Messages posted by: ospinternational

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. Let’s look at decision making.decision making techniques.

There are many skills that a successful project manager may develop and among them is good decision making abilities. There are four basic styles used to reach a decision. Project managers should be familiar with all four because at some point, decisions will have to be made from each style. The styles are consultation, consensus, command and random.

Clearly, it is always good to have effective skills in this area, but it becomes more important for a PMP because quite often other team members have to be involved in the decision making process.

Having a decision making model will facilitate this process. Since there are so many people involved in the project who may not agree on a decision, having a process to follow can be very helpful to gain consensus with the group.

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

Hi All,

In this video: http://bit.ly/rsdJx6 we give you an overview of the Project Integration Management Knowledge Area because we want you to be well prepared. The PM PrepCast™ contains one episode like this for all 9 knowledge areas in the PMBOK® Guide 4th edition

Watch and be prepared!

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

The following PMP® exam sample question is taken from the Free PMP Exam Simulator at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com - The answer is at the very bottom:

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You are managing a software development project. Your project team has developed a software product with many features but poorly organized documentation. Which of the following is correct in this scenario?

A.) It has low grade but high quality

B.) It has high grade but low quality

C.) It has high grade and high quality

D.) It has low grade and low quality

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Hint: Grade and quality are not the same. Grade is a category assigned to products, whereas quality is "the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements".

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All our questions are updated to the latest PMBOK® Guide standard. Stop by at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com and try the PMP Exam Simulator free for 3 days. We also offer 110 free questions at http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com. We are a PMI Registered Education Provider.

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

ANSWER AND EXPLANATION:
The correct answer is B
Explanation: It has high grade and low quality. Quality is the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements. Grade is a category assigned to products or services having the same functional use but different technical characteristics.
Reference: PMBOK4 - pg:190

Hi there!

Hurray! You have passed the PMP Exam and you are now a certified PMP. This certification is good for 3 years, and at the end of which, you need to recertify to make sure that you are keeping up with the latest trends in project management. If you are unsure how to do this, please watch this video with me and learn a thing or two about getting recertified and earning PDUs:http://bit.ly/pmpstep8

Enjoy!

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

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. This week’s topic is influencing.

If you want to become a successful project manager, it is important to be able to influence people. Just as critical is understanding when and how to use those skills and to ensure that you don’t become a manipulator. There is a fine line.

The role of a project manager is to bring together people from various departments and getting everyone to work together toward a common goal. Sometimes it can be difficult to get all of these different people to understand and agree on the details of reaching that goal. A good project manager will use her skills to influence people and help them to come to an agreement.

As you consider the influencing skills needed, remember your goal as a PMP should be long term collaboration. Not just during the project but also after the project has long finished and your project’s result is being used by the end user. This will allow you to foster an environment of trust among all the team members both during and after the project’s duration.

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

The following PMP® exam sample question is taken from the Free PMP Exam Simulator at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com - The answer is at the very bottom:

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What is risk tolerance?

A.) Risks created by tolerating customer behavior.
B.) Willingness to accept varying degrees of risk.
C.) Risks created by zero tolerance.
D.) Being tolerant if stakeholders are willing to accept risks.

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Hint: Look for the “least strange” answer.
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All our questions are updated to the latest PMBOK® Guide standard. Stop by at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com and try the PMP Exam Simulator free for 3 days. We also offer 110 free questions at http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com. We are a PMI Registered Education Provider.

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

ANSWER AND EXPLANATION:
The correct answer is B
Explanation: Do you feel that A, C and D are odd? Correct, they are and they were included intentionally. Sometimes you can expect to find some “funny” answer choices.
Risk tolerance is the stakeholders' willingness to accept varying degrees of risk. Choice B is the only correct answer to this question.
Reference: PMBOK4 - pg:276

Hello again!

In this video: http://bit.ly/pmpstep07, I would like to share some points that we should expect on the actual day of the PMP Exam. After months of studying and giving up on social life, not to mention the books that we have to spend on as our review guides, it's important for us to be physically, mentally and logistically ready a day before and the actual D-Day. Sit with me and let's learn from this short presentation.

Have fun!

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

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. In this week’s tip we talk about developing strong communication skills.

Good communication skills are important in most careers. If you are working as a project manager that is even more true since we communicate about 90% of the time. Some project managers go as far as considering the communication aspect of managing a project as their main job responsibility.

Great communication skills are key to not only improving the relationships among all project team members, but also to establishing trust and keeping everyone motivated and on schedule.

Usually there are many stakeholders involved in a project and they must all be kept up to date on the status, timelines, progress, risks and issues associated with the project. A good project manager and PMP must communicate all of these details to project stakeholders in a timely fashion and in the format that they expect to receive it in. Project managers must also be able to properly communicate with senior management in their organization.

As you develop your communication skills, it is important to include all of its facets. This includes both written and verbal. Another important part of developing good communication skills is learning what information needs to be communicated and who needs to receive the information. Providing too much information or not enough to the interested parties can hamper the project from fulfilling its potential.

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

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. This week we are looking at why it’s important for you to become a “master motivator”:

If you want to ensure the success of your project, you should work on developing your motivation skills. Having these skills will help that your project team members stay interested in the project, want to their best, and work toward the common goal.

Good skills as a motivator will allow you to create an environment that allows team members to meet the objectives of the project while simultaneously being satisfied with the work they are accomplishing.

Usually, being a good motivator and PMP is all about knowing how each individual member can be motivated. Some will do better work if they are challenged while others need to be reassured that they are doing good work. Other ways to provide motivation is through public praise or financial compensation.

Everyone is motivated differently. Your project will be much more successful if you can determine what motivates your team and act on it.

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

The following PMP® exam sample question is taken from the Free PMP Exam Simulator at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com - The answer is at the very bottom:

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A custom jewelry manufacturing company took up a project to design and manufacture a necklace for an affluent personality. While in execution, during a metrics analysis meeting, the project team started to analyze the reasons for variations in the project's key performance metrics. The concern was the cost of quality that had been increasing for the past seven weeks. The first milestone (design of the necklace) is supposed to be delivered in another two days and the project manager is not comfortable with the trend. The team performed an analysis and identified that most of the defects seen surfaced during the requirements phase. Despite the deficiencies that surfaced during the requirements phase, the design activity was still started. Though the tasks were clearly defined with objectives, the business analyst had been released with a good performance rating. There was no way the details on requirements could be gathered except from the requirements document, which was not complete.

Which of the following failed in the above scenario?

A.) Setting expectations and team performance assessment
B.) Setting expectations but not team performance assessment
C.) Only team performance assessment
D.) WBS decomposition

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Hint: The teams assessment was not performed properly

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All our questions are updated to the latest PMBOK® Guide standard. Stop by at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com and try the PMP Exam Simulator free for 3 days. We also offer 110 free questions at http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com. We are a PMI Registered Education Provider.

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

ANSWER AND EXPLANATION:

The correct answer is C
Explanation: Setting expectations did not fail as the scenario clearly indicates that the tasks and objectives were defined and the WBS decomposition is clearly not at fault either.

The correct choice is C as team performance assessment is measured in terms of timely completion of tasks, success on agreed objectives and results that are achieved by the team members. Since the team performance assessment was not done for the business analyst, the rating was give as good even though his task were not completed. More over this ignorance by the project manager has impacted the whole teams performance.
Reference: PMBOK4 - pg: 235, Section 9.3.3.1

Hi there!

Join me as I watch this video in my preparation for the PMP certification. Studying for the exam requires a lot of time and hard work. To help me in this endeavor, this video promises a 4-step study approach, and the best way to study the PMBOK Guide: http://bit.ly/pmpstep5.

So sit with me for a bit and let's learn these study tips and techniques.

Enjoy!

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

The following PMP® exam sample question is taken from the Free PMP Exam Simulator at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com - The answer is at the very bottom:

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Tim is the project manager working on an electronic manufacturing project. In his project he wants to establish a warranty for some of the precision parts he is buying. What risk response strategy is he using?

A.) Mitigate

B.) Avoid

C.) Accept

D.) Transfer

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Hint: Tim is shifting the negative impact of the risk.

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All our questions are updated to the latest PMBOK® Guide standard. Stop by at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com and try the PMP Exam Simulator free for 3 days. We also offer 110 free questions at http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com. We are a PMI Registered Education Provider.

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCastTM - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management PodcastTM - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

ANSWER AND EXPLANATION:

The correct answer is D.
Explanation: Risk transfer requires shifting some or all of the negative impact of a threat, along with the ownership of the response. Taking out insurance or a warranty transfers the risk from the owner to the other party.
Reference: PMBOK4 - pg:303

Many people have trouble understanding the difference between Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) as they are preparing for their PMP Exam. That is not surprising. The terms are very closely related and if you don’t work in the field, the difference doesn’t seem too obvious.

Let’s first look at the PMBOK Guide definition for each:
Perform Quality Assurance: The process of auditing the quality requirements and the results from quality control measurements to ensure appropriate quality standards and operational definitions are used.

Perform Quality Control: The process of monitoring and recording results of executing the quality activities to assess performance and recommend necessary changes.
As always, the PMBOK Guide is a bit dry in it’s definitions, but before we “translate” these definitions into everyday words, it is a good idea to remind ourselves first of two other quality concepts. They are “Prevention over inspection” and “DIRFT - Do It Right the First Time”. At the heart of these two concepts lies the idea that everything we produce should be produced error free from the start, because it’s more costly to fix an error afterwards.

So... how can we assure that our deliverables are produced error free? Simple: We have to put appropriate processes in place; processes that are aimed at helping us produce these deliverables without errors every time. But because there will always be some deviation from even the best processes, we also have to put some controls in place, which measure the results after the fact, so that we can make adjustments if necessary.
Quality Assurance are therefore the processes that are aimed at preventing any defects and Quality Control are the measurements we have in place to detect and repair any remaining defects.

So let’s assume that you are manufacturing the iPhone. In QA you put all the processes in place to ensure that each iPhone is manufactured defect free. This would include the types of manufacturing equipment used, training people and documenting all production processes. QC comes into play after the fact by testing the finished product. For instance you do a sample testing to see if a randomly picked iPhone from your production line passes or fails the standards.

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

The following PMP® exam sample question is taken from the Free PMP Exam Simulator at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com - The answer is at the very bottom:

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You developed alternative schedules based on best-case and worst-case scenarios on your project. You want to keep these alternative schedules stored in your project documents, in case of changes in project resources. Where would you store alternative schedules?

A.) Schedule Baseline

B.) Schedule Data

C.) Project documents

D.) Project scope statement

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Hint: Alternative schedules are part of one particular output of the Develop Schedule process. Look at those outputs to see where alternative schedules are located.

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All our questions are updated to the latest PMBOK® Guide standard. Stop by at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com and try the PMP Exam Simulator free for 3 days. We also offer 110 free questions at http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com. We are a PMI Registered Education Provider.

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com

ANSWER AND EXPLANATION:

The correct answer is B
Explanation: Schedule data is an output of the Develop Schedule process and may contain alternative schedules such as best-case or worst-case scenarios.
Reference: PMBOK4 - pg:159

Hello Everyone!

As we get ready for the PMP Exam, let's watch the third step video of how to prepare accordingly.

In this video, let's learn the importance and benefits of building a study plan. Just like any successful project undertakings, studying for the exam also needs a concrete plan. And if you want to know how to make one, watch this video with me: http://bit.ly/nnaslh

Enjoy!

Until next time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
The Project Management PrepCast™ - http://www.project-management-prepcast.com
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com