PMP® Preparation Course

Course Modules

• Module 1: People
  • Manage conflict
    o Interpret the source and stage of the conflict
    o Analyze the context for the conflict
    o Evaluate/recommend/reconcile the appropriate conflict resolution solution

  • Lead a team
    o Set a clear vision and mission
    o Support diversity and inclusion (e.g., behavior types, thought process)
    o Value servant leadership (e.g., relate the tenets of servant leadership to the team)
    o Determine an appropriate leadership style (e.g., directive, collaborative)
    o Inspire, motivate, and influence team members/stakeholders (e.g., team contract, social contract, reward system)
    o Analyze team members and stakeholders’ influence
    o Distinguish various options to lead various team members and stakeholders

  • Support team performance
    o Appraise team member performance against key performance indicators
    o Support and recognize team member growth and development
    o Determine appropriate feedback approach
    o Verify performance improvements

  • Empower team members and stakeholders
    o Organize around team strengths
    o Support team task accountability
    o Evaluate demonstration of task accountability
    o Determine and bestow level(s) of decision-making authority

  • Ensure team members/stakeholders are adequately trained
    o Determine required competencies and elements of training
    o Determine training options based on training needs
    o Allocate resources for training
    o Measure training outcomes
  
  • Address and remove impediments, obstacles, and blockers for the team
    o Determine critical impediments, obstacles, and blockers for the team
    o Prioritize critical impediments, obstacles, and blockers for the team
    o Use network to implement solutions to remove impediments, obstacles, and
    o Blockers for the team
    o Re-assess continually to ensure impediments, obstacles, and blockers for the team are being addressed

  • Negotiate project agreements
    o Analyze the bounds of the negotiations for agreement
    o Assess priorities and determine ultimate objective(s)
    o Verify objective(s) of the project agreement is met
    o Participate in agreement negotiations
  o Determine a negotiation strategy

  • Collaborate with stakeholders
    o Evaluate engagement needs for stakeholders
    o Optimize alignment between stakeholder needs, expectations, and project objectives
    o Build trust and influence stakeholders to accomplish project objectives

  • Build shared understanding
    o Break down situation to identify the root cause of a misunderstanding
    o Survey all necessary parties to reach consensus
    o Support outcome of parties’ agreement
    o Investigate potential misunderstandings

  • Engage and support virtual teams
    o Examine virtual team member needs (e.g., environment, geography, culture, global, etc.)
    o Investigate alternatives (e.g., communication tools, colocation) for virtual team member engagement
    o Implement options for virtual team member engagement
    o Continually evaluate effectiveness of virtual team member engagement

  • Define team ground rules
    o Communicate organizational principles with team and external stakeholders
    o Establish an environment that fosters adherence to the ground rules
    o Manage and rectify ground rule violations

  • Mentor relevant stakeholders
    o Allocate the time to mentoring
    o Recognize and act on mentoring opportunities

  • Promote team performance through the application of emotional intelligence
    o Assess behavior through the use of personality indicators
    o Analyze personality indicators and adjust to the emotional needs of key project stakeholders

  • Build a team
    o Appraise stakeholder skills
    o Deduce project resource requirements
    o Continuously assess and refresh team skills to meet project needs
    o Maintain team and knowledge transfer

• Module 2: Process
  • Execute project with the urgency required to deliver business value
    o Assess opportunities to deliver value incrementally
    o Examine the business value throughout the project
    o Support the team to subdivide project tasks as necessary to find the minimum viable product

  • Manage communications
    o Analyze communication needs of all stakeholders
    o Determine communication methods, channels, frequency, and level of detail for all stakeholders
    o Communicate project information and updates effectively
    o Confirm communication is understood and feedback is received

  • Assess and manage risks
    o Determine risk management options
    o Iteratively assess and prioritize risks
  • Engage stakeholders
    o Analyze stakeholders (e.g., power interest grid, influence, impact)
    o Categorize stakeholders
    o Engage stakeholders by category
    o Develop, execute, and validate a strategy for stakeholder engagement

  • Plan and manage budget and resources
    o Estimate budgetary needs based on the scope of the project and lessons learned from past projects
    o Anticipate future budget challenges
    o Monitor budget variations and work with governance process to adjust as necessary
    o Plan and manage resources

  • Plan and manage schedule
    o Estimate project tasks (milestones, dependencies, story points)
    o Utilize benchmarks and historical data
    o Prepare schedule based on methodology
    o Measure ongoing progress based on methodology
    o Modify schedule, as needed, based on methodology
    o Coordinate with other projects and other operations

  • Plan and manage quality of products/deliverables
    o Determine quality standard required for project deliverables
    o Recommend options for improvement based on quality gaps
    o Continually survey project deliverable quality

  • Plan and manage scope
    o Determine and prioritize requirements
    o Break down scope (e.g., WBS, backlog)
    o Monitor and validate scope

  • Integrate project planning activities
    o Consolidate the project/phase plans
    o Assess consolidated project plans for dependencies, gaps, and continued business value
     o Analyze the data collected
    o Collect and analyze data to make informed project decisions
    o Determine critical information requirements
  
  • Manage project changes
    o Anticipate and embrace the need for change (e.g., follow change management practices)
    o Determine strategy to handle change
    o Execute change management strategy according to the methodology
    o Determine a change response to move the project forward

  • Plan and manage procurement
    o Define resource requirements and needs
    o Communicate resource requirements
    o Manage suppliers/contracts
    o Plan and manage procurement strategy
    o Develop a delivery solution

  • Manage project artifacts
    o Determine the requirements (what, when, where, who, etc.) for managing the project artifacts
    o Validate that the project information is kept up to date (i.e., version control) and
    o Accessible to all stakeholders
    o Continually assess the effectiveness of the management of the project artifacts

  • Determine appropriate project methodology/methods and practices
    o Assess project needs, complexity, and magnitude
    o Recommend project execution strategy (e.g., contracting, finance)
    o Recommend a project methodology/approach (i.e., predictive, agile, hybrid)
    o Use iterative, incremental practices throughout the project life cycle (e.g., lessons
    o Learned, stakeholder engagement, risk)

  • Establish project governance structure
    o Determine appropriate governance for a project (e.g., replicate organizational governance)
    o Define escalation paths and thresholds

  • Manage project issues
    o Recognize when a risk becomes an issue
    o Attack the issue with the optimal action to achieve project success
    o Collaborate with relevant stakeholders on the approach to resolve the issues

  • Ensure knowledge transfer for project continuity
    o Discuss project responsibilities within team
    o Outline expectations for working environment
    o Confirm approach for knowledge transfers

  • Plan and manage project/phase closure or transitions
    o Determine criteria to successfully close the project or phase
    o Validate readiness for transition (e.g., to operations team or next phase)
    o Conclude activities to close out project or phase (e.g. final lessons learned, retrospective, procurement, financials, resources)

• Module 3: Business Environment
  • Plan and manage project compliance
    o Confirm project compliance requirements (e.g. security, health and safety, regulatory compliance)
    o Classify compliance categories
    o Determine potential threats to compliance
    o Use methods to support compliance
    o Analyze the consequences of noncompliance
    o Determine necessary approach and action to address compliance needs (e.g. risk, legal)  
    o Measure the extent to which the project is in compliance

  • Evaluate and deliver project benefits and value
    o Investigate that benefits are identified
    o Document agreement on ownership for ongoing benefit realization
    o Verify measurement system is in place to track benefits
    o Evaluate delivery options to demonstrate value
    o Appraise stakeholders of value gain progress

  • Evaluate and address external business environment changes for impact on scope
    o Survey changes to external business environment (e.g., regulations, technology, geopolitical, market)
    o Assess and prioritize impact on project scope/backlog based on changes in external business environment
    o Recommend options for scope/backlog changes (e.g., schedule, cost changes)
    o Continually review external business environment for impacts on project scope/backlog

  • Support organizational change
    o Assess organizational culture
    o Evaluate impact of organizational change to project and determine required actions
    o Evaluate impact of the project to the organization and determine required actions