Robert PollardOwner, Project Manager / Team Lead| Computer TherapyJacksonville, Fl, United States
I have owned a small IT services company for 22 years and am preparing to take my PMP test. I am looking for recommendations on how to relate the associated tasks of small business ownership and operation to make the tasks relevent to the PMP test requirements. Saving Changes...
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Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear Robert Interesting your question Thanks for sharing
Although your company is small, do you work for projects?
In these projects you can report time related to the project management processes, ie: Initiation Planning Execution Monitoring and Control Closing
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Robert
If you want my advise, I suggest you sKim through the PMBOK plus the Exam Content Outline and I am pretty sure this will give you a clear idea of how to relocate the tasks.
On a side note, please keep in mind that the exam is changing in June 2020 so you might want to sit for your exam before then.
Good Luck.
RK Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
My recommendations is: forget everything you do in your daily work life. You have to answer what the PMI expect as an answer in the framework of the PMBOK no matter is not what you do in your daily work life or what the PMBOK state do not work for you. The first step to fail is trying to map what the PMBOK said to your current situation. In fact, is the hard part for people that teach preparation course to help people in shifting their minds mainly when they answer exam questions and you have to help them to justify the answer. Saving Changes...
Can you clarify whether your question relates to understanding the content so you can pass the exam OR how to position your experience when writing and submitting the PMP application?
Kiron
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1 reply by Robert Pollard
Nov 19, 2019 3:27 PM
Robert Pollard
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I am more concerned with how to equate the numerous smaller (and oftern simultaneous) projects I handled to meet the requirements to sit for the PMP. I am not trying to relate my experiences to the PMBOK standard or for the actual test content, just for the approval to take the PMP exam.
Saving Changes...
Robert PollardOwner, Project Manager / Team Lead| Computer TherapyJacksonville, Fl, United States
Nov 19, 2019 3:23 PM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Robert-
Can you clarify whether your question relates to understanding the content so you can pass the exam OR how to position your experience when writing and submitting the PMP application?
Kiron
I am more concerned with how to equate the numerous smaller (and oftern simultaneous) projects I handled to meet the requirements to sit for the PMP. I am not trying to relate my experiences to the PMBOK standard or for the actual test content, just for the approval to take the PMP exam.
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1 reply by Kiron Bondale
Nov 19, 2019 4:43 PM
Kiron Bondale
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Thanks for the clarification, Robert. Having supported a few of the PMP prep course learners I have taught through audits of their applications I would suggest that if the work sounds too much like "operations" or Business As Usual, if your application gets audited, the auditor might contest those submissions.
One approach to address this is to ensure that the project descriptions and the activities you did are sufficiently diverse. You can Google for PMP Application Assistant to find a freely available MS Excel workbook to help you capture your application info. That workbook provides a list of common activities across the PMBOK process groups which you could use when writing up your project profiles.
I am more concerned with how to equate the numerous smaller (and oftern simultaneous) projects I handled to meet the requirements to sit for the PMP. I am not trying to relate my experiences to the PMBOK standard or for the actual test content, just for the approval to take the PMP exam.
Thanks for the clarification, Robert. Having supported a few of the PMP prep course learners I have taught through audits of their applications I would suggest that if the work sounds too much like "operations" or Business As Usual, if your application gets audited, the auditor might contest those submissions.
One approach to address this is to ensure that the project descriptions and the activities you did are sufficiently diverse. You can Google for PMP Application Assistant to find a freely available MS Excel workbook to help you capture your application info. That workbook provides a list of common activities across the PMBOK process groups which you could use when writing up your project profiles.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Sanjeev SharmaDeputy General Manager - Projects | Greaves Cotton Limited, IndiaNew Delhi, Delhi, India
Hi Robert,
As you are a small company I am assuming that you must be executing IT projects/jobs yourself in addition to running your company. PMBOK 6 highlights five stages or process groups of project management viz Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitor & Control and Closing.I suggest you select major projects handled by you in last seven years and prepare a matrix with start and end dates (you may assume 05 or 06 working days per week with 8 hrs for each working day). Then under each of the five process groups as per PMBOK you may list down the percentage of time spent with respect to the total project duration.This would help you in preparing your final sheet for project experience required for PMP application.
PMP application project experience templates prepared by PMP trainers are also freely available online for ready use.
Yes small business ownership actually maps well to PMP concepts. Things like planning work, managing scope, handling risks, tracking costs, dealing with stakeholders, and closing tasks are all core PMP areas. Try translating what you already do (projects, timelines, budgets, vendor coordination) into formal PMP terms and frameworks it makes the exam content feel much more practical and easier to remember. Saving Changes...
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