Jeff Furman, PMP: Big change coming to the PMP Exam

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Big change coming to the PMP Exam : How can this book “The Project Management Answer Book” help you? Note from PMHUB admin: latest update July 19, 2011: PMI will hold result of Aspirants until mid October. Details here: Changes in PMP Exam – August 30, 2011 (Updated July 22)

When I targeted Ethics and Social Responsibility for special emphasis in my book, “The Project Management Answer Book” (Jan. 2011, Management Concepts) I did NOT know at the time that PMI was going to soon be changing the PMP® Exam, with significant changes around this topic (30 percent of the test!) But with this shift, my book immediately becomes that much more uniquely suited to helping you prepare for your PMP® test, as I discuss below.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE MAIN CHANGE?

In a nutshell, the big change is that starting August 31, 2011, instead of having six sections to the PMP^® exam (one for each of the five PMI Process Groups^®, plus one for Ethics & Social Responsibility), there will now only be five sections of the test (one for each of the Process Groups^®). Ethics & Social Responsibility questions will be interspersed throughout the other five sections, instead of in their own section.

WHY DOES THIS CHANGE MAKE THE TEST HARDER?

It’s much easier to answer ethics questions “in context,” meaning when you are able to look at the questions specifically as ethics questions. This is because when you know which questions are ethics questions (as with the exam currently) you are able to think to yourself, “OK, this is an ethics question, what are they asking for, based on the PMI Code of Ethics And Professional Conduct?”)

But after August 30^th, test-takers will no longer have that luxury. A question, for example, testing a PM on “what is the most ethical cost management decision here?” will be thrown in as just one of the many questions in the Planning, Executing Monitoring and Controlling, etc. sections of the test. So the same question will become harder for most test-takers under the new test format, because it will need to be evaluated more as a “pure question,” and not specifically as an ethics question.

HOW AND WHY DID THIS CHANGE COME ABOUT?

… PMI’s RDS STUDY

Recently, PMI conducted a Role Delineation Study (RDS) for the PMP® exam, with more than 3,000 of its members participating. The Institute does this from time-to-time to maintain the quality and veracity of all its exams. And as a result of this study, it was determined that “PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct is integrated into the work of project management…” and therefore “should be viewed as integrated into the day-to-day role of a project manager and important in each phase of the project lifecycle.”

Here is the direct statement about the RDS from PMI’s homepage: http://www.pmi.org/Certification/Project-Management-Professional-PMP/Updates-to-PMP-Certification-Exam/PMP-Role-Delineation-Study.aspx

Acting on this study, the PMP^®exam will be incorporating all Ethics and Social Responsibility questions into the corresponding Process Group^®-based sections. And many PMs have expressed that they view this as a good change, because it reflects the awareness that ethics and social responsibility are a part of all aspects of the PM’s role, not an area to be handled separately.

And of course ultimately this stems form the idea that PMs who are ethical and socially responsible in their decision-making can bring in their projects more successfully and with higher CustSat (customer satisfaction). As I emphasize with various examples throughout my book, making compromises to do things faster and cheaper is often counter-productive (in addition to unethical). This is because the cheapest or most expedient solution may seem good in the short term, but it is often very bad long-term.

Satisfying your clients in the long-term often translates to more success and increased profit, through repeat business and new business referrals (a ripple effect). And a reputation for making the best and most ethical decisions also helps PMs on an individual level – it can give you a competitive advantage in interviews and on the marketplace.

UNIQUE OFFERINGS ON ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN MY BOOK:

My book’s chapter on Ethics And Social Responsibility provides:

1) A Unique One-Page Summary of PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional

Conduct^® – With written approval obtained in advance from PMI, I created this unique summary for my book to help readers quickly get an overview of PMI’s code.

By stream-lining the code into one page, readers can quickly see its scope, and also more easily memorize the key components. This overview also helps them drill-down further into the full code for more advanced study.

2) Real-World Examples –

I present examples of some of the toughest ethical issues PMs often face in the real world, from customers asking for too much to the PM’s own management in the performing organization putting them into conflicts of interest.

3) Advanced Ethics-Related Vocabulary – Key vocabulary terms related to ethics for PMs are covered in short, clear Q&As. This includes a number of “deep-dive” terms which help readers gain the manager’s grasp of ethics that the PMP^® test requires.

4) Refer-Backs To PMI’s Ethical Code -

To help my readers, I provide a number of refer-backs linking the examples and discussion topics to the pertinent clauses in PMI’s Code. This helps reinforce the key points toward on-the-job and the PMP^® exam.

5) Top 10 Ethical Pitfalls For PMs

I provide a unique Top 10 Pitfalls List to help readers avoid ethics-related issues and traps from the real-world, from my 15 years experience managing IT projects for Fortune 500 companies in the NYC area. Understanding these pitfalls helps readers navigate similar issues in the real-world, and also with scenario-based PMP^®test questions.

6) I Offer My “Ethical Triple Constraint”

To make the best decisions on projects, it’s often important to juggle several competing priorities at once. “The customer is always right” may make for a nice motivational slogan, but allowing customers to rule you too much can lead to bad choices. In this chapter I identify the three key priorities that can help PMs make the best ethical decisions in many cases. And to make them easy to learn and remember, I tie them to the classic PM triple constraint.

MORE UNIQUE WAYS MY BOOK CAN HELP YOU:

Q&A Format – “The Project Management Answer Book” is the only PM book in Q&A format current with the new PMBOK V4. This format makes it easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate. All the questions are listed in the front of the book in the Table of Contents. And even though it’s in Q&A format, many of the answers are highly detailed, and include graphs, charts and sidebars to provide very comprehensive treatment of the PMBOK concepts, processes, and best practices.
It’s both a Practitioner’s Guide and a PMP^® Prep book:

1. Practitioner’s Guide – Contains hundreds of hands-on tips and industry-leading best practices.

2. PMP^®Reference – Offers numerous proven test tips toward the PMP^® and CAPM exams, which have helped hundreds of my students pass their exams on the first try.

Contains the “collective wisdom” of more than 500 PMs!

The book shares tips, best practices and experience from the many PM students who have attended my more than 80 PMP^® classes, coming from many companies in private industry, as well as from more than twenty NYC and Federal government agencies.

Offers many templates, diagrams, and proven study aids.

Over many years of training PMPs, I have identified key areas where students can have difficulty with the PMBOK concepts, and created teaching materials focusing on these areas. I provide many of these study aids in the book, which my students often tell me “have helped de-mystify the PMBOK for them, and made difficult concepts easy.”

Top 10 Pitfall Lists With Every Chapter – Many readers have told me they like how these lists summarize the key concepts of each chapter and help them learn how to avoid and mitigate such issues on the job.
Advanced Treatment of Soft Skills – I cover a number of advanced terms and concepts in both my Communications Management and HR Management chapters.
Leadership Chapter – Unlike most PMP^® books, I include an advanced chapter on leadership best practices.
Networking Tips And Social Media For PMs – This is another chapter not found in most PMP^® books, offering PMs hands-on tips from my own extensive social media experience and participation in live and virtual networking groups.
Study sheets for both the PMP^® processes and the PMP^® formulas are provided (including unique “fill-in-the-blanks” templates to help you test your memory as you prepare for the exam).
Chapter on “How To Become PMP^® Certified” – Here I provide many hands-on tips for applying, studying for, and passing the PMP^® exam. In addition, I offer a chart summarizing the many related PM certifications from other certifying organizations, all of which can help beef up your skill-set and resume.
Offered In Various Formats – The book is currently offered currently in three formats: a) Paperback, b) Kindle, and c) Google Books.
Offered By Several Direct Sellers – The book is offered direct from the publisher: Management Concepts, Vienna, VA, as well as Amazon.com and your local bookstore. And in the UK it is also offered online by KoganPage.com as well as by Amazon.Co.UK.

Foreword by best-selling PMP^® author Andy Crowe – Excerpt: “The Project Management Answer Book covers an amazing breadth of topics. The advice it includes is concise and straightforward. It is brimming with wisdom from someone who faced these questions in the real world and has sifted through the various theories and practices to find what works…”

If you are just starting out as a project manager, Furman’s book is the perfect place to begin. It is a rich resource of concepts and practical help… If you have been practicing project management for some time, this will earn a place on your desk as an excellent field reference. How many times have you wished you had a particular template, example, or a guide to walk you through a process?” ~Andy Crowe, PMP^®, PgMP^®

INTERVIEWS SO FAR ABOUT THE BOOK

Interviewer	Title	Venue
Cornelius Fichtner	“Ethics In Project Management”	The Project Management Podcast (Premium Episode #169)
Cornelius Fichtner	“The Project Management Answer Book”	The Project Management Podcast (Episode #168)
Henry Will III	“Pitfalls For PMs… from the Top 10 Pitfall Lists in The Project Management Answer Book”	PM Lessons Learned (Live Webinar)
Elizabeth Harrin	“Ask The Experts – Change Management with Jeff Furman”	“The Money Files” blogon GanttHead.com
Elizabeth Harrin	“Behind the Scenes at The Project Management Answer Book”	“Talking Work” blog