PM Communiqu

PMI Phoenix Chapter

Visit us on the web: http://www.phx-pmi.org/

2013 PHOENIX
CHAPTER
BOARD MEMBERS

August 2013

President's Corner
Lenora Holmsten, PMP
President, PMI Phoenix Chapter

Lenora Holmsten
President
Awais Mirza
President Elect
Glenn Williamson
VP Operations

Karen Meyer
VP Membership

Susan M. Garvey
VP Professional
Development

Patrick Fuller
VP External Relations

David Casebere
VP Finance

Stephen Talbert
VP Programs
Darima Fotheringham
VP Communications

Submit articles to:

newsletter@phx-pmi.org

While the summer is scorching, we have our eyes on the month of November. We
are planning for our AZ PM Week celebration. We will be offering a golf event, free
webinars, exciting events each night of the week (Career Resources session,
networking, Thunderbird evening), as well as our Grand Finale on Saturday. The
entire week will be worth more than 10 PDU's (Professional Development Units), if
you want to participate in all the events. Plus, we will be talking about the PMI
credentials and how to take that next step in your career.
I am also excited to mention that we will soon be adding our second remote, or
satellite, location. Thunderbird School of Global Management was our pilot remote
test. Now, we are adding APS. The satellite locations are being set up at various
locations and linked into our South Valley Evening meeting session. This helps us to
connect with and reach project managers who are unable to make our monthly
meetings in person.
And please remember that when you attend a monthly meeting, the chapter will be
auto-claiming the PDU on your behalf. Plus, you get to meet other project managers
to network and share your experiences.
I hope to see you at a future chapter event.
Keep cool,
Lenora Holmsten, PMP
PMI Phoenix Chapter
2013 President

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JULY 2013 CHAPTER EVENT
Paula Shoup
internalGPS
Our amazing speaker for the July Chapter events was Paula Shoup, Owner
and Executive/Team Coach at internalGPS. The topic of discussion was
Influencing Your Stakeholders Using Your internalGPS.
Paula shared her experiences with influencing stakeholders for more success with
less stress. Her goal was to teach us, as Project Managers, to influence our
stakeholders so that they love their projects.
In her interactive speech we learned how to:
Communicate strongly to influence your stakeholders.
Position changes and decisions so that they will be supported and moved forward.
Navigate through challenges for more results and less stress on your projects.
Among the many questions the audience was asked to reflect on were:
Where are you now?
Where do you want to go?
How will you get there?
All good questions when mapping out our destination to success.

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH

Congratulations to Ted Simpson!
Ted Simpson is our newest Volunteer of the Month. Ted answers the PMI Phoenix voicemails and does an
amazing job at getting the messages to the right person to respond to each
callers request. He is a dependable and wonderful volunteer.
Thank you, Ted, for all you do for the Phoenix Chapter!
Image courtesy of jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

2013 PMI PHOENIX CHAPTER ELECTIONS

Coming Soon!
2013 PMI Phoenix Chapter Elections for 2014 Chapter Board
Elections will open August 14, 2013.
Go to the Ballot Announcement for information on open positions and candidates.

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HOW TO UPGRADE YOURSELF TO THE

GUIDE 5TH EDITION

By Cornelius Fichtner

If you studied to take your Project Management Professional (PMP) exam using A Guide to the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) fourth edition and had to reschedule your exam date to
on/after July 31, 2013, then you now have to take the PMP Exam based on the new PMBOK Guide fifth
edition. The Project Management Institute (PMI) will not make any exceptions to this rule.
There are notable changes between version four and version five of the PMBOK Guide. For instance the
number of Knowledge Areas has been increased from 9 to 10 and the number of processes has been
increased from 42 to 47. But this change is only simple if you look at it numerically. It is much more complex
under the hood. Heres an example:
The new Knowledge Area is called Project Stakeholder Management and was added to emphasize the
importance of good stakeholder management on all projects. It contains four processes. Two of these
processes were renamed and moved here from Project Communications Management. Two are new
processes. That leaves three new processes that were added in other Knowledge Areas throughout the
guide. In addition many more processes were renamed.
Appendix X1 in the PMBOK Guide fifth edition describes the bulk of the changes. A number of authors have
also described these changes and made their analysis available on the web. A quick search for PMBOK 5
changes will find them. It is, however, important to note that these articles don't list all the detailed
changes. For instance, the inputs, tools & techniques and outputs of almost every single process have
changed. Some ITTOs have been removed and new ones have been added. You will therefore not find a
complete description of all the changes.
Because of the large amount of changes throughout the PMBOK Guide it is impossible to simply "study the
difference". The changes are sometimes conceptual, sometimes dramatic and sometimes minor. But they are
here and your PMP Exam may require you to know them. "Upgrading" your knowledge from the fourth to
the fifth edition can therefore not be done "change-by-change". You have to apply a holistic approach.
However, it must also be said that just because the PMBOK Guide has changed, project management itself
hasn't changed. The fundamental way in which projects are managed is still the same. The PMBOK Guide is
simply our general framework describing the activities & techniques that are commonly accepted to be good
practices on most projects most of the time. And just because the PMBOK Guide has changed its Project
Cost Management Knowledge Area from three to four processes doesn't mean that Earned Value systems
need to be changed as well.
But in order to pass your PMP exam you will need to be aware of the new definitions in the PMBOK Guide.
Studying them takes effort, dedication and time. Here is a possible study approach to "upgrade" yourself to
the PMBOK Guide fifth edition:
1) Study Appendix X1 and familiarize yourself with the changes. In particular: Familiarize yourself with the
processes that have been added, moved or renamed and learn the new process names.
2) Study Appendix X3 and familiarize yourself with the Interpersonal Skills a project manager should have.

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3) Study Annex A1 - The Standard for Project Management of a Project. Here you want to Study the short
descriptions for each of the five process groups and for each of the 47 processes.
4) Study table 3-1 on page 61 and know which process belongs to which process group. (You will find that
it contains the same information as Table A1-1 in Annex A1). For the exam it is a good idea to be able to
start with a blank piece of paper and draw this table from memory.
5) Study table 4-1 on page 78 and know which documents are part of the project management plan and
which ones are "just" other project documents.
6) And finally (and unfortunately): Study the complete PMBOK Guide 5th edition twice.
When studying the new PMBOK Guide familiarize yourself with the new inputs, tools & techniques and
outputs of all the processes. A good approach is to study the Data Flow Diagram for each of the 47
processes. These diagrams illustrate the flow of the inputs and outputs and will strengthen your
understanding of how they move between the many processes. It will also help you understand the
integrated nature of all the processes in the PMBOK Guide.
You should also get to know the new processes that have been added and make special note of the new
Earned Value Calculations Summary Table 7-1 on page 224, which looks suspiciously close to a table that I
developed and have published since 2009 for our PMP Exam Formula Guide
As you might have guessed by now, "upgrading" your knowledge to this new version of the PMBOK Guide
is not something that you can do in just a day. While your PM experience is the main focus of the PMP
Exam, it will also be necessary for you to have an in-depth understanding of the PMBOK Guide fifth
Edition to be able to correctly answer many of the questions the test.
I therefore recommend that you plan a minimum of two weeks of intense study.

Cornelius Fichtner, PMP is a noted PMP expert. He has helped over

25,000 students prepare for the PMP Exam with The Project Management
PrepCast at http://www.pm-prepcast.com and offers one of the best PMP
exam simulators (http://www.pm-exam-simulator.com) on the market.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER!

C
Peter Zaleski
Peter is the winner of the Agile PrepCast giveaway.
Thank you to all who entered the contest.

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AZ PROJECT MANAGEMENT WEEK - GOLF OUTING
On November 2, 2013, PMI Phoenix Chapter will be hosting a golf
outing to help kick-off Arizona Project Management Week.
The outing will take place at Silverado Golf Course in Scottsdale at
8:00 a.m. and is open to PMI and non-PMI members. Included is lunch,
contests, prizes, raffle, goodie bags and lots of fun. All golf skill levels
are encouraged to participate and the golfing format will be a scramble.
Sponshorship and volunteer opportunities are available. The registration page will be available soon
on the PMI Phoenix Chapter website. Please contact Tim Tidmarsh at 602-487-8834 or
timtidmarsh@hotmail.com for more information.

PHOENIX CHAPTER VOLUNTEERS WORK HARDAND HAVE FUN!

Volunteers for the PMI Phoenix Chapter enjoyed a day of bowling and
pizza at Christown Lanes on Saturday, July 27.
No work on this day! It was all about having fun and getting to know each
other better.
We are always looking for new volunteers. If you would like to join in on
the fun, check out our volunteer opportunities at the PMI Phoenix Chapter
website (phx-pmi.org).

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL CAREER RESOURCES WORKSHOP

PMI Phoenix Chapter and SMCI presented a well-received Career
Resources Workshop for PMI member and non-members looking to
improve their LinkedIn profiles.
Using LinkedIn to Make You More Productive was held on Monday,
July 22nd and was presented by Gregory DePaco from LinkedIn. The
workshop was free to PMI Phoenix Chapter members and seats filled up
fast!
This interactive workshop included both instruction and "hands-on"
opportunities for participants to learn about LinkedIn and gain insight
into creating or improving their personal profiles.
Stay tuned for future workshops and remember to sign up early. You dont want to miss out on the next great
opportunity!

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NEW CORPORATE SPONSOR - SIGNATURE CONSULTANTS

The PMI Phoenix Chapter would like to welcome Signature Consultants as our
new Corporate Sponsor.

About us: Signature Consultants was established in 1997 with a singular focus: Provide our clients and
consultants with superior staffing solutions. Signatures clients can expect to receive technology staffing
solutions founded on quality, service and results. Signatures operations span the continental United States
and beyond. No matter where your need exists, Signature has a solution for you. Whether your need is in a
large metropolitan area or in adjacent markets, Signature is equipped to deliver the resources you require.
Combining our National Service Center in Boston, Massachusetts and our Regional Service Centers in
Charlotte, NC; Orlando, FL; Fort Lauderdale, FL; and Boston, MA; Signature Consultants has developed a
nationwide networkof professionals that allows us to meet your needs.
Our Team: We believe that a company is only as good as its people. Signature built its business with this
philosophy firmly in mind. We work with the top professionals, the finest resource managers and the best
account managers. Our team centers around professionals with a wealth of experience in the staffing
industry. That edge sets Signature Consultants apart from the crowd. Every time we place a consultant, we
know that our reputation is on the line. So we hire exceptional people and empower them with the trust
they need to do their jobs. As a privately owned company, Signature is beholden only to our clients, our
consultants and our staff. Our flexibility and our philosophy of doing the right thing has been paramount
to our success. We can, and we will, do what is right for you!
Signatures Culture: At Signature, we hire the right people, then give them the freedom to put their
considerable skills to use. The respect we show our employees is returned to us. We see it in the passion
they have for their work, the loyalty they have for the company and the satisfaction of our clients. Its
amazing how much you can accomplish when you recognize that your value is your people.

A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS