Project Management Professional (PMP) People: Leading and Building High-Performing Teams Syllabus

People: Leading and Building High-Performing Teams syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for People: Leading and Building High-Performing Teams in Project Management Professional (PMP), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Building and Empowering the Team

   4 topics

   • Team formation and shared understanding
     • Tuckman stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning
     • Establishing team ground rules and a team charter
   • Assessing and developing team competencies
     • Skills gap analysis and training plans
     • Cross-training and T-shaped skills
   • Empowering team members and delegating authority
   • Supporting team performance and recognition
     • Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation
     • Reward and recognition systems
2. 2

   Leadership Styles and Emotional Intelligence

   4 topics

   • Leadership vs. management
     • Servant leadership in agile contexts
     • Situational leadership and adapting style
   • Emotional intelligence
     • Self-awareness and self-regulation
     • Empathy and social skills
   • Setting and maintaining a shared project vision
   • Mentoring stakeholders and team members
3. 3

   Conflict, Negotiation, and Collaboration

   4 topics

   • Sources and levels of conflict
     • Schedule, priorities, resources, technical opinions, personality
   • Conflict resolution techniques
     • Collaborate/problem-solve, compromise/reconcile
     • Smooth/accommodate, force/direct, withdraw/avoid
   • Negotiation strategies and reaching agreements
   • Building consensus and managing virtual teams
4. 4

   Removing Impediments and Supporting the Team

   4 topics

   • Identifying and prioritizing blockers and impediments
   • Servant leadership behaviors that remove obstacles
   • Managing team disagreements and reaching decisions
   • Ensuring team and stakeholders are adequately trained

People: Leading and Building High-Performing Teams flashcards for Project Management Professional (PMP)

24 of 51 cards from the People: Leading and Building High-Performing Teams deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the five stages of Tuckman's ladder of team development, in order?

   Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning.

2. In Tuckman's model, which stage is characterized by conflict as team members push against boundaries and disagree on approaches?

   Storming.

3. What is a team charter and what does it typically establish?

   A document created with the team that establishes shared values, agreements, and operating guidelines (ground rules) for how the team will work together.

4. What are 'ground rules' in a project team context?

   Clear expectations regarding acceptable behavior by team members, established in the team charter to reduce misunderstandings and conflict.

5. What is the difference between leadership and management?

   Management is directing the work using positional power to get from point A to point B; leadership is guiding, motivating, and inspiring people toward a vision, often using relational/personal power.

6. What is servant leadership?

   A leadership approach that focuses on understanding and addressing the needs and development of team members so they can perform at their best; the leader serves the team and removes impediments.

7. Name three key behaviors of a servant leader.

   Removing impediments/obstacles, shielding the team from distractions, and facilitating/supporting the team's growth and self-organization.

8. What is emotional intelligence (EQ)?

   The ability to identify, assess, and manage one's own emotions and the emotions of others (and groups) to guide thinking and behavior effectively.

9. What are the main domains of emotional intelligence (Goleman's model)?

   Self-awareness, self-regulation (self-management), motivation, empathy (social awareness), and social skills (relationship management).

10. What is the difference between self-awareness and social awareness in emotional intelligence?

    Self-awareness is recognizing your own emotions and their impact; social awareness (empathy) is recognizing and understanding the emotions of others.

11. What is delegation in a project management context?

    Assigning responsibility and authority for a task or decision to a team member while the leader retains overall accountability.

12. What does empowering a team member mean?

    Giving team members the authority, autonomy, and resources to make decisions and own their work, increasing engagement and ownership.

13. What is a self-organizing (self-directed) team?

    A team that determines how to accomplish its work and makes decisions internally without being told how to do the work by a manager.

14. What are the four sources of power most relevant to project managers (positional vs. personal)?

    Positional/formal power and reward and coercive (penalty) power come from position; expert and referent power are personal, earned through knowledge and respect.

15. Which forms of power are generally most effective for a project manager to rely on?

    Expert and referent power, because they build respect and willing cooperation rather than reliance on authority or punishment.

16. What is a shared project vision and why is it important?

    A clear, inspiring description of the project's desired future state that aligns and motivates the team and stakeholders toward a common goal.

17. What is the purpose of a project vision statement?

    To provide a concise, motivating summary of the project's purpose and end goal that the team can rally around and use to guide decisions.

18. What is mentoring in the context of team and stakeholder development?

    A relationship in which a more experienced person provides guidance, knowledge transfer, and career/skill development support to a less experienced person.

19. What is the difference between mentoring and coaching?

    Mentoring is a longer-term relationship focused on overall growth and knowledge sharing; coaching is typically shorter-term and focused on improving specific skills or performance.

20. What is a training needs assessment?

    The process of identifying gaps between current and required competencies of team members and stakeholders to determine what training is needed.

21. What tool helps assess and document the skills available on a team?

    A skills matrix (competency matrix), which maps team members against required competencies and proficiency levels.

22. What are recognition and rewards used for in team management?

    To reinforce desirable behavior and performance, boost motivation, and increase engagement and morale.

23. What distinguishes effective recognition from ineffective recognition?

    Effective recognition is timely, specific, meaningful to the recipient, and tied to desired behaviors; ineffective recognition is generic, delayed, or culturally inappropriate.

24. What is the primary source of conflict on most projects according to PMI?

    Schedules (followed by project priorities and resources); personality conflicts are typically a less common source.

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