PMP - Strategy, Approach, Tips and Brain Dumps

During my preparation for PMP, I found that the notes and brain dumps shared by some of the PMP's were very useful...After clearing PMP, I thought of sharing my views , Lessons learned and provide some brain dumps 
as it could be useful for the PMP aspirants...


Note:
 There is a  change in the PMP pattern from SEP 2011 .what is given here is for the PMBOK Ed4. Pls keep that in mind...


1.  My Preparations:
- The duration from the first day of preparation to the exam is exactly 70 days  

2.  My Books 
- RITAMulcahy is THE BOOK
- Read that 2 times - Highlevel
- Read it again 3 times - word by word
- Read the PMBOK once


3.  My Approach 
 This is is how I saw it ...

question can be anyone from these 4 types

4.  My Strategy 


How to attack Type 1?:

- You need to understand/memorize the page 43 of PMBOK
- It is pretty easy actually..
That will take care of Type 1
---------------------------------

How to attack Type 2?:
- This is very Important and there is no simple way to  do this
- You need to either understand them all (if you can) or try to memorize them all
- Believe me guys...I first thought it would be impossible ..but it was possible!!
- I started with one Knowledge area / day..then it worked out
- You can use whatever means to remember them ( words formed by the first letters etc..)
- but you need to practice them daily though (or else it will be difficult)


Just to give you one example


TRRAPACEOSBRD 
- this does not make any sense right?


Now let us expand it like this 


TRR APA CEO SB RD
TRR APPA IS CEO RD in SB 
TRR's APPA is a CEO Puts Recurring deposit in Statebank 


then it is finally
TR Rajendran's Appa is  a CEO, and he will put Recurring deposit in State bank  
Now this is easly to remember right?


The above was my keyword to remember the Input of PLAN Procurement's 
TRR APA CEO SB RD  
T - Teaming Agreements
R- Risk Register
R - Risk related contract decisions


A - Activity COST estimates
P - Project Schedule
A- Activity Resource Requirements


C - Cost performance Baseline
E  - EEF
O - OPA


SB - Scope Baseline
RD - Requirement Documentation


-There are many ways , but the points is you need to memorize all them all to attack TYPE 2 questions.. 
some useful links on ITTO are given below
http://pmzilla.com/memorizing-inputs-tools-and-outputs-pmp
http://www.pmhub.net/pmdigest/pmhub-ads-rate/49-pmp-capm-pgmp-myths
http://www.monkibo.com/pmp-exam-itto-trainer/




That Should help you handle Type 2 Questions
--------------------------------------------------------
How to attack Type 3?:

You need to MEMORIZE THESE 50 FORMULAS
These are the formulas that I have prepared for the exams..(listing only the headings here and you can easily find them in the net)


1. CV
2. SV
3. CPI
4. SPI
5. TCPI (with both BAC)
6. TCPI (with BAC and EAC)
6. VAC
7. EAC (fundamentally Flawed)
8. EAC (when things continue @ same rate)
9. EAC ( when changes are atypical)
10. EAC (when chanes are typical)
11. ETC 
12 ETC (atypical)
13. ETC (typical)
14. ETC (flawed)
15. % complete
16. % spent
17. EV
18. PV
19. FV
20. No of communication channels
21. PERT/EAD 
22. SD
23. Variance
24. Range
25. 4 sigmas (1, 2, 3, 6)
Contract formulas
26. Savings
27. Bonus
28. Contract
29. Total
30. PTA
31. JIT
32. PM spents how much % in communication
33. Words convey what % ?
34. Vocal and tones convey how much %?
35. Body language convey how much %?
36. Cost of Quality program
37, Cost of Non conformemce of quality (non Quality)
38. Cost of Quality=
39. EMV=
40.Float =
41 . Duration of an Activity
42. Order of Magnitude
43. Definitive Estimate
44. Preliminary Estimates
45. Budget Estimates
46. Mean
47. Mode
48. Median
49. How to select better BCR from given two BCR's? 
50. Critical patch calculations FWD, Backward pass and Float calculations

If you need any help of these write to me and i shall help you out..


That Should help you handle Type 3 Questions
--------------------------------------------------------



How to attack Type 4?:

This is where you will get majority of the questions..
My Strategy for this is 

Did you notice the block SEEK Advice there?
I created this blog for that purpose only (Did not get much help though(:-(  !

Anyways..This is what I recommend 
MOCK TEST is the KEY for this..
There are many free mock test sites in the .net..
This is the trend of my lock tests..

The more you attend, the better you become..


Below is the list of 355 points , which will help you to handle the Type 4 Questions..
Please note that, just reading these as it is may not help, you need to read RITA, or any other reference book s and then use these notes as quick reference..I am sure these will help you clear many questions..This list is the collection of my notes and the points taken from different sources.. 
If you find any of the points not correct, then kindly let me know with the reference and I shall change it...


Here you go...



1. Historical information is the best input for the initiation phase
2. Operations: are ongoing and repetitive
3. Getting coffee from Wife is a Project, Getting Coffee from Vending Machine is OPERATION (There are no surprises!..Thanks ARI)
4. The Resource Breakdown Structure shows various resources, both human and mechanical needed for project.
5. Acquisition: When the performing organization lacks the in house staff needed to complete the project, the required services can be acquired from outside sources.
6. Let the people involved in the conflict work it out first
7. The best use of "collect project records" is to recall what happened on the project, good or bad.
8. Planning phase is LEAST Risky
9. Control Management System tracks the changes(not configuration management)
10. Templates and forms which are available in the organization are reusable components. Any resource that can be reused as a useful tool is part of the total methodology of project planning
11. Comparing proposals received from sellers done in the Conduct Procurements.
12. Make payment to seller is done in the Administer Procurements
13. Engineering is primarily responsible for creating design and test specifications.
14. Control charts are graphic display of the results over a time of a process. They are used to determine if the process is "in control".
15. Pareto chart: Focus on critical issues to improve quality 
16. Fishbone diagram/Ishikawa: Determines how various factors linked to potential problems or effects, root cause 
17. Control chart: Determines whether or not process is stable and within set limits .
18. Histogram: ordered by frequency of occurrence, that shows how many results were generated by type or category of identified cause.  
19. Planning meetings are used to create the Risk Management plan.
20. Approximating number of work periods required to complete individual activities with estimated resources is done in Estimate Activity Duration process.
Activity List ,Activity resource requirements and Resource Calendars are inputs of Estimate Activity Duration process. PMBOK Page no 177
21. Monte Carlo Analysis: A schedule risk assessment technique that performs a project simulation many times in order to calculate a distribution of likely results
22. The project team, led by the project manager, must write the quality policy for each project.
23. For an immediate work, a letter contract may be sufficient
24. Performance Measures are done in contract Administration
25. Product Verification, Procurement Audit and creation of a contract file are done in CONTRACT CLOSURE
26. Last step in Administrative closure is Release resources
27. Employee records should be updated by PM when he completes the tasks assigned to him
28. Individual development is the Foundation of Team development
29. T&M – has the characteristics of both Fixed and Cost reimbursement
30. Procurement Audit is the only tool and Technique of contract closeout process
31. Procurement Audit is used to identify successes to transfer the success to other procurements
32. Symbols are always used in the communications
33. Independent estimates are prepared to compare  the cost  to an estimate created with 
34. Communication Management plan defines the  contents of the performance reports
35. Team development with WEAK Matrix is very difficult
36. Product of the Project is Actually created in EXECUTION Phase /Group
37. Any change in the Project Charter needs to be approved by the SENIOR MANAGEMENT
38. REFERRENT power= PM’s PERSONALITY POWER
39. Work Authorization system Ensures that work is done at RIGH T TIME and in proper sequence
40. Solicitation is the process of obtaining quotations , bids , offer, 
41. The cost expanded at the  completion  of phase is known as SINK costs
42. Conflicting priorities in resource assignments – is an issue in the Matrix structure
43. Monte carlo simulation provides PROBABILITY OF ANY TASK BEING AT THE CRITICAL PATH
44. Scope verification should be done – WHEN A PROJECT IS TERMINATED to determine the extent of the completion
45. Jurans Quality Triology = PLANNING IMPROVEMENT CONTROL
46. UCL : Upper control limit : Is derived from Random variation
47. UTL : Upper tolerance limit is the higher of two tolerance limits
48. When original estimates are flawed  then EAC = AC + ETC
49. Functional – FM has more power
50. Projectized – PM has more power
51. Balanced – PM and FM has equal power
52. WEAK – FM has more power
53. Strong – MATRIX – PM has more power
54. BUYER provides the SoW
55. MAKE or BUY is used for PLAN Purchases and Acquisitions 
56. Residual risks are REMINING RISKS
57. Crashing is applying more resources to shorten the duration
58. Risk mitigation is to DECREASE THE PROBABILITY OF RISK
59. ELAPSED TIME is the time inclusive of NON working days
60. Outsourcing IS RISK TRANSFERENCE
61. Networks (diagram) identify the Activity  dependencies and  path convergence risks
62. If IRR Is given the DO THE PROJECT SELECTION ONLY BASED ON THAT
63. Sensitivity chart displays sensitivities in DESENDING ORDER
64. Payment bonds are specifically designed to ensure that the prime contractor provides payment of Subcontractors, laborers, and sellers of material
65. Quality is the process of completing the scope to meet stated or implied needs.
66. CRASHING =MORE COST
67. FAST TRACK =MORE RISK  
68. Monte Carlo analysis gives you:An indication of the risk involved in the project
69. 85% cost of quality = DEMING
70. A process goes out of control when there are special causes of variation
71. Worker needs to be involved in Management Practice = OUCHI’s THEORY Z
72. Definite cost are most accurate
73. Sensitivity Analysis are part of Quantitative Analysis
74. Milestone Duration is ZERO
75. PERT Is also a NETWORK DIAGRAM
76. A statistical method that helps identify which factors may influence specific variables of a product or process under development or in production is DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS
77. Complex project will best fit in MATRIX org structure
78. Pert is Superior to CPM
79. BRUCE TRUKMAN Model is related to TEAMMANAGEMENT
80. Payback period ended means Cumulative Revenue and cumulative cost from Starnet became equal
81. Beta Distribution and Triangular distribution are probability distributions
used in Risk Analysis
82. The project management team should have a working knowledge of statistical quality control, especially sampling and probability, to help evaluate quality control outputs. 
83. The area consisting of typically three standard deviations on either side of a mean value of a control chart to plot measured values found in statistical quality control – THIS IS DEFINITION FOR CONTROL CHARTS
84. large number of simultaneously performed projects utilize the same groups of human and other resources – is called RESOURCE POOLING
85. The inherent discount rate or investment yield rate produced by the project over a pre-defined period of time. = IRR
86. PMBOK Guide process groups Interact based on DEMING SHEWARTS PLAN DO CHECK ACT cycle
87. The critical chain Method modifies the  SCHEDULE to account for LIMITED RESOURCES
88. SCOPE CREEP = UNMANAGED changes to the Project SCOPE
89. Code of Ethics of PMI = RRFH Responsibility, respect, Fairness, honesty
90. A group of related scheduled activities – shown as single aggregate activity for the reporting purpose is known as HAMMOCK Activity
91. Cost base line does not include management reserve
92. Stake holder model – SALIANCE GRID
93. As per HERZBERG base Salary is a HYGINE FACTOR
94. RANK THE IDEAS in BRAINSTOMING – NOMINAL GROUP
95. Arbitration and mediation are Negotiation Techniques
96. Standards are OPTIONAL , Regulations are REQUIRED
97. What is the name and ethical code for adhering PMP = PMI code of ethics and professional conduct
98. Single source seller means – there is only one seller the company wants to do business with 
99. Cost Performance baseline is represented as S curve
100. Inspections are NOT called as Assessments
101. Inspections are called as reviews, Audits and walkthroughs
102. First time feedback to a team member = Informal verbal (Face 2 Face), second time FORMAL written
103. Non verbal communication is about 55%
104. Last stage of project closure is project Archives
105. CPI is considered most critical EVM Metric  
106. Contract closure occurs before Administrative closure
107. Resource leveling results in INCREASED PROJECT DURATION
108. Administrative closure should be carried out at the completion of each phase of the project
109. Measuring Quality of the product against standard is called Benchmarking
110. Fait accompli – done deal/ non negotiable
111. The nodes on the AOA diagrams represent completion of the activities and have ZERO time usage
112. Straight line depreciation formula= (Initial cost-scrap value)/life
113. Preparing the Financial plan requires both project Management and Industry specific Skills
114. Statistical sampling for Inspection is used to reduce the cost of Quality control
115. One method to determine how well the project is getting executed is using – CPI (Cost performance Index)
116. Seller completes the work as specified, but the buyer is not happy – then the contract is said to be COMPLETE (not closed though)
117. TCPI is the projection of the cost performance that must be achieved on the remaining work
118. The objective of lesions learned document is continuous Improvement
119. Training for the team members is not a prerequisite – it can happen during the project also
120. Over allotted – then do resource leveling
121. Withdrawal – has cooling off period – but the problem is not solved
122. The most Important criteria for project selection is REALISM
123. INFLATION – is a EXTERNAL UN Predictable RISK
124. Team building is difficult in Matrix Org structure
125. RDU = Remaining Duration
126. The Pillars of the quality are DOING It RIGHT – first time and ZERO Defects
127. Project risk is categorized by 3 factors a) Risk event, b) risk probability) amount at stake
128. Probing, scratching and small bites  – are the behaviors of the contract negotiations
129. The project scope management plan – will not have the project constraints and assumptions (RD, Scope statement and scope BSL – will)
130. If you have to look/refer any plan – to respond regarding improving customer satisfaction – you need to look at QUALITY PLAN
131. Lag means – make sure one tasks waits before it gets started
132. Lead means you let the task get started before its predecessor is done
133. Output for source selection is contract
134. Participative leadership is most preferred leadership style
135. Gert is a System Dynamics model
136. Trigger is a warning sign
137. People exhibit slowest rate of change (Bruce willis -16 BLOCKS)
138. Sponsor does not create project charter
139. Philip corsby – said QUALITY IS FREE
140. An Expressed Warranty is a statement of characteristics of the product
141. Which questions the functional manager is most likely to ask : WHO WILL DO THE TASK
142. An activity that consumes no time or resources and shows only a dependency = DUMMY Activity
143. The practice of ceasing mass inspections and ending awards based on price is credited to DEMING
144. Making a GIANT leap followed by a period of Maturity = INNOVATION
145. 12 to 20% of the sales is estimated to be the cost of NON QUALITY
146. To assimilate through the mind or senses is the process of UNDERSTANDING
147. RISK response of eliminating a threat = RISK AVOIDANCE
148. The stage of the negotiation meeting – when he points of concession is identified = scratch bargaining
149. Completion of PROJECT scope is measured against the plan (not PRODUCT SCOPE)
150. Performance specifications are measureable
151. Quality control measurements are used to reevaluate and analyze the quality standards and processes and are fed back through: Quality ASSURANCE
152. The final cost of the project is HIGH at the start and gets progressively LOW as the project continues
153. On large or mega projects the integration is the responsibility of the project office
154. If the results fall under customer tolerance then the results are acceptable to client
155. Benchmarking is a Technique used in QUALITY PLANNING
156. Lessons learned are professional obligation of the project Manager
157. The project manager's ability to influence others whose cooperation and support are crucial to the project is called: DE FACTO AUTHORITY
158. Taguci loss function states that - VARIATION from Target Value Increases, the Loss also INCREASES
159. Contract is LEGAL relationship and project is not
160. Withdrawal is the LEAST preferred method by PM’s
161. Risk audit documents the effectiveness of the risk responses
162. Triangular distribution = PERT – Relies on Optimistic, Pessimistic and Most likely estimates(in Risk rating)
163. Brain storming and Lateral Thinking are used in scope definition for ALTERNATIVES IDENTIFICATION
164. Progressive Elaboration is what happens in rolling wave planning process
165. Avoid, Mitigate, Transfer, Accept – are applicable for Negative Risks also
166. Communications are COMPLEX in Matrix organization
167. EVM does not play a major role in QUALITY MANAGEMENT PG
168. Successor Activity LS- Duration of current activity= LS of Current Activity
169. FIRM FIXED PRICE = Seller carries COST RISK, Buyer carries SCOPE RISK
170. Releasing the resources from the project is what done as LAST ACTIVITY
171. Procurement documents ensure the receipt of complete proposals
172. Project Performance appraisal focus on How individual team member is performing in the team
173. Baseline is established during the PLANNING
174. Meetings are always classified as INFORMAL VERBAL
175. BCR 1.8 means that revenue from the project is 1.8 times the cost
176. Training the team member in GENERAL Skills is the function of the FUNCTIONAL MANAGER
177. High Standard Deviation is High Risk.
178. CPM - FLOAT usage; CCM - Buffer usage.
179. Costs and staffing levels are lowest early in the life cycle, peak while the project work is underway, and then drop off as the project nears completion.
180. Risk is highest early in the project since uncertainty is high about the project’s deliverables, resource needs, and work required.
181. Stakeholder Influence in the project and its deliverables is highest early in the life cycle but diminishes as the project proceeds...
182. Controlling unexpected project cost is to engage stakeholders early to prevent unnecessary and costly changes later in the project.
183. The payback period tells us how long it will take to recoup the expense of the project, so a shorter payback period is better. 
184. BALANCED MATRIX: Folks who work in a balanced matrix organization report to a PM AND a functional manager equally. 
185. STRONG MATRIX: Project managers have more authority than functional managers, but the team still reports to both managers.
186. Portfolio: A portfolio is a group of projects or programs that are linked together by a business goal.
187. Program: A program is a group of projects that are closely linked, to the point where managing them together provides some benefit
188. Project: A project is any work that produces a specific result and is temporary. Projects always have a beginning and an end. But they are never ongoing
189. Portfolios are organized around business goals and Programs are organized around a shared benefit in managing them together."
190. ROI = (Benefit – Cost)/Cost
191. IRR is the discount rate when NPV equals zero.
192. IRR assumes that cash inflows are reinvested at the IRR value.
193. IRR:  You should choose projects with the highest IRR value.
194. Mathematical models is that they use linear, dynamic, integer, nonlinear, and/or multi-objective programming in the form of algorithms—or in other words, a specific set of steps to solve a particular problem. Mathematical models are also known as Constrained optimization methods
195. Benefit Measurement Methods: employ various forms of analysis and comparative approaches to make project decisions. These methods include comparative approaches such as cost-benefit analysis, scoring models, and benefit contribution methods that include various cash flow techniques and economic models.
196. NET PRESENT VALUE - NPV: When you get a positive value for NPV, it means that the project will earn a return at least equal to or greater than the cost of capital.
197. INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN - IRR: is the discount rate when the present value of the cash inflows EQUALS the original investment
198. The primary difference between focus groups and facilitated workshops are that focus groups are gatherings of prequalified subject matter experts and stakeholders and facilitated workshops consist of cross-functional stakeholders who can define cross-functional requirements.
199. Completion of Project Scope is measured against the Project Management Plan.
200. Completion of Product scope is measured against Product Requirements.
201. PMI advocates Project Objectives that follow the SMART guideline. S - Specific; M - Measurable; A - Assignable; R - Realistic; T - Timely.
202. Control Account may include one or more Work Packages, each Work Package represents only one Control Account.
203. The WBS doesn’t show the order of the work packages or any dependencies between them.
204. Scope verification is primarily concerned with ACCEPTANCE of deliverables. Quality control is done before scope verification.
205. Product scope: means the features and functions of the product or service that you and your team are building.
206. Project scope: is all of the work that needs to be done to make the product.
207. The work package is the LOWEST level on a WBS;
208. The WBS doesn’t show the order of the work packages or any dependencies between them
209. Verify Scope: The process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables. Usually performed after Perform Quality Control. 
210. Verify Scope happens at the end of each phase and the project and upon delivery of Product/Service/Result. 
211. Verify Scope is concerned with completeness and acceptance, and Perform Quality Control is concerned with correctness.
212. If the project is cancelled/terminated before completion, Verify Scope is performed to show where the Project was in relation to the Scope when it ended.
213. If we don't receive a final sign off from our customer; we have to escalate the issue to our Management.
214. Defining activities is an iterative process performed together by the project manager and the project team member by further decomposing the WBS work packages
215. ADM’s drawback is that it can only show finish-to-start (FS) relationships
216. In order to show relationships between tasks on different node branches, ADM diagrams use dummy activities
217. The Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) creates diagrams known as activity-on-arrow (AOA).
218. The Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) creates diagrams known as activity-on-node (AON).
219. Lead time causes the successor task to begin before its predecessor task concludes...for example FS-2 would schedule the successor task to start before the predecessor task finish.
220. Lag time causes the successor task to begin some time after its predecessor task concludes...for example, FS+1 would delay the start of the successor by 1 day.
221. Rough order of Estimate = +-50% 
222. Resource Calendars specify WHEN and HOW LONG identified project resource will be available during the project.
223. Analogous is TOP DOWN
224. Parametric is More Accurate
225. Bottoms up is Accurate (When Parametric was not given)
226. Duration is the amount of time that an activity takes, while effort is the total number of person-hours that are expended.
227. Resource leveling can cause the original critical path to change.
228. Path Convergence: The merging or joining parallel schedule network paths into the same node in a project schedule network diagram. 
229. Path convergence is characterized by a schedule activity with more than one predecessor activity.
230. Path Divergence: Extending or generating parallel schedule network paths from the same node in a project schedule network diagram. 
231. Path divergence is characterized by a schedule activity with more than one successor activity.
232. Sunk Costs: costs incurred that cannot be reversed irrespective to future events
233. Value Engineering/ Analysis: finding less costly way to do the same work. E.g. outsourcing
234. Marginal analysis: Spend time on improvement if it improves revenues or productivity.
235. Order of Magnitude Estimate: Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM): -50% to +50% (at Initiation) as the project moves, estimates should become more accurate, 
236. Direct cost: include dedicated labor, material, supplies, equipment, licenses, fees, training, travel, or professional service fees - [Applied directly to THIS project]
237. Indirect cost: Example, if a color printer is shared by several project teams, it’s difficult to definitively determine what percentage of costs each should share. [Expenses not for ONE project - these are Shared Expenses]
238. Variable cost: fluctuate and can't be predicted with absolute certainty. For example, travel or transportation costs that can change depending upon the cost of fuel or  certain commodities and types of raw materials.
239. Fixed cost: are static throughout the project or have only a small likelihood of fluctuation. Fixed costs are usually for items such as rents, leases, licenses, salaries, and fixed fees
240. Life Cycle Costing includes Acquisition, Operation, Maintenance, and Disposal Costs
241. The Scope Statement provides the Product Description, Acceptance Criteria, Key Deliverables, Project Boundaries, Assumptions, and Constraints about the Project.
242. QUALITY: is defined as degree to which your project fulfills requirements. Customer satisfaction, Fitness for use, Conformance to requirements
243. Cost benefit: Looking at how much your quality activities will cost.
244. Benchmarking: means using the results of quality planning on other projects to set goals for your own.
245. Design of experiments: is the list of all the kinds of tests you are going to run on your product.
246. Attribute Sampling: is binary, it either conforms to quality or it doesn’t (YES or NO). 
247. Variable Sampling: Measures how well something conforms to quality (RANGES).
248. Special Causes: considered unusual and preventable by process improvement. 
249. Common Causes are generally acceptable.
250. Tolerances deal with the limits your project has set for product acceptance. 
251. Control Limits are set at three standard deviations above and below the mean. As long as your results fall within the control limits, your process is considered to be in control. 
252. Tolerances focus on whether the product is acceptable, while Control Limits focus on whether the process itself is acceptable. (Control limit is for PROCESS)
253. Control Charts: The upper and lower control limits are set at THREE STANDARD DEVIATIONS ABOVE and BELOW MEAN.
254. Rule of Seven: If seven or more consecutive data points fall on one side of the mean, they should be investigated. This is true even if the seven data points are within control limits.
255. Just In Time (JIT): To reduce expensive cost of holding inventory, many companies decrease inventory close to zero. A company using JIT must have high quality practices. 
256. Cost of Quality = Prevention cost + Appraisal cost + control cost
257. Low grade is OK, but Low Quality is NOT OK
258. Quality assurance is focused on the processes and not the quality of the deliverables. 
259. This is important for us to remember: quality assurance is concerned with quality processes while quality control is concerned with quality deliverables.
260. Flow Chart: Shows HOW PROCESSES INTERRELATE.
261. Histogram (Column Chart): It shows HOW OFTEN something occurs, or its FREQUENCY (no Ranking).
262. Pareto Charts (80-20 rule): This is a Histogram showing defects RANKED from GREATEST to LEAST. This rule states that 80% of the problems come from 20% of the causes. It is used to help determine the FEW ROOT CAUSES behind the MAJORITY OF THE PROBLEMS on a project.
263. Run Chart: tell about TRENDS in the project. Shows the HISTORY and PATTERN.
264. Scatter Diagram: It is powerful tool for SPOTTING TRENDS in Data. Scatter Diagrams are made using two variables (a dependent variable and an independent variable).
265. W. Edwards Deming = Plan DO- check- Act + He also developed 14 activities for implementing quality
266. Philip Crosby = ZEro Defects, 
267. Dr. Genichi Taguchi developed the concept of 'Loss Function'.
268. KAIZEN = process Improvement
269. special causes are considered preventable. For example, a backup generator failed to start up during a power failure. The failure of the backup generator can be prevented in the future through regular mechanical maintenance and operational tests.  
270. Common causes are thus generally considered as non-preventable and accepted as part of the process. 
271. Inspection keeps errors in the product from reaching the customer. Prevention keeps errors from occurring in the process.
272. FORMAL, REWARD, PENALTY are powers derived from project managers position in the company.
273. Theory X - Autoritarion leadership style
274. Theory Y - Autoritarion Democratic/ Laissez- faire leadership style
275. Theory Z - Autoritarion Democratic leadership style
276. Laissez-faire: The leader turns nearly all control over to the group and is generally absent.
277. In a matrixed organization, the project manager doesn’t have legitimate power, because the team doesn’t directly report to the project manager.
278. Conflict can come from seven main sources, of which the first three account for 50% . They are 1. Schedules, 2. Priorities, 3. Manpower/human resource availability, 4. Technical opinions, 5. Procedural or project administration, 6. Costs,7. Personalities (SP is first 2 and CP is last 2)
279. Generally, only one person is assigned Accountability for a work package, but more than one person may be responsible for performing the work on a work package
280. Confronting: It’s a Win-Win situation 
281. Compromising: Lose-Lose method
282. Withdrawal: Lose-Leave method
283. Smoothing: Lose-Yield method
284. Forcing: Win-Lose method (Worst way).
285. Salience Model - describing classes of stakeholders based on their Power, Urgency and Legitimacy.
286. SENDER'S responsibility to make the message clear, complete, and understood 
287. Nonverbal communication means your gestures, facial expressions, and physical appearance while you are communicating your message.
288. Paralingual communication is the tone and pitch of your voice when you’re talking to people. If you sound anxious or upset, that will have an impact on the way people take the news you are giving
289. Distribute Information is concerned with general project information, such as meeting minutes, issues, and correspondence. 
290. Report Performance focuses on performance reporting against baselines, such as scope, schedule, cost, or quality. Report Performance uses time, cost, and related work performance information.
291. According to Kerzner - "90% of the Project Manager's time is spent communicating"
292. Management Skills =  Presentations skills, negotiation skills, writing and public speaking skills.
293. Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS): It is not breaking down the actial risks, instead, we are breaking down the CATEGORIES of risks that we will evaluate.
294. The amount of tolerance a person or organization has for risks is referred to as its risk utility, 
295. Watchlist: Low priority risks should be regularly monitored so make sure they are not occurring and that their probability, impact, or priority hasn't changed.
296. Risk Score: The probability and impact score for the risk. This is obtained from a formula (usually probability x impact) defined in the risk management plan and generated from the probability and impact matrix. 
297. The management reserve is for unknown-unknowns—things that you haven’t planned for but could impact your project. 
298. The contingency reserve is for known - unknowns, or risks that you know about and explicitly planned for and put in your risk register.
299. Transfer: Transference assigns all or part of risk to a third party through outsourcing, contracts, insurance, warranties, guarantees, or performance clauses.
300. Risk response- fails> then contingency plan...If contingency plan fails then > Fall back plan, i.e in other words=> It can be looked at as a contingency plan for the contingency plan
301. CPFF - More risk for BUYER (some say T&M)
302. FFP - More risk for SELLER
303. UNILATERAL: this is a special class of contract in which the seller doesn't have to explicitly accept the offer in order for a contract to be established. This is a unilateral contract, and the best example is a purchase order (PO). 
304. Procurement closure needs to happen before Project Closure. All procurements MUST be CLOSED before the project is closed.
305. Administrative closure is COMPLETE PROJECT Closure - so it can be done only once for project (or) Phase
306. Claims are usually addressed through the contract change control system
307. The payment system is how your company pays its sellers.
308. 100% rule comes in WBS
309. Force Majeure Risks, such as Earthquakes, Floods, Acts of Terrorism, Etc., should be covered under Disaster Recovery Procedures instead of Risk Management.
310. Journey to Abilene= Committee decisions can have the paradox outcome, that a jointly made or approved decision is not desired by any individual group member.(nobody likes the outcome)
311. What is a constructive change? = consideration of undocumented change = A direction by the buyer or an action taken by the seller that the other party considers an undocumented change to the contract.
312. Getting collective action from a group of people who may have quite different interests is 'Politics'.
313. Arbitration is a form of negotiation. Technically, it is a form of assisted negotiation.
314. Primary Responsibility of the Project Manager is 'Interact with others in a Professional Manner while completing the project'.
315. GERT, Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique, allows for conditional advancement. GERT allows for branching and loopbacks.
316. Subnets are often included in network templates to summarize common activities in a project.
317. Parkinson's Law states that work will expand to fulfill the time allotted to it. (SUPER!- That’s what we do in real life right…)
318. Soft logic allows the project manager to make decisions based on conditions outside of the project, best practices, or guidelines.
319. Milestone Schedule can also be called as Master Schedule.
320. The arrow diagramming method does not support finish-to-finish of relationships. 
321. GERT is the only diagramming technique that allows loops. 
322. The primary purpose of a network diagram is to show logical relationships. 
323. Value analysis is a way of finding the least expensive way to do the work. 
324. Fringe benefits are included in overhead and are part of indirect costs. 
325. QA is typically management process
326. Q: Optimal quality is reached at what point? A: When revenue from improvement equals the incremental costs to achieve the quality. Marginal analysis provides that optimal quality is reached when the cost of the improvements equals the incremental costs to achieve the quality.
327. Design of experiments uses experiments and 'what-if' scenarios to determine what variables are affecting quality.
328. Having an allowable defect rate is an example of the cost of non-quality. Any system or process that will accept defects adds cost to the product or service.
329. Staffing Management Plan: WHEN and HOW resource will be ADDED and TAKEN OFF the team.
330. A corner office is a "perk" whereas health benefits are a fringe benefit. 
331. Mentoring: is the work that a project manager may be frequently called on to perform. 
332. Performance issues are senior and functional management's responsibility - usually the manager who supervises the resource.  
333. Conflict is not a filter of communication—it is a communication hindrance.
334. Nonverbal communication carries 55 percent of the message you send. With this much at stake, nonverbal communication is of major importance.
335. The utility function describes a person's willingness to tolerate risk.
336. For immediate work, a letter contract may suffice. The intent of the letter contract is to allow the vendor to get to work immediately to solve the project problem.
337. When you must begin work immediately without a procurement statement of work, the most appropriate choice is time and material. 
338. Outputs of all 42 Processes will be stored in PMIS.
339. Cause & Effect/Ishikawa/Fishbone Diagram or 5 WHY Technique.
340. The BIG Four: 1. Ishikawa; 2. Deming; 3. Juran; and 4. Crosby.
341. Leads and lags are APPLIED as part of the Develop Schedule process, but then they are ADJUSTED in the process of Control Schedule.
342. Zero Schedule Varience (SV) means the task is completed.
343. The To-Complete-Performance-Index (TCPI) is: The cost performance index (CPI) required in the remainder of a project to meet financial goals.
344. The S curve is the cost performance baseline. The cost performance baseline is used to track cost performance based on the original plan plus approved changes.
345. Requirement  Traceability Matrix helps preventing gold plating
346. Parametric Estimates may not scale
347. For cost plus contract RFP is suitable
348. NPV will help u to build most precise business case
349. Standard deviation in a chart measures PRECISION
350. Changing Management Approach based on the team members experience = SITUATIONAL  CONTINUUM
351. PMIS resides in EEF (enterprise environmental factors)
352. ARMA is a econometric method (Auto regressive moving average)
353. LOI is not a legal document
354. PM can not be a lead negotiator
355. Work Authorization systems helps in preventing scope creep


to Summarize..
- Read Reference books
- Attempt Mock Tests
- Prepare your own Dumps


That should take care of Type 4
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6.  Other Useful links on PMP

http://www.squidoo.com/pmp-faq (this would pretty much clear all your questions..I guess)
http://pmzilla.com/forums/pmpexampreparation/pmpexamtipstricksandlessonslearnt
http://www.headfirstlabs.com/PMP/pmp_exam/v2/quiz.html#
http://sridharpeddisetty.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-notes-on-pmp-formulas.html
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/pmp-exams/pmp_mock_exams.htm
http://www.brainbok.com/home#Exam
http://www.rmcproject.com/free/FreeTricks/Free%20Tips%20on%20Passing%20the%20Exam.pdf


7.  Thanks List (This post would be incomplete with out this...)
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It would not have happened without them and I am  very thankful to all for thier contribution and help.. 



Shakheel, Ari, Selvam, Sai, Preetha, Rajesh Nair, PMZilla, PMZIlla Admin,nbk (PMZilla user), Sathish Maddireddy,  chowdhry , Pradeep, and RITA mulcahy.. 


I would not have cleared PMP without the help from you..



endaro mahanubhavulu andariki vandanamu


Last but not least..
My Wife...Thanks for the all your support and help..


8.  The Message 


Actually Passing PMP is not tough..
I would like to mention one of my My favorite quote here..

There's no such thing as tough. 

You're  either trained or untrained. 

(this punch Dialogue copyright owner: Denzel washington, Man on Fire [2004])

All the Best..
Raga
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PS:
If you find this post useful, please leave your comment here..