The PMBOK Guide 8th edition introduces a set of project management principles that PMI calls the project manager’s mindset. Understanding these is useful for the exam because they give you a reliable framework for answering questions when you are unsure. When something is going wrong on a project, these principles point toward the right answer almost every time.
1. Adopt a Holistic View
Good project managers consider the bigger picture: organizational strategy, interconnected risks and diverse perspectives. If things are going wrong, do not rely on one person’s view. Brainstorm with the team and make sure everyone feels psychologically safe to speak up. Clear communication is essential and a communications style assessment can help identify how each stakeholder prefers to receive information.
2. Embed Quality into Processes and Deliverables
Quality means meeting customer requirements consistently, not just once. Reliable, uniform quality across the product and the process is the goal. Use retrospectives to continuously improve the team’s ways of working and earned value management to track project performance against the plan.
3. Be an Accountable Leader
The best single piece of advice for PMP exam questions is this: be direct and collaborative. Go straight to the source of the issue and work with people to solve it. Do not skirt around problems or pass them to someone else.
Leadership does not require authority or a title. Adapt your style to the situation. Directive leadership works in a crisis. Servant leadership supports the team’s growth and autonomy in most other situations. Psychological safety, emotional intelligence, integrity and humility all matter here.
4. Build an Empowered Culture
Help the team take ownership of their work rather than doing it for them. Clear roles and responsibilities (documented in a RACI chart), diverse perspectives, team agreements through a team charter and genuine organizational awareness all contribute to a team that can deliver without constant direction.
5. Focus on Value
Project completion is not the measure of success. Delivering organizational benefits is. Keep the focus on the value being created, not just the tasks being ticked off.
6. Integrate Sustainability
This is a new addition in the 8th edition. As you deliver project outcomes, consider the impacts on people, society and the environment. Where negative outcomes cannot be avoided, work to minimize them. Where possible, restore or compensate for any damage caused. This principle will appear on the exam so it is worth understanding.
These six principles form the new Project Manager’s mindset from PMI. When a PMP question has you stumped, ask yourself which of these principles points to the best answer. More often than not, it will.
– David McLachlan
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