David HensonProject Manager/Conference Manager| SCG, Inc.Carlisle, Pa, United States
I am preparing to take the PMP exam and see very little on termination in the PMBOK guide on project termination. I was wondering if anyone could provide me with some situations in which project termination would be warranted... Saving Changes...
The PMBOK Guide mostly focuses on the "happy path" but in general, if conditions for terminating a project have been realized, you would go through the normal closure processes.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Wade HarshmanScrum Master| GDITIndianapolis, In, United States
I don't recall any questions on the PMP exam about terminating projects, but that was a long time ago so forgive me if I'm wrong.
If you have a question, it will likely be a scenario based question where termination is an option. For example, your project is over budget, behind schedule, and the sponsor skipped a project status meeting. Should you:
A) ask the sponsor for more money
B) complain to the CEO about your sponsor
C) do your job and get the project back on schedule
D) terminate the project
If you have a more direct question about project termination, it will likely be about who can terminate a project (i.e. it might be the sponsor, the PMO, or another authority in the charter, but it is not the project manager) or what a project manager's responsibilities are (i.e. engage the stakeholders, close project process). Saving Changes...
David,
The most relevant reason I can think of related to what might be on the PMP exam is that the business case which initially justified launching the project is no longer valid. (As with others, I don't remember questions on this topic either.)
This boils down to a portfolio management issue. The project may no longer align with the strategic direction of the company, or the ROI may have changed. The project may have missed the window of opportunity, a new competitor may have taken market share, new costs have entered the equation, or there may be other projects that have a better ROI so the company is going to use the resources elsewhere. Saving Changes...
David HensonProject Manager/Conference Manager| SCG, Inc.Carlisle, Pa, United States
Thank you all so much for your feedback. I really appreciate it. I have been studying for the PMP Exam for almost a year now. I have invested in training courses online, read the PMBOK Guide and have studied very hard and intently for quite some time. With all the practice tests I have taken, I cannot seem to get over the 70 % hump. I seem to hover around 65-68%. The gaps in my knowledge seem to shift from Planning, to Executing and then to Monitoring & Controlling with each practice test. I have done my best to look for the trick questions, but nothing I do seems to work. Are there any specific suggestions you can give me to help me get to the next level? Saving Changes...
Wade HarshmanScrum Master| GDITIndianapolis, In, United States
I never got over 70% on the practice exams, either. Eventually I just got fed up and took the PMP, and I passed. There are no guarantees, but it sounds like you're doing a good job preparing yourself.
The most important thing you need when you sit for the PMP is a clear head, because the questions require more thought than memorization. Saving Changes...
David HensonProject Manager/Conference Manager| SCG, Inc.Carlisle, Pa, United States
Thanks for the bode of confidence Wade. This will be my second attempt (Friday). The knowledge I gained after taking it the first time I think will help me, especially as it pertains to the trick questions. I plan to get a good night sleep, wake up, have a good and healthy breakfast but not too heavy and then just dine right on. Wish me luck! Saving Changes...
David, I took the exam with about 20 years of practical experience under my belt and I still flagged about 30% of the questions to review before submitting my final answer. It is by no means easy.
Some of it comes down to core knowledge, and some to test taking strategies. As for core knowledge, I don't think memorization will help much other than the formulas you already found you'll need to use in your 1st try. I took several practice exams myself, and everywhere I got something wrong, I carefully examined why I had the wrong answer.
Because the exam is more about which is the *best* answer than choosing the only right answer, one strategy that I used was evaluating the question itself and asking myself what they are testing. You're trying to reverse engineer the question. The differences in the possible answers will give you clues as to what they are trying to test. That may help you zero-in on the best answer, based on which answer best aligns with what you think is key to the question itself. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
The defined governance process is the support for taken the decision.Project manager is not able to take that decision. The only thing project manager is accountable for is to prepare all information needed to host the governance meeting. To understand if this type of questions exist in the exam my recommendation is taken a look to PMP Certification content outline documentation. Saving Changes...
Eric IsomOwner| learn.pmguaranteed.comUt, United States
Another point you may see on the exam is that even when you terminate a project early, you should still go through the regular closure process to wrap things up neatly. Don't just stop work. Review lessons learned. Update the lessons learned repository based on the lessons learned register. Ensure that all contracts are closed out, payment made, claims resolved, and accounts closed. Close all project accounts & billing codes. Release all resources. Provide a final report. And so on. Just about everything you would do when closing a successful project also needs to be done when closing a project early - except things like the handover to operations. Saving Changes...
Project Termination could be initiated by any of the Project sponsors on behalf of the Client if the fundamental requirement of the project change so much as to warrant termination of the project. Projects are driven by the requirements gathering stage and this process feeds into every other process and action in the project. Once these change; one such being that the technology no longer meets the clients expectations and requirement; and Change Management process is no longer sufficient then project termination may be activated. How, when and why this could occur would be contain and agreed upon prior to project commencement in the Project Management documentation. Saving Changes...
