How can I be benefited from PMP Exam Study?

The true benefits of PMP Exam studies will come when you concentrate understanding project management and implement it in your practice.

PMP Certification may help you getting an interview call but it is your studies & implementation that help you pass that interview. What you learn during your PMP preparation and its implementation is far more important than PMP Certification itself until you decided to pass PMP exam by attempting thousands of questions without understanding project management.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating it. Until you implement, you cannot get benefited. Implementation pose real life challenges and that’s where you learn true project management. Two things to ponder. First – “They know even if they are not doing” and second – “better”.  You might have gone through training and exam and have understood better way of managing projects but everyone else around your desk is still same. So the environment may not be conducive for you to implement best practice but you know you are not doing and repercussions of the same. Second, project management is also an art. Federer, Tendulkar, Messi do not become champion overnight. So do not expect any magic overnight after the training, or clearing the PMP Exam successfully. If you start implementing whatever possible at work, you get better and better.

Implementation is not an easy task but in fact the most difficult part of the game. It will be slow and may not be long lasting until you have a coach (or say mentor) who keeps helping you in implementation, clear your confusion, show your mistakes and keep encouraging you despite all odds. Your senior or trainer can be your coach.

It is not the PMP stuff which is ideal or difficult to use but it is our inability to use it at work which stops us reaping benefits of this knowledge. But let’s do not worry too much. It is a great skill to learn. If you have gone through this process of training, preparation, your common sense and gutfeel are better than earlier. Even if you are unable to implement anything consciously, you still make better decision subconsciously.

PMP Exam study takes you through best practices in project management. Best practices means they were already implemented and delivered consistent results. This means whatever you studied have already been implemented by several people with good results. Therefore these practices are implementable with high likelihood of benefiting you and your organization.

There is a circle of influence and circle of concern. Circle of concern normally bother us more but we have little authority, power or influence to make any change. We should focus on circle of influence irrespective of how small it is. Implement some learnings that are possible in that small area. As you influence it, it get bigger and bigger and your work get noticed by others. More you implement, more practical knowledge you gain and more mature you become. It will automatically show up in your work and responses.

How was your experience? Please leave your views in the comments section below. I look forward to reading them.