CAPM Exam

Identify Trends and Emerging Practices in Project Resource Management

Resource Management Methods Emotional Intelligence Self-organizing Teams Virtual Teams/ Distributed teams

Understand Tailoring and Approaches to Agile and Adapting Quality Management in Different Project Environments

Tailoring Considerations: Policy Compliance and auditing Standards and regulatory compliance Continuous improvement Stakeholder Engagement Considerations for Agile/Adaptive Environments: Agile methods call for frequent quality and review steps built in throughout the project rather than toward the end of the project. Recurring retrospectives regularly check on the effectiveness of the quality processes. They look for the root cause of issues then suggest trials of new approaches to improve quality. Subsequent retrospectives evaluate any trial processes to determine if they are working and should be continued or new adjusting or should be dropped from use. Agile methods: focus on small batches of work. aims to uncover inconsistencies and quality issues earlier in the project life cycle when the overall costs of change are lower.

Identify Techniques for Developing a Team

Colocation - placing many or all of the most active team members in the same physical location. Virtual teams - use technology to create an online team environment. Communication technology - shared portal, video conferencing, audio conferencing, and email and chat. Recognition and rewards - will be effective only if they satisfy a need that is valued by that individual. Training - all activities designed to enhance the competencies of the project team members. Individual and team assessments - assess team members' preferences, aspirations, how they process and organize information, how they make decisions, and how they interact with people.

Solve Simple Network Diagram Problems and Schedule Calculations (PDMS)

Ex: Finish- start, finish-finish, start-start, start-finish Ex SS+10 day lag Finish-to-Start (FS) Start-to-Start (SS) Finish-to-Finish (FF) Start-to-Finish (SF)

Identify Methods for Project Integration and Knowledge Management

Explicit (knowledge that can be readily codified using words, pictures, and numbers) Tacit (knowledge that is personal and difficult to express, such as beliefs, insights, experience, and "know-how")

Identify various types of contracts, agreements, and source selection methods

Fixed-fee Cost-reimbursable Time and materials

Understand Data Representation Techniques for Managing Project Resources

Hierarchical chartsWork breakdown structure (WBS)Organizational breakdown structure (OBS)Resource breakdown structure Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) (example: RACI chart) Text-oriented formats (example: outline)

Understand Components of Resource Management Plan

Identification of resources Acquiring resources Roles and responsibilities Project organization charts Project team resource management Training Team development Resource control Recognition plan

5 Project Management Process Groups:

1. Initiating- Processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase. 2. Planning- Processes required to establish the scope of the project, refine the objectives, and define the course of action required to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to achieve. 3. Executing- Processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project requirements. 4. Monitoring/Controlling- Processes required to track, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes. 5. Closing- processes performed to formally complete or close the project, phase or contract.

The Processes within each Group (knowledge areas):

1. Integration: activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and pm activities w/in proj mant process groups. 2. Scope: required to ensure the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the proj successfully. 3. Schedule: required to manage the timely completion of the project. 4. Cost: involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so the project can be completed w/in the approved budget. 5. Quality: incorporating the organization's quality policy regarding planning managing & controlling project and product quality requirements, in order to meet stakeholders expectations. 6. Resource: identify acquire, and manage the resources needed for the successful completion of the project. 7. Communications: ensure timely and appropriate planning collection creation distribution storage retrieval mant control monitoring and ultimate disposition of proj info. 8. Risk: conducting risk mant planning identification analysis response planning response implentation and monitoring risk on a project. 9. Procurement: Necessary to purchase or acquire products services or results needed from outside the proj team. 10. Stakeholder Mant: required to identify the people groups organizations that could impact or be impacted by the project, to analyze stakeholder expectations and their impact on the project, and to develop appropriate mant strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in proj decisions and execution.

Understand the 7 Processes in Project Risk Management

1. Plan Risk Management: Defining how to conduct risk management activities for a project. 2. Identify Risks: Identifying individual project risks as well as sources of overall project risk, and documenting their characteristics. 3. Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis: prioritizing individual project risks for further analysis or action by assessing their probability of occurrence and impact as well as other characteristics. 4. Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis: Numerically analyzing the combined effect of identified individual project risks and other sources of uncertainty on overall project objectives. 5. Plan Risk Responses: developing options, selecting strategies, and agreeing on actions to address overall project risk exposure, as well as treat individual project risks. 6. Risk Responses: implementing agreed upon risk response plan 7. Monitor Risks- Monitoring the implementation of agreed upon risk response plans, tracking identified risks, identifying and analyzing new risks, and evaluating risk process effectiveness throughout the project.

Identify they Major Elements included in the PMI Triangle.

1. Technical Project Mant Skills: The skills to effectively apply proj mant knowledge to deliver the desired outcomes for programs or projects. 2. Strategic and Business Mant skills: involve the ability to see the high-level overview of the organization and effectively negotiate and implement decisions and actions that support strategic alignment and innovation. 3. Leadership Skills: involve the ability to guide, motivate, and direct a team. may include demonstrating essential capabilities such as negotiation, resilience, communication, prob solving, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills.

Recognize Components of Communication Management Plan

A component of the project management plan that describes how project communications will be planned, structured, implemented, and monitored for effectiveness. Stakeholder communication requirements Information to be communicated, including language, format, content, and level of detail Escalation processes Reason for the distribution of that information Timeframe and frequency for the distribution of required information and receipt of acknowledgement or response, if applicable Person responsible for communicating the information Person responsible for authorizing release of confidential information Person or groups who will receive the information, including information about their needs, requirements, and expectations Methods or technologies used to convey the information, such as memos, email, press release, or social media Resources allocated for communication activities, including time and budget Method for updating and refining the communications management plan as the project progresses and develops, such as when the stakeholder community changes as the project moves through different phases Glossary of common terminology Flow charts of the information flow in the project, workflows with possible sequence of authorization, list of reports, meeting plans, etc. Constraints derived from specific legislation or regulation, technology, organizational policies, etc.

The Relationship among Project, Program, Portfolio, and Operational Management: Portfolio Management

A portfolio is defined as projects, programs, subsidiary portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives.

Identify Considerations for Agile/Adaptive Environments for Project Schedule Management.

Adaptive approaches use short cycles to undertake work, review the results, and adapt as necessary (iterative scheduling). Large organizations may need to combine practices in order to address the full delivery life cycle.

Identify trends and emerging practices for Project Procurement Management.

Advances in tools. In the contruction/engineering/infrastructure field, the increasing use of the building information model (BIM) in software tools has been shown to save significant amounts of time and money on projects using it. More advanced risk management. An increasing trend in risk management is to write contracts that accurately allocate specific risks to those entities most capable of managing them. ...Contracts may specify that risk management be performed as part of the contract. Changing contracting processes. There has been a significant growth in megaprojects in the past several years, particularly in the areas of infrastructure development and engineering project. ...For these projects, the use of internationally recognized standard contract forms is increasing in order to reduce problems and claims during execution. Logistics and supply chain management. For long-lead items, both the manufacture of the items and their transportation to the project site become schedule-drivers. ...For these projects, long-lead items may be procured in advance of other procurement contracts to meet the planned project completion date. Technology and stakeholder relations. Publicly funded projects are under increasing scrutiny. ...Some projects have discovered that the use of webcams minimizes disputes relating to the construction work on site, as the webcam has recorded the events, so there should be no disagreement about the facts of the matter. Trial engagements. Some projects will engage several candidate sellers for initial deliverables and work products on a paid basis before making the full commitment to a larger portion of the project scope.

Identify Techniques for Resolving Resource Related Problems

Alternatives analysis. Alternatives can be analyzed to select the best resolution for correcting variances in resource utilization. Cost-benefit analysis. This analysis helps to determine the best corrective action in terms of cost in case of project deviations. Perfromance reviews. Performance reviews measure, compare, and analyze planned resource utilization to actual resource utilization. Trend analysis. Trend analysis examines project performance over time and can be used to determine whether performance is improving or deteriorating.

Key Roles in Scope Management

Business Analyst: is assigned to a project that person is responsible for defining managing and controlling requirement activities.. May start before a project is initiated and a project manager is assigned. The Proj Manager is responsible for ensuring that requirements- related work is accounted for in the project management plan and that requirements-related activities are performed on time and within budget and deliver value. Relationship Between Proj Manager & Bus Analyst: collaborative. Fully understand each others roles and responsibilities to successfully achieve project objectives.

Tailoring considerations for project procurement management, including trends and emerging practices

Complexity of procurement. Is there one main procurement or are there multiple procurements at different times with different sellers that add to the complexity of the procurements? Physical location. Are the buyers and sellers in the same location, or reasonably close, or in different time zones, countries, or continents? Governance and regulatory environment. Are local laws and regulations regarding procurement activities integrated with the organization's procurement policies? How does this affect contract auditing requirements? Availability of contractors. Are there available contractors who are capable of performing the work?

Identify Concepts and Procedures Related to Project Change Management (Integration)

Corrective action. An intentional activity that realigns the performance of the project work with the project management plan. Preventative action. An intentional activity that ensures the future performance of the project work is aligned with the project management plan. Defect repair. An intentional activity to modify a nonconforming product or product component. Updates. Changes to formally controlled project documents, plans, etc., to reflect modified or additional ideas or consent. It allows for documented changes within the project to be considered in an integrated manner while addressing overall project risk, which often arises from changes made without consideration of the overall project objectives or plans. Once the project is baselined, change requests go through this process.

Identify various types of contracts, agreements, and source selection methods

Cost-reimbursable contracts - involves payments (cost reimbursements) to the seller for all legitimate actual costs incurred for completed work, plus a fee representing seller profit Cost plus fixed fee (CPFF) - receives a fixed-fee payment calculated as a percentage of the initial estimated project costs Cost plus incentive fee (CPIF) - receives a predetermined incentive fee based on achieving certain performance objectives as set forth in the contract Cost plus award fee (CPAF) - the majority of the fee is earned based on the satisfaction of certain broad subjective performance criteria that are defined and incorporated into the contract

Identify Trends and Emerging Practices in Project Quality Management

Customer Satisfaction Continual Improvement (Plan do check act) PDCA- is the basis for quality improvement. initiatives such as total quality management TQM, Six Sigma, and lean Six Sigma may improve both the quality of project management, as well as quality of the end product service or result. Management Responsibility Mutually beneficial partnership with suppliers

Understand The 7 Project Management Processes in the Project Integration Management Knowledge Area

Develop Project Charter- Developing a document that formally authorizes the existence of project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. Develop Project Management Plan- Defining, preparing and coordinating all plan components and consolidating them into an integrated proj mant plan. Direct and Manage Project work- Leading and Performing the work defined in the proj mant plan and implementing approved changes to achieve the projects objectives. Manage Project Knowledge- using existing knowledge and creating new knowledge to achieve the project's objectives and contribute to organizational learning. Monitor/Control Project work- Tracking, reviewing, and reporting overall progress to meet the performance objectives defined in proj mant plan Perform integrated change control- reviewing all change requests; approving changes and managing changes to deliverables organizational process assets, project documents, and project mant plan, communicating the decisions Close Project or phase- Process of finalizing all activities for the project phase or contract.

Identify Tailoring Considerations in Project Resource Management

Diversity. What is the diversity background of the team? Physical location. What is the physical location of team members and physical resources? Industry-specific resources. What special resources are needed in the industry? Acquisition of team members. How will team members be acquired for the project? Are team resources full-time or part-time on the project? Management of team. How is team development managed for the project? Are there organizational tools to manage team development or will new ones need to be established? Are there team members who have special needs? Will the team need special training to manage diversity? Life cycle approaches. What life cycle approach will be used on the project?

Understand and Apply Basic Earned Value Methods For Project Cost management

EVA compares the performance measurement baseline to the actual schedule and cost performance. EVM integrates the scope baseline with the cost baseline and schedule baseline to form the performance measurement baseline. Variance Analysis: Cost- (CV=EV-AC) Schedule- (SV=EV-PV) Variance at Completion (VAC=BAC-EAC) Schedule Variance (how much a project is ahead or behind) SV=EV-PV Cost Variance (amount of budget deficit or surplus at a given point in time) CV= EV-AC SPI Schedule Performance Index (how efficient the project team is accomplishing work) SPI= EV/PV CPI Cost Performance Index (the cost efficiency of budgeted resources, expressed as a ratio of earned value to actual cost) CPI = EV/AC

Identify the factors that may impact the outcome of a project.

Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs): Refers to conditions, not under the control of the project team, that influence, constrain or direct the project. Can be Internal or External May have an impact at the organizational, portfolio, program or project level.

Identify various types of contracts, agreements, and source selection methods

Fixed-price contracts - setting a fixed total price for a defined product, service, or result to be provided Firm fixed price (FFP) - the price for goods is set at the outset and not subject to change unless the scope of work changes Fixed price incentive fee (FPIF) - allows for deviation from performance, with financial incentives tied to achieving agreed-upon metrics Fixed price with economic price adjustments (FPEPA) - with a special provision allowing for predefined final adjustments to the contract price due to changed conditions

The Relationship among Project, Program, Portfolio, and Operational Management: Program Management:

Focuses on interdependencies between projects and between projects and the program level to determine the optimal approach for managing them.

Understand and Apply Basic Forecasting For Project Cost management

Forecasting: The Project team may develop a forecast for the estimate at completion (EAC) that may differ from the Budget at Completion (BAC) based on the project performance EAC's are typically based on the actual costs incurred for work completed plus an estimate to complete the remaining work (ETC) Earned Value Analysis (EVA) works well with manual forecasts of the required EAC costs. Most Common EAC forcasting approach is a manual bottom-up summation by the pm and project team. EAC= AC+ Bottom-up ETC.

Distinguish between Organizational Systems

Governance Frameworks: Governance refers to organizational or structural arrangements at all levels of an organization designed to determine and influence the behavior of the organizations members. Includes: consideration of people, roles, structures, and policies, and requires providing direction and oversight through data and feedback. Management Elements: The components that comprise the key functions or principles of general mant in the organization. The General mant elements are allocated w/in the organization according to its governance framework and the organization structure type selected. Organizational Structure Types: Determination of the appropriate organizational structure type is a result of tradeoffs between 2 key variables. The variables are the organizational structures types available for use and how to optimize them for a given organization. The final structure for a given organization is unique due to the numerous variables to be considered.

Understand Project Scope Management for Agile/Adaptive projects, including the use of Prototypes

In projects with evolving requirements, high risk, or significant uncertainty, ...agile methods deliberately spend less time trying to define and agree on scope in the early stage of the project and spend more time establishing the process for its ongoing discovery and refinement. Many environments with emerging requirements find that there is often a gap between the real business requirements and the business requirements that were originally stated. Therefore, agile methods purposefully build and review prototypes and release versions in order to refine the requirements. As a result, scope is defined and redefined throughout the project. In agile approaches, the requirements constitute the backlog.

Understand the 3 processes in Project Procurement Management

Includes the processes necessary to purchase or acquire products, services, or results needed from outside the project team. 12.1 Plan Procurement Management: The process of documenting project procurement decisions, specifying the approach and identifying potential sellers. 12.2 Conduct Procurements: The process of obtaining seller responses, selecting a seller, and awarding a contract. 12.3 Control Procurements: The process of managing procurement relationships; monitoring contract performance, and making changes and corrections as appropriate; and closing out contracts.

Understand the 4 processes in the Project Stakeholder Management

Includes the processes required to identify the people, groups, or organizations that could impact or be impacted by the project, to analyze stakeholder expectations and their impact on the project, and to develop appropriate management strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in project decisions and execution. Identify Stakeholders: identifying project stakeholders regularly and analyzing and documenting relevant information regarding their interests, involvement, interdependencies, influence, and potential impact on project success. Plan Stakeholder Engagement: developing approaches to involve project stakeholders based on their needs, expectations, interests, and potential impact on the project. Manage Stakeholder Engagement: communicating and working with stakeholders to meet their needs and expectations, address issues, and foster appropriate stakeholder involvement. Monitor Stakeholder Engagement: monitoring project stakeholder relationships and tailoring strategies for engaging stakeholders through modification of engagement strategies and plans.

Recognize the Dimensions Of Communication in Project Communication Management

Internal. Focus on stakeholders within the project and within the organization. External. Focus on external stakeholders such as customers, vendors, other projects, organizations, government, the public, and environmental advocates. Formal. Reports, formal meetings (both regular and ad hoc), meeting agendas and minutes, stakeholder briefings, and presentations. Informal. General communications activities using emails, social media, websites, and informal ad hoc discussions. Hierarchical focus. The position of the stakeholder or group with respect to the project team will affect the format and content of the message.Upward - senior managementDownward - team members and contributorsHorizontal - peers of team or project manager Official. Annual reports; reports to regulators or government bodies. Unofficial. Communications that focus on establishing and maintaining the profile and recognition of the project and building strong relationships between the project team and its stakeholders using flexible and often informal means. Written and oral. Verbal (words and voice inflections) and nonverbal (body language and actions), social media and websites, media releases.

Tailoring Considerations for Scope Management

Knowledge and requirements management. Does the organization have formal or informal knowledge and requirements management systems? What guidelines should the project manager establish for requirements to be reused in the future? Validation and control. Does the organization have existing formal or informal validation and control-related policies, procedures, and guidelines? Development approach. Does the organization use agile approaches in managing projects? Is the development approach iterative or incremental? Is a predictive approach used? Will a hybrid approach be productive? Stability of requirements. Are there areas of the project with unstable requirements? Do unstable requirements necessitate the use of lean, agile, or other adaptive techniques until they are stable and well defined? Governance. Does the organization have formal or informal audit and governance policies, procedures, and guidelines?

Identify Tailoring Considerations for Project Cost Management

Knowledge management. Does the organization have a formal knowledge management and financial database repository that a project manager is required to use and that is readily acceeible? Estimating and budgeting. Does the organization have existing formal or informal cost estimating and budgeted-related policies, procedures, and guidelines? Earned value management. Does the organization use earned value management in managing projects? Use of agile approach. Does the organization use agile methodologies in managing projects? How does this impact cost estimating? Governance. Does the organization have formal or informal audit and governance policies, procedures, and guidelines?

Identify various types of contracts, agreements, and source selection methods : Identify the various source selection methods.

Least cost Qualifications only Quality-based/highest technical proposal score Quality and cost-based Sole source Fixed budget

Identify Considerations for Agile/ Adaptive Environments for Project Cost Management

Lightweight estimation methods can be used to generate a fast, high-level forecast or project labor csts, which can then be easily adjusted as changes arise. In cases where high-variability projects are also subject to strict budgets, the scope and schedule are more often adjusted to stay within cost constraints.

Recognize the difference between Leadership and Management

Management: directing another person to get from 1 point to another using a known set of expected behaviors. Leadership: Involves working with others through discussion or debate in order to guide them from one point to another.

The Relationship among Project, Program, Portfolio, and Operational Management: Operations:

Operations management is an area that is outside the scope of formal project management as described in this guide. Is concerned with the ongoing production of goods and/or services. Ok ensures that business operations continue efficiently by using the optimal resources needed to meet customer demands. It is concerned with managing processes that transforms inputs into outputs.

Identify the ASSETS that may impact the outcome of a project.

Organizational Process Assets (OPAs): The plans, processes policies procedures and knowledge bases specific to and used by the performing organization. These assets influence the mant of the project. Include any artifact, practice, or knowledge from any or all of the performing organizations involved in the project that can be used to execute or govern the project. the organizations lessons learned from previous projects and historical info. Completed schedule, risk data, and earned value data. Grouped in 2 categories: Processes policies and procedures/ Organizational knowledge bases

Understand the Purpose and Activities of a Project Management Office

PMO: is an organizational structure that Standardizes the project related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques. Responsibilities include providing proj mant support functions to the direct mant of 1 or more projects. Types: Supportive, Controlling, Directive Activities: make recommendations, lead knowledge transfer, terminate projects, take other actions required.

Understand the 3 Processes in Project Communications Management

Plan Communication Management: Developing approach and plan for project Communication activities based on the information needs of each stakeholder or group, available organizational assets, and the needs of the project. Manage Communications: Ensuring timely and appropriate collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, monitoring, and the ultimate disposition of project information. Monitor Communications: Ensuring the Information needs of the project and its stakeholders are met.

Understand the 4 Processes in Project Cost Management

Plan Cost Management: defining how the project costs will be estimated, budgeted, managed, monitored, and controlled. Estimate Costs: developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete Project work. Determine Budget: Aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline. Control Costs: Monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and manage changes to the cost baseline.

Understand the 3 Processes in the Project Quality Management

Plan Quality Management- Identifying quality requirements and or standards for the project and its deliverables, and documenting how the project will demonstrate compliance with quality requirements and or standards. Manage Quality- Translating the quality management plan into executable quality activities that incorporate the organization's quality policies into the project. Control Quality- Monitoring and recording the results of executing the quality management activities to assess performance and ensure the project outputs are complete, correct, and meet customer expectations.

Define the 6 Processes in the Project Resource Management

Plan Resource Management: Defining how to estimate, acquire, manage, and utilize physical and team resources. Estimate Activity Resources: Estimating team resources and the type and quantities of material, equipment, and supplies necessary to perform project work. Acquire Resources: obtaining team members, facilities, equipment, materials, supplies and other resources necessary to complete project work. Develop Team: Improving competencies, team member interaction, and the overall team environment to enhance project performance. Manage Team: tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues and managing team changes to optimize project performance. Control Resources: Ensuring that the physical resources assigned and allocated to the project are available as planned, as well as monitoring the planned versus actual use of resources, and performing corrective action as necessary.

Define 6 Project Management Processes in Project Schedule Management knowledge area

Plan Schedule Management: Establishing the policies procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule. Define Activities: identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce project deliverables. Sequence Activities: identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities. Estimate Activity Durations: estimating the # of work periods needed to complete individual activities with the estimated resources. Develop Schedule: analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model for project execution, monitoring & controlling. Control Schedule: monitoring the status of the project to update the project schedule and manage change to the schedule baseline.

Understand the 6 Project Mant Processes in Project Scope Knowledge Area.

Plan Scope Mant- creating scope management plan that documents how the project and product scope will be defined, validated, and controlled. Collect Requirements- determining, documenting, and managing stakeholder needs and requirements to meet project objectives. Define Scope- developing a detailed description of the project and product. Create WBS- Subdividing project deliverables and project work into smaller, more manageable components. Validate Scope- Formalizing Acceptance of the completed project Deliverables. Control Scope- Monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline.

The Relationship among Project, Program, Portfolio, and Operational Management: Organizational project management (OPM) and strategies:

Portfolio: aligns portfolios with strategies by selecting the right programs and projects. Programs: harmonize its components and controls interdependencies in order to realize specific benefits. Projects: enables the achievement of goals and objectives.

Understand The Purpose of Project Integration Management and The Project Manager's Role within it.

Project Integration Management includes the processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities within the Project Management Project Groups. These processes include making choices about: Resoure allocation, Balancing competing demands, Examining any alternative approaches, Tailoring the processes to meet the project objectives, and Managing the interdependencies among the Project Management Knowledge Areas. The project manager is the one who combines the results in all the other Knowledge Areas and has the overall view of the project. The project manager is ultimately responsible for the project as a whole.

Understand The Project Managers Sphere of Influence

Project Managers fulfill Numerous roles within their sphere of influence. These Roles reflect the project manager's capabilities and are representative of the value and contributions of the project mant Profession. 1. Project: 2. The Organization: 3. The Industry: 4. Professional Discipline: 5. Across Disciplines:

Identify Agile/ Adaptive Considerations in Project Communications Management

Project environments subject to various elements of ambiguity and change have an inherent need to communicate evolving and emerging details more frequently and quickly. This motivates streamlining team member access to information, frequent team checkpoints, and colocating team members as much as possible. Posting project artifacts in a transparent fashion and holding regular stakeholder reviews are intended to promote communication with management and stakeholders.

Identify Tailoring Consideration in Project Integration Management and Recognize Key Documents.

Project life cycle. What is an appropriate project life cycle? What phases should comprise the project life cycle? Development life cycle. What development lift cycle and approach are appropriate for the product, service, or result? Is a predictive or adaptive approach appropriate? If adaptive, should the product be developed incrementally or iteratively? Is a hybrid approach best? Management approaches. What management processes are most effective based on the organizational culture and the complexity of the project? Change. How will change be managed in the project? Governance. What control boards, committees, and other stakeholders are part of the project? What are the project status reporting requirements? Lessons learned. What information should be collected throughout and at the end of the project? How will historical information and lessons learned by made available to future projects? Benefits. When and how should benefits be reported: at the end of the project or at the end of each iteration or phase?

Recognize when and how to adjust risk based on the project environment

Project size. Does the project's size in terms of budget, duration, scope, or team size require a more detailed approch to risk management? Or is it small enough to justify a simplified risk process? Project complexity. Is a robust risk approach demanded by high levels of innovation, new technology, commercial arrangements, interfaces, or external dependencies that increase project complexity? Or is the project simple enough that a reduced risk process will suffice? Project importance. How strategically important is the project? Is the level of risk increased for this project because it aims to produce breakthrough opportunities, addresses significant blocks to organizational performance, or involves major product innovation? Development approach. Is this a waterfall project, where risk processes can be followed sequentially and iteratively, or does the project follow an agile approach where risk is addressed at the start of each iteration as well as during its execution?

Recognize the Hierarchy of Projects, Programs, portfolios

Projects --> Programs (bunch of projects) -->Portfolios (bunch of Programs)

The Relationship among Project, Program, Portfolio, and Operational Management: Operations and Project Management

Projects can intersect with operations when: developing a new product, improving process, at the end of the product life, and at each close out phase.

The Relationship among Project, Program, Portfolio, and Operational Management:

Projects may be managed in three separate scenarios: as a stand-alone project (outside of a portfolio or program), within a program, or within a portfolio. Program and project management focus on doing programs and projects the right way; and portfolios management focuses on doing the right programs and projects.

Identify Agile/ Adaptive Considerations In Project Resource Management

Projects with high variability benefit from team structures that maximize focus and collaboration, such as self-organizing team with generalizing specialists. Collaborative teams may facilitate accelerated integration of distinct work activities, improve communication, increase knowledge sharing, and provide flexibility of work assignments in addition to other advantages.

Identify Key Documents in Project Risk Management

Risk management plan (a component of the project management plan that describes how risk management activities will be structured and performed) Risk strategy Methodology Roles and responsibilities Funding Timing Risk categories Stakeholder risk appetite Definitions of risk probability and impacts Probability and impact matrix Reporting formats Tracking Risk register (captures details of identified individual project risks)List of identified risksPotential risk ownersList of potential risk responses Risk report (presents information on sources of overall project risk, together with summary information on identified individual project risks) Sources of overall project risk Summary information on identified individual project risks

Identify Communication Skills and Methods for Project Communication Management

Sender-recevier models. Incorporating feedback loops to provide opportunities for interaction/participation and remove barriers to effective communication. Choice of media. Decisions about application of communications artifacts to meet specific project needs, such as when to communicate in writing versus orally, when to prepare an informal memo versus a formal report, and when to use push/pull options and the choice of appropriate technology. Writing style. Appropriate use of active versus passive voice, sentence structure, and word choice. Meeting management. Preparing an agenda, inviting essential participants, and ensuring they attend. Dealing with conflicts within the meeting or resulting from inadequate follow-up of minutes and actions, or attendance of the wrong people. Presentations. Awareness of the impact of body language and design of visual aids. Facilitation. Building consensus and overcoming obstacles such as difficult group dynamics, and maintaining interest and enthusiasm among group members. Active listening. Listening actively involves acknowledging, clarifying and confirming, understanding, and removing barriers that adversely affect comprehension.

Identify Tailoring Considerations in Project Communications Management

Stakeholders. Are the stakeholders internal or external to the organization, or both? Physical location. What is the physical location of team members? Is the team colocated? Is the team in the same geographical area? Is the team distributed across multiple time zones? Communications technology. What technology is available to develop, record, transmit, retrieve, track, and store communication artifacts? What technologies are most appropriate and cost effective for communicating to stakeholders? Language. Language is a main factor to consider in communication activities. Is one lanaguage used? Or are many languages used? Have allowances been made to adjust to the complexity of team members from diverse language groups? Knowledge management. Does the organization have a formal knowledge management repository? Is the repository used?

The Function and Importance of Tailoring for Different Projects:

The Appropriate Project management Processes, inputs, tools techniques, outputs, and life cycle phases should be selected to manage a project. Tailoring is necessary because each project is unique; not every process, tool, technique, inputs, or output is required on every project. Should address the competing constraints of scope, schedule, cost, resources, quality and risk. The importance of each constraint is different for each project. the PM tailors the approach for managing these constraints based on the project environment, organization culture, stakeholder needs, and other variables.

Identify the Elements of a Work Break Down Structure (WBS) for both Product and Project Scope

The Planned work is contained within the lowest level of WBS Components, which are called Work Packages. Work Package can be used to group the activities where work is scheduled and estimated, monitored and controlled. Work refers to work products or deliverables that are the result of activity and not the activity itself Decomposition- technique that allows you to divide project deliverables into small manageable parts.

Define a Typical Project LifeCycle

The Series of phases that a project passes through from its start to its completion. Proj phase: Collection of proj activities that culminates in completion of 1 or more deliverables. 1. Start of project 2. organizing Preparing 3. Carrying out work 4. Closing the project.

Identify the Purpose of a Work Break Down Structure (WBS) for both Product and Project Scope

The WBS organizes and defines the total scope of the project and represents the work specified in the current approved project scope statement. A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to acommplish the project objective and create the required deliverables.

State the Primary Functions of a Project Manager

plays a role in leadership of a project team in order to achieve the project's objectives. Involved in project from Initiation-->Closing and in Evaluation and Analysis activities prior to project Initiation. Membership and Roles Responsibility for Team Knowledge and Skills

Identify Techniques for Managing Conflict

Withdraw/avoid. Retreating from an actual or potential conflict situation; postponing the issue to be better prepared or to be resolved by others. Smooth/accommodate. Emphasizing areas of agreement rather than areas of difference; conceding one's position to the needs of others to maintain harmony and relationships. Compromise/reconcile. Searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties in order to temporarily or partially resolve the conflict. This approach occasionally results in a lose-lose situation. Force/direct. Pushing one's viewpoint at the expense of others; offering only win-lose solutions, usually enforced through a power position to resolve an emergency. This approach often result to a win-lose situation. Collaborate/problem solve. Incorporating multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives; requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue that typically leads to consensus and commitment. This approach can result in a win-win situation.

Identify Key concepts of Project Resource Management

[more than physical] Project resources include both physical resources (equipment, materials, facilities, and infrastructure) and team resources (individuals with assigned project roles and responsibilities). [resource types are different] Different skills and competencies are needed to manage team resources versus physical resources. [leader + manager] The project manager should be both the leader and the manager of the project team, and should invest suitable effort in acquiring, managing, motivating, and empowering team members. [influences matter] The project manager should be aware of team influences such as the team environment, geographical location of team members, communication among stakeholders, organizational change management, internal and external politics, cultural issues, and organizational uniqueness. [development is key] The project manager is responsible for proactively developing team skills and competencies while retaining and improving team satisfaction and motiviation. [effectiveness and efficiency] Physical resource management is concentrated on allocating and utilizing the physical resources needed for successful completion of the project in an efficient and effective way. Failure to manager and control resources efficiently may reduce the chance of completing the project successfully.

Identify key concepts and tailoring considerations for project procurement management, including trends and emerging practices

[no need to be an expert] The project manager should be familiar enough with the procurement process to make intelligent decisions regarding contracts and contractual relationships. [agreement between buyer and seller] Procurement involves agreements that describe the relationship between a buyer and a seller. Agreements can be simple or complex, and the procurement approach should reflect the degree of complexity. An agreement can be a contract, a service-level agreement, an understanding, a memorandum of agreement, or a purchase order. [comply with the law] Agreements must comply with local, national, and international laws regarding contracts. [specific to the project] The project manager should ensure that all procurements meet the specific needs of the project, while working with procurement specialists to ensure organizational policies are followed. [legally binding] The legally binding nature of an agreement means it will be subjected to a more extensive approval process, often involving the legal department, to ensure that it adequately describes the products, services, or results that the seller is agreeing to provide, while being in compliance with the laws and regulations regarding procurements. [multiple contracts are possible] A complex project may involve multiple contracts simultaneously or in sequence. The buyer-seller relationship may exist at many levels on any one project, and between organizations internal to and external to the acquiring organization.

Identify Key Concepts of Project Cost Management

[ongoing use costs] This knowledge area should also consider the effect of project decisions on the subsequent recurring cost of using, maintaining, and supporting project deliverables. [stakeholder expectations] Different stakeholders will measure project costs in different ways and at different times. Stakeholder requirements for managing costs should be considered explicitly. [outsource performance analysis or nah] Predicting and analyzing the prospective financial performance of the project's product may be performed outside the project, or it may be part of Project Cost Management.

Identify Key Concepts for Project Scope Management

[product v. project] Scope can refer to product scope (the features and functions that characterize a product, service, or result), or to project scope (the work performed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions). [upfront v. iteratively] Project life cycles range along a continuum from predictive to adaptive or agile. In a life cycle that uses a predictive approach, the project deliverables are defined at the beginning of the project and any changes to the scope are progressively managed. In an adaptive or agile approach, the deliverables are developed over multiple iterations where a detailed cope is defined and approved for each iteration when it begins. [completion comparison] Completion of the project scope is measured against the project management plan. Completion of the product scope is measured against the product requirements.

Identify Key Concepts In Project Communications Management

[the "s" matters] Communication is the process of exchanging information, intended or involuntary, between individuals and/or groups. Communications describes the measn by which information can be sent or received, either through activites, such as meetings and presentations, or artifacts, such as emails, social media, project reports, or project documentation. Project Communications Management address both the process of communication, as well as management of communications activities and artifacts. [build clear bridges] Effective communication creates a bridge between diverse stakeholders whose differences will generally have an impact or influence upon the project execution or outcome, so it is vital that all communication is clear and concise. [many types] Communication activities include internal and external, formal and informal, written and oral. [direction matters] Communication can be directed upwards to senior management stakeholders, downwards to team members, or horizontally to peers. This will affect the format and content of the message. [strategies and skills] Communication takes place consciously or unconsciously through words, facial expressions, gestures, and other actions. It includes developing strategies and plans for suitable communications artifacts, and the application of skills to enhance effectiveness. [effort required] Effort is required to prevent misunderstandings and miscommunication, and the methods, messengers, and messages should be carefully selected. [how to be effective] Effective communication depends on defining the purpose of communication, understanding the receiver of the communications, and monitoring effectiveness.

Identify Key Concepts of Project Integration Management

[this is your job and no one elses] Project Integration Management is the specific responsibility of the project manager and it cannot be delegated or transferred. The project manager is the one that combines the results from all the other Knowledge Areas to provide an overall view of the project. The project manager is ultimately responsible for the project as a whole. [it's all connected] Projects and project management are integrative by nature, with most tasks involving more than one Knowledge Area. [overall management of processes and how they interact] Project Integration Management is about:Ensuring that the due dates of project deliverables, the project life cycle, and the benefits realization plan are aligned;Providing a project management plan to achieve the project objective;Ensuring the creation and the use of appopriate knowledge to and from the project;Managing project performance and changes to the project activities;Making integrated decisions regarding key changes impacting the project;Measuring and monitoring progress and taking appropriate action;Collecting, analyzing, and communicating project information to relevant stakeholders;Completing all the work of the project and formally closing each phase, contract, and the project as a whole; andManaging phase transitions when necessary.

Identify the key concepts and benefits of Stakeholder Management

[type of impact] Every project has stakeholder who are impacted by or can impact the project in a positive or negative way. Some stakeholders will have a limited ability to influence the project's work or outcomes; others will have significant influence on the project and its expected outcomes. [idenitification is key] The ability of the project manager and team to correctly identify and engage all of the stakeholders in an appropriate way can mean the difference between project success and failure. [begin quickly!] To increase the chances of success, the process of stakeholder identification and engagement should commence as soon as possible after the project charter has been approved, the project manager has been assigned, and the team begins to form. [continuous communication] The key to effective stakeholder engagement is a focus on continuous communication with all stakeholders. Stakeholder satisfaction should be identified and managed as a key project objective. [iterative process] The process of identifying and engaging stakeholders for the benefit of the project is iterative, and should be reviewed and updated routinely, particularly when the project moves into a new phase, or if there are significant changes in the organization or the wider stakeholder community.