Free PMP® Test Questions!

With new kiddies, it had been tough updating this site. However, I have found some free time and decided to spend it providing free PMP® test questions!

Please go to www.pmtestcenter.com for your daily dose!

PMP certification exam update

Sorry, I know it's been a while since my last update. Between consulting, training and speaking engagements, work has kept me busy.

Anyway, here's the latest info regarding the PMP exam. The new version of the PMBOK (4th edition) will be released before the end of 2008. The new exam that will be updated to map to the new PMBOK will likely be June 2009.

I don't have an exact date yet but even if you haven't started studying yet, that's still plenty of time to get this thing done without having to restudy for the next iteration.

Aspiring PMP's, get your tests in soon!

Some of us have known this for a while, especially those of us who reviewed the PMBOK Guide, Fourth Edition, but a new test will be released at some point! That new version of the book is slated to be released later this year and the new exam to reflect those changes will likely follow a few months later.

If I was a betting man, I'd say the new test will be late Q1, 2009. However, why chance it? Even if you haven't even begun studying yet, it's still not too late to study and pass by year's end.

For some people like myself, a freshened up test using slightly updated material isn't a big deal. However, if you're not a PMP yet, the changes could be drastic enough to make the difference between passing on your first try and failing three times in a row.

My heart is not fonder

It's been two weeks since my first night due to Memorial Day and I must be honest, I do miss these folks (and I've only spent a few short hours with them so far). Do I remember everyone's names? Probably. Do I enjoy teaching? Undoubtedly yes. Am I looking forward to tonight? Uhm...not really.

My night classes remind me of when I was 10 and it was time to take a shower. I never really looked forward to it, but once I got in there, it wasn't all that bad -- even enjoyable. And better yet, when I was done, I felt great!

So right now, I'm sitting at work looking outside at a sunny 80 degree day knowing that I won't be home to enjoy it. But, in another 11 hours, I will have a smile on my face.

Another semester starts tonight!

Tonight, I begin classes with a new group. It's always exciting to see who's in there. Sometimes I get students who were prior students from a course that I did for their company; other times I get students who have seen me speak at an event. But most of these folks will be people who I have never met before.

I'm actually in a training session all week so was I looking forward to this 16 hour day? Not exactly. However, I believe what sets some trainers apart is that fact that they can treat their one hundredth class with the same level of enthusiasm as their first. So when 6:00 PM hits, I will be 'on'. The show begins and undoubtedly, the time will fly by.

The only real down side is that I won't get to see my 10 month old on days like this. It's really causing me to reconsider whether or not I want to continue teaching these certification courses at night.

The PMP prep book to get

Quite often, I get asked about whether or not a PMP prep book would be helpful and the answer is an absolute yes! However, there are so many out there, how does one go about choosing?

I have reviewed many PMP prep books and have used several different ones for my classes. Rather than write one on my own, which many of my students are still trying to encourage me to do so (hard to do with a 10 month old at home!), I ended up choosing a new one for my PMP prep classes a few months ago.

Here it is, my choice may surprise you:

PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide, Second Edition (Paperback)
by Joseph Phillips

http://www.amazon.com/Project-Management-Professional-Study-Second/dp/0072262907

I do not get royalties nor do I know Mr. Phillips. What I do know is that it has all the things that I look for in a prep book:

• Chapters in order of knowledge area, not process group
  
• Easy to comprehend
• Enough depth to understand without having to memorize
• Practice test simulator CD included (not just written at the end of each chapter)
  

You'll find that many books meet one or more of the above but not all. Even the most popular authors like Rita Mulcahy (e.g. no CD) or Kim Heldman (e.g. order of process group) miss the mark in my opinion. Although they do a great job of marketing, don't they?

So if you're going to buy only one book, and I recommend you buy only one prep book, this is the one to get!

MS Portfolio Server in a nutshell

Microsoft Portfolio Server 2007 is a powerful, somewhat complex portfolio management tool so when I state ‘nutshell’, I really mean it.

Portfolio Server allows senior management to meet their organization’s strategic objectives by providing insight on their projects. This allows them to make sound decisions on the choosing the right project mix.

The tool is broken down into three major sections:

• Builder: Users enter information about details for each project
• Optimizer: Users define what’s important to them from a strategic level
• Dashboard: Users view the results of their choices

So there you have it. Enjoy your nut!

MS Project: The difference between Standard and Professional

What’s the difference between MS Project Standard and MS Project Professional? I get this question a lot when I teach MS Project classes.

Here’s Microsoft’s explanation:

Office Project Standard 2007 is the latest version of the desktop project management program. As a stand-alone product, Office Project Standard 2007 helps project managers, business managers, and planners to manage and plan projects independently with familiar, easy-to-use tools. Office Project Standard 2007 is not designed to exchange data with Office Project Server 2007.

Office Project Professional 2007 is the desktop client that is also used to connect with Office Project Server 2007 as part of the Office EPM Solution. Office Project Professional 2007 offers all the tools found in Office Project Standard 2007, and when used with Office Project Server 2007, it also provides powerful EPM capabilities such as collaboration, management of shared resources, portfolio management, and reporting across projects and programs run by different project managers.

So what does that mean? Standard and Professional are the same unless you are going to use Project Server. Professional is required for Project Server and will cost nearly double. Otherwise, save your organization money and get Standard (retail $599/$349 upgrade vs. $999/599 upgrade).

Of course, please bear in mind that you may have future needs for Project Server so if that’s the case, Project Professional should also be considered for your organization’s growth, even if you don’t need it today.

Skipping questions on your PMP exam

A commonly asked question when I teach my PMP exam prep course is “When I’m taking the PMP exam, can I skip the questions that I don’t know?”

Let’s take some of the guesswork out of that. You should never skip any question on the exam! That’s because you are not penalized for wrong answers (unlike the SAT exam you took way back in high school).

In the current version of the PMP exam, you have four choices for each of the 200 questions. If you know the answer for a question, choose an answer and move on. If you don’t know the answer, or at least not totally confident of the answer, choose an answer anyway and mark the question before moving on, which can be done by simply clicking the little checkbox in the corner of your screen.

You’ll have an opportunity to come back to all your marked questions later to review your choice. Throughout the rest of the exam, other questions may trigger your memory for the marked questions.

Just remember to choose what you feel is the best answer before moving on, just in case you don’t have time to get back to that question. You definitely don’t want to submit the exam with blank answers. Afterall, a 25% chance of getting a question correct is better than 0%, right?

Baseline best practices using MS Project

Many new users to MS Project, or any other project management tool for that matter, do not set baselines for their project files. Without a baseline, however, a you can never really accurately gauge performance on the project. For instance, you won’t see variances or earned value data.

A baseline is what I call an original snapshot of your project. When you set a baseline (MS Project 2007 calls it ‘Set baseline’; all previous versions refer to it as ‘Save baseline’), you are essentially saving Start, Finish, Duration, Work, and Cost data for the entire project, each subproject, and each subtask.

Although you may have multiple baselines for each project (up to 11 baselines in MS Project), nearly all of my clients and students only have a need for one. I usually recommend only using one anyway since there is no quick way to extract those other baselines without additional configuration. Anyway, I’ll save that topic for another day.

In the meantime, here are some general best practices for setting baselines:

• Set your baseline when you are ready to begin the project. That means when it has been approved, the day before, the morning of, etc…
• Only clear baselines when you don’t want to see baseline data in your tables and views. Otherwise, simply set the baseline again and MS Project will overwrite the previous baseline.
• If you have new tasks during the project, you can save a baseline on only those tasks so you don’t have to save the baseline for the entire project.
• Interim plans are similar to baselines but MS Project only saves Start and Finish data.

New Microsoft Project Exams

Microsoft has released their new MS Project certifications and they are on par with their other serious certs.

70-632 Microsoft Project 2007 Desktop, Managing Projects

70-633 Microsoft Project 2007 Server, Managing Projects

70-634 Microsoft Project 2007 Server, Managing Projects and Programs

The first two are MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) exams, while the last is a MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional). The MCITP also requires achieving the two MCTS credentials first.

I took the 70-632 exam last Fall when it became available and although I passed easily, I was surprised at the difficulty of the exam. Almost all questions were scenario based and I really had to not only understand MS Project inside and out, but also have project management knowledge.

In February, I took the 70-633 exam and passed. It was a very similar format and again, I was impressed with the number of scenarios that required me to really think. That said, I took these exams without the help of practice exams, which I’m sure would have made the process a tad easier.

PM Fundamentals -- worth the time?

Next week, I'll be teaching a Project Management Fundamentals class. This is a one-day class that we run at our facility and at our clients' sites.

The question is, can you teach project management in a single day? I have taught many project management courses and programs, including a 28-week program I currently run at major university. However, many of those students are there to either (1) learn how to manage a project or (2) get some formalized training.

Most of the students who take the one-day course are typically team members. They work with project managers and need to understand what they go through in order to properly manage a project. Ironically, many project managers fly by the seat of their pants and actually know less from a formal standpoint. Although these project managers may be very good, they could be much, much better.

So is a one-day PM course worthwhile? For team members who want a high-level snapshot -- YES! For actual project managers -- it would be ideal to pass and take a longer program.

Selling on the fly

I just returned from the training that I wrote about yesterday. Play along and ask me how it went.

It went well, as usual. Did I get to teach what I believe in? You betcha. I arrived early and was determined to spend part of the time discussing my rationale for covering certain topics. I also said that I would de-emphasize some of those areas but I need to spend a minimum amount time because it was all integrated. To make a long story short, he nodded in agreement and the show was on!

By the time I completed our first day of training, the sponsor said it was nice to have someone who really knows what he's talking about to steer the class toward the right direction.

The lesson? Try to do what's right, even it you have to use your sales training to do so.

Let the SME do what you are paying him to do

Tomorrow, I'll be heading to a client site to deliver IT Project Management training. This will be conducted over 3 days at their facility and I'm really dreading it. Why? Because it's not the training that I believe in. What I mean by that is that the client dictated what topics to cover and what not to cover.

I understand that the client pays and we do what they want. However, when you ask for a subject matter expert (SME) to come in to do what they do best and then handcuff them, what do you think the result will be? Probably not good, right? And if the end result is terrible, who does it reflect on? You get my point.

To make it worse, the guy who asked for this training for his team attended a speaking engagement that I was at last year. Trying hard not to be immodest but most people who meet me learn to trust me. They take my words to heart because every word that comes out of my mouth has truth behind it and is filled with my passion. Yet from time to time, I meet people who are as green as a Pebble Beach fairway in August who think they know more than someone who does this every day.

So you must be curious at this point, what are they asking me to do? I'll just give you a single example and you'll see the picture. The request is to not discuss network diagramming but spend as much time as possible in MS Project. For those of you who still do not fully understand, it's the equivalent of teaching a first grader how to use a calculator before they know why they have to add in the first place. It'll be easy to teach them how to push the buttons but will they really understand why they need it?

More speaking...

Tonight and tomorrow night, my PSU classes will be delivering their project presentations to me. This is the pinnacle for the course for them.

Unlike some instructors, I will be spending a good deal of time providing feedback. I also expect them to apply that feedback to their presentation for their next course.

Why? Because presentation skills are one of the more underrated, yet valuable skills to have as a PM. The top PMs (we can assume in prestige and salary) give presentations regularly. They present changes to boards, updates to executives, design info to teams, etc... Any time they have to stand in front of a room, they're presenting!

Have you ever left a meeting where the presenter was dull? That's probably all you remember. How about a meeting where the presenter was dynamic? That meeting is probably still very vivid in your head. Remember what I stated in one of my previous posts, content can easily get lost if not delivered well.

So tonight will be fun -- for me, that is. It will be fun for the students too but they don't know it yet.

Speaker in the House

I just got back from the Baltimore area where I was the keynote speaker at a PMO forum. At this forum, there were several speakers but I was last to present. I was there representing Microsoft and the topic was Microsoft Enterprise Project Management -- How It Can Help You Manage Expectations.

Anyway, as each speaker presented his or her topic, I quickly realized how nearly all of them were inexperienced at it. Some where clearly better than others but certainly there weren't any superstars. As I waited for my turn, I knew that I would just do my "thing" and get the audience pumped up about the topic.

When I was done, I had a nice applause and a real sense that the audience really enjoyed my presentation. People came up to me afterwards and asked for me to personally train them in either the tools or to become a PMP.

So what did I do differently from everyone else? Here's a quick list:

• I opened with a hook: Ask a question to get the audience involved early. For instance, "So how many of you really like project management? C'mon, tell the truth and don't be shy, we're all nerds in here."
  
• I kept my points high-level: There's no need to "teach" anyone anything at an event. Just keep your slides light and tell your story.
• I used other presenters' names in my stories: This makes it appear as though everyone is in agreement of my presentation.
• I walked around: Don't stay behind a podium! Move about and simply talk.
• I didn't bring notes: If you know your topic (and want to look like you do), know your topics and simply talk.
• I smiled: Do you know how many speakers don't smile? That's right, nearly all of them!
• I kept it funny: If you're not naturally funny, be prepared to write something up prior. People will remember the funniest presentation and if you can't get through to them, they will tune you out, even if you have the meaning of life.
  

So who exactly trains PMI employees?

Everyone needs training, even PMI. When PMI has a need to train their employees in project management, who do you think they call? That's right, yours truly.

I'm not telling you this to boast, nor am I telling you this to sell you something. Rather, the message I'm trying to convey is that project management is project management. Good trainers and consultants are as good as the message they can deliver.

The message itself can actually be delivered by anyone but there's a big difference between someone who can be dynamic versus someone who just, well ... delivers it. Even if I am the most knowledgeable person on the subject matter, no one would really choose me solely because of that. I am chosen because of my presence in front of an audience.

For the record, I do not claim to be the most knowledgeable but I will continually get speaking engagements (sometimes for PMI) and additional training opportunities because I can drive a message home. The lesson for today? Go get some practice speaking in front of others.

PMP passing score?

This is a question I get a lot…”What is the passing score for the PMP?”

The reason why there’s confusion is that different materials may have different answers Let me make it easy for you.

PMBOK 2000 (old version of exam) = 69%

PMBOK 3rd ed. (new version of exam) = 81%

PMBOK 3rd ed. (new version of exam after the first few months of release) = 61%

I remember telling my students a few years ago that they better apply for the PMP soon since you never know what you’re going to get in the new version. When the new version finally came out, 81% was the passing score. However, based on the candidates’ scores, PMI realized that people who should be passing weren’t passing! Rather than updating the entire exam, they lowered the passing score. The 61% was determined the appropriate passing score after reviewing several months of data.

However, prep books and other materials that were printed obviously were not updated. That’s why you may see varying passing scores.

In short (until PMI changes it again), you need 61% to pass.

When should I use LEAD in MS Project?

Last week, I answered the question of when to use lag. Now I’m going to describe its counterpart – lead.

Lead is the amount of time a successor task can overlap its predecessor. In other words, how soon can a task begin before its predecessor completely finishes? My two-word definition for lead is overlapped tasks. Please note that I’m referring only to tasks that have a relationship between each other.

For instance, let’s say that I am a programmer and one my tasks is Develop code. I also have a task for unit testing my own work, Test code. Would you agree that I can’t actually test the code unless I develop the code? Therefore, I should use a finish-to-start relationship. However, I am asked to shorten the duration of my project. One of my options is to simply start testing before I am completely done developing. Maybe I will start testing two days before I am scheduled to finish developing. If that’s the case, I will apply two days of lead on that link.

By the way, if you’re looking for the lead field in MS Project, you won’t find it. You have to put a negative number in the lag field.

And lastly, just as I stated for lag, the same applies here — no dependencies, no lead.

When should I use LAG in MS Project?

The definition of lag is the amount of time a successor task must be delayed. If you’ve attended any of my classes where I walk my students through activity sequencing, you’d already know that I like using two-word definitions and that I simply refer to lag as a forced wait.

Let’s walk through an example of when lag makes sense. I am redecorating a room and part of this project includes painting the room and hanging up pictures. Therefore, Paint walls is a predecessor of Hang up pictures. If I intend to “force” a waiting time between the tasks (I should probably let the paint dry a bit!), I place lag right on that finish-to-start dependency. If I want to let the paint dry for a day, then I’d add 1 day lag. The start of the successor task will now begin after a one day waiting period once the predecessor has finished. Lag is dynamic so if it takes more or less time for me to paint, the lag will still remain as a fixed 1 day wait prior to hanging up pictures.

An alternative to adding lag is creating a new task, such as Wait for paint to dry. The reason why lag is usually the preferred method is because there is no effort for paint drying. Unless you need to exhibit these types of tasks on the Gantt Chart, then just use lag and save yourself the trouble. In general, using lag will reduce the number of tasks you need to view on your project schedules.

Of course, if you’re not using dependencies at all, then you can’t actually apply lag!