PMP®

2026 Update: While the core concepts in this article remain relevant, the PMI exam requirements have evolved. If you are looking to get certified, view our fully updated PMP Certification Training Course in Malaysia for the latest class schedules and HRD Corp claimable options.

At some point of your career, you may want to consider validating your vast experience in past projects conducted by getting some sort of project management certification. One of the most sought after and widely recognised certification worldwide project management certification is The Project management Professional (PMP)® certification, administered by the Project Management Institute (PMI)®.

What Is PMI® and the PMP®?

In 1969, the Project Management Institute (PMI)® was founded “to provide a means for project managers to associate, share information, and discuss common problems.” PMI® is now the leading non-profit membership association for the profession of project management and has grown to become a resource for 2.9 million professionals worldwide.

2026 Update: While the core concepts in this article remain relevant, the PMI exam requirements have evolved. If you are looking to get certified, view our fully updated PMP Certification Training Course in Malaysia for the latest class schedules and HRD Corp claimable options.

The underlying purpose of any project is to add value. Projects serve as vehicles that enable changes, which should bring upon benefits that exceed the cost of making these changes.

As long as this occurs, a project is deemed to have been effectively and efficiently undertaken. Project managers are entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that both the performing organization, as well as to the clients they serve, benefit from projects undertaken.

Given the very large number of interrelated considerations as well as the highly volatile environments in which projects operate, the prospect of adding value becomes increasingly difficult. Uncertainties that affect projects abound. Costs of undertaking projects continue to rise. Requirements from stakeholders become increasingly ambiguous. These factors detract value instead of adding value.

As project managers, we have to overcome any potential threats that impede the realization of this value. This include the need to protect the “Agile Ozone Layer”. This Agile Ozone Layer is usually attacked from multiple angles, from rigid and bureaucratic organizational structures, command and control style leaderships, to a functional silo mentality and resistant vendors and customers.

To ride the wave of such impediments that surface, a heightened sense of opportunistic awarenessbased on careful examination of business value undertaken throughout the project is required. Business Value refers to the net quantified benefits derived from the business endeavour being undertaken by the company.

This requires developing a sense of urgency for intelligent collection and analysis of relevant data to make decisions that enable realization of business value to the project as well as ensuring that the momentum of continual improvement is maintained. Doing the above correctly occurs only when project managers select project management methodologies that commensurate with the business environment the projects are undertaken.

Developing and maintaining a sense of urgency

When projects are to be executed based on evolving requirements in a highly turbulent business environment, the agile project management approach is most applicable. Such an approach requires a sense of urgency to be ingrained within the project team.

Changes have to be embraced and adapted to through collaborative efforts with customers. Only by developing a sense of urgency will the cost associated with delays in adapting to changing requirements can be curtailed.

Firstly, we shall have to establish a Product Roadmapthat provides an initial visual timeline based on the Project Vision. Then releases are planned using a Release Planningthat defines when deliveries may be made based on frequency of delivery as well as extent of adaptation required. A more incremental model approach, where deliverables are made at regular intervals, speeds up the delivery of value to the client.

For situations where there is no need for deliveries to be made incrementally, but there is a very urgent need for the features to be aligned perfectly to the changing requirements of the client, an iterative modelis adopted.

Realization of Business Value

To realize business value, a deep understanding of not only what the customer requires but also the value associated with those requirements has to be established.

The project team needs to ascertain the “why” behind the “what”. This is required for both the performing organization as well as for the client. The value or specific benefits the project delivers via the end deliverable needs to be understood and internalized.

This requires gradually uncovering all uncertainties within specific release cycles and working time blocks, that impede the ability of the project team to deliver the value that is expected. The ability to do so is enhanced when delivery is made incrementally based on priorities set by the client. This way, feedback from each incremental deliverable, as well as uncertainties uncovered, become valuable inputs for future deliveries. In this way the project “delivers value incrementally”, and in the process of doing so, enables realization of business value throughout the project life cycle.

Rapid Data collection and analysis

Successfully delivering value requires constant data collection and assessment of progress. It requires developing insights on what works and what does not. This is done not based on assumption, but on actual data.

To ascertain whether this is indeed the case, developers aim to produce what is called a Minimum Viable Product as a prototype. Such a product contains the smallest collection of features that enable customers to consider the product as being functional. This provides developers with an opportunity to test features and ascertain important improvement points quickly and effectively.

From the company’s perspective, this exercise also helps to establish what the smallest amount of value that can be added to a product or service that benefits the business as well. Collecting data on minimal new value propositions and the corresponding positive business impact provides an impetus for the company to decide quickly and effectively on what value additions it should incorporate in order to maximize business growth prospect. This concept of Minimum Business Increment focusses on the realization of business value.

In summary, delivering value requires a combination of collaborative efforts of all stakeholders who are committed towards developing and preserving an Agile Ozone Layer that makes it conducive to undertake agile project management.

A sense of urgency to deliver value needs to permeate throughout the organization. This urgency extends to rapid data collection and analysis where Minimal Viable Product and Minimum Business Increment considerations are routine initiatives undertaken using a delivery model based on an incremental or iterative approach.

November 2020

2026 Update: While the core Agile methodologies discussed here remain sound, the PMI-ACP® exam requirements and real-world Agile applications have progressed. If you are looking to get certified, view our fully updated PMI-ACP® Certification Training Course in Malaysia for the latest class schedules and HRD Corp claimable options. 

When preparing for the PMI-ACP exam, one is confronted with two nagging concerns. The first revolves around the width of scope of questions that would appear as agility covers a very wide area. The second hovers on the extent to which one is expected to know the details of agility as this can vary considerable from one aspect to another. To make matters worse, a readily available textbook that one can refer to which delineates the scope and depth of the PMI ACP requirements is hard to come by.

When I had to prepare for the PMI-ACP examination myself, I set myself up not to pass the exam but to ace it. I relentlessly sought for materials to help me master the concepts. I desperately searched for questions I could attempt which provides ideas on what will be asked. I eagerly surveyed countless webpages seeking guidance on how much I needed to know to ace the exam. Unfortunately, I found nothing that came close to providing me with the answers I sought.

After registering for exam, I gave myself 3 weeks to prepare for it. Within that three weeks I kept asking myself how I can “master” the subject. When I finally set my eyes on the questions during the exam and after securing above target for 6 out of 7 domains tested, it finally dawned on me that the answer was very simple. Just think agile.

Developing an agile mindset

What is needed to ace the exam is to start developing an agile mindset and learning to think from the customers perspective, analyzing what adds most value to the customer as well as to the project success and then deciding what is doable given the existing constraints. As long as you keep this in mind and train yourself to “think agile”, you will be able to eliminate options that are not in line with agile principles as well as agile concepts and zoom into the correct answer. This is done by linking domains to agile principles and intelligently assessing exam questions presented.

Linking the Domains and Agile Principles

The PMI ACP is based on 7 domains with each domain corresponding with a series of best practices or tasks that relate to those domains. Be very familiar with what these are. In agile many key principles and values are described. You should know this very well and be able to relate these principles to the best practices listed within the Domains provided. What I did was link the principles to the tasks within the Domains so that I understood why these tasks are proposed within the domain. Once you mastered this, look up some good questions.

Learning from selecting the wrong options

What you need to do, to ace in the PMI ACP exam, is to get a set of tough situational based questions that require an agile practitioner to decide based on a situation faced. This could be declining velocities of the iteration, poor estimation of story points, distractions from stakeholders, final products not meeting specifications, product owner’s unavailability to support team etc. The options provided should be based on agile principles and concepts but the extent they relate to the situation presented may vary.

I went through around 1,500 questions in that three weeks focusing my mind on seeking options that augured well with the confines of agile practices. Whenever I discovered that my answers were wrong, I relooked at he answers provided to find out what I missed in terms of deciphering the “agility component” within that option. This provided me with the “aha” moment I desperately sought.

Format of questions in the PMI ACP exam

The questions in the exam were brief and to the point. Very direct and focused on application of agile principles and values within common practices associated with agile. The options provided were very close. To distinguish between the correct and wrong option required an ability to understand the intent of the question and to analyze the options against agile principles and best practices.

Understanding intent of questions

Understanding the intent comes from internalizing the key principles of agile and imbibing the core values agile espouses. These principles apply in many different contexts. For example, the principle of collaboration and focusing on developing a working software that adds value to the client may be tested in one question that seeks a response on how to deal with a situation where a member of the development team faces a specific problem that could impact the delivery of a functionality.

Selecting the right option

The option selected should be one that imbibes most of the principles and values in agile that relates to the situation presented. For example, for the question I discussed earlier, the option selected should be one that indicates that efforts to inculcate collaborative efforts are undertaken and the primary end result is that the iteration is concluded in accordance with the conditions of satisfaction required by the client. That option that demonstrates application to a variety of principles, values as well as prescribed practices within the arena of agility is the most likely response.

In short, internalize agile principles and values by studying and thinking through about how they apply in practice under different situations. Familiarize yourself with agile practices, roles and responsibilities of the key players involved, including the agile coach and master the domains as well as what is needed to be done in each domain.

After that has been done, attempt many questions and develop a firm grasps of why you selected the wrong answer and, in the process, train your mind to “think agile” helps. You should gradually be better at identifying the principles and concepts that relate to the situations presented and decide on which option is most relevant to the situation presented.

If you need any further advice on how to ace the PMI ACP exam, please feel free to contact us at here

Wishing you all the best!

Dr Rumesh Kumar

DBA MBA PMP PMI-ACP

2026 Update: While the core concepts in this article remain relevant, the PMI exam requirements have evolved. If you are looking to get certified, view our fully updated PMP Certification Training Course in Malaysia for the latest class schedules and HRD Corp claimable options.

The PMP exam is designed primarily for two purposes. The first is to ensure that anyone who passes the exam is thoroughly familiar with key concepts relating to project management from the PMI perspective. The second is that this person is able to apply these concepts in practice. Hence many questions are designed in such a way that tests not only understanding of concepts but correct application of these concepts in real life situations.

Hence, we recommend a two-step approach in successfully completing the PMP exam. The first is to understand deeply PMP related aspects such as

2026 Update: While the core concepts in this article remain relevant, the PMI exam requirements have evolved. If you are looking to get certified, view our fully updated PMP Certification Training Course in Malaysia for the latest class schedules and HRD Corp claimable options.

Acquiring the Project Management Professional, PMP Certification is a challenge. It calls for
a very strong commitment to cover the syllabus fuelled by a deep seated desire to pass the
exam and above all, excellent exam question answering skills.

GENERAL

1. Why is there a change in PMP Exam?

   The exam is changing because our jobs as project managers have changed! Every 3-5 years, PMI® conducts research to understand how profession has progressed, the impact of emerging trends, and how the responsibilities of project managers have changed. The last round of this research was conducted in 2015 and resulted in the current PMP exam content outline.

    

2. When is PMP Exam Changing?

                31 December 2020 – Last day to take the current exam

                2 January 2021 – First day to take the current version of PMP exam

• In one sentence, what are the major changes that are to be expected?

                50 % of the questions will represent predictive project management approaches, another 50% will represent agile/hybrid approaches

• What are the specific differences between the old and new exam structure?

                For further specific information, please see our article detailing the differences between both exam outlines here.

Is PMBOK changing?

No. The PMBOK® Guide Seventh Edition is not expected until Q2 of 2021.

There are noticeable differences between this updated PMP Examination Content Outline and A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition. While there are some commonalities, it is important to note that the volunteer taskforce involved in the study described previously were not bound by the PMBOK® Guide. The taskforce members were charged with outlining critical job tasks of individuals who lead and direct projects based on their experience and pertinent resources.

2026 Update: While the core concepts in this article remain relevant, the PMI exam requirements have evolved. If you are looking to get certified, view our fully updated PMP Certification Training Course in Malaysia for the latest class schedules and HRD Corp claimable options.

Projects are unique undertakings. They involve many different activities, expertise, processes and situations. These differences have to be streamlined and integrated towards achieving project objectives. Only when this is done effectively and consistently throughout the project, the desired project objectives are met.

This integration needs to be carefully thought out and managed by a project manager. It involves bringing together different expertise and experience, linking different key processes, customizing project requirements as well as dealing with complex situations.

The process of integration is understood clearly by categorizing it differently to signify its importance and relevance in project management. Essentially the categories include cognitive integration, process integration, complexity integration as well as contextual integration.