Lesson 1 Summary

During this lesson, you were introduced to the Project Management Institute (PMI)®, their certifications, and the structure of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)®. This information was provided for those of you interested in taking one of the certification exams. Throughout the course, the instructors will be providing test taking tips, and they strongly suggest that you purchase some index cards and use them to identify the PMBOK® Guide five process groups, 10 knowledge areas, and 49 project management processes. Use these cards to define these terms and establish relationships. Remember, for the 49 processes, start by writing the name on the front of the card and leave the back of the card blank. As you move through this course we will call out important inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs related to each process, and you can write those on the back of your cards as you go. Even if you do not see an exam in your near future, this activity will help you to organize the course information and you never know it might come in handy in a year or two.

You were also introduced to the characteristics of a project, the life cycle of a project, project constraints and their impact on a project, and the project management process. You also had a brief look at project team development and effective communication. As you saw, planning and communication are essential to successful project management and taking the time to develop a well-thought-out plan before the start of the project is critical to the successful accomplishment of any project as is an effective project team. The assignments in this lesson provide an opportunity for you to get to know your fellow classmates through shared introductory videos and the opportunity to share good and bad team experiences to help you build more effective project teams.

Before you move on to the next lesson, please make sure you have completed all of the readings and activities listed for this lesson within the Course Schedule of the Full Syllabus.

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References

Gido, J., Clements, J., & Baker, R. (2018). Successful project management (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) (6th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.