CAPM Certification Training

Project management tools, techniques, and methodolgoy are used to manage the interaction between the project triple constraint of scope, schedule, and resources.

Project managers use models and methods to organize the management approach and execute the project management activities.

A sequential project management methodology is a traditional approach to project management.  It minimizes risk, but this conservative approach can be lengthy and expensive.

The concurrent project management methodology is a collaborative approach.  It can significantly accelerate a project as compared to the sequential approach, but it is much more difficult to project manage.

The Agile/Scrum project management methodology is an iterative approach that requires fewer resources than other approaches.

Business analysts often have a role at the beginning of a project in setting requirements and at the end of the project to ensure requirements are met.

Project Communication Management is a very broad term that refers to all of the communication activities associated with the project. Communication is a key attribute of project management.

Projects are often organized into phases.  Phases provide structure and logic to the project and aid the project team and management to track progress.

Progressive elaboration is the principle of steadily adding detail to the project plan as more information becomes available.

The integrated project plan that includes scope, schedule, and resource information for all aspects of the project is the project baseline plan.

The unique nature of projects leads to an inherent level of uncertainty.  Project managers should expect and plan for project change.

The Project Charter is the document that approves the initiation of the project and identifies goals, objectives, boundaries, and constraints.

The four phases of the product lifecycle describe business impact of a product line. Business analysts and project managers use the product lifecycle when setting project goals and objectives.

The product roadmap sets expectations for product development projects.

Verification and validation are critical elements in a product development project. Verification shows that the product meets requirements and validation shows that the product does what the customers need it to do.

Business analysts participate in projects by assisting in setting requirements and testing the result. The manner in which they do this will change based on the project management methodology.

The Project Stakeholders' support is essential for project success. Project Stakeholders set the goals for the project and will ultimately determine whether the project is considered a success or failure. 

Identifying stakeholders enables the project team to create a strategy for each that guides the communication and interaction with each stakeholder.

Many stakeholders have additional goals for a project beyond the primary business goal. Understanding those goals can help the team ensure project success and maintain stakeholder support.

Learn how to quickly identify project boundaries using the W questions.

Project requirements are often vague, incomplete, or contradictory at the time of project initiation.  Normally, additional effort is required to collect and verify the true project requirements.

Project requirements are often vague, incomplete or contradictory at the time of project initiation.  Normally, additional effort is required to collect and verify the true project requirements.

Learn how to identify project tasks and activities using the deliverables deployment technique.

Task Descriptions are the statements of scope for each of the project activities.  They are written in the format of “action – completion point.”

The WBS Dictionary is a table or spreadsheet that is organized by project task and contains all project planning details.

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the most commonly used technique for organizing the project scope. The WBS decomposes the scope into tasks and organizes the tasks into logical groupings.

Understand when and how to use a milestone schedule on a project.  Learn how to create a milestone schedule.

Understand when and how to use a Gantt chart on a project. Learn how to create a Gantt chart.

A network diagram is a project scheduling technique that shows the relationship between tasks by depicting project activities as a flowchart.

Critical Path is a project scheduling technique that determines the shortest time that the current project plan can be completed.

Float (slack or buffer) is extra time that a task could consume beyond its duration estimate without impacting other aspects of the project. Total float is extra time without impacting the end date of the project and free float is extra time without impacting another project task.

The most commonly used techniques for creating project estimates are analogous estimates, bottom-up estimates, three-point estimates, and using a parametric model.

Understand what is normally shown in a project budget.  Learn how to create a time-phased project budget.

The project Resource List is a list of all individuals working on the project with their contact information and all special equipment and facilities required to accomplish project tasks.

The Project Leader is responsible for ensuring the project team executes the project. 

Most large projects are managed by a cross-functional core team.  Core team members have a dual responsibility; they are responsible for the project achieving its goals and they are responsible to ensure that the project complies with their function’s standards and best practices.

The Responsibility Matrix is a project management tool for correlating project work assignments with project team members.

Team Meetings are a gathering of team members to discuss aspects of the project. Team pulse meetings focus on status. Team problem-solving meetings focus on problem resolution.

The Scrum Team performs the project work conducted during a Sprint on an Agile/Scrum project.

Project plans are built with an accumulation of estimates, each of which has a level of uncertainty associated with it.  The level of uncertainty is a major contributor to the accuracy of the plan and the amount of project risk.

Issues are any request, complaint, or unexpected condition that leads to unplanned, but in scope, work that must be accomplished on a project.  They normally result in the need to implement a workaround in order to resolve them.

Understand the difference between positive and negative risk. Learn the major steps of project risk management. 

The Risk Register is a table that tracks the project risk management activities.

Risk Identification is the practice of identifying positive and negative conditions that may occur within the project and impact project objectives.

All project risks are not equal in their effect on a project.  Project risks that have been identified are prioritized using qualitative techniques such as the Risk Matrix.

Negative Risk Response is determining what actions the project will take to address risk threats.

Positive Risk Response is determining what actions the project will take to address risk opportunities.

Contingencies are potential risk response actions that will only be implemented if some triggering event or condition has shown that the risk probability has gone from unlikely to likely.

Quality management on projects are processes and tools that aid the project core team and the organization in their effort to both do the right things and do things the right way on projects. It includes a focus on both corrective actions and preventive actions.

Learn how to create and use a project dashboard to communicate project status with both management and your project team.

Project Management Reviews are the formal documented meetings held periodically between senior management and the project team. 

Project technical reviews are formal decision meetings between team members and a panel of subject matter experts.

A formal documented modification to the project baseline, boundaries, or an artifact.

The Agile/Scrum methodology is a structured project management methodology.  It follows a prescribed process that includes Sprints and Scrums.

Story Cards - also known as Product Backlog Items (PBIs) - are the technique used for documenting project scope, quality requirements, estimates, and priority of the deliverables in an Agile/Scrum project.

The first portion of the Sprint Planning meeting consists of selecting the Sprint Backlog and clarifying Stories.

The second part of the Sprint Planning meeting is the time when detailed planning takes place by the Scrum Team and the Sprint is actually initialized.

The Product Owner must regularly prioritize the Story Cards that make up the Product Backlog and at the beginning of a Sprint he or she must prioritize the Story Cards selected for the Sprint Backlog.

Release planning allows the Product Owner to manage the rollout of capability in order to obtain feedback and assess progress.

Sprint execution is the actual work of the Scrum team during the Sprint to accomplish the tasks needed to complete each Story in the Sprint Backlog.

During a Sprint, the Scrum Team meets daily at a Scrum Meeting to provide status on progress.

Roadblocks are impediments that prevent the Scrum Team from completing Stories and tasks. The Scrum Master is charged with removing or creating a workaround for the Roadblocks.

The Sprint Demonstration is the formal meeting where the Scrum Team demonstrates to the Product Owner the performance of each deliverable that was created during the Sprint.

Sprint Demonstration Planning ensures that the Sprint Demo meeting appropriately reflects the work accomplished by the Scrum Team.

The Backlog Refinement is the update of the Product Backlog based upon what has been completed and what has been learned in a recently completed Sprint.

The Sprint Retrospective is a lessons learned meeting with a focus on identifying opportunities to improve the performance and management of the next Sprint.