pdf-html

PMP ®

Project Management Professional (PMP) ®

Examination Content Outline – January 2021

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

Project Management Institute

Project Management Professional (PMP)®

Examination Content Outline

For January 2021 Exam Update

May 2020

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

Published by: Project Management Institute, Inc.

14 Campus Boulevard
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073-3299 USA.
Phone: +610-356-4600
Fax: +610-356-4647
Email: [email protected]
Internet: PMI.org

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

"PMI," the PMI logo, "PMP," the PMP logo, "PMBOK," "PgMP,” “Project Management Journal," "PM Network," and
the PMI Today logo are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc. The Quarter Globe Design is a
trademark of the Project Management Institute, Inc. For a comprehensive list of PMI marks, contact the PMI Legal
Department.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

Introduction................................................................................................................... 1

Exam Content Outline …………………………………………………………………….... 2

Domains, Tasks, and Enablers..................................................................................... 3

Domain I: People.......................................................................................................... 4

Domain II: Process....................................................................................................... 7

Domain III: Business Environment.............................................................................. 10

INTRODUCTION
The Project Management Institute (PMI) offers a professional certification for project managers, known

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

as the Project Management Professional (PMP)®. PMI’s professional certification examination

development processes stand apart from other project management certification examination
development practices. PMI aligns its process with certification industry best practices, such as those
found in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. The PMP® certification is also
accredited against the internationally recognized ISO 17024 standard.1
A key component of this process is that organizations wishing to offer valid and reliable professional
credentialing examinations are directed to use a Role Delineation Study (RDS) or Job Task Analysis
(JTA) as the basis for the creation of the examination. This process utilizes knowledge and task-driven
guidelines to assess the practitioner’s competence, and determine the levels of salience, criticality,
and frequency of each of the knowledge, tasks and skills required to perform to the industry-wide
standard in the role of a project manager.
In this year’s update to the PMP, PMI conducted a Global Practice Analysis market research study,
which produced a number of trends in the profession previously unaddressed in the PMP exam. These
trends were used as inputs into the Job Task Analysis and ensure the validity and relevance of the
PMP examination. Validation assures the outcome of the exam is, in fact, measuring and evaluating
appropriately the specific knowledge and skills required to function as a project management
practitioner. Thus, the Job Task Analysis guarantees that each examination validly measures all
elements of the project management profession in terms of real settings.
PMP certification holders can be confident that their professional certification has been developed
according to the best practices of test development and based upon input from the practitioners who
establish those standards.
The PMP examination is a vital part of the activities leading to earning a professional certification, thus
it is imperative that the PMP examination reflect accurately the practices of the project management
practitioner. All the questions on the examination have been written and extensively reviewed by
qualified PMP certification holders and tracked to at least two academic references. These questions
are mapped against the PMP Examination Content Outline to ensure that an appropriate number of
questions are in place for a valid examination.
PMI retained Alpine Testing Solutions to develop the global PMP Examination Content Outline. Alpine
Testing Solutions provides psychometric, test development, and credential management solutions to
credentialing and educational programs.
Finally, there are noticeable differences between this updated PMP Examination Content Outline and
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition. While there
are some commonalities, it is important to note that the volunteer taskforce involved in the study
described previously were not bound by the PMBOK® Guide. The taskforce members were charged
with outlining critical job tasks of individuals who lead and direct projects based on their experience
and pertinent resources.

1Published jointly by the American Education Research Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, and
American Psychological Association. The PMP certification is also accredited by the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) against the internationally recognized ISO/IEC 17024 standard: Conformity Assessment—General Requirements for
Bodies Operating Certification of Persons.

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMI PMP Examination Content Outline – June 2019
1

EXAM CONTENT OUTLINE

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

The following table identifies the proportion of questions from each domain that will appear on the
examination.

Domain Percentage of Items on Test

I. People 42%

II. Process 50%

III. Business Environment 8%

Total 100%

Important note: The research conducted through the Job Task Analysis validated that today’s project
management practitioners work in a variety of project environments and utilize different project
approaches. Accordingly, the PMP certification will be reflective of this and will incorporate approaches
across the value delivery spectrum. About half of the examination will represent predictive project
management approaches and the other half will represent agile or hybrid approaches.
Predictive, agile, and hybrid approaches will be found throughout the three domain areas listed above
and are not isolated to any particular domain or task.

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMI PMP Examination Content Outline – June 2019
2

DOMAINS, TASKS, AND ENABLERS

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

In this document you will find an updated structure for the PMP Examination Content Outline. Based
on feedback from customers and stakeholders, we have worked on simplifying the format so that the
PMP Examination Content Outline is easier to understand and interpret.
On the following pages you will find the domains, tasks, and enablers as defined by the Role
Delineation Study.
∙ Domain: Defined as the high-level knowledge area that is essential to the practice of project
management.
∙ Tasks: The underlying responsibilities of the project manager within each domain area.
∙ Enablers: Illustrative examples of the work associated with the task. Please note that enablers
are not meant to be an exhaustive list but rather offer a few examples to help demonstrate what
the task encompasses.

Following is an example of the new task structure:

Task statement Manage conflict

∙ Interpret the source and stage of the conflict

Enablers ∙ Analyze the context for the conflict
∙ Evaluate/recommend/reconcile the appropriate conflict resolution solution

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMI PMP Examination Content Outline – June 2019
3

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

Domain I People—42%

Task 1 Manage conflict

∙ Interpret the source and stage of the conflict
∙ Analyze the context for the conflict
∙ Evaluate/recommend/reconcile the appropriate conflict resolution solution

Task 2 Lead a team

∙ Set a clear vision and mission
∙ Support diversity and inclusion (e.g., behavior types, thought process)
∙ Value servant leadership (e.g., relate the tenets of servant leadership to the team)
∙ Determine an appropriate leadership style (e.g., directive, collaborative)
∙ Inspire, motivate, and influence team members/stakeholders (e.g., team
contract, social contract, reward system)
∙ Analyze team members and stakeholders’ influence
∙ Distinguish various options to lead various team members and stakeholders

Task 3 Support team performance

∙ Appraise team member performance against key performance indicators
∙ Support and recognize team member growth and development
∙ Determine appropriate feedback approach
∙ Verify performance improvements

Task 4 Empower team members and stakeholders

∙ Organize around team strengths
∙ Support team task accountability
∙ Evaluate demonstration of task accountability
∙ Determine and bestow level(s) of decision-making authority

Task 5 Ensure team members/stakeholders are adequately trained

∙ Determine required competencies and elements of training
∙ Determine training options based on training needs
∙ Allocate resources for training
∙ Measure training outcomes

Task 6 Build a team

∙ Appraise stakeholder skills
∙ Deduce project resource requirements
∙ Continuously assess and refresh team skills to meet project needs
∙ Maintain team and knowledge transfer

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMI PMP Examination Content Outline – June 2019
4

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

Task 7 Address and remove impediments, obstacles, and blockers for the team
∙ Determine critical impediments, obstacles, and blockers for the team
∙ Prioritize critical impediments, obstacles, and blockers for the team
∙ Use network to implement solutions to remove impediments, obstacles,
and blockers for the team
∙ Re-assess continually to ensure impediments, obstacles, and blockers for the
team are being addressed

Task 8 Negotiate project agreements

∙ Analyze the bounds of the negotiations for agreement
∙ Assess priorities and determine ultimate objective(s)
∙ Verify objective(s) of the project agreement is met
∙ Participate in agreement negotiations
∙ Determine a negotiation strategy

Task 9 Collaborate with stakeholders

∙ Evaluate engagement needs for stakeholders
∙ Optimize alignment between stakeholder needs, expectations, and
project objectives
∙ Build trust and influence stakeholders to accomplish project objectives

Task 10 Build shared understanding

∙ Break down situation to identify the root cause of a misunderstanding
∙ Survey all necessary parties to reach consensus
∙ Support outcome of parties' agreement
∙ Investigate potential misunderstandings

Task 11 Engage and support virtual teams

∙ Examine virtual team member needs (e.g., environment, geography,
culture, global, etc.)
∙ Investigate alternatives (e.g., communication tools, colocation) for virtual
team member engagement
∙ Implement options for virtual team member engagement
∙ Continually evaluate effectiveness of virtual team member engagement

Task 12 Define team ground rules

∙ Communicate organizational principles with team and external stakeholders
∙ Establish an environment that fosters adherence to the ground rules
∙ Manage and rectify ground rule violations

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMI PMP Examination Content Outline – June 2019
5

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

Task 13 Mentor relevant stakeholders

∙ Allocate the time to mentoring
∙ Recognize and act on mentoring opportunities

Task 14 Promote team performance through the application of emotional intelligence

∙ Assess behavior through the use of personality indicators
∙ Analyze personality indicators and adjust to the emotional needs of key
project stakeholders

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMI PMP Examination Content Outline – June 2019
6

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

Domain II Process—50%
Execute project with the urgency required to deliver business value
Task 1
∙ Assess opportunities to deliver value incrementally
∙ Examine the business value throughout the project
∙ Support the team to subdivide project tasks as necessary to find the
minimum viable product

Manage communications
Task 2
∙ Analyze communication needs of all stakeholders
∙ Determine communication methods, channels, frequency, and level of detail for
all stakeholders
∙ Communicate project information and updates effectively
∙ Confirm communication is understood and feedback is received

Assess and manage risks

Task 3
∙ Determine risk management options
∙ Iteratively assess and prioritize risks

Engage stakeholders
Task 4
∙ Analyze stakeholders (e.g., power interest grid, influence, impact)
∙ Categorize stakeholders
∙ Engage stakeholders by category
∙ Develop, execute, and validate a strategy for stakeholder engagement

Plan and manage budget and resources

Task 5
∙ Estimate budgetary needs based on the scope of the project and lessons
learned from past projects
∙ Anticipate future budget challenges
∙ Monitor budget variations and work with governance process to adjust
as necessary
∙ Plan and manage resources

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMI PMP Examination Content Outline – June 2019
7

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

Plan and manage schedule

Task 6
∙ Estimate project tasks (milestones, dependencies, story points)
∙ Utilize benchmarks and historical data
∙ Prepare schedule based on methodology
∙ Measure ongoing progress based on methodology
∙ Modify schedule, as needed, based on methodology
∙ Coordinate with other projects and other operations

Plan and manage quality of products/deliverables

Task 7
∙ Determine quality standard required for project deliverables
∙ Recommend options for improvement based on quality gaps
∙ Continually survey project deliverable quality

Plan and manage scope

Task 8
∙ Determine and prioritize requirements
∙ Break down scope (e.g., WBS, backlog)
∙ Monitor and validate scope

Integrate project planning activities

Task 9
∙ Consolidate the project/phase plans
∙ Assess consolidated project plans for dependencies, gaps, and continued
business value
∙ Analyze the data collected
∙ Collect and analyze data to make informed project decisions
∙ Determine critical information requirements

Manage project changes

Task 10
∙ Anticipate and embrace the need for change (e.g., follow change
management practices)
∙ Determine strategy to handle change
∙ Execute change management strategy according to the methodology
∙ Determine a change response to move the project forward

Plan and manage procurement

Task 11
∙ Define resource requirements and needs
∙ Communicate resource requirements
∙ Manage suppliers/contracts
∙ Plan and manage procurement strategy
∙ Develop a delivery solution

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMI PMP Examination Content Outline – June 2019
8

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

Manage project artifacts

Task 12
∙ Determine the requirements (what, when, where, who, etc.) for managing
the project artifacts
∙ Validate that the project information is kept up to date (i.e., version control)
and accessible to all stakeholders
∙ Continually assess the effectiveness of the management of the project artifacts

Determine appropriate project methodology/methods and practices

Task 13
∙ Assess project needs, complexity, and magnitude
∙ Recommend project execution strategy (e.g., contracting, finance)
∙ Recommend a project methodology/approach (i.e., predictive, agile, hybrid)
∙ Use iterative, incremental practices throughout the project life cycle (e.g.,
lessons learned, stakeholder engagement, risk)

Establish project governance structure

Task 14
∙ Determine appropriate governance for a project (e.g., replicate
organizational governance)
∙ Define escalation paths and thresholds

Manage project issues

Task 15
∙ Recognize when a risk becomes an issue
∙ Attack the issue with the optimal action to achieve project success
∙ Collaborate with relevant stakeholders on the approach to resolve the issues

Ensure knowledge transfer for project continuity

Task 16
∙ Discuss project responsibilities within team
∙ Outline expectations for working environment
∙ Confirm approach for knowledge transfers

Plan and manage project/phase closure or transitions

Task 17
∙ Determine criteria to successfully close the project or phase
∙ Validate readiness for transition (e.g., to operations team or next phase)
∙ Conclude activities to close out project or phase (e.g., final lessons
learned, retrospective, procurement, financials, resources)

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMI PMP Examination Content Outline – June 2019
9

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

Domain III Business Environment—8%

Plan and manage project compliance
Task 1
∙ Confirm project compliance requirements (e.g., security, health and
safety, regulatory compliance)
∙ Classify compliance categories
∙ Determine potential threats to compliance
∙ Use methods to support compliance
∙ Analyze the consequences of noncompliance
∙ Determine necessary approach and action to address compliance needs
(e.g., risk, legal)
∙ Measure the extent to which the project is in compliance

Evaluate and deliver project benefits and value

Task 2
∙ Investigate that benefits are identified
∙ Document agreement on ownership for ongoing benefit realization
∙ Verify measurement system is in place to track benefits
∙ Evaluate delivery options to demonstrate value
∙ Appraise stakeholders of value gain progress

Evaluate and address external business environment changes for impact

Task 3
on scope
∙ Survey changes to external business environment (e.g., regulations,
technology, geopolitical, market)
∙ Assess and prioritize impact on project scope/backlog based on changes
in external business environment
∙ Recommend options for scope/backlog changes (e.g., schedule, cost changes)
∙ Continually review external business environment for impacts on
project scope/backlog

Support organizational change

Task 4
∙ Assess organizational culture
∙ Evaluate impact of organizational change to project and determine
required actions
∙ Evaluate impact of the project to the organization and determine required actions

©2019 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

PMI PMP Examination Content Outline – June 2019

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

10

POWERING THE PROJECT ECONOMY™

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]

pdf-html

PMI.org
© 2020 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. “PMI”, the PMI logo, “CAPM”, “PMP”, “PfMP”, “PgMP”, "PMI-ACP", “PMI-PBA”,
“PMI-RMP”, “PMI-SP” and “Powering The Project Economy” are marks of Project Management Institute, Inc. (4/20)

https://amideastonline.org/pluginfile.php/142611/mod_resource/content/3/pmp-examination-content-%20outline%20-%202021.html[8/23/2021 5:29:37 PM]