Project Management Certification

Project Manager Certification

Project management can make or break a project. Projects in the US and abroad are growing, and more and more companies are leaning on projects for their profit and sustainability.

But a project requires a team. It is often a team effort that keeps the project on schedule and on budget.
Creating the environment for successful projects is as much about training the project manager as it is about training the project team members. If members of the team understand the goals of project management, then the constraints can be obvious, and less of a struggle to encourage people to be mindful of what is really important.

Monitoring and controlling a project and its many phases can be made easier and more streamlined when everyone on the team understand the vocabulary and metrics that the project entails. It is difficult for participants to understand the importance of the constant status updates and the quality standards that are being applied to a project until they understand why those metrics are being measured and what they tell the project manager and the executive team.

The Project Management Institute

The PMI has prepared materials for project managers and for project participants. They have created standards that have helped the project community for many years. Applying the standards and best practices will help projects more than most anything else management or task forces can do to put projects back on track and bring them to a successful close.

However, it is up to the organization to help prepare project participants and make sure that those standards that apply to their project are implemented and followed.

A project management certification is a lot like a project management degree. The PMI is the authority in the field and the PMP certification carries more weight than an associates or bachelors in project management.

if your projects are faltering, it may be because team members need to learn how to work better in a project, and how to interact with the project manager and the management team.
This may be your wake-up call that will turn your project around.

It is worth the effort to get your project participants project trained and empowered to make your projects successful.

Using principles from the PMI can help any project.

Project Management training can be obtained via expensive onsite facilities, or at much more
affordable online solutions:

Two such solutions are:

The PM Prepcast
and
PM Perfect PMP Bootcamp.

Each of these solutions are reviewed here:

Get PMP certified and let the project management processes guide your projects to successful completion–on time and on budget.

Change your life and career with a PMP credential.

Get the process memorization tool here.

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The PMI Certification

PMI Certification Questions

The PMI is the Project Management Institute. They are the administrators of the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification.

The PMP is globally acknowledged as the world’s leading credential for project management. Projects have been determined to be the basis for the creation of goods and services for all innovative companies. The demand for project management skills is growing every year.

What is the PMI Certification?

This credential insures that practitioners of project management demonstrate their commitment to and expertise in the best practices of project management. They focus on education, competency, and experience. The goal is to bring project participants to a point where there projects excel.
It is interesting to note that about one-fifth of the worlds GDP is spent on projects. It is only fitting that companies, governments, and other organizations are keenly aware of the cost and risks of projects, and want to see those managed by trained professionals.

PMI PMP Credential and others

The PMI offers six credentials, among those are the PMP, PgMP, CAPM, PMI-ACP, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP. The last three are specialties, and the first three are specific to project management in general.
The PMP credential is the most prestigious and was the first credential offered by the PMI. The PMI is the world’s leading professional association for project managers. They have been responsible for standards that define good practices, project management expertise, resources for professional development, and globally recognized credentials and community.

PMI Certification Cost

The exam costs about $555, but the cost is lowered to $405 for PMI members.
PMP training programs cost between $1500 and $3500. However, online programs can be much cheaper.

The requirements for the PMP include 35 hours of project management education, a bachelors degree and 4500 hours of project management, or a high school degree and 7500 hours of project management.
The PMI also requires 35 PDU hours every three years so that participants stay active and updated in their project management discipline.

The exams are offered at Prometic and can be scheduled a few weeks out or more. The exams consist of 200 questions, and a four hour time limit. The exam has been characterized as one of the most difficult certification exams available.

Now is a good time to begin a new leg in your career. Join the thousands of PMP graduates and see what a difference it makes in your life.

Get the process memorization tool here.

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CAPM Certificate

Certification for CAPM

Project Management is a hot topic right now. Nothing helps your project more than to have trained project management professionals on the project. The question, however, comes up, “which credential should I try to get?”

CAPM vs PMP

Although there are six Project Management Institute (PMI) sponsored certifications, no one needs to get all six. They each have their own niche and reason for being. Three are specialty credentials, the PMI-ACP, PMI-SP and the PMI-RMP. The PgMP is a step beyond the PMP and deals with programs rather than projects.

So the real question comes down to which should I get? The CAPM or the PMP?
The PMP is the most prestigious of the two, and pulls the most weight. However, the requirements are different, and the CAPM may be the credential for you.

The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is an entry-level project management certification and might be what you want as a precursor to your PMP or as an entry point into the project management field.

CAPM Certification Value

The value of the CAPM certificate is that it shows the dedication of the recipient to the project management discipline, and the willingness of the applicant to follow the best practices of the industry.
The requirements are a lot less stringent.

1. A High School Degree
2. 1,500 hours of Project experience OR 23 hours of Project Management Education.

A more detailed account of the requirements can be found in the CAPM handbook.

The PMP credential requires 35 hours of project education, a bachelor’s degree and 4500 hours of project management experience, or 7500 hours of project management experience within six years.
These pre-requisites stop a lot of would be applicants.

CAPM Certification Training

Certification Training for the CAPM is very similar to that needed for the PMP certification. The point of the CAPM test is to verify the applicants understanding of the principles and vocabulary used in the PMBoK guide, and the best practices in the project management field.

Applicants will do best to prepare for the exam through courses designed for the PMP and CAPM tests. There are a number of self-study guides that could be consulted, but applicants that take a course usually do better in the long run.

PMI membership can help in the process. The PMI provides access to articles, white papers, and other publications. It also provides a big discount on the fees to take the exam, and connects members to working professional through local chapters.

Be sure to pick up a  registered R.E.P. training course such as the PM Prepcast or the PM Perfect on Demand course.

Other R.E.P. providers can be found in the database.

Can the CAPM help you get a job?

Project Management is a hot skill right now. Multiple surveys have shown that executives are expecting more and more out of their projects, and that they are looking to those who have shown their skill in project management. That means that a certification or a credential will do wonders to put you on the short list of those being considered for a job.

Start today to make the most of yourself. Start with the CAPM cert and work your way up the PMP.

Get the process memorization tool here.

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Accounting Terms on The PMP Exam

Terms on the PMP From Accounting

There are some terms on the PMP exam that are borrowed from the accounting discipline.
You don’t have to have a degree in accounting, and there really aren’t that many–but they are good to know.
You will need them when you are analyzing what project to do. They help to provide a way to look at projects objectively and determine what the long term benefits might be.
Here are the terms to watch for:
+++++++
Net Present Value:
NPV
Net Present Value is the present value of the net benefits of a project over many time periods. That means the total income or revenue after the costs, including interest.
On the exam, you will not have to calculate Net Present Value–but you do have to know that a bigger NPV is better than a smaller one, and that only projects with a positive NPV should ever be attempted.
+++++++
Internal Rate of Return
IRR
Internal Rate of Return is the rate of return that the project will create. The IRR must be higher than interest for the same amount of money put into a bank account or a CD.
On the test you won’t have to calculate the IRR, but know that a bigger IRR is better, and that you would choose the project with the biggest IRR as the one the company should work on.
+++++++++
Payback Period
This refers to the time it will take to repay the investment in the project before the project begins to create a profit.
If one project has a Payback Period of one year, and the other has a Payback Period of four years, you would pick the first project, because it pays back its investment in a much shorter time.
+++++++++
Benefit cost Ratio
This number compares the benefit to the cost. Usually this is done in the form of Revenue divided by Cost. It is usually used as a way to compare projects and the bigger the ratio, the better for the project.
++++++++++
These are the four Accounting terms that will be on the PMP Exam. Although you won’t have to do any calculations with them, they will be needed to help you choose which projects to work on.
There are a number of other things that can help you prepare for the exam.

Consider this cheat-sheet filled with PMP Formulas.

Get PMP certified and let the project management processes guide your projects to successful completion–on time and on budget.

Change your life and career with a PMP credential.
Get the process memorization tool here.

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Managing Project Costs

The PMI Likes the Earned Value Method

What is the Earned Value Technique?

This is a method used to measure project performance against the project’s baseline. If there is a variance or a deviation from the baseline, Earned Value Management can point out the difference and let project managers and stakeholders make corrections that can put the project back into alignment with the baseline.

Earned value is a technique that can merge time, cost, and work completed as a way to analyze where the project stands and what needs to be “fixed” to get it back on course.

Project managers can use earned value as the basis of their reporting. It can be integrated into performance analysis and even forecasting future performance.

Project reports should always contain the Earned Value figures and the project managers interpretation of what they mean and why those indications were extracted from the numbers.

Here is a quick cheat-sheet for the EV calculations:

Acronym	Term
PV	Planned Value
EV	Earned Value
AC	Actual Value
BAC	Budget at Completion
EAC	Estimate at Completion
ETC	Estimate to Completion
VAC	Variance at Completion

Name	Formula
Cost Variance (CV)	EV-AC
Schedule Variance (SV)	EV-PV
Cost Performance Index (CPI)	EV/AC
Schedule Performance Index (SPI)	EV/PV
Estimate at Completion (EAC)	BAC/CPI or AC+ETC or AC+(BAC-EV)
Estimate to Completion (ETC)	EAC-AC
Variance at Completion (VAC)	BAC-EAC

Remember that if you are calculating a variance then it is EV minus something, and that EV comes first in a lot of the formulas.

What you really need is to do a number of practice sessions with the formulas.

This is only the basis of Earned value. There are a number of other formulas that you will still want to find an memorize for the exam.

I have found a number of resources that are incomplete with it comes to PMP exam formulas. The most complete that I have found is the PM Exam Formulas.

Get PMP certified and let the project management processes guide your projects to successful completion–on time and on budget.

Change your life and career with a PMP credential.

Get the process memorization tool here.

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Producing a Project Schedule

Producing a Project Schedule

Producing a project schedule can be a time-consuming and difficult task. However, without a schedule, your project won’t be successful. So how can you get started more quickly?

5 Tips For Faster Project Scheduling

Here are our top 5 tips for producing your project schedule faster.

Tip 1: Use templates
The fastest way to build your project schedule is to use a template. This is a sample, blank project schedule that you can edit to make it suitable for your current project. For example, you can use a template for a web project to get started if you are also managing a web project. This would include several of the key activities such as website design and testing. You could then add any additional tasks that are specific to your project. If you do use a templates, don’t forget to delete any tasks that are not relevant to your project.

Your Project Management Office or your software tool may have a range of templates that you can customize for your projects.

Tip 2: Use task lists
If you have to build your project schedule from scratch, the best way to start is with a task list. List all the tasks for your project. You can even import task lists from other applications, which is useful if you have already started planning your project in a workshop or meeting.

Remember to include all the tasks that you need to do to deliver the project, such as designing, building and testing deliverables as well as the tasks required to run the project, such as team meetings, the work required to produce documents and governance activities.

Tip 3: Allocate resources
Get your team working faster by using your project management tools to allocate tasks to them. You’ll avoid the need for lengthy meetings as they can pick up their assignments online, whenever is convenient for them.

If you don’t know who should be working on which task, discuss it at a team meeting. Sometimes there will only be one suitable person, and sometimes you may have to ask for a volunteer! In the meantime, you can delegate the rest of the work to the team. Then they can get started on their activities and you won’t hold up any other project work.

Tip 4: Structure your schedule
Group similar tasks together. You can also build project phases by looking at where it is logical to split the work into time bound chunks. Add milestones to mark the end of significant elements of work. If your schedule is structured effectively, it will be much easier to use. As a result, you will spend less time producing it in the first place and less time keeping it up to date as the project progresses.

Tip 5: Track it regularly
One of the reasons that project scheduling can be so time-consuming is that project managers let their schedules get out of date. Updating a project schedule that reflects what happened several weeks ago can be a challenge, especially on projects that move quickly. It is much better to put aside some time each week to update your plan. You can keep on top of changes and make sure that your project team always has the correct view of current progress. Other project stakeholders will also find this useful.
Using principles from the PMI can help any project.

Project Management training can be obtained via expensive onsite facilities, or at much more affordable online solutions:

Two such solutions are:
The PM Prepcast
and
PM Perfect PMP Bootcamp.

Each of these solutions are reviewed here.

Get PMP certified and let the project management processes guide your projects to successful completion–on time and on budget.
Change your life and career with a PMP credential.
Get the process memorization tool here.


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The Project Management PMP

The Project Management PMP Certification

Are you managing projects at work? If you are always working on projects that have a definite beginning and a definite end, they are probably projects.

Projects differ from other work in that they create unique products, services or outcomes, and typically just aren’t the same going from one to the other.

Project Management is a very highly sought after skill, that not a lot of people can do very well.
If you are managing projects, then learning to manage them using PMP methodologies can be very advantageous. In fact most PMPs see a 10 to 30 percent increase in their salaries after becoming a PMP.

What does PMP stand for? It means Project Management Professional. That is a credential that is managed by the Project Management Institute.

The PMI teaches people how to manage the scope, schedule, cost, risk, and other knowledge areas of projects–even though each project will differ significantly from other projects. They teach PMs how to create project plans that will include just the processes that are necessary for your project, and no others.

The PMP project plan is designed individually for the project, and is monitored and controlled so that the project ends on time and on budget.

Stakeholders are identified and their expectations are also manages.

Now would be a good time to find out what a Project Management PMP actually does.
Project Management training can be obtained via expensive onsite facilities, or at much more
affordable online solutions:

Two such solutions are:

The PM Prepcast
and
PM Perfect PMP Bootcamp.

Each of these solutions are reviewed here:

Get PMP certified and let the project management processes guide your projects to successful completion–on time and on budget.

Change your life and career with a PMP credential.

Get the process memorization tool here.

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The Agile Prepcast
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