Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Predictive (Plan-Based) Project Management Methodologies Syllabus

Predictive (Plan-Based) Project Management Methodologies syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Predictive (Plan-Based) Project Management Methodologies in Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Integration and Scope Management

   7 topics

   • Develop project charter and authorize the project
     • Inputs: business case, agreements, EEFs/OPAs
     • High-level requirements and success criteria
   • Develop and integrate the project management plan
   • Direct and manage project work; manage project knowledge
   • Collect requirements and define scope
     • Requirements traceability matrix
     • Scope statement and acceptance criteria
   • Create the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
     • Decomposition into work packages
     • WBS dictionary and control accounts
   • Validate scope and control scope (avoiding scope creep)
   • Perform integrated change control
2. 2

   Schedule Management

   6 topics

   • Define and sequence activities
   • Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
     • Finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, start-to-finish
     • Leads and lags
   • Estimate activity durations
     • Analogous, parametric, and three-point (PERT) estimating
     • Reserve analysis for schedule
   • Develop schedule and the Critical Path Method (CPM)
     • Forward and backward pass
     • Total float and free float
     • Identifying the critical path
   • Schedule compression
     • Crashing vs. fast-tracking trade-offs
   • Schedule baseline and control schedule
3. 3

   Cost Management

   4 topics

   • Estimate costs
     • Rough order of magnitude vs. definitive estimates
     • Cost of quality considerations
   • Determine budget and the cost baseline
     • Aggregating costs and contingency reserves
     • Management reserves and funding limits
   • Earned Value Management (EVM)
     • Planned value, earned value, and actual cost
     • Cost and schedule variance (CV, SV)
     • Cost and schedule performance index (CPI, SPI)
     • Estimate at completion (EAC) and to-complete index (TCPI)
   • Control costs and forecast performance
4. 4

   Quality, Resource, and Communications Management

   4 topics

   • Plan and manage quality
     • Cost of conformance vs. nonconformance
     • Quality assurance vs. quality control
     • Seven basic quality tools (fishbone, Pareto, control charts)
   • Estimate and acquire resources
     • Resource management plan and team charter
     • Responsibility assignment matrix (RACI)
   • Develop and manage the team
     • Tuckman ladder stages
     • Recognition, rewards, and team performance
   • Plan and manage communications
     • Communication channels formula n(n-1)/2
     • Push, pull, and interactive communication
5. 5

   Risk, Procurement, and Closing

   5 topics

   • Plan risk management and identify risks
     • Risk register and risk categories (RBS)
     • Threats vs. opportunities
   • Qualitative and quantitative risk analysis
     • Probability and impact matrix
     • Expected monetary value (EMV)
   • Plan risk responses
     • Threat strategies: avoid, transfer, mitigate, accept, escalate
     • Opportunity strategies: exploit, share, enhance, accept, escalate
   • Procurement processes and contract types
     • Fixed-price, cost-reimbursable, and time-and-materials
     • Make-or-buy analysis and source selection
   • Control procurements and close the project or phase

Predictive (Plan-Based) Project Management Methodologies flashcards for Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)

22 of 53 cards from the Predictive (Plan-Based) Project Management Methodologies deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What document formally authorizes the existence of a project and gives the project manager authority to apply organizational resources?

   The project charter. It is produced by the Develop Project Charter process and is signed by the project sponsor/initiator (a person external to the project with funding authority).

2. What are the two key inputs that typically precede and justify the development of a project charter?

   A business case (the justification, often based on a cost-benefit analysis) and the benefits management plan, often summarized in a project's business documents along with any agreements/contracts.

3. What is the project management plan, and how does it differ from project documents?

   The project management plan is the integrated, approved document defining how the project is executed, monitored, controlled, and closed. It consists of subsidiary management plans plus three baselines (scope, schedule, cost). Project documents (e.g., risk register, issue log) support but are not part of the plan.

4. What are the three performance baselines combined into the scope-schedule-cost performance measurement baseline (PMB)?

   The scope baseline, the schedule baseline, and the cost baseline. Once approved, they can only be changed through formal integrated change control.

5. What does the Direct and Manage Project Work process produce as its primary outputs?

   Deliverables, work performance data, issue log entries, change requests, and updates to the project management plan and documents. It is where the bulk of the project budget is spent executing the plan.

6. What is the difference between work performance data, work performance information, and work performance reports?

   Data = raw observations/measurements gathered during execution. Information = data analyzed in context (e.g., comparing to baseline) within controlling processes. Reports = the physical or electronic representation of information compiled to generate decisions or awareness.

7. What is the goal of the Manage Project Knowledge process, and what two knowledge types does it address?

   To use existing knowledge and create new knowledge to achieve objectives and contribute to organizational learning. It addresses explicit knowledge (codified in words/numbers) and tacit knowledge (personal, experience-based, harder to express). Its key output is the lessons learned register.

8. What is the difference between product scope and project scope?

   Product scope = the features and functions that characterize the product/service/result. Project scope = the work needed to deliver that product with the specified features. Project scope is measured against the scope baseline; product scope is measured against product requirements.

9. What is the project scope statement and what does it include?

   The output of Define Scope. It describes the product scope description, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and project exclusions (what is out of scope), providing a common understanding of project boundaries.

10. What three components make up the scope baseline?

    The approved project scope statement, the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure), and the WBS dictionary (which also contains the work package details and planning packages).

11. What is a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and what is the lowest level called?

    A hierarchical, deliverable-oriented decomposition of the total scope of work. The lowest level is the work package, where cost and duration can be reliably estimated and managed.

12. What is the 100 percent rule in WBS construction?

    The WBS must include 100% of the work defined by the project scope—all deliverables and work, including project management—and nothing outside it. Child elements must sum to 100% of the parent.

13. What is a control account in relation to the WBS?

    A management control point where scope, budget, and schedule are integrated and compared to earned value for performance measurement. A control account sits above work packages and may contain one or more work packages.

14. What is the difference between Validate Scope and Control Quality?

    Control Quality checks deliverables for correctness against quality requirements (internal, often before validation). Validate Scope is about formal acceptance of completed deliverables by the customer/sponsor. Quality control is usually performed before scope validation.

15. What is scope creep and how does it differ from gold plating?

    Scope creep is the uncontrolled expansion of scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources (often customer-driven, no formal change control). Gold plating is the team adding extra features/work not requested by the customer. Both are avoided by controlling scope and following change control.

16. What is the purpose of Perform Integrated Change Control and when does it occur?

    To review, approve/reject, and manage all change requests to deliverables, documents, baselines, and the project management plan. It occurs from project start through closure and is typically handled by a Change Control Board (CCB).

17. What are the four common dispositions of a change request in integrated change control?

    Approved, rejected, deferred, or (in some texts) more granular outcomes; the key results are approved or rejected, then the change is recorded in the change log and, if approved, implemented and verified.

18. What is a rolling wave planning and how does it relate to defining activities?

    An iterative planning technique where near-term work is planned in detail while future work is planned at a higher level. In Define Activities, near-term work packages are decomposed into activities while distant ones remain as planning packages.

19. What is the Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM), and what are its four logical relationship types?

    PDM (Activity-on-Node) represents activities as nodes linked by dependencies. The four relationships are: Finish-to-Start (FS), Start-to-Start (SS), Finish-to-Finish (FF), and Start-to-Finish (SF). FS is the most common; SF is rarely used.

20. In schedule logic, what is the difference between lead and lag?

    A lead allows a successor activity to start before the predecessor finishes (acceleration, e.g., FS minus 2 days). A lag delays a successor (e.g., FS plus 3 days for curing concrete). Leads compress; lags add waiting time.

21. Distinguish mandatory, discretionary, external, and internal dependencies.

    Mandatory (hard logic) = legally/contractually required or inherent in the work. Discretionary (preferred/soft logic) = based on best practice/preference. External = relationship between project and non-project activities. Internal = within the project team's control.

22. List three analogous, parametric, and three-point estimating differences for activity duration.

    Analogous = top-down, uses past similar projects (fast, less accurate). Parametric = statistical relationship between variables (e.g., units x rate). Three-point = uses optimistic, most likely, pessimistic to account for uncertainty (PERT).

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