Stakeholders 647 Control Communications 650 Control Communications: Inputs 650 Control Communications: Tools and Techniques 650 Control Communications: Outputs 652 Control Stakeholder Engagement 652 Control Stakeholder Engagement: Inputs 653 Control Stakeholder Engagement: Tools and Techniques 654 Control Stakeholder Engagement: Outputs 656 Key Terms 656 Chapter Summary 656 Chapter 4: Managing Your Risks and Procurements 661 Control Risks: Inputs 664 Control Risks: Tools and Techniques 665 Risk reassessment 666 Analysis 667 Risk audit 668 Control Risks: Outputs 670 Control Procurements 670 Control Procurements: Inputs 672 Control Procurements: Tools and Techniques 672 Control Procurements: Outputs 677 Key Terms 679 Chapter Summary 680 Book IX: Closing Your Project and the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct 687 Chapter 1: Closing Your Contracts and Your Project 689 Knowledge and Skills for the Closing Processes 692 Closing Your Procurements 692 Terminating a contract 692 Close Procurements: Tools and Techniques 695 Close Procurements: Outputs 698 Close Project or Phase 699 Close Project or Phase: Inputs 699 Close Project or Phase: Tools and Techniques 700 Close Project or Phase: Outputs 700 Key Terms 707 Chapter Summary 708 Chapter 2: The PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct 713 About the Code 716 Responsibility 717 Responsibility aspirational standards 717 Responsibility mandatory standards 718 Respect 719 Respect aspirational standards 719 Respect mandatory standards 720 Fairness 721 Fairness aspirational standards 721 Fairness mandatory standards 722 Honesty 723 Honesty aspirational standards 723 Honesty mandatory standards 724 Key Terms 725 Chapter Summary 725 Appendix A: What’s on the Website 733 System Requirements 733 Accessing the Prep Exam on the Website 733 What You’ll Find on the Website 734 Troubleshooting 734 Customer Care 735 Appendix B: Practice Test 737 Sample Test Answers 757 Appendix C: Lab Work 765 Knowledge Area and Process Groups 765 PMP Foundation 766 Project Integration Management 767 Project Scope Management 769 Project Time Management 770 Project Cost Management 771 Earned Value 772 Project Quality Management 772 Project Human Resource Management 774 Project Communications Management 774 Project Risk Management 775 Project Procurement Management 776 Project Stakeholder Management 777 Appendix C Answers 778 Appendix D: Exam Objective Cross Walk 791 Domain Tasks 791 Domain-Specific Knowledge and Skills 796 Initiating Knowledge and Skills 796 Planning Knowledge and Skills 797 Executing Knowledge and Skills 797 Monitor and Control Knowledge and Skills 797 Closing Knowledge and Skills 798 Cross-Cutting Skills and Knowledge 798 Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct 800 Appendix E: Glossary 803 1 Inclusions and Exclusions 803 2 Common Acronyms 804 3 Definitions 805 Index 843

About the Author :
Cynthia Snyder is a professional project management instructor and consultant. She was project manager for PMBOK Guide, 4th Edition, and serves on the PMI Standards Member Advisory Group. She received the Distinguished Contribution Award from PMI in 2009.