The webinar focuses on preparing for the PMP exam.
Susan Daniels is the instructor.
The initial part covers housekeeping to address common questions.
A team is available to answer questions behind the scenes.
Attendees are asked to be patient as initial questions are proactively answered.
Audio and Global Participation
Audio controls are located in the lower corner of the screen.
This is a global webinar with participants from all over the world.
Audio and video are automatically turned off due to the webinar format.
Instructor Background - Susan Daniels
Extensive experience in project management across nonprofit, for-profit, and academia.
Led project management degrees at Brenau University and the University of North Florida.
Moved away from academia for a more action-oriented environment.
Worked with a 12,000,000,000 healthcare company as a senior strategy integrator.
Integrated acquired subsidiaries into the parent company, building and integrating business models for optimizing performance.
Previously, an executive director of a multimillion-dollar agency with 70-90 staff, five business lines, and three locations.
Engagement with PMI International
Invited to join the certifications requirement task force for the current PMP exam in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The task force discussed the state of project management and defined minimum qualifications for PMP candidates.
This work resulted in the exam content outline, which will be a recurring topic throughout the course.
Simultaneously, the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) was updated to the seventh edition.
This update integrated agile concepts, the manifesto, values, and principles, moving beyond the traditional plan-based approach to blend project management methodologies.
Susan was one of six authors that helped develop the core curriculum; her contributions are in the digital version of the PMP exam prep course.
Curriculum and Slides
The slides are provided by Skillsoft and come directly from PMI without any alterations to layout, content, or organization.
Skillsoft and the instructor can add to the information, augment, explain, and build out details but cannot modify the slides themselves.
Project Management Institute chapters exist worldwide, offering opportunities for involvement and connection within the profession.
PMP and CAPM Certifications
The course will prepare participants for both the PMP and CAPM (Certified Associate Project Manager) exams.
CAPM demands are not as stringent as the PMP.
The course covers tools, techniques, theories, and methods used in project management.
The CAPM includes content on business analysis frameworks (requirements gathering and benefit realization) that the PMP currently does not have.
The course satisfies the 35 contact hours of training required for the PMP application.
Completing the course alone isn't sufficient for the PMP exam; independent study is essential and is estimated to take 80-100 hours.
The PMP certification opens doors and enhances career opportunities but requires significant preparation and effort.
Breaks
Breaks occur at the top of each hour, generally 10 minutes before or up to 5 minutes after, but no more than 5 minutes after.
There is one large, one-hour break at 1:30 PM Eastern Time, resuming at 2:30 PM Eastern Time.
Attendees are asked to stay logged in during all breaks.
During the one-hour break, videos about attendance, the student kit, certificates of completion, and application hints will play on a loop, lasting about 8 minutes each.
Technology and Interaction
The webinar format has audio and video turned off for attendees.
Interaction is facilitated through the Q&A and chat functions at the bottom of the screen.
The chat is informal, allowing peer-to-peer communication and sharing of experiences, while the Q&A is for questions and will be answered by the team behind the camera (Karl Mullen, Dave Brobichaud, and Ian Claire).
Resources and Content
Most resources are available through the Percipio platform, which may vary in layout depending on the organization's subscription level.
Resources include key videos to watch, project management books, reference guides, practice test prep, slides, vocabulary terms, formulas, and links to additional videos.
For those not using Percipio, resources are available on GitHub.
Github Link: Access to boot camp files including session slides and attendance tracker
The team can't keep track of attendance. It's done through the system.
The exam content outline is also available, correlating to the course curriculum.
Logging In and Participation Tracking
Participation is digitally tracked based on the login name used consistently throughout the course.
If having connection stability issues through Percipio users can leverage using Zoom directly, but should maintain consistency with their name (First Name Last Name) as this increases the likelihood of proper aggregation of participation.
Attendance is tracked by the system, with a tracker form available for manual tracking.
Zoom Login Information:
This is the same Zoom information for all five days.
Strongly encouraged, as a fallback, for those experiencing connection issues through Percipio.
Attendance and Completion Certificate
Participants can miss a day or a session, but missing more than 15 minutes counts as missing the session.
Staying logged in during breaks is essential for accurate tracking.
A certificate of completion is generated for Percipio users with full participation; otherwise, an attendance tracker must be submitted.
One missed day can be made up by watching video replays (available 24-48 hours later).
Replays are available for up to one year and accessed via a URL and password (provided); they are proprietary and not downloadable.
The attendance tracker form, found in GitHub or under resources in Percipio, needs to be filled out until the whole boot camp is over.
Student Kit
The student kit is additional material provided by PMI that augments the live lecture.
Participants should ask their training coordinator to get it through their company.
If the student kit is not provided by their organization, the material can be purchased through Skillsoft for approximately 126.50.
The Student Kit contains additional videos, a student workbook, and the slides.
Before applying to the PMP thirty hours of training should be spent of the student kit material, aside from the lectures in the course.
A code is provided for accessing the student kit, which requires registration with PMI at pmi.org.
PMP Exam Requirements
To be eligible for the PMP exam, you need:
A four-year degree
36 months of leading projects
35 hours of project management education/training or CAPM certification.
If you do not have a four-year degree, you need:
A high school diploma or associate degree.
60 months of leading projects.
35 hours of project management education/training or CAPM certification.
Months of leading projects are unique and within an eight-year look-back window from application submission.
The job title does not need to be “Project Manager”.
Having a master's or doctorate does not reduce the required experience.
Project Economy Video
Project management is not at risk from robotics, automation, or AI.
These technologies are leveraged to help solve problems, but project managers provide analysis, evaluation, influence, negotiation, and leadership skills.
The goal should be to enrich oneself, work smarter, and lead people with gravitas/panache.
PMP Exam Details
The exam is divided into three domains: people, process, and business environment.
PMPs must earn 60 professional development units(PDUs) (1 PDU = 1 hour of training) every three years, balanced against these three aspects.
The exam focuses:
50% people skills,
50% on technical skills (inputs/tools/techniques/outputs/processes)
Business Environment skills.
Exam Structure
The exam is estimated to take about four hours.
The exam is split into 3 different sections of 60 questions.
Test takers are given optionally breaks after each session.
It is strongly encouraged that folks take the breaks.
The test is paced on a schedule, not on 60 question segments.
Types of Questions and Scoring
Question types include multiple choice, multiple right answers, matching, hotspot (pointing on a graphic), and fill-in-the-blank (selecting from a word bank).
The answer is also on the screen always.
PMI doesn't disclose the passing score, but 75% is anecdotally considered passing.
Each test is unique and weighted based on question difficulty. There are no two tests that would be the same.
Course Structure
The five-day course is divided into six lessons, with lesson three being the densest.
Lesson four focuses on leading the team (power skills).
Lesson five covers monitoring and controlling.
Lesson six covers closing the project.
Key Icons
Predictive plan-based approach. Think: plan your work, work your plan, and control for variances.
Adaptive approach. Think: agile, change-based approach. Incremental approach to deliver values sooner for more iterative feedback.
Combination of both Plan Based and Adaptive.
These directional indicators are going to point out important questions that show up on the tests.
Other
Vocabulary is dependent on you speaking terminology that a Project Management Professional would speak.
A case study (Meet Ang) is included for examples of techniques that can be applied.
They are different learning styles. Such are audio, video, and tactical (learning through practice).
To make this worth it remember to study this for the the future version of yourself.
Project Definition and Characteristics
Four attributes that make a project a project:
change
time limited.
create something new.
Projects create change, moving the company from its current state to a desired future state by producing:
product
process
service
result.
Operating team typically underfunded and overworked.
PMI and Project Management
The Project Management Institute (PMI) has been around since 1969.
With the inclusion of Agile, the evolution expanded, and the body of project knowledge increased.
Project managers are now setting strategy working at a higher and more integral role.
Course Overview
Course divided into six lessons with specific days of lessons.
Lesson overview, objectives will be covered throughout the class.
Core Components
People
Process
Business
Exam Percentage
50% process
50% people and business
PMP exam has an amount 180 questions.
Methods
Predictive (plan everything upfront)
Agile (change as you go)
Approaches (Predictive Life Cycle)
The project team is able to define the requirements and what we want.
Deliverables at the end.
Linear. For example design > develop> install phase by phase
Approaching for Iterative Approach (Adaptive Life Cycle)
Requirements and design are ambiguous
Delivers Incremental. For example. MVP is released at the end of each sprint, as opposed to big ta-da at the end.
Time boxed.
Both are based on the agile.
The scrum master in the team is the teamlead.
Project Management Office (PMO) Function
PMO- provides overall support of project.
Support (providing templates and best practices)
Controlling (requires compliance to templates or governance)
Directing (actually manages the PM; team reports to the PMO)
Projects vs Programs vs Portfolios
Project: creating a specific product or result.
Program: a group of projects working together. Runs in collaboration to support common projects.
Portfolio: a collection of programs that help support a core business.
Key internal and external environment. Project must be cognizant of the framework for your project.