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GENERAL COMMENTS

1. Project managers can save the universe, are "wonderful" and "great," and must be very skilled

2. The project manager puts the best interests of the project first, not his or her own interests.

3. The exam tests from the perspective of a large project. So the project manager is working on a large project that involves 200 people from many countries, takes at least one year, has never been done before in the organization, and has a budget of 106 or more.

4. Project managers have all the power and perform all the activities in the real world as described in the PMBOK Guide.

5. The project manager is assigned during project initiating, not later in the life of the project.

6. The project manager understands the process of project management; e.g., what to do first, second, etc., and why!

7. The project manager always knows why his or her project was selected by management to be done, and makes sure those objectives are met while planning and managing the project.

8. The project manager spends time planning, managing, assessing, and controlling scope, time, cost, quality, risk, resources, and customer satisfaction.

9. Organizations have a project management office, and that office has important, clearly defined authority over projects.

10. Organizations have project management policies, which the project manager adapts for use on his or her project. These policies may include project management methodologies, risk procedures, and quality procedures.

11. Organizations have records (historical information) for all previous projects that include what the work packages were, how much each work package cost, and what risks were uncovered (referred to in the PMBOK Guide as part of organizational process assets). The project manager uses this past history from other projects to plan the current project.

12. The project manager works within the existing systems and culture of a company (enterprise environmental factors), and one of a project's results is to provide input to improve those systems.

13. A work breakdown structure (WBS) is used on every project. 14. A project management plan is not a bar chart, but a series of management plans. The

project manager knows what is involved in creating a real project management plan. 15. The project manager creates other documents (project documents) in addition to the

project management plan to help plan, manage, and control a project. 16. Stakeholders are involved throughout the project. Their needs are taken into account

while planning the project and creating the communications management plan. They may also help identify and manage risks.

17. People must be compensated for their work. 18. PMI does not approve of gold plating (adding extra functionality).

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19. Since most projects are managed in a matrix environment, such seemingly easy topics as motivation theories and powers of the project manager become quite serious on the exam.

PLANNING THE PROJECT

20. Planning is very important, and all projects must be planned. 21. A project manager plans the project with input from the team and stakeholders, not on

his or her own. 22. Part of planning involves deciding which processes in the PMBOK Guide should be used

on each project. 23. There are plans for how every knowledge area except project management framework,

project management processes, and integration management will be planned, managed, and controlled. These are called management plans, and every project has one for each knowledge area.

24. If at all possible, all the required work and all the stakeholders are identified before the project work actually begins.

25. The project manager determines metrics to be used to measure quality. 26. The project manager has a plan for continually improving processes. 27. The project manager creates a system to reward team members and stakeholders. 28. All roles and responsibilities are clearly documented and assigned to specific individuals

on the project. These may include things like reporting responsibilities, risk management assignments, and meeting attendance, as well as project work.

29. Since the project has never been done before in the organization, the project manager focuses extensively on identifying risks.

30. The stakeholders, as well as team members, are assigned risk identification and risk management duties.

31. The project manager realizes that managing risks saves the project time and money. 32. Project cost and schedule cannot be finalized without completing risk management. 33. The project manager assesses whether the project can meet the end date and other

project constraints and objectives. He or she then meets with management to resolve any differences before the project work starts. The project manager knows unrealistic schedules are his or her fault.

34. The project manager plans when and how to measure performance against the performance measurement baseline, as documented in the project management plan, but he or she also has other measurements to use to determine how the project is performing while the work is being done.

35. The project management plan is approved by all parties, is realistic, and everyone believes it can be achieved.

36. The exam defines a kickoff meeting in a way that may be different from your understanding of a kickoff meeting (see the Integration Management chapter).

DURING THE PROJECT

37. The project is managed to the project management plan.

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38. A project manager measures against the project management plan to help determine the project status throughout the life of the project.

39. Projects are re-estimated throughout the life of the project to make sure the end date or cost objectives will be met. Therefore, the project manager almost always knows if the project can meet the agreed-to end date and budget.

40. Delays must be made up by adjusting future work, rather than asking for more time. 41. The project manager has authority and power. He or she can say NO and work to control

the project for the benefit of the customer. 42. The project manager lets others know they cannot get something for nothing. A change

in scope must be evaluated for its impacts to time, cost, quality, risk, resources, and customer satisfaction. The project manager has enough data about the project to do this analysis.

43. The project manager realizes that, over time, not everyone associated with the project will have the same understanding of what the project is and what could occur during the life of the project. Therefore, the project manager is continually looking to ensure everyone knows what is going on and has appropriate expectations.

44. The project manager knows about and takes seriously human resource responsibilities on a project.

45. The project manager spends time on such activities as team building and ensuring team performance.

46. The project manager is proactive and finds problems early, looks for changes, and prevents problems.

47. The project manager spends more time focusing on preventing problems than dealing with problems.

48. Most problems that occur have a risk management plan already created to deal with them.

49. Risks are a major topic at every team meeting. 50. Team meetings do not focus on status (that can be collected by other means). 51. All changes to the project management plan flow through the change management

process and integrated change control. 52. The project manager ensures that organizational policies are followed on the project. 53. The project manager recommends improvements to the performing organization's

standards, policies, and processes. Such recommendations are expected and welcomed by management.

54. Quality should be considered whenever there is a change to any component of the project.

55. Quality should be checked before an activity or work package is completed. 56. The project manager works closely with the quality assurance / quality control

department in performing some of the quality activities discussed in the PMBOK Guide. 57. The project manager is actively involved with the procurement process and assists in

managing procurements. 58. The project manager understands contract language. 59. The project manager makes sure all the terms of the contract are met, including those

that do not seem important to him or her.

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CLOSING THE PROJECT

60. The project manager archives all project records. 61. No project is complete unless there has been final acceptance from the customer. 62. All projects produce a final report that gives the project team a chance to announce that

the project objectives have been met.

Reread this list when you think you are finished studying.

Which ones seem different from the way you manage your real-world projects?

Which of these items do you not understand?

Are there any items you need to think about more to make sure you will remember them when you take the exam?

Knowing these statements can make a significant difference on the exam.