Retired course
This course has been retired and is no longer supported.
About this lesson
The PMP® Exam Content Outline is a PMI document that provides lists of the domains, tasks, and skills that are tested on the PMP® Exam.
Exercise files
Download this lesson’s related exercise files.
PMP® Exam Content Outline.docx59.6 KB PMP® Exam Content Outline - Solution.docx
59.4 KB
Quick reference
PMP® Exam Content Outline
The PMP® Exam Content Outline is a PMI document that provides lists of the domains, tasks, and skills that are tested on the PMP® Exam.
When to use
When planning how you will study for the PMP® Exam, refer to this free handbook from PMI. When you believe you are ready for the exam, again refer to the domains, tasks and skills to test yourself.
Instructions
Refer to the PMP® Exam Content Outline for details about what is tested on the exam. This book is a free download available from the PMI website.
The Domains listed represent the process groups found in the PMBOK® Guide. Most of the Tasks listed are specifically described within processes that are explained in detail within the PMBOK® Guide. Most of the Knowledge and Skills listed can also be found described in the PMBOK® Guide. Those that are directly described are at least noted and references are often included.
Use the PMP® Exam Content Outline to plan your study for the PMP® Exam. Review each of the domains and questions. Those that are unfamiliar should be the areas you study first. Then go through the list of Knowledge and Skills. Again, those that are unfamiliar should be the areas you study first.
If you are an experienced project manager who is well versed in the PMBOK® Guide, there should not be any surprises in either the Tasks or in the list of Knowledge and Skills. Your company may not do all of these Tasks or use all of the techniques described in the Knowledge and Skills, but you should be familiar with them so that you can apply them if the need arises.
I have listed the main topic for each of the Tasks from each Domain in the tables below. That actual Task description as found in the PMP® Exam Content Outline is normally one or two sentences. So make sure you download the handbook and review it.
PMP and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
Login to download- 00:04 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
- 00:06 I'd like to take a few minutes to discuss a very helpful handbook available
- 00:10 through the Project Management Institute.
- 00:12 It's titled the PMP Exam Content Outline.
- 00:16 The PMP Exam Content Outline identifies the focus of the exam questions.
- 00:22 You can think of it as a study guide to prepare you for the exam.
- 00:26 This handbook can be downloaded for free from the PMI website, and
- 00:29 I strongly recommend that you get one.
- 00:32 It starts by breaking the exam down into the five process
- 00:35 groups that are found in the PMBOK guide.
- 00:37 Initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and
- 00:40 then finally, closing,.
- 00:42 These are referred to as domains.
- 00:44 It then takes each of those domains and lists a series of tasks for the domain.
- 00:49 Some of these tasks line up directly, one-to-one,
- 00:51 with the PMBOK Guide processes.
- 00:54 But some of them represent activities that are implied or
- 00:57 alluded to within the PMBOK Guide.
- 00:59 Either way, you can expect anywhere from two to nine questions related to
- 01:03 each task.
- 01:04 The third thing identified in this handbook is several lists of knowledge and
- 01:08 skills that are used to accomplish the tasks.
- 01:11 Most of these items are discussed in some detail in the PMBOK Guide.
- 01:16 This book is your study guide for your PMP exam.
- 01:19 Now as I go through the rest of this course, you will likely see almost all of
- 01:23 the tasks, knowledges and skills mentioned somewhere.
- 01:26 However, in this course, I will not be focusing on teaching you those items.
- 01:29 I assume you already know those.
- 01:32 A prerequisite for this course is that you have had experience and
- 01:35 training in basic project management skills.
- 01:38 Since I assume that you are experienced, I don't spend time on those items.
- 01:42 If you feel you need more information or training on the tasks or
- 01:45 skills, you should supplement this course by another course
- 01:49 that will provide that detailed training.
- 01:51 Let me recommend the GoSkills Project Management Experts course
- 01:54 as an excellent place to start.
- 01:57 Let's spend just a few moments looking at the domains and tasks.
- 02:00 In these tables, I'll show you the basic topic of a task.
- 02:04 The actual task description is one or two sentences and goes into much more detail.
- 02:09 This first table is for the initiating domain or process group.
- 02:12 These are tasks associated with starting a project.
- 02:15 Your project managers may not need to do all these tasks on all projects, but
- 02:19 this is the complete list that would be appropriate for a large complex project.
- 02:23 The task topics are project assessment, key deliverables, stakeholder analysis,
- 02:28 high level risks and constraints, developing a project charter,
- 02:32 project charter approval, a benefit analysis, and informing stakeholders.
- 02:37 The next domain or process group is planning.
- 02:39 This is the area with the most number of tasks and
- 02:42 the most number of processes in the PMBOK guide.
- 02:45 However, it is not the area with the most number of questions on the PMP exam.
- 02:49 So study this area but don't forget that there are others that are more important.
- 02:53 The task topics are assessing your project requirements,
- 02:57 developing a scope management plan, developing a cost management plan,
- 03:00 developing a project schedule.
- 03:02 Now developing human resource management plan, communications management plan.
- 03:06 Developing a procurement management plan, and a quality management plan.
- 03:09 Developing a change management plan and a risk management plan.
- 03:12 Finally, a project plan approval, project kick off meeting, and
- 03:16 developing a stakeholder management plan.
- 03:19 On to the next domain, which is the executing process group.
- 03:22 This is the area with the most number of questions on the exam.
- 03:26 In fact, you can expect as many as nine questions from each of these tasks.
- 03:30 The task topics in this domain are manage project resources, manage task execution,
- 03:36 implement quality management plan, implement the approved changes, implement
- 03:40 risk response, manage information flow, and manage stakeholder relationships.
- 03:46 The monitoring and controlling domain also has seven tasks.
- 03:49 The task topics of this domain are measure project performance, manage change,
- 03:55 verify deliverables conform, monitor and assess risk, review the issues log,
- 04:00 capture lessons learned, and monitor procurement activities.
- 04:05 The final domain is closing with the seven tasks again.
- 04:08 There are probably only two questions associated with each of these tasks.
- 04:12 The task topics are deliverable final acceptance,
- 04:16 transferring deliverable ownership, legal, financial,
- 04:19 administrative closure, preparing a final report, collating lessons learned,
- 04:24 archiving documents, and obtaining stakeholder feedback.
- 04:28 Finally, let me highlight several of the knowledge and
- 04:30 skills that are listed in the PMP Exam Content Outline.
- 04:34 There's a relatively long list that is associated with each of the domains.
- 04:38 Some of them are closely tied to typical project deliverables,
- 04:41 like the project charter under Initiation and the WBS under Planning.
- 04:46 Some are related to tools and techniques like control limits under Monitoring and
- 04:50 Controlling, and performance measurement under Closing.
- 04:53 And some represent bodies of knowledge, such as
- 04:56 strategic management under Initiating or continuous improvement under Executing.
- 05:01 You don't need to be an expert in all of these areas, but
- 05:03 you should be familiar with the key principles and concepts.
- 05:07 There's an additional area of knowledge and
- 05:09 skills listed in the PMP Exam Content Outline that cuts across all the domains.
- 05:14 Many of these are leadership or interpersonal skills, such as coaching,
- 05:18 delegating, facilitating or conflict resolution.
- 05:21 Some of them are business skills such as customer satisfaction,
- 05:24 metrics, organizational awareness or finance.
- 05:28 And some are personal effectiveness skills such as time management,
- 05:31 decision making and problem solving.
- 05:34 These are long lists, but there are also 200 questions on the exam.
- 05:39 Many of these skills will be illustrated through how a question is asked,
- 05:42 and answered.
- 05:45 By doing your study and review as you prepare for
- 05:47 the exam, the PMP Exam Content Outline can be a big help.
Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.
PMI, PMP, CAPM and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.