Pass the PMP Exam in Just 15 Minutes a Day

Author: Christine Wang

Source: ezinearticles.com



PMP is not an easy test... You really have to remember each process and its inputs, outputs,, quality control, and tools and techniques... You also need to know the purpose,, quality control, quality control, to use each tool or process... The, quality control, real world situation is complicated. It is not very clear cut... Any confusion to the purpose of processes or tools makes it hard for you to decide which answer to pick...

If you have not submitted your application, you should start with the PMI credential handbook. You may need to have the basic understanding of process group and body of knowledge to fill out the application.

If you have not taken your required 35 contact hours training, I suggest you take the training class offered by continuing education at your local university. It is usually reasonably priced with good instructors. If you don't have time do that, there are, quality control, many places offering online training.

A must-have reference comes from PMI - A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition also referred to as the PMBOK® Guide.

How to remember, quality control, the PMI way in just 15 minutes a day? You need to look at your current projects status in the PMI way - to think your projects in terms of processes, their associated inputs and outputs,, quality control, and how to resolve the project issues or produce project reports with associated tools and techniques, quality control, . I am not suggesting you follow the PMI way blindly to manage your project, but, just suggest a way to help you remember the PMI way and pass, quality control, the PMP test easily. If your organization does not have a standard process, it may be a good, quality control, idea to tailor the PMI way to fit your needs.

PMI test is to test your overall understanding and applying it in a real life. Think of the following scenarios:

If your senior manager requests you to take over a project, what do you need to do next? Think about if you are handed over information or just discuss briefly with your senior manager? Your next step in this case may not be the same. You may require furnishing a project chapter in a later case. In real situations, you need to have a thorough plan, but for the PMP exam, you only need to think about the next step.

In the situation where you are taking over a problem project with partial info provided, what do you do next? Your senior manager will not tell you that the project is in initiating, quality control, or executing process neither does the PMP exam... Remember! You need to think about it in the PMI, quality control, way. You need to figure it out by the info given to you, which can indicate which process this project is in and its inputs. Then, you need to figure what tools and techniques to use and what reports (outputs) for your senior manager. Sometimes your project issues may be caused by the early process not being done properly even though you are in a later process. You may have go back to fix the early problem first.

You don't need to remember all the details, but you do need to know the purpose and principals., quality control, For example, when should you use control chart vs Pareto chart? What's the difference between quality assurance, quality control, and quality control? What are the outputs from scope verification? What process produces the cost baseline?

Please read the question thoroughly and pay attention to the keyword. The wrong answer is not the correct inputs, output, or tools for current process. It seems easy, but, we overlook the "keyword" due to nervousness during the exam. Please read all the answers before you pick out the right one.

There are not many formulas to remember, but, it is always a good practice to just write down all the formula before you do the test.

Try to do the question you can answer first, and mark the one you can't for later. After you finish 50 questions, you need to re-assess you speed and form a better strategy for answering the rest of questions.

Don't waste your money on the assessment test from PMI site - It is far easier than the real PMP exam.

I have not found any mock exam to be very close to the real PMP exam, but the following are the better ones: voightps, examcram2, headfirstlabs. (Please contact me for these mock exam links because Ezine does not allow the links in articles.)

Christine commits to help her clients to be #1. To learn more about how your business can benefit from website and Internet Marketing, please visit Marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) or 3 magical steps to become #1 blog or call or fax us at (727) 214-0369.

Keys to Project Success - Using Audits and Reviews as a Best Project Management Practice

Author: Nick Pangaro

Source: articleage.com



In recent, quality control, years, many companies are putting increased emphasis on project management techniques as a result of lessons learned on past project performance. After experiencing project delays, overruns, missed quality goals, communication barriers, "scope creep", and a general perception of projects being out of control, these companies are scrambling to implement good Project Management practices to prevent these types of problems. As part of these best practices, many companies have established project review and audit programs, periodically reviewing the status of projects and their alignment with individual and corporate goals. While worthwhile, in many cases these reviews and audits are performed by senior managers with either a stake in the project outcome or no real experience and training in project management, quality control, . Several companies have found that these management reviews have not succeeded because senior management and project managers may be speaking a different language and viewing the projects from completely different perspectives.
Audits and reviews require preparation to be fruitful. Pre-defined project review and audit protocols can help focus both the project manager and the reviewer/auditor on the important aspects of the project. Basing these protocols on proven, quality control, philosophies from the Project Management Institute (PMIฎ), the world's foremost authority for the project management profession, can provide great, quality control, insight into the actual status of the project. This provides the opportunity to take actions at the most efficient points in project execution, increasing the probability, quality control, of project success.
We've found that the most effective audits are centered on the project management knowledge areas as defined by PMIฎ, quality control, . We have also found that effective project reviews, quality control, and audits involve much more than just sitting down with the project manager and asking a series of questions. Interviews with project team members, stakeholders, and senior management as well as a thorough review of all project related documentation are just as critical to producing effective results.
Compliance with Project Management Processes
A defined set of project management processes provides consistency in project management methodology across all projects. This facilitates program management, allows for the interchangeability of resources, and increases the probability of project success. Audits should closely, quality control, examine compliance of the project procedures with the enterprise's Project Management Processes. Blind adherence to these procedures, however, without allowance for the specifics of the project, may introduce inefficiencies and stifle the creativity or flexibility, quality, quality control, control, needed to bring a project to a successful conclusion.
Controlling Scope
Scope change, without complimentary adjustments to the project schedule, budget, and objectives, is a the major reason for schedule slippage and project overruns. Adherence to change control procedures is necessary to identify and prevent inappropriate addition of "out of scope" items to the project, and limit scope creep. Audits should target Scope Management as a major factor in overall project performance in order to prevent unnecessarily increasing the project's size without correspondingly increasing the project's value.
Compliance with the Project Charter
The project charter defines in broad terms the project targets and how project success will be measured. It essentially, quality control, serves as the prime focus of all project efforts. Projects can easily get off track by ignoring the project charter, resulting in both schedule and budget problems.
Cost
Project cost impacts all other aspects of the project. Proper estimating and tracking of budgets is essential to controlling costs on a project. Understanding the budgetary state of a project, quality control, can impact all decisions made during project execution and design. Audits should focus on the two most critical aspects of cost control - estimating and tracking. Estimating factors include the methodologies used to determine project costs and cost constraints, resource planning and assumptions made during the estimating process. Tracking factors include the mechanism used to track costs and methodologies used in determining project cost status.
Time
Proper time management is critical to meeting important project deadlines and attaining time-to-market goals. Carefully defining project activities, sequencing them properly, estimating resources and time for each, and developing the schedule are all critical phases of the planning process. Audits and reviews should focus on compliance with time management processes- Were activities defined and sequenced properly? How were estimates determined? And what mechanisms are being used to monitor, quality control, adherence and control the schedule?
Communication
Numerous studies of project performance indicate that communication is the Number 1 problem encountered by project managers; consequently proper communication is vital to, quality control, the success of a project. With this level of importance, audits and reviews should focus heavily on the Project Manager's communications procedures and capabilities, overcoming barriers to communications within the company, and, quality control, the efficiency of mechanisms used for communications - Are stakeholders being kept appraised of the information they need to know for the project to be successful?
Risk
Recognizing and managing risk is critical to project success. Anticipating and planning for risk events increases the probability and impact of positive events,, quality control, and decrease the probability and impact of events adverse to the project. Audits should focus on the project's plans for preventing problems and planning responses to problems that can not be prevented.
Quality
Quality is the key to customer satisfaction, and managing customer expectations is a key to project success. Audits and reviews should focus on your approach to product delivery - is prevention stressed over inspection? Is quality built in or inspected in? Are all members of the team (including management) participants in the quality, quality control, process?, quality control,
Human Resources
Aligning project objectives, quality control, with the goals and motivations of the project team is an important part of the successful completion of any project. Defining and communicating the roles and responsibilities of management, team members and other stakeholders on the project is essential. Project audits should focus on the critical aspects of, quality control, HR management - Is the project properly staffed? Are the team members meshing so the whole, quality control, is greater than the sum of the parts?, quality control, Are the roles of the members, quality control, understood? Are there motivational problems?
With over 25 years experience as a project manager, Nick Pangaro is a certified Project Management Professional and a principal with NE Project Management Consultants (NEPMC), a New England based firm providing project management consulting services to the technology, engineering, and financial services industries. NEPMC's services include project mentoring and leadership, project performance audits, process and procedure development, peer review, portfolio and program management, planning and scope development, and contract project management. More information is provided at http://www.nepmc.com.

Project Manager Job Description

Author: Barbara Bright

Source: articlesbase.com



Project Manager Dealing With A Stressed Out Boss click here This individual performs all Project Management responsibilities, managing multiple projects concurrently. He/she will be expected to complete cost benefit analyses, prepare and maintain project plans, monitor progress within multiple areas, act as liaison between IT and user departments, and prepare presentations for management. The incumbent will be expected to keep all stakeholders informed, quality control, of developments, quality control, on the projects he/she manages. He/she may also be expected to perform senior business analyst functions, such as writing or overseeing the writing of business requirements and/or, quality control, business and system specifications. He/she will be expected to prepare for and oversee software-testing efforts. Throughout all of these efforts, he/she will be expected to guide, support, and enforce adherence to organizational Software Development Methodology. Job Secrets Click here Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Plans, directs and coordinates activities in order to ensure project, quality control, goals are accomplished within defined scope, time, and cost constraints. Consults with management and reviews project proposals to determine goals, time frame, funding limitations, procedures for accomplishing the project, staffing requirements and allotment of resources. Formulates and defines technical scope and objective of the project. Identifies and schedules project deliverables, milestones and required tasks. Coordinates recruitment or assignment of required project personnel and assigns duties. Directs and coordinates tasks of the project to ensure project progress stays on schedule, quality control, and within budget. Establishes procedures for project reporting and documentation. Reviews statuses and modifies schedules as needed. Prepares reports and keeps management informed of project status and related issues. Coordinates and responds to requests for changes from original specifications. Develops business processes that ensure developed application meets all project requirements. Coordinates project tasks with all departments to ensure goals and requirements are met. Develops and maintains technical and project documentation. Develops quality assurance test plans and directs quality assurance testing. Prepares and presents the statement of work and proposals for clients in conjunction, quality control, with account management. Knowledge Skills/Education Requirements Minimum three to,, quality control, quality control, five, quality control, years of business experience working in or with an I.T. organization in system, programming, or project development efforts. Job Listings Experience project managing the full software development life cycle Five to seven years experience in the Project Manager role for multiple projects Four year degree or equivalent work experience Ability to plan, execute and control a project, establishing realistic estimates and reporting metrics Excellent organizational skills with the ability to plan, organize, delegate and control work Demonstrated ability to understand and balance technical issues/solutions with time, cost, and human factors Excellent skills as a communicator and facilitator, both written and oral Ability to lead a group to, quality control, accomplish a common goal Strong negotiation, conflict resolution, and influencing skills Excellent presentation and meeting management skills Strong skills in MS Office, MS Project or an equivalent project management tool, and workflow or data flow diagramming tools. Ability to estimate, plan, track, control costs, and provide status reporting Excellent knowledge of a system development methodology,, quality control, through all of, quality control, its phases and deliverables Ability to assess project risks and exposures; identify options and alternatives, make decisions, and implement corrective actions Demonstrated skills in diplomacy, confidence, persuasiveness, enthusiasm and verbal fluency Ability to promote and build a team atmosphere,, quality control, motivating team members Proven analytical, problem solving, and decision making abilities At least 2 years of Business analysis experience, preferably within the Mortgage Industry Experience in life cycle system testing Automated testing experience is a plus PMP certification is a plus Responsible for the planning and control of resources associated with large, medium and small-scale project efforts Recommend the resources, skill and training needs for the project team members Coordinate and communicate the expectations, assignments, status and plan, quality control, with the project team Provide leadership and direction to the project team, and facilitate conflict resolution and team building Plan, estimate, and control the use of resources Effectively utilize personnel and other resources involved in a project Responsible, quality control, for the execution of project management principles, including: Integrate project management principles with our System Development Methodology, including creating and/or organizing documentation for each phase of software development Perform project planning, prioritization, and time box management Perform project scope and objectives planning and definition, and implement appropriate change management methods and measurements for a project Define activities, tasks and dependencies, develop project schedule, track progress and control time and resource expenditures Perform resource loading/leveling; analyze and recommend resource needs Proactively identify and plan for potential risk, build contingency plans, and take, quality control, action to mitigate risks. Perform communications planning, information distribution, progress reporting, and overall project administration Prepare comprehensive implementation plans Ensure the utilization of appropriate techniques for each project (e.g., prototyping/RAD-Rapid Application Development and JAD-Joint Application Design) Participate in the evaluation and establishment, quality control, of corporate standards for project management, and ensure compliance with departmental policies, procedures, and standards Assist in, or coordinate when appropriate, the evaluation of vendor packages, contract negotiations and maintenance agreements Perform the role of Sr. Business Analyst as described in the duties and responsibilities for that position. Take initiative to proactively identify, quality control, opportunities for system and I.T. departmental improvement Remain current with new technology and industry best practices through training, networking, and personal initiative Provide superior customer, quality control, service to both internal and external customers Additional Skills & Responsibilities

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Dealing With A Stressed Out Boss click here