Cost Management and Study Guides: Follow this Project Manager on the Path to Certification, Part 6

Cost Management and Study Guides: Follow this Project Manager on the Path to Certification, Part 6 Donna Boyette March 11, 2002

Cost management scares me because, to be honest with you, I have never had to do it, and I know I am not alone. Several students in the project management classes I have attended also manage projects in which they are not responsible for any cost estimating, budgeting or cost control.

So what does that mean for the PMP certification exam? It means I'm a little nervous about the Cost Management questions. It means I will have to study this chapter of the PMBOK a little harder. And it means if I absorb the information well enough to answer the exam questions correctly, that I will be able to talk intelligently about cost management if and when I interview with a firm that gives PMs responsibility for the budget.

In all honesty, I am math-challenged, as I have admitted in previous path-to-certification articles, so if any of you readers out there ever hire me, please be advised that I will have to outsource the budgeting. (Do you have a budget for that?) But I have to learn this subject to gain my PMP certification (Project Management Professional), so here goes.

It's a little pricey at $549 (as of this writing), but you can avoid stressing over the exam by waiting until you have mastered the sample tests on the CD, and it is less expensive than the cost of most courses. (It is given to students in IIL'sproject management certificate program, which is how I received my copy.)

Version 5.0 includes more than 1,200 updated questions in a format similar to that used in the actual exam, plus test-taking tips. It offers feedback for each question, and many more features. There is a study mode, as well as Certification Exam practice mode, so you can practice being scared during the exam. (Actually, the exam itself offers a tutorial you can use just before you start the exam, so it sounds like PMI is considerate of the examinees' nerves.)

Also available at IIL's site, via the "Free Resources" page, is a very helpful update,

Changes to the PMP Exam effective March 2002by Frank Saladis and Al Zeitoun. It includes details about the newly added Professional Responsibility portion of the exam, as well as sample questions.

When I heard about this next free resource, I thought someone said the site was called "cheater-learning.com," but the actual name is Cheetahlearning.com, to indicate the speed of learning available with their techniques. The resource is titled, "Cheetah Accelerator Toolkit for the PMP," and I printed a copy. (FYI: If you request it, the e-mail you receive includes a username and password that you might miss if you are not careful.) Tip: If you do any marketing for your firm, they also sell a neat sales accelerator kit.

They also offer an abbreviated course to study for the exam, and they say, "You spend four days (36 hours in the classroom) preparing for the exam, then take the exam on the fifth day." They specify that you should register to take the exam at least eight weeks prior to the course, to be eligible for the exam on that fifth day. Their free resource mentioned in the above paragraph details how to apply for the exam, as does the second article in this series, How To Apply.

Now on to the "Project Cost Management" chapter of the PMBOK Guide 2000 Version, which you can order. It covers four processes:

• Resource Planning
• Cost Estimating
• Cost Budgeting
• Cost Control

...and that is all I know, because I have to admit one final thing...I didn't study. I'm sorry! It's that procrastination thing, and I hate math. If you are studying along with me, and you gave up your favorite television shows and nights at the opera to study, please don't hate me. I will study before the exam, and here is one more thing I know about this chapter (from covering it in class): It offers tools and methods that let you know what the project is likely to actually cost, so you don't have to work with what management and customers hope it will cost. It also offers methods you can employ mid-project, when you realize you are off track.

There. Confession is good. Next week, we are on to Chapter 8, "Project Quality Management." Spring is almost here in the south, but with the PMBOK I can study outside, so see you next week, on the path to certification.

Donna Boyette is a Project Manager at a large telecommunications company. She procrastinates on personal projects only. (One thing she likes about PM work is the many built-in mini-deadlines that keep her accountable.)

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