Basic Earned Value: What does it Mean?

On this page: Anyone who first met earned value management as part of their PMP® exam preparation course will probably have cursed it for giving them a whole list of formulae to remember. However, anyone who has tried to track a schedule and a budget will appreciate that it provides excellent insights into the health of […]

Avoiding using Ultimata in Project Management

On this page: At one point, the American band, The Grateful Dead, had to confront its lead guitarist, Jerry Garcia, about his heroin addiction. They were frustrated by Garcia’s erratic performances and wanted him to sort himself out. So they presented him with an ultimatum: Heroin or the band. Heroin won and now Jerry Garcia […]

Critical Path: Forward Pass

The highlight of the Project Schedule Management chapter of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK© Guide) is the critical path method. If you aspire to obtain Project Management Professional (PMP)© status, this scheduling technique has to be mastered. On this page: Mastering the Critical Path Method for Project Schedule Management Before applying the critical path method, […]

The Road to the PMP Exam

I think it is safe to say that there are no school children out there fantasizing about becoming a Project Manager when they grow up. Instead, visions of being James Bond (a secret agent or an actor) occupy their youthful dreams. This should not be surprising. Obviously, project management is not as glamourous as the […]

Project Management and Game Theory

In a previous article, we looked at the difference between planning and strategy. Basically, a Project Manager planning a new project is organizing a set of collaborating stakeholders to carry out work that will be to everyone’s benefit. However, when it comes to strategy, the course of action taken by one player can have negative consequences […]

Project Management Professional (PMP)® Exam Question Types

On this page: Today, we’re going to run through some of the different types of questions you may be asked in the PMP® project management exam. The ability to recognize and deal with each type of question will significantly increase your chances of attaining PMP® certification. All PMP® sample questions in our Exam Simulator are based on these question types. […]

The PMP®: Why Bother?

On this page: According to Yes Minister’s Sir Humphrey Appleby, a cynic is what an idealist calls a realist, and a cynical project manager might pose the question: why bother with the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification? It is a reasonable question. For a practicing project manager, the overhead of taking time […]

Microsoft® Project® Courses Now Available at Velopi

Due to popular demand we have opened up our successful Microsoft® Project® Courses to the public! Ever wondered – How to use MS Project properly? These Microsoft® Project® courses will allow the participant to create and manage a project schedule using Microsoft® Project®. Microsoft Project lets you stay informed and control project work, schedules, and finances, keep project teams aligned, […]

Project Procurement: Building or Buying?

If you have studied for the Project Management Professional (PMP)® exam, you will remember the “make or buy” analysis that was part of the Plan Procurement Management process. If you read section 12.1.2.3 of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), you will get the impression that resource availability and cost are the main […]

Project Integration Management

Most people who partake in a Project Management Professional (PMP)® exam preparation course will agree that integration is really where project management starts to make sense. Without integration, the other knowledge areas come across as totally separate sets of work, with little or no relevance to each other. On this page: The Importance of Project […]