THE PMP EXAM

Review Session
Tips n Tricks
and
Solved examples
Eng. Amal Ismail Soliman ,PMP
April 2016

PMI Talent Triangle- The Ideal Skill Set

The PMI Talent Triangle is a combination

of technical, leadership, and strategic and
business management expertise.
Globally recognized and demanded, the
PMP demonstrates that you have the
experience, education and competency to
lead and direct projects.

What was updated in the exam

*The Exam Content Outline:
A resource that helps guide your preparation for the exam
*Multiple updates:

Modification to existing tasks

A few tasks removed
Weighting of exam
8 new tasks: (25% of the exam questions)

Domain 1:
Initiation

Domain 2:
Planning

Domain 3:
Execution

13%

24%

31%

Domain 4:
Monitoring/
Controlling
25%

Task 6

Task 6

Task 7

Task 7

Task 2
Task 7

Task 13

Domain 5:
Closing
7%

Task 8
3

An overview of the new Exam Content Outline

Domain 1- Initiating the Project 13%

3 tasks added Task 2- Identify key deliverables, Task 7 Validate alignment with
organization strategy (benefit analysis), Task 8 Ensure understanding among
stakeholders of the approved project charter elements
Domain 2- Planning the Project 24%
1 task added Task 13 Develop stakeholder management plan: analysis of needs,
interests, impact for effective stakeholders engagement throughout the project
Domain 3- Executing the Project 31%
2 tasks added Task 6 Manage information flow as documented in the
communication plan, Task 7 Carrying out the stakeholder management plan to
receive continued support and manage expectations
Domain 4- Monitoring and controlling the project 25%
2 tasks added Task 6 Manage lessons learned for continuous process
improvement, Task 7 Verify compliance of procurement activities with project
objectives according to the procurement management plan
Domain 5- Closing the project 7%
No new tasks added
4

Key points
More emphasis on:

Business strategy and benefits realization: As PM. are involved

more in the early stages of the project where benefit analysis is
carried out as well as in each domain to focus on the buisiness
strategy rather on deliverables.
Value of lessons learned: Throughout the entire project not only
from other projects , Focus on Knowledge transfer to capture
lessons learned and documentation.
Project Charter responsibility: PM.participates in developing the
project Charter but is not solely responsible for creating it.
Enhancing stakeholder relationships: Building two way relationship
and engagement with stakeholders
5

The Strategic Management Process.

*Strategy: a comprehensive set of commitments, decisions, action plan that
identifies long-term direction for an organization regarding resource
utilization to accomplish organizational goals with sustainability.

Questions On The Exam

This exam is not just a test of your memory.

Emphasis on the process of the Project Management Life Cycle
Do not waste your time remembering all tools and techniques for each
process just be aware how it works
10-15 questions are likely on the PMBOK processes / ITTOs
Situational
50-75 questions
e.g. What would/should you do in this situation?
Network diagrams often have more than one question
4-8 formula-type questions
20-25 Earned Value (EV) questions

Question format:

A multiple choice with 4 possible answers.

No penalty for guessing.
Read and understand each question and each answer.
Qs may have many twists, turns, irrelevant information to distract you
from the relevant facts.
Read PMBOK guide & mark PMI concepts
Refer to the Glossary of the PMBOK guide frequently to learn PMI
terminology and definitions.

Best Practice:
First you must interpret what topic the question is asking about, than
determine what knowledge and tools to apply.
Read 4 answers carefully before making your decision.
Practice being able to pick an answer from 2 appears similar and right
If you find 2 correct answers choose:
the first step that should be done or
the most correct one
Example 1:
*Being at the end of identifying Project Risks process, as a PM. you should
direct your team to use the technique of:
a-Probability & impact matrix
b-Sensitivity analysis
c-Expected monetary value
d-Strategies for negative risks
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Example 2:
*Risks should be identified during which Risk management process(es)?
a-Quantitative risk analysis and Identify risks
b-Identify risks and Monitor and Control risks
c-Qualitative risk analysis and Monitor and Control risks
d-Identify risks
Example 3:
*You Have defined scope , estimate activity resources and duration the next step is to :
a)
b)
c)
d)

Create WBS
Define Activity
Develop Schedule
Plan Cost Management
10

PMI Concepts & Themes for Answering Questions

Always assume you have company project management methodology,
policies, risk and quality procedures.
Lessons learned as part of historical information should be regularly
documented addressing success and failure
The role of a good PM needs: knowledge, performance (p.17/18) and
interpersonal skills (p513-519).
PM must work within existing system & culture of a company (p.19-29)
PM should work identifying risks & threats before project begins and
throughout the project lifecycle (p.311)
Management by Objective (MBO) determining companys objective and
how the project fits into them.
*MBO focuses on the goal of an activity rather than the activity itself
(manager is responsible for results rather than performing certain activities)
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PMI Concepts
Stakeholders (p.30-33) are involved in projects by assessing risks ,
team building and in communicating project information.
PMI addressed the importance of Stakeholder Management, and
getting them engaged in the decision-making process as early as
possible in the project.

Project cost management and time management cannot be finalized

before assessing project risks.(p.143/194)
PM and the 5 Stages of Team Development (p.276)

In weak Matrix, Project Coordinator has more power to make

decisions than project expeditor.(P.23)
Project Management Plan should be realistic, formal and approved
by all parties.
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Importance of the stakeholders inclusion in gathering requirements

Example:
Your project is well underway, and the project management plan as well as subsidiary
plans have been baselined and work is proceeding apace. A key project stakeholder
has just approached you with a problem: a major requirement was missed by the
business in the requirements gathering process and they want it inserted into the
project plan without having to go through the formal change request process. They
would consider it a huge favor if you did so and would be willing to reciprocate at
some later date. What should you do next?

a. Talk to the stakeholder's manager about the stakeholder's request for a breach
in the formal corporate change management process
b. Since the stakeholder has key resources on the project, it may pay off in the
long run to agree to the stakeholder's request
c. Perform an impact assessment on the requested change and submit to the CCB
for approval
d. Agree to the request only if the stakeholder is willing to remove a less
important feature of equal effort so as not to impact the costs or the timeline
on the project
13

PMI Concepts
PM should assign Roles and Responsibilities to individuals from : attending
meetings to project works.(p.261)
The difference between the sponsor and the project manager role (p.32)
Understand your companys big picture: Project, Program and portfolio
management (p.8)
ALL changes flow through a change request and the Integrated Change Control
tools.(p.99)

Difference between Change Management, Configuration Management, Change

Control System (Not Change Control Board) and PMIS

Approved Change requests are processed by Manage and Control Project work
process to obtain deliverables

Deliverables are verified by the quality control team to get Verified deliverables

Verified deliverables are processed through validate scope to get accepted

deliverables
(p. 99)
14

PMI Concepts
Assumption: A factor in the planning process that is considered to be
true, real or certain without proof or demonstration.
Constraint: A limiting factor that affects the execution of a project or
process(p. 529/ 532)

PM office has important authority over the project

PMO may provide services related to project management or may be

directly responsible for managing the project .(p.10/11)

To reduce the length of the project (crashing), we need to know the critical
path of the project and the cost of reducing individual activity times.(p.181)
The critical chain approach removes excess safety time from individual
activities and creates a project buffer at the end of the critical path.

Difference between Project Buffer and feeding buffer (not on the critical
chain but feeding the critical chain)
(p. 178)
15

PMI Concepts
Chart of Account: the financial numbering system of the organization used
to monitor project costs by category
Code of Account: the numbering system for providing unique identifiers
for all components of the WBS
Control Accounts: the management control points at which integration of:
scope, budget and schedule takes place and compared to EV
for performance measurement.
(p.533)

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Earned-Value Interpretation:

Earned Value for Project Performance Evaluation

Performance Trends

Ideal Performance Index

18

PMI Concepts
Quality should be checked before work package is completed.(slides)

Difference between control scope and validate scope processes

Difference between quality assurance and quality control processes

PM responsibility towards Human Resources (rewards, recognitions,

incentives and motivational theories ( p.277)
PM must spend time trying to improve Quality.
(7 basic quality tools p.236)

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Leadership and Supervisory Style

Leadership vs. Management
Leaders inspire a vision and get things done through others by
garnering loyalty, respect, and cooperation from team members.
Leaders are usually concerned about the Big Picture

Managers are generally task oriented, concerned with things like

organizing, plans, controls, budgets, policies, and procedures.
P.284

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Methods of Communications

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Conflict Resolution Techniques

Resolution

Concern For

Mode

Result

Personal Goals

Relationships

Force

Win-Lose

High

Low

Smooth

Lose-Lose

Low

High

Withdraw

Lose-Lose

Low

Low

Compromise

Neither party wins

nor loses

Medium

Medium

Confrontation*
(Problem-Solving)

Win-Win

High

High

*Focuses on problem, not the individual

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PMI Concept
Risks are identified throughout all project phases.
Non-critical risks should be documented. They should be revisited and
reviewed regularly in a watch list
Proactive solution that prevent the problem from happening in the future
is a prevention method.
Work-around refers to how to handle risks that have occurred but are not
part of risk response plan.

*This happens in risk monitoring and control process.

(p.349)

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Risk Register Components:

Risk Management Plan Describes how Risk Management will be structured

and performed, it includes
Methodology (Approach, tools and data sources)
Roles and responsibilities
Budgeting (assign Resources and estimated Cost for inclusion in cost baseline)
Timing (When and how often; includes risk activities in project schedule)
Risk Categories (RBS, Good practice is to review risk categories during RMP prior
to Risk Identification Process)
Definition of Risk Probability and Impact (Definition of probability and impact)
Probability and Impact Matrix (Look up table, with impact categorized as
Low, Moderate or High)
Revised Stakeholders tolerances
Reporting Formats (Describes Risk Register Contents and format)
Tracking (Auditing and Documentation for lessons learned and future needs
(p. 348)
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Risk Response Strategies

*Strategies for negative risks or threats:
-Avoid, transfer and mitigate.
Note that decreasing the probability of occurrence and the back up plans
are related to risk mitigation strategy
*Strategies for positive risks or opportunities
Exploit: assigning better quality resource to reduce time to complete
Share: allocating ownership to third party who has expertise.
Enhance: by facilitating or strengthening the cause of the opportunity,
targeting its trigger.
*Strategies for both threats and opportunities
Acceptance Accept or retain consequences.
2 types: Active Acceptance (develop a contingency reserve)
Passive Acceptance (no action).
*Understand all strategies , their characteristics and decide what strategy
described in Questions
(p.344-346)

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Example:
*Based on historical data, the amount of overtime associated with the
design effort of a project is estimated at 100 hours with 0.4 probability,
200 hours with 0.4 probability, and 300 hours with 0.2 probability.
What is the expected value of the amount of overtime?
a.
b.
c.
d.

100 hours
160 hours
180 hours
260 hours

*EMV for a project is calculated by multiplying the value of each possible

outcome by its probability of occurrence

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Closing Process activities:

Obtain acceptance by the customer or sponsor,
Conduct post-project or phase-end review,
Document lessons learned,
Apply appropriate updates to organizational process assets,
Archive all relevant project documents in the Project Management

Information System (PMIS) to be used as historical data, and

Difference between project closure and procurement closure

27

Anti-Trap Techniques
Follow the PMI Processes, not the common sense scenarios that for ex:
save time.
Dont take the easy way out as ignoring a problem.
Act directly (confront the sooner the better) and say what you mean
(facts).
Any of the words evaluate, investigate, or assess should automatically
put that answer at the top of your list to evaluate.
Words like confront, problem solve, or deal with the situation directly,
are good hints that you may be on the right answer.

Watch out of true statements but not the right answer.

Watch out of words like: first, last, best, next, except, not true.

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Anti-Trap Techniques
Watch out of over data and made up terms to distract you from
the facts of the problem.
Study the Role of project Stakeholders
Expect several who should perform this activity type of Qs.
Understand difference between types of organizations (advantages
and disadvantages).
(p.22-26)
Use the tutorial (promo) and the skip options as needed.
Use a guessing strategy if you dont know the answer.

*Finally: Get used to the idea that there will be few ambiguous
questions.
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Latest feedack on the Exam:

Risk and Procurement Knowledge Areas

Change Management Procedure
Closing Process Group Activities
6 different questions on the network diagram
Expert Judgement and Historical Records
Earned Value Management questions.
No except and no not true
Good Luck

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Solved Examples

31

1. To accommodate a new project in your department, you need to move

resources from one project to another. Because your department is currently
working at capacity, moving resources will inevitably delay the project from
which you move the resources. You should move resources from which of
the following projects?

A. Project A with a benefit cost ratio of .8, no project charter, and four
resources
B. Project B with a net present value of US $60,000, 12 resources, and
variable costs between US $1,000 and US $2,000 per month
C.

Project C with an opportunity cost of US $300,000, no project control

plan, and an internal rate of return of 12%

D. Project D with indirect costs of US $20,000 and 13 resources

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2. Your project is proceeding according to schedule. You have just learned that
a new regulatory requirement will cause a change in one of the projects
performance specifications. To ensure that this change is incorporated into
the project plan, you should
A. call a meeting of the change control board
B. change the WBS, project schedule, and project plan to reflect the
new requirement

C.

prepare a change request

D. immediately inform all affected stakeholders of the new approach

to take on the project

33

3. Given this portion of the network diagram to the right, whats the LF of
activity F?
A.

10

B.

11

C.

16

D.

17

34

4. The project sponsor has approached you with a dilemma. The CEO
announced at the annual stakeholders meeting that project youre
managing will be completed by the end of this year. The problem is that
this is six months prior to the scheduled completion date. Its too late to go
back and correct her mistake, and stakeholders are expecting
implementation by the announced date. You must speed up the delivery
date of this project. Your primary constraint before this occurred was the
budget. Choose the best action from the options listed to speed up the
project. A. Hire more resources to get the work completed faster.
B.

Ask for more money so that you can contract out one of the phases
you had planned to do with in-house resources.

C.

Utilize negotiation and influencing skills to convince the project

sponsor to speak with the CEO and make a correction to her
announcement

D.

Examine the project plan to see whether there are any phases that
can fast tracked, and then revise the project plan to reflect the
compression of the schedule.
35

5. Based on the following table, which path listed below represents the
least schedule risk?
A. Start-A-B-C-I- Finish

Task

Dependency

Duration

B. Start-A-B-H-I-Finish

Start

None

Start

Start

Start

B,E

C,G,H

Finish

C.

Start- D-E-H-I-Finish

D. Start- F-G-I-Finish

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6. Joe is an excellent programmer. He was promoted to a role of Project

Manager because he understands technology better than anyone else in
the company. Unfortunately, he is having trouble doing the project
management job and his projects are failing. What is this an example of?
A. Gold plating
B. Halo effect
C.

Pre-assignment

D. Ground rules

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7. The project is completed and the final deliverable has been sent to the
customer, but the customer refuses to give final acceptance on the
project. It is most important for the project manager to:
A. Inform management of the situation.

B. Ask the team for assistance.

C.

Document the situation.

D. Initiate legal proceedings.

38

8. You are trying to determine what cost and schedule trade-off will be most
appropriate for your project. You have the option to select either a
more experienced person at $ 120 per hour who can do the task in 45
days or a less experienced person at $ 80 per hour who can do the same
task in 65 days. A tool you can use to facilitate making the decision is:
A. Cost of Quality
B. Cause-and-effect diagram
C. Design of Experiments
D. Network diagrams

39

9. You are in charge of a project developing a complex product that does not
resemble anything your organization has done previously. You are using
a resource to develop this product that is in high demand elsewhere in
your organization. The project's timeframe is very aggressive. In order to
meet the schedule, only a limited amount of testing is done. Once the
testing is completed, the resource is released. The product works fine
when being tested, but in production, it performs badly. This results in a
substantial amount of rework and extra costs to reacquire the resource
on an overtime basis. Which of the following best describes why this
project had problem?
A. Poor quality management
B. Poor reporting
C. Poor risk management planning
D. Poor resource management
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10. One of the following is the subdivision of project deliverables into smaller,
more manageable components. The final product categorizes project
deliverables at the work package level.

A. Base lining
B. Critical path mapping
C. Decomposition

D. Resource leveling
11. Which is not an example of cost of quality?
A.

The cost of inspecting your product to be sure that it meets

requirements

B.

The cost of reviewing documents used to produce your product to

be sure that they do not have defects

C.

The cost of training your team on techniques that will help them
avoid defects

D.

The cost of contracting another company to build part of the

product

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12. In scope control it is important to determine and analyze the cause of any
unacceptable variance relative to the scope baseline. This can be done
throughA.

Root cause analysis

B.

Control charts

C.

Inspections

D.

Project performance measurements

13. Your project manager has requested that you provide him with a forecast
of project costs for the next 12 months. He needs this information to
determine if the budget should be increased or decreased on this major
construction project. In addition to the usual information sources, which
of the following should you also consider?
A.

Cost estimates from similar projects

B.

WBS

C.

Project schedule

D.

Approved change requests

42

14. In order to shorten the project duration, you want to look at fast
tracking the project. Based on the table, which task(s) would you
consider fast tracking?
A. B or E
B. C or F
C.

D. D or I

43

15. A project manager has finished the project. He knows that all the scope
has been completed and is within cost and time objectives set by
management. Management, however, says that the project is a failure,
because the original schedule was for 27 weeks and the project was
completed in 33 weeks. If the project baseline was 33 weeks, the project
is a success because:
A. It only had six weeks of changes.
B. It was completed within the baseline.
C.

There were so few changes.

D. There was good communication control

44

16. The project you are currently managing is highly similar to one you worked
on for a different customer six months ago. On the previous project, you
performed a detailed feasibility study that would save two calendar months
if you could use it on this project. You signed a nondisclosure agreement with
the previous customer. What is the best course of action in this situation?
A.

Disregard the previous feasibility study and perform a new feasibility

study for your current customer

B.

Ask your previous customer for permission to use the feasibility

study

C.

Use the feasibility study from the first project, since such
nondisclosure agreements are not legally enforceable

D.

Ask your project office for guidance

45

17. Assume that your actual costs are $1,000; your planned value is $1,200;
and your earned value is $1,500. Based on these data, what can be
determined regarding your schedule variance?
a. At $300, the physical progress is being accomplished at a slower rate
than is planned, indicating an unfavorable situation.
b. At +$300, the situation is favorable, as physical progress is being
accomplished ahead of your plan.
c. At +$500, the situation is favorable, as physical progress is being
accomplished at a lower cost than was forecasted.
d. At $300, you have a behind-schedule condition, and your critical path
has slipped.

46

18. Project management plan updates are not an output of:

a. Perform Integrated Change Control.
b. Develop Project Plan.
c. Direct and Manage Project Execution.
d. Close Project or Phase.
19. A company uses a management technique that employs quality assurance
techniques to continuously improve all processes. This is called:

A. Just In Time Management

B. Kaizen
C.

Ishikawa Diagrams

D. Inspection

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20. During the sixth monthly update on a ten-month, $300,000 project, analysis
of the earned value management data shows that the cumulative PV is
$190,000, the cumulative AC is $120,000, and the cumulative EV is $150,000. In
planning its action, the project management team can conclude all of the
following from these measures except:
A. Less has been accomplished than was planned.
B. Less has been spent than planned.
C. Continuing performance at the same efficiency with no management
intervention, the project will probably be completed behind schedule and
under budget.
D. Continuing performance at the same efficiency with no management
intervention, the project will probably be completed ahead of schedule and
over budget.

48

21. If the EV for a project is $30,000, the AC is $33,000, and the PV is

$25,000, how is the project performing?
A. The project is over budget and ahead of schedule
B. The project is over budget and behind schedule
C. The project is under budget and ahead of schedule
D. The project is under budget and behind schedule
22. Suppose you have a project with four tasks as follows:
Task 1 can start immediately and has an estimated duration of 1.
Task 2 can start after Task 1 is completed and has an estimated
duration of 4.
Task 3 can start after Task 2 is completed and has an estimated
duration of 5.
Task 4 can start after Task 1 is completed and must be completed when
Task 3 is completed. Its estimated duration is 8.
What is the total duration for this project?
A. 9
B. 10
C. 11
D. 12
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