Friday, August 7, 2015
Project Management Professional (PMP) is the professional certification every project manager needs to acquire for enhanced skills in management. The latest changes to PMP Exam will be introduced on 1 November 2015 to improve its effectiveness.
What would be the upcoming new change/additions?
The PMP Examination Content Outline will be determined by the Project Management Institute (PMI) as usual and the performance domains will remain the same, however, these domains will witness the addition of new tasks as mentioned below:
PERFORMANCE DOMAIN I: INITIATING THE PROJECT
There are 3 new additions for Domain-I they include:
Task 1: Support feasibility studies of new products and services within the predetermined parameters and/ or assumptions, with the help of information gathered from project assessments, lessons learned from projects in the past and regular meetings with stakeholders relevant to the project at hand.
Task 2:Based on business requisites the crucial deliverable will be identified, facilitating the management of customer’s expectations and the direct attainment of project goals.
Task 3: Use suitable tools and techniques to analyze stakeholders to get them all on the same page and acquire their support towards the project.
Task 4: Determine the assumption, constrains and risks associated with the current environment, historical data, organizational factors, and expert judgment to help with strategy implementation.
Task 5: Compiling and analyzing the information gathered, to participate in development of the project charter, for the purpose of making sure all the stakeholders agree with every element of the project.
Task 6: Attaining the sponsor’s approval on project charter to formalize the authority assigned to the project manager and to acquire project acceptance and commitment.
(New) Task 7:Analyzing the stakeholders benefits (i.e. the customer, subject matter experts and the sponsors), in order to confirm that the expected business value and organizational strategy align with the project.
(New) Task 8:Providing the stakeholders with information of the approved project, to establish common understanding about themilestones, key deliverables and their tasks and responsibilities.
PERFORMANCE DOMAIN II: PLANNING THE PROJECT
Planning the Project domain will have one new task.
Task 1: Conducting reviews and assessments of lessons learned, project requirement details, constraints and assumptions with stakeholders based on the project charter, with the help of requirement gathering techniques,to determine detailed project deliverables.
Task 2: Prepare a scope management plan with the help of approved project scope and scope management strategies, to define, manage and maintain the project scope.
Task 3: Prepare a cost management plan, through estimating techniques,with the help of the approved project charter, project scope, resources, schedule and other information, for the purpose of managing costs.
Task 4: Prepare the project schedule with the help of details on scope, approved project deliverables and milestones and resource management plans, to manage project completion in a timely fashion.
Task 5: Prepare the human resource management plan by pointing out the project team member’s roles and responsibilities, for good project organizational structure and offer guidance regarding the assignment and management of resources.
Task 6: Prepare the communications management plan with the help of stakeholder requirements and project organization structure, to define and manage communication of project information.
Task 7: Prepare the procurement management plan depending on the project budget, scope and schedule, to ensure availability of project resources.
Task 8: Prepare the quality management plan and state the project and its products quality standards, depending on the project risks, requirements and scope, to avoid defects from occurring and maintain quality cost control.
Task 9: Prepare the change management plan by defining how to address and control changes, for the purpose of tracking and managing change.
Task 10: Prepare the risk management plan through the identification, analysis and prioritizing project risks and devising risk response strategies, to manage opportunities and uncertainties during the life cycle of the project.
Task 11: Acquiring approval to proceed and execute the project, by following the necessary policies and procedures to present the project management plan tothe respective stakeholders.
Task 12: Hosting a meeting to commence and communicate the start of the project, the main milestones and other relevant information, to inform, update and engage the stakeholders and attain commitment.
(New) Task 13: Developing a plan to manage the stakeholders, by examining interests, needs and potential impact, thus allowing the effective management of the stakeholders and getting them involved in business decisions.
PERFORMANCE DOMAIN III: EXECUTING THE PROJECT
For the Project Execution part of the PMP Exam Change, 2015 involves 2 additional tasks.
Task 1: Meeting project requirements by obtaining and maintaining project resources as per directives ofthe procurement management plans and human resource.
Task 2: Achieving project deliverables by leading and creating a project team for the management and execution of task depending on the project management plan.
Task 3: Using appropriate plans and techniques to instill the quality management plan, to makesure quality standards are followed when it comes to performance of work.
Task 4: Following the change management plan to execute corrective action and approved changes, to meet the requirements of the project.
Task 5: Taking advantage of opportunities and reducing the impact of risks, by implementing approved actions as per the risk management plan.
(New) Task 6: Directing information as per the communication plan so that all the stakeholders are informed and engaged.
(New) Task 7: Deriving continuous support from stakeholders and managing their expectations, by following through with the stakeholder’s management plan.
PERFORMANCE DOMAIN IV: MONITORING AND CONTROLLING THE PROJECT
To improve monitoring and controlling the project task 6 and task 7 will be introduced.
Task 1: Applying appropriate techniques and tools to measure project performance, for the purpose of identifying and quantifying any variances and the need for corrective action.
Task 2: Following through with the change management plan,to manage changes to the project, for the purpose of maintaining the alignment of business needs with the project goals.
Task 3: Meeting project requirements and business needs by determining whether the project deliverables meet the quality standards set in the quality management plans through the use of the precise techniques and tools.
Task 4: Observe and evaluate risks by verifying whether exposure has changed or not and determining how effective the response strategies are, for the purpose of controlling the influence the risks and opportunities will have on the project.
Task 5: Reducing the impact on the project through the right tools and techniques for the evaluationof the issue log, to update if necessary and establish corrective action.
(New) Task 6: Using the lessons learned in management techniques –capture, analyze and manage, to bring about continuous improvement.
(New) Task 7: Making sure procurement objectives are met by monitoring the procurement activities in accordance with the procurement plan.
PERFORMANCE DOMAIN V: CLOSING THE PROJECT
There won’t be any changes in Closing the Project as per the PMP Certification changes, 2015. All the tasks will remain as they are.
Task 1: Acquiring final acceptance from relevant stakeholders for project deliverables, to confirm the achievement of the project scope and deliverables.
Task 2: To enable project closure, by transferring ownership of deliverables to allocated stakeholderswith the project plan.
Task 3: Communicate formal closure of the project and ensure transfer of liability through legal, financial and administrative closure while using the generally accepted policies and practices.
Task 4: Follow the communications management plan for the purpose of preparing and sharing the final project report, to document and display project performance and help out with project evaluation.
Task 5: Update the organization’s knowledge base through the collective lessons learned, documented through the conduct of comprehensive project reviews and through the project itself.
Task 6: Maintain an archive of all the project documents and materials, through commonly accepted practices that meet the statutory requirements and for future in new projects and audits.
Task 7: Deriving feedback from the stakeholders concerned, through the use of the correct tools and techniques depending on the stakeholders management plan, to assess their satisfaction.
Conclusion:
There will be an addition of 8 tasks in total. With the latest update about PMP Exam change the old material will soon be obsolete. Anyone considering taking the exam this year should do so before or by the 1 November 2015.
