Well, to be precise ... "Mastering the Exam Questions" starts with the next section, but this one is optional, so you might proceed directly there.
Especially if you are already familiar with agile and hybrid approaches and topics.
As you may know already, PMI has done a major change to the PMP Exam at the beginning of 2022 after the release of the new PMBoK Guide Edition in late 2021. They added agile and hybrid topics to the exam. Since then the PMP Exam has about 50% traditional and misceaneallous Questions and the other 50% are dedicated to agile and hybrid topics.
We found that many PMP aspirants feel much more confident with the materials that cover the predictive project management approach (sometimes called waterfall or traditional) but have a hard time when it comes to Agile or Hybrid.
Studying the materials suggested in this section aims to close this gap.
First, here are a few questions for you to think about and answer:
At your current workplace, what is the prevalent project management approach?
How well does this approach serve the business needs of your organization?
What project management approach do you feel more comfortable with?
Do you have any knowledge gaps in the agile and/or hybrid project management approach? If yes, what are they?
There are numerous resources available for those who want to acquire knowledge in an agile and/or hybrid project management approach.
Selecting those that are applicable for the PMP exam might be challenging.
In this lesson, we try to specify those we think are the most relevant for you to prepare for your exam.
Note, that the list below is not limited to agile/hybrid-related materials only. Some of the items cover the soft skills required by the project manager.
Soft skills are extremely important when interacting with stakeholders involved in agile projects as one of the values of the Agile Manifesto reads: “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.”
Other resources refer to general information about the new exam.
Read/skim through the following resources to cover the agile and/or hybrid exam topics:
Resources addressing the various project management approaches and tailoring considerations:
PMBOK® Guide, Sixth Edition.
Study the “Trends and Emerging Practices” section in each Knowledge Area. Pages 73, 132, 177, 233, 275, 310, 364, 398, 463, 505
Study the “Tailoring Considerations” section in each Knowledge Area. Pages 74, 133, 178, 234, 276, 311, 365, 400, 465, 506
Study the “Considerations for Agile/Adaptive Environment” section in each Knowledge Area. Pages 74, 133, 178, 234, 276, 311, 365, 400, 465, 506
Study section 1.2.4.1, Project and Development Life Cycles, page 19
Study section 1.2.6, Project Management Business Documents, page 29
Resources covering the role of the project manager and soft skills:
PMBOK® Guide, Sixth Edition.
Study the entire Chapter 3, The Role of the Project Manager pages 51-68
Skim through Chapter 9, Project Resource Management pages 307-358. Pay attention to the points discussing human resource management.
Agile-related study:
The Agile Manifesto.
You must know its 4 values by heart and be very familiar with its 12 principles:
The exam is “heavy” on agile-related topics, most of which are covered by the Agile Practice Guide. Therefore, reading the Guide in its entirety and understanding everything in it is essential for your preparations.
The Scrum Guide
Scrum is considered the most popular agile method and is the main project management approach tested by the exam.
Therefore, we recommend that you read the entire guide (about 15 relevant pages) and understand how Scrum works.
Instead of working through all those additional materials on your own, you may choose a more comfortable solution and decide to rely on the "Agile Booster Course" which was exactly designed and conducted just for this purpose:
✪ Close The Gap - get the "PMP Exam Agile Booster Course" now! ✪
Did you know that PMP students are up to 32% (!) more likely to get Agile questions wrong?
And yet, 90 of the 180 questions in the PMP exam will test your ability to apply agile concepts in real-life scenarios. For example, what would you do if you discovered at the end of a two-week sprint that several user stories had not been completed? That's something you'll need to know for the exam. But if you are like many of our students, the answer will be "not much."
Close this gap with the Agile Booster Course.
What will the Booster Course do for me?
This booster course aims to close the gap in your knowledge by offering lessons covering the above topics. Examples include the role and competencies of the project manager, benefits realization, managing project knowledge, agile and hybrid project management approaches, some agile-specific topics, and more. The booster course includes the following:
- 15 PM PrepCast video lessons (5 hours)
- 35 Agile PrepCast video lessons (11 hours)
- 5 Expert audio interviews (3 hours)plus
- 2021 Booster Study Checklist (xls)
- Formula Study Guide (pdf)
- Audit eBook
- Weekly Exam Tips Newsletter
- Discussion forum access
- 22.5 PDU/Contact Hour Validation Certificate
