Passed PMP on 26th Aug. Lessons learned? Not really. Just some tips.

Passed PMP on 26th August.  My lessons learned topic won’t be a fit to stay in the knowledge base. You will know why after reading till the end.

My Preparation & journey:
I have PLANE syndrome (Postpone, Laziness, Avoidance, Negligence, and Easygoing).
In conjunction I also have split personality. The personality that has the PLANE syndrome leads my personal / family life. The second personality that has no such syndrome leads my professional life. Otherwise I would have been out of job.


Couple of months ago I started my PLANE journey, PMP as my destination. I thought I could leave the flight in auto pilot mode and continue my other routines. Bad idea. Well, because of lot of turbulences, I stopped auto-pilot & ended up taking manual control. Whenever I tried a mock test, I had to go up->down->forward->Backward to clear the gaps in my knowledge. There was no final prep for landing. Crash landed at PMI airport. Hey but safely reached the final destination on time. There is no eligible experience to archive as Lessons Learned for the fellow pilots or for future pilots.


Still I want to share few things for the prospective PMPs.
Hello Beginners…. If you read further, you may get answers for some of your questions.


Which book to buy?
I have used 4 books, so I can talk only about those 4 books.
I will try to illustrate each book /author’s style of explanation/narration.
Let’s take a task of “going to office from home”


1.       RITA:
Going to office is one of the most common tasks that many project managers do in their everyday life. Unfortunately many of them do it improperly. Some may think they are doing it right, but they don’t realize that they are not following PMI-ism.


Read further and check if you have any gaps.


What PMI means of “Going to office from home” is NOT


·         Going when ever you like to go


·         Going what ever time of the day


·         Going what ever path/route you want to go, etc.


and in addition to the above you are not thinking about the risks (Weather/out of fuel /traffic/ etc). I will talk about the risks later in detail.


 Now I am sure you have some gaps. Let’s see how the task should be done properly.


At least one day in advance:


·         You need to determine the business hours & HR policy towards being late to office


·         Some companies allot dedicated parking spot. Determine your parking spot.


·         Check weather forecast, your vehicle fuel, tire pressure etc.


·         Get directions/map/GPS. You may require if your known route is blocked


·         Because you are an idiot you may forget to wake up in the morning. Make sure you have a working alarm clock turned on as per the plan


On the day of task:


·         Wakeup when alarm rings. Don’t over sleep. It happens with majority of PMs.


·         Take shower (Refer to Hygiene, Code of conduct, ethics etc)


Trick of D Trade:
For PMP exam you need to assume that you are living in a metro city, not in a small town.


The story will go on….but I am sure she will make you successful in reaching the office on time.


2.       Andy Crowe: 


To do the “Going to office from home” task properly, you need to ensure you know/have the following.


·         To reach the office on time, you need to know the drive time, directions, etc.


·         Check weather, traffic, etc. in advance


·         It’s very important that you reach office on time.


 


3.       Head First:


This book does the spoon feeding of concepts. I feel it won’t stimulate much of your brain to think/take the tougher scenarios.



This book goes with pictorial representation of the topics.


House picture -> PC with weather site&map/traffic-> Car picture-> Road / intersection with traffic ligts -> office building/parking lot->PM sitting in the office room-> clock on the desk showing 8am.


 


You will see the commentary on those pictures.


4.       PMBOK:


“Going to office from home”


Prepare yourself to perform the task & collect the following


·         business hours, organization expectations


·         Average drive time, weather, traffic


·         Facility access, parking policies, sign on time tracking


Perform the task & reach office on time.


PMBOK – It’s a must (Whether people say DRY/ROTTEN/YUCKEY/ETC).
With out reading any other, if you ready only PMBOK, yes you will feel it so dry.


If you read it along with any other book (I prefer Rita), you will enjoy even the PMBOK.


How to Prepare:


After picking the books you like, read at least twice. If you can read 3rd time, believe me it takes very less time for the 3rd iteration. (I am sure by looking at the heading itself, you brain will start flashing the contents)


You may have your own style of reading, otherwise see below.
Effective reading style:  


1.       Read with dual pointers in your brain, one pointer reading at ground level in detail, 2nd pointer with an areal view.
Imagine you are lost in a thick forest, you may be walking without rest to get out.
Still you may not know, how far you still need to go, what direction, etc.
If there is an areal view/ bird view watching you, will give an idea of your efforts status.


2.       Skim though it. Don’t try to remember every thing with single reading


3.       Re-read/revise. (2nd iteration). Try to recall the topic with out reading the whole page, then read the whole page.


4.       After 3rd iteration you will remember most of the information. I suggest you do after attempting the mock tests.


FAST Rule: (Focus while reading, Asses after reading, Skip confident/clear topics while revising,
             Time your study. Don’t read all day. 1-2 hrs a weekday & more hours & tests over the weekends)


Overview & conclusion:


About 50% of the exam questions are very easy straight questions. Say 75Q out of 175 are easy.
(Straight ITTOs & easy math questions if you remember the formulae & NPV tips).
Now the struggle is to handle the remaining 100Q. Concentrate on the following.


·         Tools & techs. Mainly Quality control (control chart, run chart, etc.)


·         Earned Value , TCPI, Float/Slack


·         Don’t waste lot of time on PTA. You can learn/ practice more after PMP also, instead concentrate on contract types.


·         No need to memorize ittos, however go for it if you can especially if you have less PM exp**.
(** )In childhood you were asked to memorize the tables. You memorized 12x5=10 why?
You know the logic. In exam you can multiply and find the answer is 60. After memorizing your mind maps it & picks it quicker & faster.  Personally I am very poor at mockup the things.


·         Make sure you have Rajesh Nair / Chowdhary's notes for the last few days


Wish you all the best.


    Vijay B., MS, PMP, ITIL.


 

admin's picture

I like the way you have compiled your post here. congratulations on your PMP


Regards