Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixt Edition, Project Management Institute Inc., Figures 4-1, 5-1, 6-1, and so on until 13-1. So almost every single Project Management process has the Project Management Plan as an Input. Jul 20, 2020 I have prepared an innovative PMP ITTO excel spreadsheet based on the PMBOK Guide 6th edition. It contains ITTO for 5 Process Groups (PG), 9 Knowledge Areas (KA), and 49 processes. The excel sheet is quite different and much more beneficial from anything else that you might have seen.
Quick note from Shiv: I'm happy to announce that this post was included in one of the PMP books published by Cornelius Fichtner recently. Yay! 🙂
Trying to remember ITTOs (short for ‘Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs') is most stressful task for anyone preparing for PMP exam.
For my study I was trying out different means of doing so, including mnemonics, mind maps and so on – till I realized that it is a futile exercise.
There are 49 processes (much lesser when I prepared for my exam) and on an average say 10 ITTOs per process, making it around 500 ITTOs (I haven't ventured out to count really).
So, I went around various online forums looking for a solution and discussed with several people who have passed PMP.
What I learned is that it is not necessary to try to remember all of them.
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As I thought through more, it made sense to me. PMI wants to test whether we have internalized the processes and what it takes to accomplish certain project management activities.
PMI's intention is not to test whether we can remember every input, tool and technique, and output from 49 processes.
PMI only tests if we are able to apply our understanding of a particular process.
With this realization I went about understanding each process, what is it supposed to accomplish, how it relates to previous and next process in sequence (in the same Knowledge Areas as well as across other Process Groups and Knowledge Areas).
Next, I found another nice way to understand ITTOs.
That is to understand the Data Flow Diagram of every process.
In PMBOK you will find a DFD at the beginning of each process. It shows where does the input for the current process come from and which processes do the outputs go into. This is a great way to understand the flow of project management work in a process across PGs and KAs.
The best way that has worked for me is to study DFD as part of the study of a particular process itself.
For instance, during my first round I focused on understanding one process every day, so I would spend a good amount of time on DFD of that process. Just understand and them move on, don't stress yourself to remember it.
You will be able to deduce it quite easily once you do a couple of rounds of study.
During the exam I realized that our knowledge of ITTO is tested in a way that if you have understood the process you will be able to deduce the right option among the 4 options.
In essence, the 3 ways to remember ITTOs –
- Understand the process and its preceding and succeeding process in the KA as well as across PG and KA
- Understand DFD of every process as part of its study, do not skip it. It might look a bit overwhelming at the beginning, but once you spend few minutes with it, it starts to make sense.
- As you study a process, think how you can apply the same to your own project (or previous projects). If possible even implement what is possible at your work. This practical aspect of the study makes it quite easy to remember the ITTOs.
To summarize,
My suggestion is NOT to try and remember ITTOs of 49 processes, it will stress you out. Rote way learning is a stresser.
Understand the process, its DFD, its relation to other processes across KAs and PGs – this should be sufficient to tackle any ITTO related questions on the exam.
Do you want to use the same PMP preparation products that I used to pass my PMP exam? Click here to get them and a PMP prep course I am giving away for Free!
Note –
You might find these posts useful in your PMP exam preparation:
Do not hesitate to write to me at(at)shiv@pmexamsmartnotes(dot)com if you need any help with your exam preparation.
Good luck!
Cheers and all the best,
Shiv
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A PMP ITTO Cheat Sheet is extremely useful for the certification exam. In fact, such a sheet is useful for any kind of test.
I have prepared an innovative PMP ITTO excel spreadsheet based on the PMBOK Guide 6th edition. It contains ITTO for 5 Process Groups (PG), 9 Knowledge Areas (KA), and 49 processes.
The excel sheet is quite different and much more beneficial from anything else that you might have seen. It contains dynamic content that is immensely useful for the exam study.
I have written this post to explain the utility and features of my ITTO cheat sheet. If you think that the spreadsheet will be useful for your exam prep, you can buy it by clicking on the button at the end of this post.
Alternatively, you can download a free pdf version of PMP process charts to study for the certification exam. The pdf file is 13 pages long and has the same content as the excel sheet but it lacks dynamic features of the excel sheet.
Pmp 5th Edition Itto Spreadsheet Download
PMP ITTO Cheat Sheet
What Is A Cheat Sheet?
As per Wikipedia, a cheat sheet (also cheatsheet) or crib sheet is a concise set of notes used for quick reference.
Pmp 5th Edition Itto Spreadsheet Pdf
A cheat sheet has abridged information on a particular subject or topic. It can enhance and accelerate your learning. You can prepare one for the mathematical formulas & abbreviations, important PMBOK Guide terms, tips & tricks, ITTO, and many other things.
Pmp 5th Edition Itto Spreadsheet Sheet
A regular ITTO sheet (like my free pdf process chart) has static and non-searchable data. It has process charts and ITTO. It is definitely useful for the exam prep but my excel sheet is more useful.
The excel sheet that has dynamic content. It shows only relevant content based on your search. You can look at the figure below to understand how it works.
The PMBOK Guide has hundreds of processes related terms and ITTO. You can use the excel sheet to select any of these terms from the drop-down. The sheet will dynamically show the content related to your chosen term.
Benefits Of Dynamic PMP ITTO Excel Over A pdf Sheet
A regular cheat sheet is handy and very useful. You can use it for memorizing and cross reference. But the benefits stop there. The cross referencing across knowledge areas is slow and time consuming.
Ittos Pmp Edition 6
When you are studying the PMBOK Guide or any other reference book, you need to go back and forth between chapters for cross reference. You need to constantly look at terms in other knowledge areas and understand the relationships between these terms.
This process becomes cumbersome if you have a regular process chart.
My spreadsheet, on the other hand, has dynamic and searchable content. It scores over the pdf process chart. You can use it as a regular chart for memorization and cross-referencing. But you can go beyond that.
By using my spreadsheet, the cross-referencing becomes quick and easy. You can quickly look at the relevant terms across knowledge areas in a single view. It not only accelerates your learning process but also enhances your retention. You can traverse across multiple knowledge areas in a matter of few seconds.
In addition, you can find out which output of one process is being used as input in another process(es). You can form relationships between processes across the knowledge areas and process groups.
Let's take a look at another figure below to understand how searching works.
My excel sheet will enhance and accelerate your learning process. You can buy it by clicking on the button below.
Final Words – Learning Tools For PMP ITTO
You can't escape ITTO if you are preparing for the PMP exam. You would need to use a combination of memorization, logical relationships, reasoning, and analytical deduction to answer the PMP questions. The excel sheet aids in all these things.