Being a Project Management Professional (PMP)
As you embark on the journey of being a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP), you should be guided by four main considerations.
They include:
- Unlearning and relearning to reframe your thinking
- Applying key principles in decision making
- Recognizing how concepts apply in practice
- Practicing applying what you have learned
This article seeks to elaborate on these considerations to better prepare you on what lies ahead.
Unlearning and Relearning to reframe your thinking
The questions in the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam are not meant to test how you deal with situations and make decisions in practice. They are meant to assess whether you know how a professional project manager deals with situations that emerge.
You may not be used to think in this way. However, for the purpose of passing the PMP exam you need to unlearn what you are used to do and relearn how you should do things from the perspective of a professional. Unlearning requires asking questions, clarifying issues and being open to reframing the context within which situations emerge.
As you attend the Project Management Professional (PMP) classes, you will be exposed to a different way of thinking and analyzing situations. These would initially appear too idealistic to be applied in practice. However, these are best practices that have stood the test of time and need to guide your thinking process as a Professional Project Manager.
To help you unlearn and relearn, it would help if you welcomed new perspectives that are shared in overcoming challenges faced. Instead of relying on what you already know, try to reanalyze the challenge or situation from the perspective of a professional project manager.
Asking good and relevant questions is also important. By asking questions you develop a better clarity of what you are unlearning. This will transform the unlearning experience into a discovery experience.
Applying key principles when selecting the correct answer
When selecting the correct option to choose in the PMP exam, be always guided by basic principles of project management. There are several underlying principles that should guide your thinking when managing projects as a professional.
These include:
- Seeking to understand before seeking to be understood
- Being proactive when overcoming challenges
- Refraining from being reactive when dealing with challenges
- Taking necessary action required in a timely basis
- Seeking and incorporating continual improvement
By basing your answers on these principles, you should be able to eliminate options that are:
- Reactive in nature
- Take too long to be implemented
- Involve others when they require decisions to be made by the project manager
You will be better able to zoom into options that:
- Involve seeking more clarification and understanding
- Are proactive in terms of preventing problems from recurring
- Indicate an attempt to improve what is being done
Recognizing how concepts apply in practice
Concepts relating to people management, process management as well as business environment considerations are meant to guide you to have a structured and analytical way of dealing with these issues. You should understand the concepts individually as well as seek to find how these concepts are integrated in practice. Start thinking how these concepts apply in practice based on your experience to deepen your understanding.
As you become exposed to many such concepts, theories, terminologies your understanding level should be broadened. Gradually you will be able to see the interrelationships between different concepts to help you select an option that integrates different topics and concepts in a holistic manner.
Practicing applying what you have learnt
The ONLY way to internalize the process of unlearning and relearning, applying principles and recognizing concepts is by doing exam-based questions. It’s OK if you answer these questions incorrectly. It only confirms that your unlearning and relearning is incomplete, you have not internalized the principles and you are still grappling with the concepts at a very superficial level.
Selecting the incorrect answer and then being clear where you went wrong is important. It helps you refine your understanding and internalize the concepts, principles and reinforces the unlearning and relearning.
