If you’re reading this book you are prepping to pass your CompTIA Project+ examination. Good for you! The intent of this book is to explain a practical approach to IT project management and to serve as a study guide to help you pass, not just take, the CompTIA Project+ exam. If you’re looking for exam-specific information as a last-minute review for your exam, this is the place for you. You will not pass the exam if you’re unfamiliar with the specifics in this appendix.

Test-Passing Tips

For starters, don’t think of this process as preparing to take an exam; think of it as preparing to pass an exam. Anyone can prepare to take an exam: just show up. Preparing to pass any exam, especially the CompTIA Project+ exam, requires project management experience, diligence, and a commitment to study. I highly recommend that you read the exam objectives from Appendix A as part of your study efforts; after all, this is what you’ll be tested on.

CompTIA will present scenarios based in IT, so think through how you’ll move the project forward while also conforming to industry standards, governance, and government compliance in technology. While the principles of project management span all disciplines, this exam will focus on project management in technology. Pay attention to the project management aspect of the question and answer it accordingly. You do not need to know anything about construction, health care, manufacturing, but you should have 6-12 months of hands-on experience managing IT projects in an IT environment for this test—all of the focus is on project management.

Days Before the Exam

In the days leading up to your scheduled exam, you should do these basics to prepare yourself for success:

•   Get some moderate exercise. Find time to go for a jog, lift weights, take a swim, or do whatever workout routine works best for you.

•   Eat healthfully and wisely. If you eat healthful food, you’ll feel good—and feel better about yourself. Be certain to drink plenty of water, and don’t overdo the caffeine.

•   Get your sleep. A well-rested brain is a sharp brain. You don’t want to sit for your exam feeling tired, sluggish, and worn out.

•   Time your study sessions. Don’t overdo your study sessions—long, crash study sessions aren’t that profitable. In addition, try to study at the same time every day for the same amount of time your exam will last.

Practice the Testing Process

If you could take one page of notes into the exam, what information would you like on this one-page document? Of course, you absolutely cannot take any notes or reference materials into the exam area. However, if you can create and memorize one sheet of notes, you’re allowed to re-create it once you’re seated in the exam area.

You’ll be supplied with several sheets of blank paper and a couple of pencils. Once your exam process begins, immediately re-create your reference sheet. The following are key pieces of information you’d be wise to include on this sheet (you’ll find all of this key information in this appendix):

•   Activities within each process group (which CompTIA calls phases)

•   Estimating formulas

•   Communication formula

•   Agile project terms

•   Organizational structures and their characteristics

•   Earned value management (EVM) formulas

•   Project management theories

Testing Tips

The multiple-choice questions on the CompTIA Project+ exam are fairly direct and not too verbose, but they may include a few red herrings. For example, you may face questions that state, “All of the following are correct options expect for which one?” The question wants you to find the incorrect option, or the option that is not appropriate for the question, and then find a suitable answer. Carefully read the question to understand what type of answer fits.

A tip that can work with many of the questions is to identify which answer matches the question and then look for an option that doesn’t fit with the other possible choices. In other words, find the answer that doesn’t fit with the other three options. Here’s an example: EVM is used during the _______________.

A.   Controlling

B.   Executing

C.   Closing

D.   Entire project

Notice how options A, B, and C are now exclusive? If you choose A, Controlling, it eliminates EVM from being used anywhere else in the project. The answer that doesn’t fit here is D, Entire project; it’s considered the odd choice because it, by itself, is not an actual process group. Of course, this tip won’t work with every question—but it’s handy to know. In this exam, you’ll also encounter performance-based questions. These are question types that require you to complete a task to show you understand the skill.

Some answer choices may appear to have two of the four options as possibly correct answers. However, because you may choose only one answer, you must discern which one is the best choice. Within the question, there will usually be a hint describing the progress of the project, the requirements of the stakeholders, or some other clue that can help you determine which answer is the best for the question.

Answer Every Question—Once

As of this writing, the CompTIA Project+ exam has 90 questions, and you need to score at least 710 to pass. The exam is scored between 100 and 900, not 1000—which means you have to get roughly 72 of the 90 questions correct to pass. You’ll have 90 minutes to complete the exam. Do not leave any questions blank—even if you don’t know the answers. A blank question is the same as a wrong answer. As you move through the exam and find questions that stump you, use the “mark question” option in the exam software: choose an answer you suspect may be correct and then move on. When you have answered all the questions, you are given the option to review your marked answers.

Some questions in the exam may reveal or prompt your memory of answers to questions you have marked for review. Resist the temptation to review questions you’ve already answered with confidence, however. More often than not, your first instinct is correct. When you completed the exams at the end of each chapter, did you change correct answers to wrong answers? If you do it in practice, you’ll do it on the actual exam.

Use the Process of Elimination

When you’re stumped on a question, use the process of elimination. For each multiple-choice question, there’ll be four choices. On your scratch paper, write down “ABCD.” If you can safely rule out A, mark it out of the ABCD you’ve written on your paper. Then focus on which other answer won’t work. If you determine C won’t work, cross it off your list. You’ve then got a 50/50 chance of selecting the correct choice.

If you cannot determine which answer is best, B or D in this instance, here’s the best approach:

1.   Choose an answer in the exam. (No blank answers, remember?)

2.   Mark the question in the exam software for later review.

3.   Circle ABCD on your scratch paper, jot down any relevant notes, and then record the question number next to the notes.

4.   When you do your review, or answer questions further on in the exam, you may realize which choice is the better of the two. Return to the question and select the best answer.

Everything You Must Know

As promised, this section now covers all of the information you must know going into the exam. It’s highly recommended that you create a method to recall this information. Here goes.

The 49 Project Management Processes

Project management has 49 generally accepted processes I’ve covered throughout this book. You’ll need to be familiar with the project management processes and what each process accomplishes in the project. Processes are what were discussed throughout this book for both waterfall and predictive projects. Here’s a quick rundown of each process group and its processes.

Initiating the Project

There are just two processes to know for project initiation:

•   Create the project charter.

•   Identify the project stakeholders.

Planning the Project

There are 24 processes to know for project planning:

•   Develop the project management plan.

•   Plan scope management.

•   Gather project requirements.

•   Define the project scope.

•   Build the work breakdown structure.

•   Plan schedule management.

•   Define the project activities.

•   Sequence the project activities.

•   Estimate activity durations.

•   Develop the project schedule.

•   Plan cost management.

•   Estimate the project costs.

•   Establish the project budget.

•   Create the quality management plan.

•   Write the resource management plan.

•   Estimate activity resources.

•   Create the project communications management plan.

•   Create the project risk management plan.

•   Identify the project risks.

•   Complete qualitative risk analysis.

•   Complete quantitative risk analysis.

•   Create risk responses.

•   Create the procurement management plan.

•   Plan stakeholder engagement.

Executing the Project

There are ten executing processes:

•   Direct and manage the project work.

•   Manage project knowledge.

•   Manage quality.

•   Acquire resources.

•   Perform team development.

•   Manage your project team.

•   Manage communications.

•   Implement risk responses.

•   Conduct procurement.

•   Manage stakeholder engagement.

Monitoring and Controlling the Project

There are 12 monitoring and controlling processes:

•   Monitor and control the project.

•   Administer integrated change control.

•   Validate scope.

•   Control the project scope.

•   Perform schedule control.

•   Perform cost control.

•   Administer quality control activities.

•   Control resources.

•   Monitor communications.

•   Control the project risks according to the risk management plan.

•   Control and monitor procurement activities.

•   Monitor stakeholder engagement.

Closing the Project

There is just one closing processes:

•   Close out the project or the project phase.

EVM Formulas

Earned value management (EVM) shows project performance. You may have a few questions about earned value management and the EVM formulas on your CompTIA Project+ exam. Here’s a summary of the EVM formulas and sample mnemonic devices you can use to memorize the formulas.

Quick Exam Facts

This section has some quick facts you should know at a glance. Hold on—this moves pretty fast.

Organizational Structures

Organizational structures are relevant to the project manager’s authority. A project manager’s authority will vary depending on the organizational structure they are operating within. The structures that offer the least amount of power to highest amount of power are listed in order in the following:

•   Functional

•   Weak matrix

•   Balanced matrix

•   Strong matrix

•   Projectized

WBS Facts

The work breakdown structure (WBS) is the big picture of the project deliverables. It is not the activities that occur to create the project, but the components the project will create. The WBS helps the project team and the project manager create accurate cost and time estimates. The WBS also helps the project team and the project manager create an accurate activity list. The WBS is an input to five planning processes:

•   Cost estimating

•   Cost budgeting

•   Resource planning

•   Risk management planning

•   Activity definition

Project Scope Facts

Projects are temporary endeavors to create a unique product. Projects are selected by one of two methods:

•   Benefit measurement methods These include scoring models, cost-benefit ratios, and economic models.

•   Constrained optimization These involve mathematical models based on linear, integer, and dynamic programming models. (You probably won’t see this one on the CompTIA Project+ exam as a viable answer.)

The project scope defines all of the required work, and only the required work, to complete the project. Scope management is the process of ensuring the project work is within scope and protects the project from scope creep. The scope statement is the baseline for all future project decisions, as it justifies the business need of the project. There are two types of scope:

•   Product scope Defines the attributes of the product or service the project is creating

•   Project scope Defines the required work of the project to create the product

Scope verification is the process completed at the end of each phase and project to confirm that the project has met the requirements. It leads to the formal acceptance of the project deliverable.

Project Time Facts

Time can be a project constraint. Effective time management is the scheduling and sequencing of activities in the best order to ensure the project completes successfully—and in a reasonable amount of time. Here are some key terms for time management:

•   Lag The wait time between activities.

•   Lead Activities come closer together and even overlap.

•   Free float The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the next scheduled activity’s start date.

•   Total float The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish date.

•   Slack and float These are synonymous.

•   Duration How long an activity lasts. This may be abbreviated as “du.”

There are three types of dependencies between activities:

•   Mandatory This hard logic requires a specific sequence between activities.

•   Discretionary This soft logic prefers a sequence between activities.

•   External Due to reasons outside of the project, such as vendors, the sequence must happen in a given order.

Project Cost Facts

There are several methods for providing project estimates:

•   Bottom-up Project costs start at zero; each component in the WBS is estimated for costs, and then the “grand total” is calculated. This is the longest method to complete, but it provides the most accurate estimate.

•   Analogous Project costs are based on a similar project. This is a form of expert judgment, but it is also a top-down estimating approach, so it is less accurate than a bottom-up estimate.

•   Parametric modeling Price is based on cost per unit; examples include cost per metric ton, cost per yard, and cost per hour.

There are four types of costs attributed to a project:

•   Variable costs The costs depend on other variables. For example, the cost of a food-catered event depends on how many people register to attend the event.

•   Fixed costs The cost remains constant throughout the project. For example, a rented piece of equipment is the same fee each month even if it is used more in some months than others.

•   Direct costs The cost is directly attributed to an individual project and cannot be shared with other projects; examples include airfare to attend project meetings, hotel expenses, and leased equipment that is used only on the current project.

•   Indirect costs These are the costs of doing business; examples include rent, phone, and utilities.

Quality Management Facts

The cost of conformance to quality is the money spent investing in training, requirements for safety, laws and regulations, and steps added to ensure quality acceptance. The cost of nonconformance to quality is the cost associated with rework, downtime, lost sales, and waste of materials.

Some common quality management charts and methods include:

•   Ishikawa diagrams These are also called fishbone diagrams. They are used to find causes and effects that contribute to a problem.

•   Flow charts These charts show the relationship between components and the flow of a process through a system.

•   Pareto diagrams These diagrams identify project problems and their frequencies. These are based on the 80/20 rule: 80 percent of project problems stem from 20 percent of the root causes.

•   Control charts These charts plot out the result of samplings to determine if projects are “in control” or “out of control.”

•   Kaizen techniques These techniques make small improvements in an effort to reduce costs and consistency.

•   Just-in-time ordering This method reduces the cost of inventory but requires additional quality because materials are not readily available should mistakes occur.

Human Resource Facts

There are several human resource theories you should be familiar with for the CompTIA Project+ exam:

•   Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs There are five layers of needs for all humans: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and—the crowning jewel—self-actualization.

•   McClelland’s Theory of Needs David McClelland states that needs are acquired over time and shaped by experiences. There are three needs in this theory: need for achievement, need for affiliation, and need for power.

•   Herzberg’s Theory of Motivation There are two catalysts for workers: hygiene agents and motivating agents.

•   Hygiene agents These do nothing to motivate workers, but their absence demotivates them. Hygiene agents are the expectations all workers have: job security, a paycheck, clean and safe working conditions, a sense of belonging, civil working relationships, and other basic attributes associated with employment.

•   Motivating agents These are the elements that motivate people to excel. They include responsibility, appreciation of work, recognition, the opportunity to excel, education, and other opportunities associated with work other than financial rewards.

•   McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y This theory states that X people are lazy, don’t want to work, and need to be micromanaged. Y people are self-led, motivated, and can accomplish tasks.

•   Ouchi’s Theory Z This theory states that workers are motivated by a sense of commitment, opportunity, and advancement. Workers will work if they are challenged and motivated. Think participative management.

•   Vroom’s expectancy theory People will behave based on what they expect as a result of their behavior. In other words, people will work in relation to the expected reward of the work.

Communication Facts

Communicating is the most important skill for the project manager. With that in mind, here are some key facts on communications:

•   The communication channels formula is N (N − 1) / 2. N represents the number of stakeholders. For example, if you have ten stakeholders, the formula would read 10 (10 − 1) / 2, for 45 communication channels. Pay special attention to questions asking how many additional communication channels you have based on added stakeholders. For example, you have 25 stakeholders on your project and have recently added 5 team members. How many additional communication channels do you now have? You’ll have to calculate the original number of communication channels, 25 (25 − 1) / 2 = 300; and then calculate the new number with the added team members, 30 (30 − 1) / 2 = 435; and, finally, subtract the difference between the two: 435 − 300 = 135 additional communication channels.

•   Fifty-five percent of communication is nonverbal. Effective listening is the ability to watch the speaker’s body language, interpret paralingual clues, and decipher facial expressions for insight. The next step is to follow these messages with questions for clarity and to offer feedback. Active listening requires the receiver of the message to offer clues, such as nodding the head to indicate they are listening. It also requires the receiver to repeat the message, ask questions, and continue the discussion if clarification is needed.

•   Communication can be hindered by trendy phrases, jargon, and extremely pessimistic comments. In addition, communication can be blocked by noise, hostility, cultural differences, and static, among other communication barriers.

Risk Management Facts

Risks are uncertain events that can affect the project for good or bad. Risks should be identified as early as possible in the planning process. A person’s willingness to accept risk is the utility function (also called the utility theory). The Delphi Technique can be used to build consensus on project risks.

The two outputs of planning are the risk management plan and the risk register. There are two broad types of risks:

•   Business risk The loss of time and finances. A downside and an upside exist.

•   Pure risk The loss of life, injury, and theft. Only a downside exists.

Risks can be responded to with one of seven methods:

•   Avoidance Avoid the risk by planning a different technique to remove the risk from the project. This is for negative risks.

•   Mitigation Reduce the probability or impact of a negative risk.

•   Transference The negative risk is not eliminated, but the responsibility and ownership of the risk is transferred to another party; for example, it’s transferred to insurance.

•   Enhancing Conditions are created to encourage a positive risk to occur.

•   Exploiting The benefits of a positive risk are amplified so that the project can take advantage of the positive risk.

•   Sharing The positive risk is shared with another project, organization, or company through a teaming agreement.

•   Acceptance The positive or negative risk’s probability or impact may be small enough that it can be accepted.

Procurement Facts

A statement of work (SOW) is provided to the potential sellers so that they can create accurate bids, quotes, and proposals for the buyer. A bidders’ conference may be held so that sellers can query the buyer on the product or service to be procured.

A contract is a formal agreement, preferably written, between a buyer and a seller. On the CompTIA Project+ exam, procurement questions are usually from the buyer’s point of view. All requirements the seller is to complete should be clearly written in the contract. Requirements of both parties must be met, or legal proceedings may follow. Contract types are as follows:

•   Cost-reimbursable contracts require the buyer to assume the risk of cost overruns.

•   Fixed-price contracts require the seller to assume the risk of cost overruns.

•   Time-and-material contracts are good for smaller assignments but can impose cost overrun risks to the buyer if the time by the seller is not monitored.

•   A purchase order is a unilateral form of contract.

•   A letter of intent is not a contract, but it shows the intent of the buyer to purchase from a specific seller.

Adaptive Project Management Facts

Adaptive project management doesn’t try to predict the entire project like a waterfall project management approach does. Agile begins with a product backlog of all the requirements, then the team selects a chunk of work to accomplish in an iteration, which lasts up to four weeks. At the end of the iteration, the team demonstrates the work accomplished to the customers. Next, the team goes into a type of lessons learned meeting, called a retrospective, where the team discusses how to improve the project in the next iteration. And then the entire cycle starts over.

Every day in an adaptive project there is a standup meeting, which can last up to 15 minutes. This is a meeting just for the team members and the project manager role. The team answers three questions:

•   What did you accomplish since our last meeting?

•   What will you accomplish today?

•   Are there any impediments that need to be addressed?

These three questions are asked of each team member, and a daily touchpoint is to discuss accomplishments, what people are working on, and to be transparent about any issues or blockers to project progress.

There are several nuances of adaptive project management, but the most common is scrum. Scrum has three roles in the scrum team you should recognize:

•   Scrum master Ensures that everyone is following the rules of the project, provides coaching, gets the team members the things they need in the project, and prevents interruptions in the project.

•   Product owner Works with the project customer to gather requirements, write user stories, and prioritize the product backlog. When a change enters the project, the product owner assesses the change and will add it to the product backlog and prioritize where it should be in the product backlog.

•   Development team The people that do the work to create the product. These roles are considered generalizing specialists, meaning the people can do more than one activity in the project.

In each iteration, the total number of story points assigned to the project work that the team completes is called velocity. Velocity can be graphed in a burnup chart or burndown chart. A burnup chart shows the accumulation of story points accomplished in each iteration and the cumulative total of all story points done in the project. A burndown chart shows the diminishing number of story points left to accomplish in the project and the velocity of the development team in each iteration. Both charts can help predict when the project will likely finish based on the number of story points remaining in the product backlog and the stabilized velocity of the development team.

The CompTIA Project+ exam will have a few questions on agile. If you’re not too familiar with agile project management, you may want to spend some extra time brushing up on the approach and the key terms associated with the methodology. The key thing to remember in agile project management is that you don’t do upfront planning in an agile project, but rather plan in shorter segments as you go into each iteration of the project.

A Letter to You

My goal for you is to pass the CompTIA Project+ exam. As I teach project management seminars online and in-person for organizations around the globe, I’m struck by one similarity among the most excited course participants: these people want to pass their exam. Sure, project management is not the most exciting topic, but the individuals are excited about passing their exam. I hope you feel the same way. I believe that your odds of passing the CompTIA Project+ exam are like most things in life: you’re going to get out of it only what you put into it. I challenge you to become excited, happy, and eager to pass the exam.

Here are ten final tips for passing your CompTIA Project+ exam:

•   Prepare to pass the exam, not just take it.

•   If you haven’t done so already, schedule your exam. Having a deadline makes the exam even more of a reality.

•   If you haven’t done so already, create a clutter-free area for studying.

•   Study in regular intervals right up to the day before your exam.

•   Repetition is the mother of learning. If you don’t know the formula, repeat and repeat. And then repeat it again.

•   Create your own flashcards from the glossary and terms used in this book.

•   Practice creating one page of notes that you’ll re-create at the start of your exam.

•   Create a significant reward for yourself as an incentive to pass the exam.

•   Make a commitment to pass.

If you’re stumped on something I’ve written in this book, or if you’d like to share your CompTIA Project+ success story, drop me a line: [email protected]. You can drop by my project management site whenever you’d like to: https://instructing.com. Finally, I won’t wish you good luck on your exam—luck is for the ill-prepared. If you follow the strategies I’ve outlined in this book and apply yourself, I am certain you’ll pass the exam.

Keep moving forward,

Joseph Phillips

PMP, PMI-ACP, PSM, Project+, CTT+