PMP Books & Reference Material

I am putting together some useful books and other preparatory material for PMP exam.
  1. Books
  2. Practice Questions Collection & Exam Simulator
  3. Flashcards
  4. Other Material


Books
  • PMP Exam Prep, Sixth Edition: Rita Mulcahy - One of the very popular books that is used across the globe for PMP preparation. The language used in this book is very simple and it puts you into situations when you really start thinking through how much have I been using this PMI-ism in my projects. It provides you the tricks of the trade, Study Tips, Games & exercises, Common error & pitfalls, PMI-isms and very good practice exams at the end of each chapter.


  • PMBOK Guide 4th Edition - This is the book and you can not avoid it. PMBOK Guide 4th edition is written better than its previous version but it still remains a boring book. You have to go through this book couple of times to understand the concepts. This is the official book for PMP exam but do not count on this book alone. Some topics that appear in the exam are just mentioned there but no details are provided, it is left to the readers to get the details.


  • The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try by Andy Crowe - A self contained book for PMP exam, it provides all the information needed to prepare for the test. This book provides further help by way of providing insider secrets, test tricks & tips, numerous sample questions and exercises for clearing your concepts.


  • Head First PMP - This book has been written in a unique way. It is written in a visually rich format. As per Amazon - "Drawing on the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory, Head First PMP offers you a multi-sensory experience that helps the material stick, not a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep." It also provides a full length sample exam.


My take - You should have any one of the above books along with PMBOK Guide 4th edition. That should be sufficient for the exam.

Some other useful books -
Practice Questions Collection & Exam Simulator

Flashcards
Other Material



Posted by Tech Guy at 10:53 PM 62 comments Email this post
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Contract Types

Contract types is one of the tools & techniques of Plan Procurements. Whenever you are getting into an agreement with a supplier outside the organization for any procurement, you will be signing the contracts. Any legal contractual relationships generally fall into the following categories -
  1. Fixed Price Contracts
  2. Cost Reimbursable Contracts
  3. Time & Materials Contracts
There are pros & cons for each type of contracts. Let's try to understand each one of this by getting into the details of each contract.

Fixed Price Contracts - These type of contracts are negotiated at fixed total price. In such contracts, the scope of work has to be clearly defined. There are provisions of incentives also in these contracts if the requirements stated in the scope of work exceed any quantifiable measurements. On the other hand, if the completed work does not meet the defined standards or any other quantifiable measurement, damages are borne by the seller. In such type of contracts, the seller is at the higher risk.

As per PMBOK Guide 4th Edition, there are three types of fixed price contracts -
  • Firm Fixed Price Contracts (FFP) - In this type of contract, the fee is fixed for the products or services. No incentives are given while cost overruns are borne by the seller. Seller is at the highest risk here. Scope of work has to be very clearly defined for such type of contracts. One of the example for this type of contract can be - a purchase order for delivering an off the shelf product for a specified price by a specific date.
  • Fixed Price Incentive Fee Contracts (FPIF) - In such contracts, incentives are given to the seller in case the pre defined performance targets are met or exceeded. The performance targets & the financial incentives are decided before the start of the work. In order to safeguard seller's interest, price ceiling is also decided. Any cost above the ceiling is borne by the seller. These contracts motivate sellers to try and get the incentives by way of over performing. One of the example for this type of contract can be - the seller will be given additional 5% of the total price if the required software product is delivered 2 weeks earlier than the specified scheduled date.
  • Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment Contracts (FP - EPA) - These type of contracts are usually signed where the project duration is spanning over the years. This safeguards the interest of both buyer & seller against any external conditions beyond their control e.g. inflation rate, currency exchange rate fluctuation in case of outsourced projects.
Cost Reimbursable Contracts - These type of contracts are aimed at de-risking the sellers from cost point of view when the scope of work is not clearly known at the start and can change as the work progresses. In such contracts, sellers are paid the actual cost incurred to accomplish the work along with seller's profit. In these type of contracts, buyer is at a higher risk as the total cost is not known at the start of the work.

As per PMBOK Guide 4th Edition, there are three types of cost reimbursable contracts -
  • Cost Plus Fixed Fee Contracts (CPFF) - In these contracts, the seller is reimbursed the actual cost of performing the work and a fixed fee. This fixed fee is calculated as a percentage of the initial estimated cost. Fixed fee does not change with actual cost.
  • Cost Plus Incentive Fee Contracts (CPIF) - In these contracts, the seller is reimbursed the actual cost of performing the work & the incentive fee. This fee is based upon the performance of the seller. Performance is determined based on the pre-defined performance targets.
  • Cost Plus Award Fee Contracts (CPAF) - In this type of contract, all the cost of performing the work is reimbursed plus the incentive (award) is given to seller based upon its performance. The point to note here is that - subjective evaluation is done for seller's performance.
  • Cost Plus Fee (CPF) Or Cost Plus Percentage of Cost (CPPC) - In this type of contract, seller is paid the actual cost of completing the work plus a fee. This fee is calculated as a percentage of actual cost of completing the work. Percentage is pre-determined but the fee will vary with the actual cost.
Time & Material Contracts (T&M) - These type of contracts are mix of cost-reimbursable and fixed price contracts. Generally, the project durations are longer, scope of work is not clearly known at the start. It resembles cost-reimbursable in a way because the actual cost is not known in advance and resembles fixed price in the sense that unit rate for the labor and/or material is agreed upon at the start of the work.
Posted by Tech Guy at 2:11 AM 17 comments Email this post
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Tips for Critical Path, Total Float & Free Float

I would like to start the topics which can bring more fruits with little scope of doubts. If a little attention is paid on these topics, there are very less chances of ambiguity. Yes, you have guessed it right, I will concentrate on the topics with numerical problems.

Today I will talk about the above topics in the subject of the post. Numerical problems are not lengthy and the calculations involved are very simple.

Critical Path - This is the longest duration path in the network diagram but the shortest possible time to complete the project. I am assuming here that you have already prepared the network diagrams and know its basic concepts. Once you have the network diagram ready, look at the each possible path from start to finish, calculate the duration of each path, the path with the longest duration is the critical path. It is possible to have more than one critical paths in a project. More the critical paths riskier the project.

Let's look at an example. Click on the below image to enlarge.





There are three paths -
1. Start-A-C-D-F-H-End = 11 days
2. Start-A-C-E-H-End = 8 days
3. Start-B-G-I-End = 12 days

Path 3 (Start-B-G-I-End) shown in Red is the critical path as this has the longest duration.

Path 1 (Start-A-C-D-F-H-End) is near critical path. A project manager not only should watch out for the critical path but also should concentrate upon the near critical path as this has the potential to become a critical path if not managed well.

Free Float - This is the time by which an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of its successor activity.

Free float of an activity = (ES of the next activity - EF of that activity) - 1
(Note: -1 is there if you are considering the 1st day of the project as 1 but if you consider the 1st day of the project as 0th day, -1 will be omitted)

Total Float - This is the total time by which an activity can be delayed without delaying the scheduled end date of the project.

Total float of an activity = (LF - EF) of that activity OR (LS-ES) of that activity

Unless specifically asked for free float in questions consider float=total float.

Activities on the critical path have ZERO float.

In the above diagram,

Free Float for activity F = ES of H - EF of F - 1 = 11-10-1 = 0
Total Float for activity F = (LS - ES) of F OR (LF - EF) of F= 11-10 = 1

Free Float for activity E = ES of H - EF of E - 1 = 11-7-1 = 3
Total Float for activity E = (LS - ES) of E OR (LF - EF) of E = 11-7 = 4
Posted by Tech Guy at 3:21 AM 41 comments Email this post
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