RETENTION AND RECALL DEFICIT DISORDER?

There are so many what I call alphabet diseases today, I thought that I'd make one up to add to the list.  Allow me to introduce RRDD, Retention and Recall Deficit Disorder. I define RRDD as the inability to retain new information for a long period of time. As far as I know there is no such disorder BUT retention and recall are well documented areas of study.

The jury is back and the verdict is in…instructional design professionals around the world believe that to improve long term retention, spacing study of the subject over time is superior to cramming for a test.

“The spacing effect is one of the oldest and best documented phenomena in the history of learning and memory research.” Harry Bahrick & Lynda Hall (2005, page 566), quoted in the Journal of Memory and Language,a well-respected refereed journal.

Facts show that subject matter that is taught at an event is rapidly forgotten. Some research suggests that we forget 46% of what we read in 24 hours unless we review it, 79% after two weeks, and 81 % after 28 days (Pauk, Walter. How To Study in College, Sixth Edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.).

What this means to you is that it is important for you to review the entirety of what was covered in class and to space it over time with repetition.

Well there you have it, RRDD. Mankind in general forgets more than they retain after a learning event unless they review the material preferably over an extended period of time. Don't think of yourself as an exception to the rule. Retention and recall are vital to passing the exam. I cannot over emphasize the importance of 1.) preparing a written plan 2.) studying for the exam spacing the study process over time and 3.) using Transcender to help identify the areas of study that you need to focus your attention.

Don’t let your hard work and time (and don't forget the money) spent attending a PMP Exam preparation course go to waste. Prepare a plan and commit yourself to study. Earning the PMP will definitely prove to be worth your time.

Too Much Information?

Another Perspective on How to Prepare for the PMP Exam

Are you overwhelmed, thinking about how to prepare for your exam?  Flash cards, videos, online tests, transcender, text books, PMPBOK, etc.,?  I call it “information paralysis”! STOP!  You need to first assess your knowledge base to know what tools you should use.  Why pull out the jack hammer when a rubber mallet will work.  It is NOT a one size fits all.

In order to assess baseline of knowledge, I found the best tool to be the Transcender exam.  (Note:  this is your “initiate” phase.)  Take the test first but do not be discouraged at the results.  Use these results to map out your study strategy.  (Note: this is your “planning” phase.)

Next, based on the weakest and strongest knowledge areas, use the transcender exam tool that allows you to select only questions from these two knowledge areas. (Note: this is your “execute” phase.)  When doing these questions, check your answers as you move through each question.  Based on your response, use your tools to STUDY the materials.  I found that the transcender referenced the PMPBOK very nicely and it was the best source.  However, the Phillips book explains things better if you are stuck on a concept.

Based on your learning habits, create notes, flash cards, audio tapes, etc.,.  My method was to create a spreadsheet of what I needed to reinforce as well as highlighting the PMPBOK.

Make certain that you are tracking your progress with the test scores! (Note: this is your “monitor & control” phase.)  Once you are confident in these two areas, choose the next two knowledge areas and repeat the process – just like on a project! Retake the same exam you took to be pleasantly surprised at your results!

BEST KEPT SECRET – Personally for me, I mainly used the PMPBOK to study.  I found it easy to cross-reference the transcender exam questions to the PMPBOK.  I used the charts from each BOK area to learn the inputs, outputs and tools/techniques.  In fact, join PMI and then you get an electronic version free – download it to your Kindle for ease of use!

I should stress that knowing the BOK matrix is VERY IMPORTANT to help you in both studying and exam prep.  I again found the PMPBOK to be the best resource of information.

So, there you have it!  A process to eliminate the “information paralysis” and to focus on a methodology you can tailor to your study habits.  Next time, I will share what I would not have done and what I would have done differently to prepare for taking the exam.

Oh, almost forgot, you will need to go into the exam with confidence.  Your goal is to pass the exam. (Note: this is your “close” phase.)  You adopted a strategy, made a plan, executed the plan and  monitored your progress and controlled distractions.  Hmmmm, sounds like a project plan to me!

Cheryl Pavlacka, PMP

Note:  Cheryl is a certified Project Management Professional whom I had the pleasure of teaching in a PMP Certification prep class.  Transcender is an online certification preparation software application produced by KAPLAN IT Learning.

Will Any Road Get You There?

"If You Don't Know Where You're Going, Any Road Will Get You There." --The Cheshire Cat, Alice In Wonderland

But you know where you're going and this strategy will help to get you there.

Greetings PMP candidates! I hope that you’ve taken the first step towards earning the PMP certification.  Specifically I’m referring to a written plan.  The benefits of committing your study plan to a written document are so significant it is critical that you do so as soon as possible. Consider a few of the benefits of a written study plan:

1.   A written plan provides clarity. Writing down your plan forces you to think about how, when and where you will study for the PMP certification exam.

2.   It will motivate you to take action. Articulating your intention is important, but it is not enough. Writing down your plan and reviewing it regularly encourages you to take the next step.

3.   A written plan will help you overcome disruptions (PMBOK constraints). Every meaningful project or goal encounters disruption(s). From the moment you commit your plan to paper, you will begin to experience disruptions. I often describe this phenomenon as “life getting in the way”. If you focus on the disruption, it will only get stronger. The way to overcome it is to focus on the goal…PMP certification.

4.   It will enable you to track your progress. As you reach milestones (do you remember that term) you will be able to see how far you have come and how far you need to go. And don’t forget, a written plan provides opportunities to celebrate along the way toward attaining your goal, PMP certification. 

Okay, I know what you are thinking…why be so formal.  I have a plan “in my head”.  Ask yourself one question, would you manage an important project on the job using a plan that’s only “in your head”.  The obvious answer is NO! This plan is for an important project that will impact your career. It deserves the same if not MORE attention than a project on your job.

An example of a written plan schedule is in the Joseph Phillips Book - ALL-IN-ONE CAPM/PMP Project Management Certification Page 12.  Use it as a template, a starting point and create a plan that works for you. Remember that you need to commit to a designated time and location as well. So get busy and put pen to paper and don't stop until you have a plan.

I welcome you comments.

Ed Green, PMP

PS – Don’t forget to incorporate time to apply for the exam into your plan.

Where does this project manager go for help?

A practical matter is that all project managers will encounter a project that just doesn't go as planned.  What do you do when it's your turn in the barrel of project misfortune? You may gain some insight from this article originally posted on 12/15/2010 1:57 PM By Brian Munroe . 

Taken from the MTI Learning blog.  http://www.mtilearning.com/     Projects can run into trouble at any time and for any number of good reasons.  While I spend time coaching others, traveling to speaking engagements, and talking about troubled projects, I still actively manage a few key projects of my own for my clients.  I never want to be the guy on stage saying, “…back when I managed projects…..”  This does not lend itself to any kind of creditability.  Therefore, I actively manage projects. So one of the questions I get asked often is, “Brian, do your projects ever fall into trouble?”  The answer, “Yes they do.”  The difference is what I do about them and who’s advice I seek when the root cause is escaping me.  It does not matter who you are, when its your own project, often the simplest of solutions is hard to see because of the level of emotional involvement you have in that particular project.  Its your baby and you hate to see it in trouble. As ...

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YOU MUST BE A PROJECT MANAGER

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

The woman below replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You’re between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.”

“You must be a project manager,” said the balloonist. “I am,” replied the woman, “How did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I’ve no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help at all. If anything, you’ve delayed my trip.”

 The woman below responded, “You must be in Senior Management.”

“I am,” replied the balloonist, “but how did you know?”

“Well,” said the woman, “you don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you’ve no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my fault.”

PMP EXAM PREPARATION

There are those times in life that getting to our destination just cannot happen fast enough. We’ve all heard the plaintive question (usually asked by children sitting in the back seat of a moving automobile), “are we there yet?”  You may find yourself asking the same question when it comes to being prepared to take the PMP Exam. Are we there yet? 

In my humble opinion, unless you’ve completed 35 hours of instructor led training, read the ALL-IN-ONE CAPM/PMP Project Management Certification Guide written by Joseph Phillips from cover to cover (cross referencing the PMBOK guide) and have successfully completed no less than twenty (20) hours of exam simulation testing (Transcender or other tools), you are probably NOT ready to take the exam. 

When it comes to exam preparation, there are no shortcuts.  This is one of the reasons I don’t refer to the tips I suggest as tricks.  Knowledge is king and it’s your job to thoroughly master the subject. It’s not good enough to ‘know what you don’t know”. You must “know what you know” thoroughly.  You are either ready or you are not. 

If you haven’t adequately prepared (see first paragraph), I advise you not to take the test.  Some things in life should not be rushed.  And there are things in life that cannot be rushed. Project Management Professional certification preparation falls into both categories.  Time must be allowed to internalize the subject matter.  You have to make it your own.

So don’t be too hard on yourself at this point.  Sit back and exhale.  Ah, doesn’t that feel better.  Make a plan and stick to it.  After all, you are the “project manager” of your life. Preparing for the PMP Exam is a project. Use the tools and techniques that you’ve been studying.  Build quality control and quality assurance into your plan. Don’t forget to add reserves for the unknown unknowns.  You know the drill…

"A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result."

THE NAME GAME (or memorizing all 42 processes)

There are many ways to memorize the 42 processes. The way I memorized the 42 processes was by playing a game with my son.  Here's how it works:

1. Write each Process Group and Knowledge Area on an index card so that you have 14 index cards.  You should have them memorized by now.
2. From Page 3 of the New Horizons workbook (the white book used in class). Write all processes that appear in a single cell onto one index card for each cell.  For example, "Develop Project Management Plan" will be on one card.   and "Collect Requirements, DefineScope, and Create WBS" will be on another card, and "Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Estimate Activity Resources, Estimate Activity Durations, Develop Schedule" will all be on another card. 
3. Do this for all cells so that you end up with 26 cards (covering the 42 processes). For now don't worry that you have more than one process on a card.
4. Shuffle the cards...
5. On a table top OR on the floor, practice putting the cards in order to form the chart on page 3.
6. Do this over and over until you can do it quickly. At first you will have to refer back to the book.
7. Practice this several times a day...soon you will know the 42 processes and their order on the chart.

If you play this game with a youngster, I bet they will memorize the processes before you do.

Hint: When you are done, the "Planning Process Group" will have 20 processes in it. One card for each of the nine cells.  The "Monitoring & Controlling Process Group" will have 10 processes in it. One card in eight of the nine available cells. The "Executing Process Group" will have 8 processes in it.  One card in five of the nine available cells. 



Now for the secret...are you ready?  Memorize the chart working from left to right (by knowledge area).  I know, I know...I taught you that the processes flowed from top to bottom and this is true BUT for memorization purposes work from left to right.  Trust me it works.  I didn't mention this in class because I felt it would be too confusing. After 5 days of PMBOK training , I feared that your heads would explode from information overload. 



Some may argue that it's not important to memorize these processes.  I totally disagree.  Remember the goal is to pass the test and knowing the processes in order will help significantly. 

"Know what you know"

JEOPARDY ANYONE?

If you truly know something, you should be able to express it in your own words. Putting the language of PMBOK into simple English will help you to quickly get a grasp of many of the more challenging concepts.  I find using the format of the game show Jeopardy works for me.  In other words, instead of expressing the definition as a statement I express it as a question.  Here are a few examples dealing with one of your favorite subjects, Earned Value Management.

Estimate at Completion (EAC) At the current rate, what is the estimated cost of the project at completion? (formula: BAC / CPI = EAC)

Estimate to Complete (ETC) If the project performance continues at this rate, what is the amount of money estimated to complete the project? (formula: EAC – AC = ETC)

Variance at Completion (VAC) What is the amount of money the project varies over or under budget at completion? (formula: BAC – EAC = VAC)

I find that this technique is especially effective when it comes to understanding EVM and other formulae. Give it a try and tell me what you think. 

Remember, "know what you know"…

IF YOU LIKED THAT...

My last post explained how to determine communication channels. Well if you liked that, you are going to love this. It's like having an "ace up your sleeve". You may recall that the problem I presented was:

You have 5 members on a project team. One more member is added to the team. How many additional communication channels are added to the project? Be careful, the key word is additional.

You can use the formula I shared with you yesterday to solve this problem but here's a faster way to solve it. Whenever a new member is added to the project team the number of additional communication channels is equal to the number of existing team members. That's it. 

In this example, there are 5 existing team members so when you add a new member, additional channels will be 5. Isn't that wonderful, no math was required. Trust me it works.  Try a few using the formula [N*(N-1)]/2 and compare answers.  This can be a time saver when taking the exam. 

Let's go one step further. If the question states that two new members are added merely add the new team members one at a time and using the same technique as above.

Here’s how it works:

1.)    If project has 5 members, and you add one more, the number of additional communication channels is 5.

2.)    Now the number of team members becomes 6.

3.)    If you add an additional team member, the communication channels becomes 6.

4.)    Therefore, if two new members are added, the number of channels increases by 11 (5 + 6 = 11). 

How about that? Why even a fifth grader can do this...

WHAT WE'VE GOT HERE...

"What we've got here is failure to communicate." That famous quote from the movie Cool Hand Luke haunts me whenever I teach a class.  There's always something that you wish you had included or taught differently.  Well communication channels (how fitting) is a subject that I did not cover to my satisfaction.  You will find excellent treatment of it in the John Phillips book titled "ALL-IN-ONE, CAPM/PMP Project Management Certification Exam Guide" Chapter 10.  and on the video that comes with the book (Chapter Ten Video - Communications Management).

Test Question Example:

You have 5 members on a project team. One more member is added to the team. How many additional communication channels are added to the project?

a. 1
b. 3
c. 5
d. 7

You can solve this question by calculating the difference in the number of communication channels "before" and "after" adding the new member, using the formula [N*(N-1)]/2.

Communication Channels "before" = [5*(5-1)]/2 = 10
Communication Channels "after" = [6*(6-1)]/2 = 15
Increase in communication channels = 15 - 10 = 5

GOING TO DISNEY WORLD?

Okay PMP Certification Candidate, you've just completed your 35 hours of required training. What are you going to do? Please don't respond, "I'm going to Disney World". Hopefully you've followed my advice and have written a schedule that allows for 1 - 2 hours of dedicated time daily for you to begin reading the "ALL-IN-ONE CAPM/PMP Project Management Certification Exam Guide by Joseph Phillips from cover to cover. A sample study strategy is provided on pages 12 and 13. Adapt it for your purposes.

The main thing is not to lose momentum. Remember you will not "find" the time to study. If your life is like mine, you will have to "make" time to study. Life will always provide a multitude of valid reasons for you to put studying off for another day. Don't fall into this trap. It's up to you make it happen. So instead of making excuses, make studying a habit.
Getting certified as a professional project manager can be life changing in ways you may not be aware of right now. It's sets you apart from those unwilling to make the sacrifice of their time to study. Those three letters, PMP, behind your name speaks volumes about your character and determination. So if you haven't done so already, get busy and prepare a written strategy with schedule and follow it. Remember you aren't just preparing to take the certification exam, you are preparing to pass it...and you will pass the exam if you follow my advise.