Congratulations on your decision to study for and take the Project Management Institute (PMI
®) Project Management Professional (PMP)
® certification exam (PMP
® 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), Sixth Edition, published by PMI
® 2017. 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. First, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the terminology used in the PMBOK® Guide. Volunteers from differing industries from around the globe worked together to come up with the standards and terms used in the guide. These folks worked hard to develop and define project management terms, and the terms are used interchangeably among industries. For example, resource planning means the same thing to someone working in construction, information technology, or healthcare. You’ll find many of the PMBOK® Guide terms explained throughout this book. Even if you are an experienced project manager, you might find that you use specific terms for processes or actions you regularly perform but that the PMBOK® Guide calls them by another name. So, the first step is to get familiar with the terminology.
The next step is to become familiar with the processes as defined in the PMBOK® Guide. The process names are unique to PMI®, but the general principles and guidelines underlying the processes are used for most projects across industry areas.
This chapter lays the foundation for building and managing your project. I’ll address project and project management definitions as well as organizational structures. Good luck!
Is It a Project?
Let’s start with an example of how projects come about, and later we’ll look at a definition of a project. Consider the following scenario: You work for a wireless phone provider, and 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 and big-box 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 tells 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 this year. The best news is he has assigned you to head up this project.
Your first question should be “Is it a project?” This might seem elementary, but projects are often confused with ongoing operations. Projects are temporary in nature; have definite start and end dates; produce a unique product, service, or result; and are completed when their goals and objectives have been met and signed off by the stakeholders or when the project is terminated.
Exam Spotlight
Projects may be terminated for any number of reasons. Examples include: The objectives have been met, the objectives cannot be met, funding is no longer available or was spent, the project is no longer needed, or it was terminated for legal cause or convenience.
Another characteristic of projects is that they often initiate change in an organization by moving the business from one state to another. For example, when an organization undergoes a new back office software implementation or upgrade, changes will occur within the organization to accommodate the new business process and software. The business moves from current state—where they are now—to future state—where they will be once the software is implemented.
Lastly, projects also bring about business value creation. Business value can be tangible (revenue, goods, market share) or intangible (goodwill, recognition, public benefit).
When considering whether you have a project on your hands, you need to keep some issues 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 vs. 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 (by producing deliverables) to the satisfaction of the stakeholders. Sometimes projects end when it’s determined that the goals and objectives cannot be accomplished or when the product, service, or result of the project is no longer needed and the project is canceled. Projects exist to bring about a product, service, or result that didn’t exist before. This might include tangible products, components of other products, services such as consulting or project management, and business functions that support the organization. Projects might also produce a result or an outcome, such as a document that details the findings of a research study. In this sense, a project is unique. However, don’t be 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 sedan or a hybrid. The initial design and marketing of these three 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 the PMBOK® Guide terms progressive elaboration. This means the characteristics of the product, service, or result of the project are determined incrementally and are continually refined and worked out in detail as th...
