Easy concepts made hard in questions - Tuckman's Model & Maslow's Hierarchy

Don't underestimate easy concepts. They can turn sour and bitter at the exam and unnecessarily take points off your final result. Let's have a look at typical two: Tuckman's Model and Maslow's Theory. They might sound easy but don't take them for granted.

"Stakeholders" tend to associate with certain words

Say you have a rather difficult question about stakeholders. None of the answers doesn't make any sense. Chances are high that it will be the one mentioning "requirements". 

Stakeholders are critical in defining requirements and the 2 terms naturally attract each other.

Stakeholders are also crucial in defining constraints and when you manage them they need to be happy / satisfied.

Just like Birds of a feather flock together so some of the PMI terms tend to be flocked more near one another.

When you Start noticing those, it will help you pass.

Difference between Stakaholder Management Plan and Communications Management Plan

Stakeholder and Communications Management Plans store similar information and telling them from each other can sometimes be confusing.

There is however one clear distinction. Communications Management Plan is more about means of communications and communication models while the Stakeholder Management Plan stresses more about where or why of communication. For instance when you have an issue or problem and you don't know who you should escalate it to and under what circumstances that should happen.

Think of a "stakeholder" as a "placeholder"

Sometimes questions asking about stakeholders really mean something more specific, they just do't want to give it away thinking they would make things too easy for you.

It's a good idea sometimes to swap stakeholders with something else, like for instance decision-makers. Then all of a sudden the answer becomes a whole lot clearer.

And when you manage stakeholders, you strive for their satisfaction

Work Performance ... What? - Data, Information or Reports

It sounds complicated but it's actually very easy. Do you understand the difference between Work Performance Data, Work Performance Information and Work Performance Reports? If not, read on.
If you properly understand this, you will get extra points at the exam.

Distinguish between "Validated" Deliverables and "Accepted" Deliverables

Validated Deliverables is an output of Control Quality (5d)
They are sometimes referred to as "Verified" Deliverables and these two words are sometimes used interchangeably.
And !!!!
It is important to understand here that they "Validated" Deliverables are NOT OUTPUT OF "Validate" Scope (2d1/2)! where "Accepted" Deliverables are output.
Simply watch the wording!

See processes in simplified form:
Simplified Processes Matrix

Project Charter as INPUT - in what processes is it?

Use the following illustration to visualize in what processes you need to use Project Charter.
Visualisation is a great trick to remember important facts. The processes marked in blue are where Project Charter is required as Input.

EEF & OPA - into what processes do they go?

OK. Enterprise Environmental Factors and Organizational Process Assets  are frequent inputs. So frequent that sometimes they become a little bit intimidating. So let's make clear - visually - whrere they are and where you can simply forget about them.
These are frequent inputs. So frequent that sometimes it becomes a little bit intimidating especially when you just read it. So let's make it clear - visually - whrere they are and where you can simply forget about them.

Expert Judgement - in what processes do you need it?

Expert Judgment is an important Input to many processes. In short, sometimes you need experts, sometimes you do. And even though in a lot of situations, engaging an expert will be common sense, PMI clearly states in which processes they are required. Let's start by introducing a simple trick to better memorize this. It is easier to memorize -> where Experts ARE NOT.

Meetings - in what processes do you formally need them?

Meetings, meetings, meeting. They are everywhere. Or not? They are not part of every process. They are mainly in planning. When you look at the graphic, it will all suddenly become very clear.

Mind Square Brackets in one of the Estimate at Completion (EAC) formulas!

When calculating Estimate at Completion or in short 'EAC', in a scenario when things are not quite going to plan but you still DO need to stick to a deadline, you need to consider both CPI and SPI. In this case take note of the square brackets (or [...]) in the formula. This is the only instance (among the 50 or so other formulas you will need to know for the exam) where you officially need to apply square brackets.

Note the "Anomaly" in Change Requests

Have you noticed? Change Requests are normally and primarily outputs of EXECUTING and MONITORING and CONTROLING processes.
There is one instance however where they go out of a planning proceess. Do you know which one?

Control Quality vs Quality Assurance

Control Quality is when you review deliverables - whether they match requirements.   An example will explain.

The Art of Prioritization - telling "maximizing" from "minimizing" is of crucial importance

Price (when you're a buyer) is a typical example of the "Minimizing" rule. If you buy, you want the price to be as low as possible. Interest, on the other hand, typically represents the "Maximizing" rule. That's when you put your money in a bank and search for the highest rate. It would be the exact opposite if you were the borrower.
That seems easy. So far so good. But in what category would you place some more complex indicators such as CPI, IRR, ROI etc.?

How much time do I need to prepare for the PMP exam?

I had experience with projects in different industries from IT, academic world to a big engineering project but I had no formal project qualification. PMP seemed like a viable option and I got genuinely interested in the subject. I simply wanted to know more. First I only considered CAPM. I took the online course (Essentials of Project Management)  before it occurred to me that I had enough experience to go for PMP. Nevertheless I don't regret taking that course because it gave me solid basic knowledge (it is hard to read PMBOK® like beletry). Some of the questions in that online course were no less challenging than those in the actual PMP exam. The difference is that CAPM exam would take 3 instead of 4 hours and it probably goes into slightly less detail. Nevertheless, if you're new to PMI, I consider this to be a very good start. Don't feel embarrased if you feel more 'experienced'. It's no shame. It's worth it. I spent about 2 months doing it.

Once I was past that (having done all the simulator questions there), I read the entire Rita Book:
PMP Exam Prep, Eighth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam

Rita is good because she gives you that different perspective. It is not just about processes and ITTOs, there is more of that 'humane' touch and you learn to read between the lines for the first time. Plus, some of the questions really humbled me. You simply start to learn the tricks and get acquianted with the PMI way of thinking. This took me about 1.5 months of serious work.

I took PMP Prepcast by Cornelius Fichtner as part of the 30 contact hours requirement to take PMP exam. I knew I was running out of time and so I knew I wouldn't be able to listen to all the prepcasts before the exam but I must say I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only I liked the guy's style very much (including his nice 'foreign' but very clear accent), it also gave me opportunity to uncover the gaps - and whatever I hadn't got so far.


Tip: 
There is no better way to study than by a simulated exam. (The books and courses might not motivate enough but seeing improving results is very empowering)
Record what you've done wrong and have some kind of search functionality so you can search for terms. Things repeat and sometimes you need to have a few goes at it to remember it.
If you don't want to invest in it, at least get a free 3-day trial. It really pays off.


I used a database as a notepad. I was writing down all questions I didn't pass, in all three courses to identify my weak spots. Whenever I got a question wrong, I noted why and searched for previous instances of it. When wanting to clarify something I searched for the term and found the answer, possibly in all three courses. It is always good to have more points of view than just one.



3 and a half months into hard study and my results were NOT fantastic. I was not excelling.
I was achieving about 65% to 76% score, occasionaly getting slightly more in some areas but nothing that would give me confidence. At first I was scared of the formulas only to find out later that questions with formulas were actually my friends and I started to wish for more of those at the exam. The formulas are easy. The hard part is the interpretation but even that can be learned. Not wanting to leave anything to chance I included the PMP® Exam Formula Study Guide™ in it too. Again, no regrets. It greatly helped me solidify my knowledge.

But I felt I really needed to wrap my effort into some kind of a schedule just like the PMI preaches. I planned to do all 9 simulator exams provided in the course. Because of other committments it was not always easy to find a four-hour time slot so I figured I would need about a month to do that. The practice exams were very solid and very well made. I was thrilled and pissed off at myself at the same time (forgive me that word) because in every knew exam there was something I still hadn't uncovered or fully understood. It's like - after each one you're trying your to plug all holes and leaks only to find out later that you're still leaky. So yes, I was a bit frustrated with myself. There is one more important aspect of preparation here. When you go through the simulator, you get the 'feel of time'. The clock is unforgiving and you simply don't have time to check seconds during the exam (well, maybe just 'milestones' with every hour). You need to cultivate a kind of an inner time clock - something that will tell you: "Tha't it, you need to move on now, man, otherwise you're done!" Think about it this way. Are you a perfectionist? Well, here you had better not, or you won't get very far.
My initial self-assessment results in Fichtner's course weren't that great either. These are the results I got after 3.5 months of relatively hard study. By knowledge area:
1 - 100% (good start you might say, but wait :), 2 - 66.7%, 3 - 93%, 4 - 80%, 5 - 66.7%, 6 - 66.7%, 7 - 60%, 8 - 80%, 9 - 66.7%, 10 - 80%; with some additional intro, life cycle and processes preparation of no more than 70%.

I knew I needed more. Luckily, I already knew by weknesses by now and I concentrated on those. I was even sort of hooked on the simulator because it felt a bit like a game. I guessed this was time I had the biggest "momentum" and this was when I booked the exam with Prometric.

Simplified Processes Matrix

There is a lot emphasis on matrices in PMI project management and the word “matrix” is an important one. You probably know the Requirement Traceability Matrix, the Responsibility Assignment Matrix, RACI chart, sometimes called matrix, yet arguably the most prominent of them all – the one containing processes – stands somewhat in the background. It is however priceless if you can picture it in your mind each time processes, inputs, outputs and tools and techniques are mentioned. And they are mentioned very frequently. In fact the better you understand them, the better your chance of succeeding in the exam. And once in the exam, you will have enough other worries than recalling where this or that process stands within the structure. Let’s unofficially call it “Simplified Processes Matrix” and the objective is to write it down as part of your brain dump in the few minutes available before the exam. It will take a lot of strain out of your studies.