As part of my plan to obtain my PMP certification, I started reading the 5th edition of PMBOK a while ago. Finally, I have read all chapters and am now reading the annexes!
I have been a bit delayed in my study plan (isn’t obtaining a certification a project on its own that deserves planning?) by a key project at work, and a week of business travel.
In the meantime, at least, I also discovered two very useful podcasts:
- PM for the Masses : a new podcast hosted by Cesar Abeid. I like his energy and contents. (link to itunes)
- Guerilla Project Management: A podcast from Samad Aidane, which as been published for a while. iTunes has 75 episodes and goes back to February 2010. It is interesting enough that I started to download and listen to previous episodes. This is a good test: Can the podcast be interesting enough to survive the passage of time? I say yes for this one (link to iTunes). I actually discovered this podcast that’s to the podcast PM for the Masses.
If you are curious about project management and like the podcast format, give a try to those two!
I am a bit new to the format and still discovering. Recently, I had to do a lot of driving, so the podcast was a good format. They are rich in contents. Actually, that was my key challenges: for long drive, you can only listen to so many of them in a row before the mind needs to rest a bit.
Back to PMBOK. It is not the most entertaining read, but still a good learning approach. I personally prefer to read directly the source, instead of a book written by someone else on the subject. Even when it is just a refresher, it is good to go back to the basics and read the standards from time to time. In all cases, it is also good for all to read PMBOK, as the 5th edition has just been published. No radical changes, but you now have a chapter on stakeholders management.
Now it will be time to do practice exams. As a tip for others, I find it was useful to have done a practice exam before reading PMBOK. It made my mind focus even more when I was reading some part of the book, especially those that I could remember a question. It is even more powerful if I could remember a question on a topic for which I wasn’t sure of the answer.
Now that I have read PMBOK, it will also make it easier for me to go back to the correct sections when doing exams, and further study areas that are still challenging.
Now I have to do some research and find a good provider of practice exams. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
And this reminds me that I still have to complete and submit my registration for the PMP. It is the best way to anchor my goal and ensure I am fully committed to studying.
