Become a Successful Project Manager

How to Become a Successful Project Manager?” It is the most frequently asked question by those who want be a project manager or PMP certified project manager. First, there is no easy formula to becoming a project manager.  However, there are various actions you can take that will help you in your pursuit of a career in project management.

Here, we are going to tell 3 crucial skills needed on the path to Project Management Career:

EXPERIENCE

The problem most yearning project chiefs have is their absence of experience, and obviously, who is going to utilize some person to run their task who has next to zero experience. Be that as it may don’t lose hope, there are parts help yearning for undertaking administrators manufacture their experience and ability set. Working in a Project Management Office (PMO) or as a Project Co-ordinator can give significant knowledge. Search for chances to work close by accomplished undertaking chiefs and watch precisely how they function.

CERTIFICATION

Individuals frequently ask whether picking up a project management certification will offer great assistance. In short, yes. Any manager is going to need to know you comprehend the technologies and strategies required to run effective projects. Picking up a PM certification demonstrates to you is not kidding about joining the profession and can finish a thorough system of study. Regularly these accreditation can open entryways and help you get a couple of steps further up the stepping stool to your objective.

SKILLS

Much is composed about the skills required to turn into a project supervisor. I won’t show them here, however you ought to recognize the aptitudes required and match them to, those you have, those you require, and those you have to make strides. Project management includes a considerable measure of delicate abilities, so don’t simply take a gander at those in the syllabus of undertaking management certificates.

Apart from above skills, you should have the following project management skill set

1. Quality to switch from a leader to a manager as situation require
2. Be a team builder and team manager
3. Problem solver
4. Should be influencer
5. Excellent communicator
6. Organizing skill
7. Knowledge of financial techniques and systems along with accounting principles
8. Be competent and consistent planner 

CONCLUSION

Being a Project Manager is a massively compensating occupation; however, you ought not to belittle the intricacy and trouble of the part. It needs a scope of abilities in numerous business zones.

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200 FREE PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR PMP® EXAM BASED ON PMBOK 5

1. You are in the process of performing Develop Schedule process to determine planned start and finish dates for project activities. Which of the following inputs will be helpful in this process?

a) Activity attributes, project scope statement, and activity list

b) Activity list, activity attributes, and schedule data

c) Project calendar, requested changes, and schedule data

d) Work performance information, schedule baseline, and performance reports

2. You are managing a project to develop an emergency brake to an upcoming new model of RV. In your project, you have to complete building a prototype before testing can begin. This is an example of:

a) Mandatory dependency

b) Discretionary dependency

c) External dependency

d) Preferred logic

3. Your company has decided to outsource one of its IT product developments to ABC IT Services through a contract. You clarify the structure and requirements of the contract so that mutual agreement can be reached prior to signing the contract. Which of the following statements on procurement negotiations are correct?

a) You have to discuss technical and business management approaches, proprietary rights, overall schedule, payments, and price.

b) At the end of the procurement negotiations, you will have a contract document executed by both buyer and seller.

c) The project manager is the lead negotiator on the procurement.

d) Final contract language will reflect all agreements reached.

4. Your project, you need to verify whether deliverable meet requirements and product acceptance criteria. For this purpose, which of the following would you rely on?

a) Inspection

b) Expert judgment

c) Observations

d) Focus groups

5. The Scope Management Plan is an important component of the Project Management Plan since it provides direction on how the project scope will be managed throughout the project life cycle. The Scope Management Plan documents:

a) Which product requirements will be incorporated

b) How project scope will be defined, developed, controlled, and verified

c) Which stakeholders are most critical for defining the project scope

d) High-level project scope deliverables

6. You would like to obtain information, quotations, bids, offers, or proposals from sellers as part of the Conduct Procurements process. In this process, which of the following is the most critical?

a) Determine whether a product should be purchased or manufactured in-house.

b) Ensure that prospective sellers clearly understand the technical and contract requirements.

c) Clarify the structure and requirements of the contract.

d) Prepare an independent estimate to verify the proposed price structures of the sellers.

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What is Organizational Process Assets In PMBOK 5th Edition

You will find Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs) and Organizational Process Assets (OPAs) very frequently while going through the PMBOK5th edition and therefore firm understanding of the topics is required. Here we will discuss the Organizational Process Assets.

Asset: Any tangible or intangible thing that can be owned or controlled to produce value for us is called an Asset for us. For example my house which I use to live is an asset for me, and so my car is which I use to commute etc.

Similarly an organization has assets in terms of process policies and knowledge base which becomes mature with the time. Organization invests in creating all these process, policies and knowledge bases so that it can help the organization wherever it is needed and thus called Organizational Process Assets.

Let me give a real example: One of my friend in my last organization was assigned a finance related project and he had to develop a detailed risk management plan. He was not experienced enough in doing that and therefore he approached me. I asked him to go to our company’s knowledge base and get one template for the same and then develop his own. And after few days I saw his name in one of the best PM of that quarter. See how helpful the knowledgebase can be for anyone who needs it and that’s why we call it Organization Process Assets.

Organizational Process Assets has important role in project’s outcome and with the time it grows and becomes more and more mature.

As per PMBOK the Organizational Process Assets is divided in two categories

1. Processes and procedures
2. Corporate knowledge base

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A New Knowledge Area “Stakeholders” in PMBOK5: Not A Surprise

It is a well known fact that Project manager's spend their time on communicating with stakeholders. On an average 90% of the time are spent on communication. For success of any project a lot depends on how information is distributed among right stakeholders on time and necessary change requests are initiated before the situation goes out of hand. In PMBOK 4 , listing and managing stakeholders were part of Communication knowledge area. Since the dynamic nature of stakeholders presence needed a greater emphasis on how to manage stakeholders in an effective way. This may be the reason why PMI though of including “Stakeholders” as an individual knowledge area.

It is very important for a PM to identify the right stakeholders for right information at right time through out the life of a project and distribute information accordingly. There is no point to give information to stakeholder no longer impacting the success of the project and missing the important stakeholder who was not so active during the planning phase but becomes active in execution phase. Inability to identify the stakeholders can result in failure of project or not meeting the deadline. The importance of this process resulted in addition of a new Knowledge area called “Stakeholders”.

The processes in this knowledge area are apparently following:

1. Identify Stakeholders ( Initiating )
2. Plan Stakeholder Management ( Planning)
3. Manage Stakeholder Engagement ( Executing )
4. Control Stakeholder Management ( Monitoring and Controlling )

It is needless to say as most of the processes these processes are also iterative and PMs should re-asses the validity of stakeholder lists on regular basis.

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PMP Certification FAQ (What is the PMP Certification exam?)

What is the PMP Certification exam?

PMP stands for Project Management Professional certification exam. This is an exam offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and is one of the most respected and recognized certification for project manager. The PMP certification demonstrate that the candidate have the experience, competency and education to successfully direct and lead the projects of any field.

PMI is an organization?

The PMI was founded in the year 1969. It is largest non-profit membership association for the project management profession in the world. The goal of PMI is continuous development in the field of Project Management. PMI started the PMP certification exam in the year 1984. PMI has representative in the form of PMI chapters all across the globe.

What other certification exams are offered by PMI?

Now PMI offers 8 different exams related to the discipline of Project Management. These are –

• CAPM: Certified Associate Project Manager
• PMP®: Project Management Professional
• PMI-ACP: Agile Certified Professional
• PgMP: Program Management Professional
• PMI-SP: PMI Scheduling Professional
• PMI-RMP: PMI Risk Management Professional
• PfMP: Portfolio Management Professional
• PMI-PBA: PMI Professional in Business Analysis

What is the procedure to get PMP certified?

First you will need to find if you are eligible to take the PMP certification or not.

Eligibility Criteria

For Bachelor Degree holder or Equivalent

• Three years or 36 months+ of unique non-overlapping professional project management experience
• The candidate has to have 4500 hours of Project management experience.
• The candidate has to have 35 contact hours of project management education

For Non bachelor/Diploma holders

• Five years or 60 months+ of unique non-overlapping professional project management experience
• The candidate has to have 7500 hours of Project management experience.
• The candidate has to have 35 contact hours of project management education

The detailed eligibility criteria are written in PMP Certification handbook.

If you meet the criteria, then you can file the application at PMI site.

What is the Form Submission Procedure — is it complex?

No it is not. After meeting all the eligibility criteria the candidate has to submit the form online. PMI generally takes five working days to review the form. Once it gets approved they will ask to make the payment for your PMP certification exam.  Randomly PMI select 5% candidates for audit and you will come to know whether you are selected for the audit just after the payment. If everything goes smoothly, in a few days you will receive an acceptance letter/e-mail from PMI. After this you can schedule your exam by visiting or by calling the Prometric Center.

I help candidates in submitting the PMI form. If needed please contact me.

See the flowchart here

Need further help in filling the form click here

What if I am selected for Audit?

After submission of you’re the PMI take approximately five working days to review your form and then they will ask you to make the payment. Just after the payment the software randomly selects candidates for the audit. If you are one of them then do not worry or panic. All the procedure will be mentioned in step-by-step method. You just have to follow them and complete the audit procedure. Audit generally takes few days to complete the required formalities. Once the formalities are completed then PMI will take few days to review it and then you will receive an acceptance letter/e-mail from PMI and then you can schedule your exam.

I help candidates in completing their PMI audit. Please contact me.

What are the mode of the Exam?

Most of the candidates select computer based exam which is conducted in the Prometric testing centers Online. There are other options available too which you can find in the PMI handbook.

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UPDATE: PMP® EXAM IS CHANGING IN 2016

PMI has just posted the new PMP® Exam Content Outline (which is the equivalent of the exam syllabus for the PMP® Exam) to be effective from 11 Jan 2016 online. It has included a few changes which will affect PMP® aspirants in their exam preparation if they plan to take the PMP® Exam after 11 Jan 2016.

After an in-depth analysis of the changes, it can be concluded that the changes are considered just “minimal”. If you own current editions of PMP® Exam Prep book or courses, you will also be well prepared for the upcoming changes!

UPDATE: PMP Exam Changes From Jan 11, 2016. What You Need To Know? from Trainings24x7

What Is The Passing Score For PMP Examination???

PMP Passing Score For PMP Examination (Myths Vs. Facts)

“Can you please let me know what the passing score for the PMP exam is? How many questions have to be answered correctly, out of 200 to pass the PMP?” 

I got this email last week in my inbox. One of our subscribers asked this questions and I decided to provide him a detailed explanation on this. However, there are many myths roundabout the PMP passing score as many people talk about it differently. If you asked me “what is the exact passing score for PMP examination?”, my direct answer is – There is no pre-defined criteria mentioned by PMI® on this. It means – there is NO exact passing score for PMP examination. However, a long ago, there was 61.5 % passing score officially published by PMI®.

How Does PMI® Calculate Passing Score?

Actually, PMI® determines passing score based on the difficulties of the set of PMP exam questions someone has answered. I have analyzed that – the best way to ensure your PMP exam is – to get minimum 75% to 80% in quality PMP Exam Sample Questions (click here to get free one full simulation test – 200Qs).The PMI no longer will officially state a passing score. They do not want us to study just enough to pass, they want us to really know and understand the PMBOK and the processes and why they exist.

 

How Many PMP Exam Question Should You Answer Correctly To Pass The PMP Exam?

 

For better understanding – there is a way of knowing how much you have to score. You can state that it should be 115 out of 175, with the remaining 25 used as assessment questions. But as it is not determined during the exam which are the 25, it makes it comfortable to assume that getting 150 out of 200 should be the target for getting pmp certified.

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