PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide - Softcover

Heldman, Kim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 078213601X ISBN 13: 9780782136012

Verlag: John Wiley & Sons, 2005

Inhaltsangabe

Whether you're a current project manager seeking to validate the skills and knowledge acquired through years of practical experience or a newcomer to the PM field looking to strengthen your resume, the PMP certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI) provides you with the means to do so. This new edition of the best-selling PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide covers the 2005 updates to both the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and the PMP exam. Author Kim Heldman presents the material in a clear and accessible manner, taking you through the process groups in their logical order so you understand the parts and the whole equally well.

KEY TOPICS INCLUDE:

Project Initiation. Determining project goals, determining deliverables, determining process outputs, documenting constraints, documenting assumptions, defining strategies, producing formal documentation.

Project Planning. Refining a project, creating a WBS, developing a resource management plan, determining resource requirements, defining budgets, refining time and costs estimates, establishing project controls, obtaining plan approval.

Project Execution. Committing and implementing resources, managing and communicating progress, implementing quality assurance procedures.

Project Control. Measuring performance, refining control links, taking corrective action, evaluating effectiveness of corrective action, ensuring plan compliance, reassessing control plans, responding to risk event triggers, monitor project activity.

Project Closing. Obtaining acceptance of deliverables, documenting lessons learned, facilitating closure, preserving product records and tools, releasing resources.

Professional Responsibility. Ensuring integrity, contributing to knowledge base, balancing stakeholder interests, respecting differences.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Kim Heldman (Boulder, CO), PMP, MBA, is the Director of the IT Project Management Office for the Colorado Department of Revenue and is a member of the Denver chapter of PMI.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

PMP

Project Management Professional Study GuideBy Kim Heldman

Jossey-Bass

Copyright © 2005 Kim Heldman
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7821-3601-2

Chapter One

What Is a Project?

Congratulations on your decision to study for and take the Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam. This book was written with you in mind. The focus and content of this book revolve heavily around the information contained in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK, Guide) Third Edition, published by PMI. I will refer to this guide throughout this book and elaborate on those areas that appear on the test. Keep in mind that the test covers all the project management processes, so don't skip anything in your study time.

When possible, I'll pass on hints and study tips that I collected while studying for the exam myself. Your first tip is to familiarize yourself with the terminology used in A Guide to the PMBOK. Volunteers from differing industries worked together to come up with the standards and terms used in the guide. These folks have worked hard to develop and define standard project management terms, and these terms are used interchangeably among industries. For example, resource planning means the same thing to someone working in construction, information technology, or telecommunications. You'll find A Guide to the PMBOK terms explained throughout this book. Even if you are an experienced project manager, you might find you use specific terms for processes or actions you regularly perform but A Guide to the PMBOK calls them by another name. So, step one is to get familiar with the terminology.

This chapter lays the foundation for building and managing your project. We'll address project and project management definitions as well as organizational structures. Good luck!

Is It a Project?

Consider the following scenario: The VP of marketing approaches you with a fabulous idea-"fabulous" because he's the big boss and because he thought it up. He wants to set up kiosks in local grocery stores as mini offices. These offices will offer customers the ability to sign up for new wireless phone services, make their wireless phone bill payments, and purchase equipment and accessories. He believes that the exposure in grocery stores will increase awareness of the company's offerings. After all, everyone has to eat, right? He told you that the board of directors has already cleared the project and he'll dedicate as many resources to this as he can. He wants the new kiosks in place in 12 stores by the end of next year. The best news is he's assigned you to head up this project.

Your first question should be, "Is it a project?" This may seem elementary, but confusing projects with ongoing operations happens often. Projects are temporary in nature, have definite start and end dates, result in the creation of a unique product or service, and are completed when their goals and objectives have been met and signed off by the stakeholders.

When considering whether or not you have a project on your hands, there are some things to keep in mind. First, is it a project or an ongoing operation? Next, if it is a project, who are the stakeholders? And third, what characteristics distinguish this endeavor as a project. We'll look at each of these next.

Projects versus Operations

Projects are temporary in nature and have definitive start dates and definitive end dates. The project is completed when its goals and objectives are accomplished. Sometimes projects end when it's determined that the goals and objectives cannot be accomplished or when the product or service of the project is no longer needed and the project is canceled. Projects exist to bring about a product or service that hasn't existed before. This may include tangible products, services such as consulting or project management, and business functions that support the organization. Projects may also produce a result or an outcome, such as a document that details findings of a research study. In this sense, a project is unique. However, don't get confused by the term unique. For example, Ford Motor Company is in the business of designing and assembling cars. Each model that Ford designs and produces can be considered a project. The models differ from each other in their features and are marketed to people with various needs. An SUV serves a different purpose and clientele than a luxury model. The design and marketing of these two models are unique projects. However, the actual assembly of the cars is considered an operation-a repetitive process that is followed for most makes and models.

Determining the characteristics and features of the different car models is carried out through what A Guide to the PMBOK terms progressive elaboration. This means the characteristics of the product or service of the project (the SUV, for example) are determined incrementally and are continually refined and worked out in detail as the project progresses. This concept goes along with the temporary and unique aspects of a project because when you first start the project, you don't know all the minute details of the end product. Product characteristics typically start out broad based at the beginning of the project and are progressively elaborated into more and more detail over time until they are complete and finalized. Keep in mind that product characteristics are progressively elaborated but the work of the project itself stays constant.

Operations are ongoing and repetitive. They involve work that is continuous without an ending date and you often repeat the same processes and produce the same results. The purpose of operations is to keep the organization functioning while the purpose of a project is to meet its goals and to conclude. Therefore, operations are ongoing while projects are unique and temporary.

Stakeholders

A project is successful when it achieves its objectives and meets or exceeds the expectations of the stakeholders. Stakeholders are those folks (or organizations) with a vested interest in your project. They are the people who are actively involved with the work of the project or have something to either gain or lose as a result of the project.

NOTE

Key stakeholders can make or break the success of a project. Even if all the deliverables are met and the objectives are satisfied, if your key stakeholders aren't happy, nobody's happy.

The project sponsor, generally an executive in the organization with the authority to assign resources and enforce decisions regarding the project, is a stakeholder. The customer is a stakeholder, as are contractors and suppliers. The project manager, project team members, and the managers from other departments in the organization are stakeholders as well. It's important to identify all the stakeholders in your project up front. If you leave out an important stakeholder or their department's function and don't discover the error until well into the project, it could be a project killer.

Figure 1.1 shows a sample listing of the kinds of stakeholders involved on a typical project.

Many times, stakeholders have conflicting interests. It's the project manager's responsibility to understand these conflicts and try to resolve them. It's also the project manager's responsibility to manage stakeholder expectations. Be certain to identify and meet with all key stakeholders early in the project to understand all...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2005
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 078213601X
• ISBN 13: 9780782136012
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 3
• Anzahl der Seiten: 592
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar