PMI-ACP Primer Web Seminar

Thursday, September 15, 2011Presented by David Mantica

Special Guest: Bill Gaiennie

Agenda• Vision for new certification• Demographic• Application requirements • Fees• Exam content overview• Domains and tasks• Training options • Connection with Scrum Alliance accreditations

Resources

• PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) Handbook (last updated June 2011)

• PMI Agile Certification Exam Content Outline (April 2011)

Why Agile for PMI

• The question on the minds (and responses on the Blogs) of professionals on either side of the fence

• It is simple– PMI recognizes that Agile is of growing importance in

project management– With any business, PMI had to acknowledge this and

doing something or nothing… they decided to do something

Vision for New Certification

• If it has ties to project management, PMI wants to be a part of it. They see project management above any specific method or practice. So their spin on this cert:– Certification recognizes individual expertise using Agile practices

and shows professional versatility through Agile tools and techniques

– Certification carries a higher level of professional credibility through its requirements

– Certification supports individuals in meeting the needs of organizations using a diversity of methods

Demographics

• Employers—PMI wants to know:– Certification demonstrates to employers the practitioner’s level of

professionalism with Agile practices of project management

• Employees—PMI wants to give you:– A tool to show professional versatility in both project management

tools and techniques– Both “traditional” PM and Agile PM experience and understanding

Application RequirementsPMI‐ACP Requirements

Eligibility Requirements: Description:Education Level Secondary degree (high school or equivalent) or

higher

General Project Management 2,000 hours working on project teams.  These hoursExperience must be earned within the last 5 years.  PMP is acceptable

to fulfill these requirements 

Agile Project Management  1,500 hours working on Agile project teams or in Agile Experience  methodologies. These hours are in addition to the general

project management experience requirements.  These hoursmust be earned within the last two years

Agile Project Management 21 contact hours; hours must be earned in Agile project managementTraining topics **ACP PDUs**

Examination Tests knowledge of Agile fundamentals and ability to apply to basicprojects

Maintenance  30 PDUs or 3 CEUs every 3 years in Agile project management Note: these hours would count toward fulfilling PMP requirement if individual holds both certifications

Fees

PMI-ACP Certification Fees

Exam Administration Type PMI Member PMI Non member Computer-based testing $435 $495 Paper-based testing $385 $445

Reexamination CBT $335 $395 Reexamination PBT $285 $345

CCR certification renewal $90 $130

Things to Know• Once you start the application process you have 90 days to complete• Do online application if at all possible (takes five business days to process• Can’t schedule exam until application is approved and fees paid• If you are audited (possibly up to 25% of applications are randomly audited)

you have 90 days to respond, no eligibility until successful completion of audit• You have one year to take exam after application approval and you can retake

the exam three times during that year• Your certification cycle starts the day you pass your exam and your cycle is 3

years. You need 30 PDUs in that cycle• You complete renewal process once you have 30 PDUs and pay renewal fee• Certification suspension happens on the third anniversary of the day you

passed your exam and you have yet to renew (1 year period)• Certification expiration happens after suspension period if you do not fulfill

your recertification requirement

CCR Snap-shot• CCR (Continuing Certification Requirements

– Must follow to maintain an active certification– PMI-ACP certification cycle is three years from date of exam pass– You must attain no less than 30 professional development units

(PDUs)• Use the onsite CCR system to report PDUs• Complete online application for renewal

– Reaffirm PMI code of ethics– Reaffirm PMI certification application/renewal agreement– Submit the credential renewal fee

Exam Content Overview

PMI-ACP Exam Information

No. of Scored QuestionsNo. of Pretest (Unscored) Questions Total Exam Questions

100 20 120

Allotted Examination Time3 hoursExamination is preceded by a tutorial and followed by a survey both are optional

PMI-ACP Exam Blueprint

Agile tools and techniques 50%Agile knowledge and skills 50%

100%

Tools and Techniques detailTools and Techniques 50% of Exam

Communication

Information radiator, team space, agile tooling, osmotic communications for co-located/distribute team’s daily standups

Planning, monitoring and adapting

Retrospectives, task/kanban boards, timeboxing, iteration and release planning, WIP limits, burn down/up charts cumulative flow diagrams, process tailoring

Agile estimationrelative sizing/story points wide band Delphi/planning poker, affinity estimating, ideal time

Agile analysis and design

Product roadmap, user stories/backlog, story maps progressive elaboration wireframes, chartering personas, agile modeling

Product quality

frequent verification and validation, test-driven development/test first development, acceptance test-driven development definition of done, continuous integration

Tools and Techniques continued

Soft skills negotiation

emotional intelligence, collaboration, adaptive leadership, negotiation, conflict resolution, servant leadership

Value-based prioritization

return on investment (ROI)/net present value (NPV)/internal rate of return (IRR), compliance, customer-valued prioritization, minimally marketable feature (MMF), relative prioritization/ranking

Risk managementrisk adjustment backlog, risk burn down graphs, risk-based spike

MetricsVelocity cycle time, earned value management (EVM) for agile projects, escaped defects

Value stream analysis value stream mapping

Knowledge and Skills (50% of exam)

Knowledge and Skills Content

Level % of Knowledge and Skill Content / % of ExamLevel 1 (18 Knowledge/skills areas) 65% / 33%Level 2 (12 Knowledge/skills areas) 25% /12%level 3 (13 Knowledge/skills areas) 10% / 5%

Level 1 (33% of total exam questions)Active listening Knowledge sharingAgile Manifesto values and principles Leadership tools and techniquesCommunity and stakeholder value Prioritization

Brainstorming techniques Problem-solving strategiesBuilding empowered teams Project & quality standards for Agile Coaching and mentoring within teams Stakeholder managementCommunications management Team motivationFeedback techniques Time, budget and cost estimationIncremental delivery Value based decomposition/prioritization

Level 2 (12% of total exam questions)

Agile Frameworks and terminology Facilitation methodsBuilding high-performance teams Participatory decision modelsBusiness case development PMI’s code of Ethics and Professional

ConductColocation / distributed teams Process analysis techniquesContinuous improvement processes Self assessmentElements of project charter for an Agile project

Value-based analysis

Level 3 (5% of total Exam questions)Agile contracting methods Innovation gamesAgile project accounting principles Principles of systems thinkingApplying new Agile practices Regulatory complianceCompliance (organization) Variance and trend analysisControl limits for Agile projects Variations in Agile methods and

approachesFailure modes and alternatives Vendor managementGlobalization, culture and team diversity

Domains and Tasks

• Domains and tasks were NOT used in the construction of the certification examination, but they are important. They provide guidance for professional development

– Domain I: Value-Drive Delivery– Domain II: Stakeholder Engagement– Domain III: Boosting Team Performance Practices– Domain IV: Adaptive Planning– Domain V: Problem Detection and Resolution– Domain VI: Continuous Improvement

Reference list• Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great Esther Derby, Diana Larsen, Ken Schwaber ISBN

#0977616649 • Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game – 2nd Edition Alistair Cockburn ISBN

#0321482751 • The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility Michele Sliger, Stacia Broderick ISBN

#0321502752 • Coaching Agile Teams Lyssa Adkins ISBN #0321637704 • Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products – 2nd Edition Jim Highsmith ISBN

#0321658396 • Becoming Agile: ...in an imperfect world Greg Smith, Ahmed Sidky ISBN #1933988258 • Agile Estimating and Planning Mike Cohn ISBN #0131479415 • The Art of Agile Development James Shore ISBN #0596527675 • User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development Mike Cohn ISBN #0321205685 • Agile Project Management with Scrum Ken Schwaber ISBN #073561993X• Lean-Agile Software Development: Achieving Enterprise Agility Alan Shalloway, Guy Beaver, James

R. Trott ISBN #0321532899

Training Options

• Before September 2011– Agile Boot Camp (21 PDUs)– Agile Essentials (7 PDUs) + Agile Project Management (14 PDUs)– No test prep option

• September 2011 and beyond– Agile Project Management Certification Workshop

• Preparation course for PMI-ACP Certification Exam• 3-day program• Two days of in-depth Agile PM skills and tools training• One day of exam test prep• Will include study guide (November 2011 time frame)

Connection with Scrum Alliance Designations

• Anyone’s guess?• Most likely it will be seen as more valued than CSM

certification and possibly on par with current CSP (Certified Scrum Practitioner)– CSM has no application or exam (just training requirement)– CSP has difficult application no training requirement or exam (at

least for now)

• The reality is that it is different. PMI is positioning it as showing a Practitioners versatility and experience, not their Agile“ness”

Questions?

How to Claim Your PDU• Go to ccrs.pmi.org/• Search for ASPE as a Registered Education

Provider. Our number is 2161• At the bottom of our details page, select “See

Provider’s Activities”• Find the activity code stated by the moderator

during the presentation: WS062311• The seminars are Category A for one PDU