I’d like to thank Vanina and Brett for an outstanding job writing this book. They were both lifesavers and bore the brunt of the work. I enjoyed seeing how they gave the content a fresh face, and their illustrations are terrific. I appreciate the diligence and the new ideas that Vanina brings to these projects. Brett’s insights were a great contribution to this edition as well. He is a true friend and an outstanding leader. As always, it was a great pleasure to work with Vanina and Brett.

I also echo Vanina’s thanks to Kenyon Brown, senior acquisitions editor, for the opportunity to update this book.

I also want to thank Neil Edde, former vice president and publisher at Sybex, for taking that leap of faith on a crazy project management study guide idea way back when. Thanks, Neil.

Mary Ellen Schutz, development editor, is the best. She had some great suggestions that improved the content and kept us on track with deadlines just like a seasoned project manager.

A very big thanks goes to all of the instructors who use my books in their classrooms. I appreciate you choosing Sybex and my books to help your students master PMP^® concepts. Thank you also to all of the readers who choose this book to help them study for the PMP^® exam.

—Kim Heldman

To start, thank you to the team at Sybex who devoted a great deal of effort toward making this review guide come together successfully. It is incredible to see the amount of teamwork and effort that goes into the making and editing of a book. The process is certainly thorough, and there are many people not named here who were key to producing a solid product. Once again, thanks to all of you!

I’d like to thank Kim Heldman for the opportunity to work together once again on this book. Kim’s warm, positive, and dynamic nature always makes her a pleasure to engage with. I’d also like to give a special, heartfelt thanks to Brett Feddersen. Brett worked tirelessly to produce a great product and always had the reader in mind. Not only was Brett’s positive attitude and outlook contagious, but he made the process fun, collaborative, and memorable.

Thank you to Kenyon Brown, our senior acquisitions editor, who saw the value of updating this book and whose great and supportive personality always comes through on the phone and in email. I appreciate you welcoming me back to the Sybex family!

A tremendous thank-you to Mary Ellen Schutz, development editor. It was great to reunite on this project after working together on the first edition. With your guidance and feedback, we were able to work through life’s many challenges and produce a book that I am proud of! You ensured that everything stayed on course, and your recommendations were valuable and instrumental in creating this finished product. It was absolutely wonderful having an opportunity to work with you once again.

A special thanks to the individuals who are such a big part of my life and who have always influenced me in a magnificent way. This includes my family, Nicolas Mangano, Marysil Mangano, Nicolas Mangano Jr., Carina Moncrief; and my beautiful nieces, Kaylee, Alyssa, Yasmin, and Rianna—you mean everything to me! Thank you to Al Smith Jr., who has supported and encouraged me through my many projects. And finally, thank you to Roshoud Brown, who always encouraged me to write and inspired me with his own words.

—Vanina Mangano

I could not have asked for two better contributors to work with on a book than Vanina Mangano and Kim Heldman, and I want to thank them for the opportunity to join their team in collaborating on this book. Vanina’s talent, experience, and drive are extraordinary, and she willingly shared her passion and knowledge with me. Her sense of humor and attention to detail helped make the process fun and helped us deliver a superior product to the reader. Kim Heldman is a superior mentor who freely shares her enthusiasm, knowledge, humility, and leadership, and her contributions are what makes this book great. She has consistently pushed me to believe in myself, helping me to grow into the best professional I can be. It has been an honor to work with this team and help others prepare to take the PMP^® exam.

I would like to thank Kenyon Brown for giving me another shot at contributing on a book. And I would also like to thank Mary Ellen Schutz and the editorial team for their push to make this product.

A commitment of this size normally requires a compromise in another part of one’s life. Accordingly, I want to thank my three children, Kayla, Marcus, and Adric, for being willing to have Papa retreat to working on this book. They all kept their sense of humor, though, and they know that I will follow my wireless mouse anywhere. However, without my wonderful wife, April, I would not have the successes in my life like finishing this book. April is always there to hear my stories, talk me down after a bad day, laugh at my jokes, share a movie with me, and encourage me to be even better than I thought I could be. There is no greater cheerleader in all the world, and I am humbled that she cheers for me.

—Brett Feddersen

We would like to thank Judy Flynn, copyeditor, who made sure grammar and spelling were picture perfect; Amy Schneider, proofreader, for catching those last little “oopses” and Dassi Zeidel and Kathleen Wisor, production editors, who made sure everything flowed through the production process. Thanks also to our compositor, and the indexer, Johnna VanHoose Dinse. The book couldn’t happen without them.

—The Authors