What to Write on Your PMP® Exam Application

We often receive a question similar to the following from Project Management Professional (PMP)^® Exam Applicants who are in the process of filling in their application form:

Question: Do you have an example of project write ups on Project Management Institute (PMI)^® application -- best in class examples of how to summarize your projects -- I have drafted mine and would like to evaluate my application against best in class for structure, etc.

Answer: The answer is "No, we don't have any examples". This is because we don't collect them, but even if we had any, we would not share them. Each PMP® application should be written specifically based on the individual experience by the applicant. Every project is different and the summary should not be just a "boilerplate" statement.

We do, however, have a small example for you in our experience verification worksheet. Click on this link here to open up the XLS document:
http://www.project-management-prepcast.com/index.php/freetry-it/exam-links/81-qualification-requirements-/167-experience-verification-worksheet - There isn't much here, but it's a start.

We also have a tip: When writing the summary go ahead and use as much "PMI^® language" as is appropriate. So if you have created a project plan as part of your work, then call it by the official name in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), even if your company calls it a "Project Base Document". Use PMI^® terminology to make it easier for the reviewers to understand.

Watch this video to help you fill out your application form efficiently:

What are Activity Attributes?

Specific components of a particular activity are known as activity attributes. In the beginning, these are typically descriptive factors related to the specific activity, but they can also describe activities that will become more relevant later in the project timeline.

Most activity attributes can be organized, sorted and summarized. This happens based on a few specific categories. A few of the categories for activity attributes are activity codes, the specific people involved in the activity, locations for the activity, the time and costs required for completion, etc. It helps to organize the activity attributes into similar categories.

The various components that are a part of each activity can be described to further extend the activity attribute.
Frequent uses for activity attributes are to recognize the specific people who will be handling specific pieces of the work or to specifically state where the work will be carried out. Other uses include indicating the effort levels that will be required. These include LOE (level of effort), discrete effort, or AE (apportioned effort). Developing a schedule that will identify when planned activities will be selected, ordered and sorted is another use of activity attributes. There is always a difference in the number of attributes based upon the application area.

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide).

The difference between Workaround and Contingency Plan

Although many people use the terms “contingency plan” interchangeably with “workaround”, they are not the same. The difference between the two terms is related to whether the problems being handled were identified ahead of time or not. Contingency plans are made based on potential risks that are identified that could derail a project. Workarounds are responses to problems that develop while the project is being worked that were never identified.

When a project plan is first put together, potential risks are identified that could pose a significant threat to the project if they occur. Contingency plans are developed around those possible issues and they are completed before the threat takes place. These contingency plans should address the objective of the plan, the criteria for activating the contingency plan, the people and responsibilities involved, and the additional details required for implementation.

Here is an example: A company that produces skis has a project to stock its retail stores with the latest models for the winter season. While the project was being planned, a risk was identified regarding a potential strike. The project continued, but a contingency plan was developed in case the strike lasted longer than anticipated. In the case that the strike was not over by a pre-identified date, the company decided to reassign the work that was to be done by the factory on strike to alternative factories. Potential costs were reviewed and it was determined that this contingency plan would be beneficial.

A workaround is not a planned response because the problems being addressed were not anticipated ahead of time. Per the name, a “workaround” let’s you “work around” the problem. As soon as it is determined that there is an unanticipated problem, it needs to be addressed, researched and incorporated into the documentation of the project plan.

A corrective action must be taken occasionally to make sure the project stays in line with the projected results. Examples of corrective action include the implementation of both contingency plans as well as workarounds. Most projects will require the implementation of a contingency plan or will require a workaround to be created. Since larger projects tend to be more complex, these are common fixtures as the size of the project increases.

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) discusses both Workaround and Contingency Plans.

 Aside from getting clear with definition of project management terms, here are other ways to help you prepare for the Project Management Professional (PMP)® exam:

PMP® Exam Tip: The Work Package Explained

The concept of a work package can be a difficult one. In project management, a work package is defined as the effort required to produce a deliverable within a project. This effort may be a single task or it could be several related tasks.

Many people think of a work package as a sort of “mini project” within a larger project. When all of the individual work packages within a larger project are completed, the overall project is done.

Each step within a work package includes the steps needed for completion along with a deadline for each step. This helps the project manager ensure the overall project remains on schedule. The benefit of using work packages is that it allows many different pieces of the overall project to be worked on at the same time, usually by different groups of people. The team assigned to each work package completes their tasks and then the individual packages all merge together seamlessly at the end.

Each work package typically has someone assigned to oversee it. This could be a supervisor, a team leader or may just be the team member who was designated as the leader. Work packages are found at the very bottom of the work breakdown structure.

A work package has many of the same components of a project. They have deadlines, schedules, include cost estimations and they are monitored. The work package should be thought of in terms of the results or deliverables of the package and not just the effort that is involved in obtaining them.

In order to create a work package, some of the main deliverables of the overall project have to be decomposed to the next level to identify the smaller work package. Depending upon the deliverables of the work package, this may need to be decomposed and separated into further work packages. However, you must remember not to go too deeply into this. If you create work packages that are not really necessary, it could lead to poor use of resources and inefficiency.

The work package is discussed in both the Project Scope Management and Project Time Management Knowledge Area of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide).

What is the To-Complete-Performance-Index (TCPI)?

The To-Complete-Performance-Index (TCPI) allows a projection of the anticipated performance required to achieve a goal.

As a simple example: You are driving in your car to a friends house. You promised that you would arrive at 3pm. It is now 2:15pm and you have 30 miles to go. Your TCPI is the speed that you need to drive in order to arrive on time. (This is obviously not a perfect example for the TCPI, but it gets the point across: The TCPI defines the performance required in order to achieve a previously set goal.)

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2013 defines TCPI as the calculated projection of cost performance that must be achieved on the remaining work to meet a specified management goal, such as the budget at completion (BAC) or the estimate at completion (EAC). That is is why there are two formulas - one calculates the TCPI to achieve the BAC and one to achieve the EAC.

TCPI can also be compared with the Cost Performance Index (CPI). This can provide additional performance information. For example, if the TCPI is greater than the current CPI then future efficiency must improve if the project is to achieve the BAC or EAC.

If the comulative CPI falls below the baseline plan, all future work of the project will need to immediately be performed in the range of the TCPI (BAC) to stay within the authorized BAC. Whether this level of performance is achievable is a judgement call based on a number of considerations, including risks, schedule, and technical performance. Once management acknowledges that the BAC is no longer attainable, the project manager will prepare a new estimate at completion (EAC) for the work, and once approved, the project will work to the new EAC value.

Review the complete definition plus examples from the PMBOK^® Guide Fifth Edition starting at chapter 7.4.2.3.

Project Schedule Defined from a Project Management View

From a project management perspective, a schedule consists of a list of a project's tasks with intended start and finish dates. Tasks are the lowest element in a schedule; they are not further subdivided. Those items are estimated in terms of resource requirements, budget and duration, linked by dependencies and scheduled. Project Scheduling helps identify all of the tasks that are required to complete a project on time. It adds dependencies between tasks so that if one task slips, the tasks related to it slip.

[On a side note: As we mentioned in last week's tip, in many organizations the terms "project management plan" and "project schedule" are often used interchangeably. If this is the case in your organization, then please make sure that you understand that for the Project Management Professional (PMP)^® Exam, these are two distinctly different documents. Please refer back to last week's tip for the discussion of the project management plan from a project management perspective]

Before a project schedule can be created, a project manager will typically have a work breakdown structure (WBS), an effort estimate for each task, and a resource list with availability for each resource. If these are not yet available, it may be possible to create something that looks like a schedule, but it will essentially be a work of fiction. They can be created using various estimation methods. A good best practice is to include the people who will perform the actual work in the estimation process. The reason for this is that a schedule itself is an estimate: each date in the schedule is estimated, and if those dates do not have the buy-in of the people who are going to do the work, the schedule will be inaccurate.

In many industries, such as engineering and construction, the development and maintenance of the project schedule is the responsibility of a full time scheduler or team of schedulers, depending on the size of the project. And though the techniques of scheduling are well developed, they are inconsistently applied throughout industry. Standardization and promotion of scheduling best practices are being pursued by the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE), the Project Management Institute (PMI)®. In some large corporations, scheduling, as well as cost, estimating, and risk management are organized under the department of project controls.

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute (PMI)®, Inc. says the following about the Project Schedule: As a minimum, the project schedule includes a planned start date and planned finish date for each activity. Develop Schedule is the process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule.

Read more about Project Schedule in the PMBOK^® Guide.

For more PMP® exam tips, watch this video:

Key Activities for the PMP® Exam (for PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition)

What is a Project Management Plan?

A project management plan is a formal, approved document that defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled. It may be summary or detailed and may be composed of one or more subsidiary management plans and other planning documents. The objective of a management plan is to define the approach to be used by the Project team to deliver the intended project management scope of the project. The project manager creates the plan following input from the project team and key stakeholders. The plan should be agreed and approved by at least the project team and its key stakeholders.

[On a side note: In many organizations the term "project management plan" and "project schedule" are often used interchangeably. If this is the case in your organization, then please make sure that you understand that for the Project Management Professional (PMP)® Exam, these are two distinctly different documents. We will discuss the project schedule in next week's tip.]

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) - Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute (PMI)®, Inc., 2013 also defines Develop Project Management Plan as the process of documenting the actions necessary to define, prepare, integrate, and coordinate all subsidiary plans. It defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled, and closed. The management plan content will vary depending upon the application area and complexity of the project. It is developed through a series of integrated processes until project closure. This process results in a project plan that is progressively elaborated by updates and controlled and approved through the Perform Integrated Change Control process.

The plan typically covers topics used in the project execution system and includes the following main aspects:

* Scope Management
* Schedule Management
* Financial Management
* Quality Management
* Resource Management
* Communications management
* Project Change Management
* Risk Management
* Procurement Management

It is good practice and mostly required by large consulting and professional project management firms, to have a formally agreed and version controlled plan approved in the early stages of the project, and applied throughout the project. Project planning is part of project management, which relates to the use of schedules such as Gantt charts to plan and subsequently report progress within the project environment.

Get a full load of the definition and examples of the Develop Project Management Plan process in the PMBOK^® Guide 4.2 to 4.2.3

Here is another PMP® tip which can help you to be more prepared for the PMP exam. Watch it now!