February 2012 - Project Management Reviews

A PMP Exam Simulator Assesses Your Readiness for the PMP Exam

By Son Nguyen, on February 29th, 2012%

The Project Management Professional (PMP) credential offered by PMI is a great asset for any project manager. It is a sign that you understand the roles and responsibilities of a project manager, and have the experience and expertise required to do your job well. As well as being practically useful for your day job, the credential is also a signal to employers that you take your role seriously and have spent the time investing in professional development.

Studying for the PMP exam requires you to review the concepts and contents of the PMBOK® Guide. You’ll probably want to include some other study materials as well to make your personal revision schedule more interesting – variety in how you learn will break up your study and allow you to cover more topics quickly. However, how do you know when to stop studying and apply to take the exam?

A PMP exam simulator can help you assess your readiness for the PMP certification. A simulator is a piece of software that mimics the environment of the exam, down to the way the questions are presented. Using a simulator will give you an idea of whether you are ready to apply to take the real PMP exam. So how will a simulator give you that feedback?

PMP Exam Tips: Interpersonal Skills a PMP Needs: 2. Team building

By Son Nguyen, on February 29th, 2012%

This entry is part 18 of 20 in the series PMP Exam Tips

(In Appendix G, the PMBOK Guide discusses Interpersonal Skills for the project manager. We are currently reviewing these one by one in our weekly PMP exam tip.)

Team building is another essential skill for a good project manager to possess. The nature of a project is that there are people from various different departments involved. In most cases, these people have not had the opportunity to work together and they may not even be familiar with each other’s departments. If the project manager isn’t able to turn these individuals into a team that is focused on the same goal, the project may not reach it’s potential.

Although some of the individuals or sub-teams involved in the project will complete their tasks independently, they will need to feel as part of the team. When a decision needs to be made related to their part of the project, their focus must be on what is best for the project, not just what is best for them and their departmental problem. A feeling of belonging to a team that solves a problem for the whole company (and doesn’t play departmental favorites) goes a long way.

Also, building a team where each member is comfortable in reaching out to the others will ensure small details don’t turn into larger issues later in the project.
It is therefore essential, that project managers not only know the tasks and processes that are involved in building a team, but that they have the skill and finesse to apply them appropriately.

PMP Exam Tips: Interpersonal Skills a PMP Needs: 1. Leadership

By Son Nguyen, on February 27th, 2012%

This entry is part 17 of 20 in the series PMP Exam Tips

In the coming weeks, we will be reviewing the 8 interpersonal skills that the PMBOK Guide calls out specifically, which a project manager needs to possess. We begin with leadership.

Leadership is one of the important skills that a good project manager must possess. The reason for this is that in many cases, the project manager doesn’t have any authority over the team members for a project. This means he or she must manage the project through leadership.

Although it can be more difficult to manage through leadership rather than authority, it is usually more effective because it is built on trust and respect.

A leader is especially important at the beginning of a project to define the vision of the project and communicate this vision to the team. This helps all of the team members to get on board with the goals of the project. Good leadership skills will also keep the members inspired and motivated to do their best work.

Unfortunately, leadership is difficult to teach from books (or tips like this one). You can learn the basics from the written word, but then you need to show that you “have it” by applying it on the job. For the PMP exam it is important that you recognize situations that require leadership and that you are able to select the appropriate action.

PMP Exam Tips: Take a PMP Exam Prep Class

By Son Nguyen, on February 23rd, 2012%

This entry is part 16 of 20 in the series PMP Exam Tips

Classes that offer extensive and comprehensive coverage or the material required should go onto your short list. The primary benefit of these sessions is that you can interact with the trainer (make sure that he/she is PMP certified) and with other project managers in the classroom studying alongside. This interaction ensures you get a firsthand experience on how to approach situations and the underlying principle that govern them.

Make sure to stay away from “boot camp” classes. The best courses are those that meet once a week over the course of several weeks and allow you to do self-study in-between and really soak up the material over time.

Through this classroom type learning, you are given a weekly “checkpoint” to see how much of the lessons are really learned and retained. This is important because the PMP Exam tests your ability to apply the theory to real-life project management situations through varying scenarios in the exam questions. A large number of free tests are available online that you can use to assess if you are ready for the exam. Beyond the free tests that only go so far you should also consider subscribing to an online exam simulator that will really test your knowledge and ability to pass the exam. These online exam simulators teach you the necessary time-management skills for this 4-hour exam and the detailed reports allows you to review your performance and learn the correct answers for questions you missed.

If you have not decided on which PM Exam course to get, begin by visiting various sites in the Internet. Here you get to choose which one is best suited for you and start preparing for your certification exam. An in-classroom PMP exam prep course is one of the best ways to begin preparing for the PMP Exam. They are easy to find on the internet.