Just Get PMP

PMP (Project Management Professional) is one exam which you cannot pass just by reading the books or having great experience as a project manager or as a project team member. It requires hard work, dedicated effort, good understanding of the project management concepts and thorough knowledge to apply the learnt concepts to practical project scenarios.

Take As Many Tests As You Can

The most important thing I would recommend for passing the PMP examination is to try and answer as many questions as possible. You cannot pass this exam without getting your hands dirty. Let us not get negative here. You will PASS the PMP exam if you prepare well, take as many tests as possible, find your shortfalls/ knowledge gaps, update your knowledge where you are weak, continue with more mock tests.

Number of Questions in Each Attempt

It is not necessary that you need to always take a full-length mock test. Keep yourself a simple target; everyday, I will try to answer 10 to 15 PMP questions. After completing the set target of PMP questions, go through your answers. Review why you could not answer a particular question or why you have answered wrongly or even how you got it right. This review exercise is very important to reinforce your understanding and further learning. Several candidates are merely interested in how much they scored; rather than having deep insight into their answers. Don't commit this mistake.

Time Factor for PMP Preparation

Another excuse candidates generally throw at me is "I don't have time; I am busy in my project. I have my family". Yes, I understand. Please understand that you are not the only person who is busy in this world. You wanted this PMP certification under your belt. So, no point giving excuses. When I was preparing the PMP exam few years ago, I used to be in a similar situation. I sat in a corner for a moment and told myself that I need to cross this hurdle whatever happens.

Plan Your Time

Once I committed myself, I allocated about 15 minutes of my lunch break to answer about 5 to 10 questions everyday. I normally used to relax myself during this time browsing the internet, having a chat with my colleagues or take a nap. I sacrificed this for PMP. As the exam date got nearer, I spent about half an hour at home answering another 15 questions. This way, I was in constant touch with the topics.

Monitor & Control Your Preparation

Appearing for your PMP examination is in itself a project. So, don't forget to apply the PMP concepts. It is not sufficient for you to just plan and execute. It is also necessary for you to monitor and control your progress. I monitored my progress with an Excel spreadsheet. I used to note down date wise, the number of questions attempted, time taken and the score. This helped me to understand whether I am really progressing well.

As some people put it, PMP does not only stand for Project Management Professional; it also stands for Practice Makes Perfect. So, go ahead plan your studies, execute them well, monitor and control; you will successfully pass the PMP examination in your first attempt.

Do you agree with my approach? What have you done for your PMP exams? Or what are you planning for your exam? Please feel free to share your experience.

Diagramming Techniques are used to identify risks in a project. Some of the diagramming techniques that are included in PMBOK/ PMP are Cause and effect diagram, System or process flow charts and influence diagrams.

Cause and effect diagram

This diagram is also known as Ishikawa diagram or Fish-bone diagram. It is referred to as the "Ishikawa diagram" because Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a Japanese quality control statistician, developed this diagram. The name "fishbone diagram" is derived from the fact that the entire diagram resembles a fish skeleton. The diagram illustrates the main causes and sub causes leading to an effect. It is used to identify potential root causes to problems.

System or process flow charts

System flow charts are very helpful to show how various elements of a system interrelate. They can be used to analyze an entire process by following the logical steps leading to an outcome or an objective. Flow charts are acclaimed for their ability to identify bottlenecks and superfluous processes.

Influence diagram

Influence diagrams are graphical representations of situations showing causal influences, time ordering of events and other relationships among variables and outcomes. Influence diagrams show how risks influence one another.

Probability and Impact Matrix is a tool for the project team to aid in prioritizing risks. As you know, there may be several risks in any project. Depending on the size and complexity of the project in hand, the risks may vary somewhere from double digits to triple digits. But, do we have the time and money to look into all these risks, let alone the response action. The answer is NO; we do not have such luxury of time. So, it is necessary to find a way to identify those critical risks which needs the most attention from the project team.

Probability and Impact Matrix uses the combination of probability and impact scores of individual risks and ranks/ prioritizes them for easy handling of the risks. In other words, the probability and impact matrix helps to determine which risks need detailed risk response plans. It is vital to understand the priority for each risk as it allows the project team to appreciate the relative importance of each risk.

For example, a risk with a high probability/ likelihood of occurring and which will have a high impact on the project objectives will likely need a response plan.


The matrix generally used is a 3x3 matrix (with Low, Medium, High rating for Probability and Impact) or 5x5 matrix (with Very Low, Low, Medium, High and Very High ratings for probability and impact).  A sample Probability-Impact Matrix is given below for your reference.


How to use this matrix? If a particular risk has a moderate probability and the estimated impact of this risk is major, then you look into the respective row and column to identify the risk rating. For a moderate probability and major impact, the risk rating in the above matrix is "Medium". The colors are visual indications of the seriousness of the risks.

We will use this matrix in the risk assessment process to determine the risk rating for each risk.

It is an essential part of risk management to assign an owner for each risk. Why is it so? Why do we need a risk owner? Are we passing on the risk to a particular team member? No, not really. Identifying and assigning a risk owner is to make it clear who is responsible for what risk.


A risk owner is any individual, generally a project team member, who is responsible for the management, monitoring and control of an identified risk, including the implementation of the selected responses.

The risk owner should be capable of managing the risk and have the knowledge, resources, and authority to deal with the risk. Selecting the risk owner thus usually involves considering the source of risk and identifying the person who is best placed to understand and implement what needs to be done. Risk owners should be added to the risk register.


Risk owners would be required to assess their risk and report to the project manager on a regular basis the status of the risk. Depending on the project, there can be a separate risk register meeting (at defined intervals like fortnightly or monthly) or risks could be discussed as part of the weekly progress/ status meeting. The identified risk owners will provide the updates on the respective risks during these meetings.