Eskills d1 task6_pmcampus

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eSkills: Domain I, Task 6
References:
• PMBOK® Fifth Edition (Dec. 2012)
• PMI Role Delineation Study (RDS) for PMP®
credential holders latest edition (2011)
• PMP® Examination Content Outline latest edition
(revised Aug. 2011)

©2003-2013-PMCAMPUS.com/Mokanova Inc. and Licensors. All rights reserved. Single and personal use only. Do not distribute electronically or print additional copies.
At the end of this activity, students will
be able to:
•Describe RDS tasks
•Analyze day-to-day management
considerations
•Map tasks with theoretical
knowledge included in PMBOK
•Discuss “real world” situations
•Use a step-by-step approach to
solve PMP exam situational questions
This course audience is comprised of students who are actively preparing for their PMP exam certification
as well as practitioners seeking to update their knowledge and skills to the newest version of RDS and
PMBOK for renewal of their certification with continuing education credits.
Learning Objectives for this unit of instruction are designed to provide students with the learning outcomes
described below.

This activity will focus on
Domain one, Task six:
“Obtain approval for the
project charter from the
sponsor and customer (if
required), in order to
formalize the authority
assigned to the project
manager and gain
commitment and acceptance
for the project.”
(PMP® Exam Content
Outline page five)
The PMI RDS identifies essential knowledge and skills for Project Manager Professionals as they are
evaluated by the community of practitioners worldwide. It also serves as a blueprint for PMP Certification
Examination Content development. This essential document ensures that the domains of PMI training
covered in the exam reflect the range of day-to-day “real world” practices among PMP credential holders.

PMI RDS - Domain One:
1. Perform project assessment
2. Define high-level project scope
3. Perform key stakeholder analysis
4. Identify and document high-level risk,
assumptions, and constraints
5. Develop the project charter
6. Obtain approval for project charter
According to the RDS outlined by PMI, there are six tasks associated with the First Domain (Initiating Phase).
Check the summary card below: I’ve summarized them to show how their progress fits into the project plan.
This task focuses on obtaining approval for the project charter. When this task is accomplished i.e. when the
project charter is approved, the project is officially authorized and it has gained commitment and acceptance
from management.
summary card

The project charter is generally authored and
approved by the project sponsor. Depending on
the project environment, the project charter could
need signatures from customers and other
designated stakeholders.
Who approves the project charter?
Having all the key information in the
project charter will enable it to be
approved. This includes the project
purpose, the objectives and
success criteria, high-level
requirements, project boundaries,
summary schedule and budget,
assumptions, constraints and high-
level risks, stakeholder list, and
project approval requirements.
Reference: PMBOK page seventy-
two.
What would enable approval?
Let’s look at important concepts related to this specific task. We want to clarify our understanding of these concepts in
the context of the project manager tasks. Always check the PMBOK when you are in doubt!
Check the definition cards below for my digest of important key terms. Formulating definitions in your own words will
reinforce knowledge acquisition.
definition
cards
Key Benefits
“The approved project charter formally initiates the
project”. Once the project charter is approved, senior
management and other stakeholders who have
approved it are committed to the project.
Reference: PMBOK page sixty-six and sixty-seven.

Obtain project charter approval:
1. Elements of the project charter
2. Verifying information captured
3. Sponsor and stakeholder review
4. Approval signatures
Elements of the project charter
The elements of the project charter include the
business needs, assumptions, constraints, the
understanding of customer’s needs, high level
requirements, a summary schedule and budget,
high-level risks, a stakeholder list, and project
approval requirements.
Verifying information captured
The information you have captured in the
project charter needs to be thoroughly checked
and verified to ensure correctness and
completeness.
Sponsor and stakeholder review
Once all the information for the project
charter has been captured and verified, it
needs to be reviewed by the sponsor, if the
sponsor was not the author, and
stakeholders. Any changes that are
requested need to be incorporated.
Now we want to examine more closely key management processes, techniques, and documents. What will you need to
consider to obtain project charter approval? According to the PMBOK (Fifth Edition, page fifty-four), when the project
charter is approved, the project becomes officially authorized. What do you need to include in the project charter to ensure
it has the best chance of being approved? Has the information captured been verified? What can the project manager do to
ensure the project charter will be approved? Check the summary card below for a quick summary of the first three:
elements of the project charter, verifying information captured, and sponsor and stakeholder review.
summary card

Obtain project charter approval:
1. Elements of the project charter
2. Verifying information captured
3. Sponsor and stakeholder review
4. Approval signatures
Approval signatures
The last step in the “obtain project charter
approval” process is getting signatures on the
reviewed and agreed to project charter. The
project charter requires a signature from the
project sponsor. The signature is necessary to
provide the project manager authority to plan
and execute the project.
summary card
What can the project manager do (continued)?
Check the summary card below for a quick summary of the remaining one: approval signatures.

2. Review and Verify
3. Present Information 4. Get Signatures
What are critical factors to achieve task success? Since projects are authorized and initiated based on the project
charter, one of the critical factors in achieving task success is capturing all the necessary information for senior
management to be able to make a go / no-go decision on the project. Also it is important for the sponsor and key
stakeholders to want to commit themselves to the project.
Check the review cards below for my list of important questions and considerations to understand these factors.
review
cardsHave you thoroughly
reviewed and verified all the
information?Have you
ensured there are no gaps?
You need to set up a
meeting with the sponsor
and stakeholdersto present
the information. Are you
prepared for the questions
that could be asked? The go
/ no-go decision is based on
the information you present.
Once the project charter is
approved and signed by
the sponsor, the task is
complete and the sponsor
and the stakeholders are
committed to the project.
1. Capture Project
Information
Have you captured all the
relevant information that is
necessary?Are the project
objectives,its boundaries,
the high-level requirements,
risks, schedule, budget,
assumptions,constraints,
etc. included?

You have been assigned as project manager for a
project which recently started and you are currently
helping the project sponsor write the project charter.
Your next task is to obtain approval for the project
charter so that you can officially commence the project.
You add the information you have captured to the
project charter. You set up a meeting with the sponsor
and key stakeholder to present the project charter.
Considering all the information gathered, you are
confident that the project charter will be approved. Have
you reviewed and verified all the information? Does it
give the sponsor all the information about the project
objectives, the success criteria, the boundaries and the
high level schedule? Does it include the high-level costs
of the project? Can the sponsor make a go / no-go
decision based on the information in the project
charter?
How do you manage this sixth task of the Domain “Initiating” the PMI way?
See below an example of a real-life situation to illustrate the task at hand: obtaining approval for the project charter.
How do you apply the best standards and recommended management processes described in PMBOK when you are
actually in charge and have to make many decisions in the course of action?

When you review this example, take a minute to reflect on the situation. What key steps did you see the project manager
take? How does this align with PMI standards? In your opinion, are there any missing elements?
I’ve created a summary card below of the key components to consider for obtaining approval for the project charter.
Obtain Project Charter Approval
Key components:
•Capture information for all key elements in
the project charter
•Review and verify the details thoroughly
•Set up a meeting with the sponsor and
stakeholder to review the project charter
•Update any information due to review
comments
•Obtain signatures on the project charter
summary card

PMP Exam Practice Question
Questions are situational and based on
“real world” situations. They will test your
knowledge and skills! Since the PMP
exam prompts two hundred questions in
four hours, on average, you should be able
to solve one question in less than one
minute, twelve seconds…
Are you ready for the challenge?
Now, let’s simulate a certification exam question based on PMBOK fifth edition!
This will enable you to review how the skills used to successfully manage this task are tested in the exam and what the
expectations are for solving problems that are placed on the PMP exam, now that the exam is aligned with the latest
PMI RDS.

PMCAMPUS.com Karma eSIMTM PMP Exam Simulator
Next slide will present a step-by-step resolution. Prepare your own reasoning and move to the next
slide when you are ready...

Source: -PMBOK, p. 6
• Unprecedented
market opportunity
• Initiate a project
• Capital intensive
• Authorize the
project
Highlight important
keywords
• Approved project
charter formally
initiates the project
List PMBOK related
terms of reference
• Initiate project or
phase
• Inputs to the
process: Project
Charter
• Techniques:
Verify and Review
• Outputs from the
process:
Approved project
charter
Identify PM Process
and ITTO involved
Solving Approach: find the context and map with PMBOK
Now, let’s take this step by step and start with analyzing the theoretical context for this situation. Let’s try to map the
situation with related content from the PMBOK as best as we can. Mapping may be tricky and will not always provide
all that is needed to solve the issue. Like in “real-world” situations, it is not easy to apply theoretical knowledge. But
let’s build as much context as we can. Determine important keywords, they will guide you to identify the context. What
is the process group? Can you map this situation to PMBOK? Can you recognize the Process? Which Inputs, Outputs,
Tools and Techniques (ITTO)? What are the project documents involved?

Obtain project charter approval
• Who can approve the project
charter?
• Who can authorize the budget?
Authorizing the budget:
The project sponsor, by signing the
charter, authorizes the budget. The
project sponsor should be at the level
that is appropriate to secure funding and
commit resources to the project
PMBOK page sixty-eight.
The Project Charter is generally
approved by the project sponsor and
customer (depending on the project
environment).
Let’s look deeper into each important concept, technique or document involved in this situation. What elements do you
recognize? What do you know about them? Are these elements going to impact your reasoning for making a decision?
Watch for possible “overload” of non-relevant information and keep focused on what really matters.
Below, I present the key elements I want to focus my reasoning on. I also added my reference as to where this can be
found in PMBOK. Not all questions content is found in PMBOK content but the vast majority is.

•Take mental note of differences and compare the
pros and cons of each solution.
•Reflect on the impact on the management of the
project for each solution. Which solution implements
best PMI management standards?
•Are all solutions aligned with best practices as
described in PMBOK?
•Try to eliminate two solutions first and reflect on the
two last ones. Select the solution that best fits with
your current knowledge of PMI standards.
•Ready to see the solution? Go to next page…
Decision Making Techniques
Now that you have all the knowledge in mind that you could possibly identify to solve the question, you will be
challenged with decision making skills.
To select the BEST answer, you often will have to eliminate other solutions that do not fit. Beware: some solutions may
be correct or appear to work but are not be the best answer.
Review each statement carefully and ask yourself the following questions:

Correct Answer and Explanations
• A senior vice-president
Since the project is a significant monetary investment for the company,
only a senior vice-president who would be at the appropriate level to
procure funding for the project can authorize it.

Incorrect Answers and Explanations
• You, the project manager
– No, as the project manager, you don’t have the authority to
authorize this project.
• A senior manager
– No, senior managers are not at the level required to procure
funding for the project and therefore cannot authorize this project.
• A finance manager
– No, finance managers are not at the level required to procure
funding for the project and therefore cannot authorize this project.

Some more tips and advice:
•In the solution, watch for gaps in your knowledge or gaps
in your reasoning. Where do you need to improve most?
•Did you select a solution because it made sense based on
your own experience or because it is best aligned with PMI
standards?
•Most questions are situational but that does not mean they
are difficult. With good mapping you will be more and more
confident and able to make a correct decision. Many
questions are actually quite straightforward once you are
proficient enough in each of the performance domains.
•The more sample questions you practice the better you
will be prepared to face the exam challenges as you will
have more opportunities to bridge your knowledge and
skills gaps.
•And remember, the passing score is not one hundred
percent, so you do have room for error. The passing score
is currently kept confidential by PMI but we, at
PMCAMPUS.com, think it is a good guess to target a
seventy percent passing rate.
It is now time to reflect on this task and wrap up the learning activity.
I hope you have gained a better understanding of this task and are now able to picture the day-to-day actions a PMP practitioner
will have to manage to perform this task and to think about its implications and related processes.
As well, I hope you continue to sharpen your skills at solving PMP exam questions and train yourself to become more and more
able to apply the standards described in PMI’s PMBOK and make decisions to select the best answer (and eliminate the incorrect
answers!).
Bye! I wish you
good luck.

Eskills d1 task6_pmcampus

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