Key ITTO’s you need to memorize for the PMP Exam !

by shadi alsha3er · Published October 24, 2018 · Updated December 5, 2018

PMP ITTO MEMORIZATION

Inputs, Tools, Techniques, and Outputs are the foundation and infrastructure of the 49 Project Management processes discussed in the PMBOK® Guide , There are hundreds of them which you cannot memorize for the exam ,Understanding them is very important and the logical relations in between them . In the PMP exam , you should expect like 15-20 questions asking you about key inputs , tools , techniques and outputs , below am listing key definitions you should memorize for the PMP Exam , in this table am not going to list any easy ITTO ( Ex : Schedule Management plan is an output of the Plan Schedule Management Process ! )

Input/Output /Technique	Process	Definition
Project Charter	Output of the Develop Project Charter Process	A Project documented created in the initiating process group to Formally authorize Project existence, Assign the Project manager and authorize him to apply organizational resources, Links the project to ongoing work of the organization and mention Project high level requirements, risks and constraints.
Stakeholder Register	Output of the Identify Stakeholders Process	A Register which document all information about stakeholders, Name, Title, Contact details, Role in the project, requirements , impact, influence and more details depending on the organizational standard form of the stakeholder register
Stakeholder Analysis – Technique	Technique used in the Identify Stakeholders Process	Technique used to analyze each stakeholder potential impact or influence to manage effectively throughout project life.
Requirements Tractability Matrix	Output of the Collect Requirements Process .	A Matrix which tracks requirements from origin to deliverables , it links each requirement to the objective , requirement attributes should be documented and to include source, status , identification … all necessary details .
Requirements Management Plan	Output of Plan Scope Management Process	Subsidiary plan which describes the method you intend to use to identify requirements.
Information management – Technique	Technique used in Manage Project Knowledge Process .	Used to create and connect people to information, they are effective for sharing simple , codified explicit knowledge .
Knowledge Management – Technique	Technique used in Manage Project Knowledge Process .	It connect people to work together so that they can discover new knowledge. Share tacit knowledge and integrate the knowledge of various team members.
Lessons Learned Register	Output of the Manage knowledge Process .	Document created as an output of the manage project knowledge process early in the project , used as an input and updated as an output through many project management processes .
Product Analysis – Technique	Technique used in Define Scope Process	A technique which analyze project objectives and product description stated by the customer to turn them into deliverables, it make sure product and project scope is well understood .
Project Scope Statement	Output of the defined scope process	A document within the Scope Baseline which contains : Product Scope , Project Scope , Deliverables , Acceptance criteria ,What is not part of the project And Detailed assumptions and constraints ( High level ones are created in initiating )
Work Breakdown Structure	Output of the Create WBS Process .	Part of the Scope Baseline, a graphical picture of the hierarchy of the project. Which Identifies all the deliverables to be completed?
Scope Baseline	Output of Create WBS Process	One of the three performance baselines within the Project management plan , it contains Scope statement of work, WBS and WBS dictionary
Decomposition – Technique	Technique used in Create WBS Process.	A technique which divides deliverables into smaller peace’s called work packages, decomposition happens in Top-Down approach or bottom-up approach
Rolling Wave planning – Technique	Technique used in Define Activities Process .	It is the major tool here in addition to the decomposition , it is used when the project contains a lot of unknowns , it is about planning at a higher level and then wait until the project work has begun and the work is clearer to plan lower levels , it is called “ progressive elaboration “ also .
Milestones	Output of the Define Activities process.	Significant events within project schedule, they have no durations, project milestones may be mentioned in project charter, they can be used as check points to help control the project.
Schedule network Diagram	Output of the Sequence Activities Process.	It shows just dependencies, if duration estimates of the activities are added it can also show the critical path.
Precedence diagraming method (PDM)- Technique	Technique of the Sequence Activities Process .	It’s a method to draw the network diagram, were nodes or boxes represent activities while arrows show dependencies.
Lead – Technique	Technique of the Sequence Activities / Develop Schedule Processes .	It’s used to indicate that an activity can start before it is predecessor activity is completed.
Lag – Technique	Technique of the Sequence Activities / Develop Schedule Processes .	It is the waiting time inserted between activities.
One-Point Estimating	Technique Used in Estimate Activity Durations / Costs Process.	The estimator submits one estimate per activity, it can be based on expert judgment or historical information or it could be just a guess, It is not used frequently and has a lot of negative effects such as; it forces padding, it can result in schedule that nobody believes in.
Analogous Estimating (Top-Down )	Technique Used in Estimate Activity Durations / Costs Process.	It uses expert judgment and historical information to predict the future , it can be done at the project level and can be applied on activity level. The level of accuracy depends on how closely the project or activity matches the past history, it is mainly used when the project is chartered.
Parametric Estimating	Technique Used in Estimate Activity Durations / Costs Process.	Looks at relationship between variables on an activity to calculate time or cost estimates , the data can come from historical records from previous projects , industry requirements , standard metrics , it comes like time per code , time per linear meter , time per installation
Three-Point Estimating	Technique Used in Estimate Activity Durations / Costs Process.	In this method estimators give an optimistic (O), pessimistic (P), and most likely (M) estimate for each activity. It allows more consideration and uncertainty of estimating , three point estimating calculate a risk based expected duration estimate by taking either a simple average or a weighted average of three estimates
Critical Path Method ( CPP)	Technique used in Develop Schedule Process	Determining the longest path through the network diagram , the earliest and latest an activity can start and the earliest and latest an activity can be completed .
Critical Chain method (CCM)	Technique used in Develop Schedule Process	This method uses a network diagram and critical path to develop a schedule by assigning each activity to occur as late as possible to still meet the end date , you add resource dependencies to the schedule , and then calculate the critical chain , starting at the end date , you build buffers for resource limitations and risks into the chain at critical milestones.
Schedule Compression	Technique used in Develop Schedule Process	The objective is to compress the schedule without changing the scope , usually used when the project have negative float , you can use schedule compression in two ways : Fast Tracking and Crashing,
Monte Carlo Analysis	Technique Used in Develop Schedule / Quantitative Risk Analysis Processes.	Uses a computer software to simulate project outcome , simulation can tell you the probability of completing a project on specific day or for a specific cost , it can give you the project overall risk, It is very useful in dealing with path convergence .
Resource Optimization	Technique Used in Develop Schedule Process.	It includes resource leveling and resource smoothing , Resource Leveling, used to produce a resource-limited schedule , leveling lengthens the schedule and increases cost in order to deal with a limited amount of resources, resources availability and other resource constraints , Resource Smoothing, a modified form or resource leveling where resources are leveled only within the limits of the float of their activities so the completion dates activities are not delayed.
Schedule Baseline	Output of the Develop Schedule Process.	Version of a schedule model used to manage the project and that the project team’s performance is measured against, the difference between the schedule baseline and the end date is called project float.
Project Schedule	Output of the Develop Schedule Process.	It is the result of all planning processes in schedule management, it will be iterated in response to risk management and other parts of management until an acceptable and realistic schedule can be agreed upon .
Cost of quality	Technique Used in Estimate Activity Costs / Plan quality management processes .	The cost of work added to the project to accommodate quality efforts.
Cost aggregation	Technique Used in Determine Budget process.	To create budget, activity costs are rolled up to work packages cost , work package costs are then rolled up to control accounts costs and finally to project costs , this process called cost aggregation .
Funding limit reconciliation	Technique Used in Determine Budget process.	Now once you project budget is clear, it is the time to check the cash flow, funding, may be not available causing changes to other parts of the project. Then reconciliation with any cost constraints in the charter, if the project estimates exceeds the constraints the project manager has to meet with management to decrease costs.
Cost Baseline	Output of the determine budget process.	It’s the cost performance baseline of the project were the project actual costs will be measured against, It contains the project costs estimates with the Contingency reserves .
Cost Benefit Analysis	Technique used in Plan Quality Management Process	Used to weight the benefits versus the costs of quality efforts to determine the appropriate quality level.
Cause and effect Diagram ( Fishbone , Ishekawa )	Technique used in Plan Quality Management /Identify Risks Processes	It looks backward at what may have contributed to quality problems on the projects , the diagram shows the defect with potential and sub causes , mainly used in defect analysis , Identify risks and quality requirements identification.
Flow Chart ( Process Map )	Technique used in Plan Quality Management / Identify Risks Process	It shows how a process or system flows from beginning to end , how elements interrelate , alternative paths , used mainly to determine cost of quality ,help communicate the process to the team and watch a process how it flows to define potential quality issues.
Check sheet ( Tally sheet)	Technique used in Plan Quality Management Process	Mainly gathers data , used to track of data such quality problems , its primary purpose to gather data .
Pareto Diagram ( Pareto Chart )	Technique used in Plan Quality Management Process	Bar chart that arranges the results from most frequent to least frequent to help identify which root causes are resulting in the most problems, useful to identify potential problems using historical information , focuses attention on the most critical issues and separates the critical few from the uncritical many.
Histogram	Technique used in Plan Quality Management Process	Displays data in the form of bars or columns in no particular order , useful to determine the most pressing problem.
Scatter Diagram ( Correlation Chart )	Technique used in Plan Quality Management Process	It Tracks two variables to determine their relationships , can be used for estimation and forecasting.
Control Chart	Technique used in Plan Quality Management Process	Determines if the process is stable using statistical sampling , it contains upper and lower control limits ( Inputs from organization ) , Specifications limits which are input by customer so that they should be within the limit of control limits to ensure customer satisfaction , The process is considered out of control if a data point falls outside the control limits or if they is a nonrandom data points such as rule of seven .
Design of experiment (DOE)	Technique used in Plan Quality Management Process	It determines statistically what variables will improve quality , it is fast and accurate technique ,
Statistical Sampling	Technique used in Plan Quality Management Process	Taking a sample to do measurements , the size of the sample and frequency of measurements are determined as part of plan quality and actual sampling is done in control quality .
Quality Metrics	Output of the Plan Quality Management Process	It should be stated by the project manager about the areas on the project that are important to measure and decide what measurements are acceptable.
Quality Checklist	Output of the Plan Quality Management Process	It is a list of items to inspect , a list of steps to be performed or a picture of the item to be inspected With spaces to notes of defects if any .
Process Improvement Plan	Output of the Plan Quality Management Process	It helps save time by analyzing processes to find ways to increase efficiency and prevent problems.
Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS)	Output of Estimate Activity Resources Process.	Hierarchy image that organizes the planned resources by their category and type.
Organization Structures	Tool used in Plan Resources Management Process	All efforts the project team might expend should be determined in advance , there is different ways to record and communicate roles and responsibilities : Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM), RACI Chart , Organizational Breakdown Structure and Position Descriptions .
Communication Model	Tool used in Plan Communication Management Process	Basic model includes 3 parts, Sender, message and receiver, it is encoded by the sender and decoded by receiver, Factors which affect the way receiver decodes a message is noise such as environment, experience, language and culture.
Communication methods	Tool used in Plan Communication Management Process	It includes Interactive Communication, Push Communication and Pull Communication.
Communication Models	Tool used in Plan Communication Management Process	They can represent the communication process in its most basic linear form ( Sender & Receiver ), in a more interactive form that encompasses the additional element of feedback ( Sender, Receiver , and feedback ) , or in a more complex model that incorporates the human elements of the Sender or Receiver and attempts to show the complexity of any communication that involves people
Influence Diagram	Technique used in Identify Risks Process	Graphical representations of situations showing casual influences , time ordering of events and other relationships among variables and outcomes.
Assumptions analysis	Technique used in Identify Risks Process	Analyzing assumption which have been made and whether they still valid
Checklist Analysis	Technique used in Identify Risks Process	Checklists are used to help identify specific risks within each category.
SWOT Analysis	Technique used in Identify Risks Process	Looks at the project strengths, weaknesses and so on opportunities and threats
Documentation Reviews	Tool used in Identify Risks Process	What is and out from project documents, project charter, contracts, and planning documentation can help identify risks, lessons learned can help identify uncovered risk.
Risk Register	Output of the Identify Risks Process	Part of the Project documents , it’s the primary output of the Identify risks process and it includes identified risks on the project , it’s updated throughout the project life in all risk management processes .
Risk Data Quality Assessment	Tool used in the perform Qualitative risk analysis process .	In this technique you will check how much do risk information are accurate , the following should be determined in this tool : Extent of the understanding of the risk , Data available about risk. , Quality of data and reliability and integrity of data.
Risk Urgency Assessment	Tool used in the perform Qualitative risk analysis process .	Urgent risks may move right into plan risk responses while the remaining may move to quantitative risk analysis process.
Risk Categorization	Tool used in the perform Qualitative risk analysis process.	Risks should be grouped by causes to know which part of the project have the most risk associated.
Sensitivity analysis	Tool used in the perform Quantitative risk analysis process.	Used to analyze and compare potential impacts of identified risks , results on tornado diagram while risks are represented in horizontal bars , the longest and uppermost bar represents the greatest risk.
Decision Tree Analysis	Technique used in the perform Quantitative risk analysis process.	Technique that takes into account future events in making decisions today , used to calculate the expected monetary value in more complex situations and involves mutual exclusivity .
Make/ Buy Analysis	Tool Used in Plan Procurement management	Making a decision about whether to do the project work themselves or outsource some or all of the work .
Stakeholder Engagement assessment matrix	Output of the Plan Stakeholder engagement process	A Chart which shows the current & Desired levels of a stakeholder engagement ( C: Current Level , D: Desired Level )
Work Authorization System (WAS)	Technique used in Direct and manage project work process	Defines approval levels needed to issue work authorization , it helps preventing scope creep as formal approval must be available before work begins , it is a part of the Enterprise environmental Factors .
Affinity Diagram	Technique Used in Manage Quality & Collect Requirements Processes	Used to organize thoughts, group the results of root cause analysis.
Process Decision Program charts (PDPC)	Technique Used in Manage Quality Process	Defines a goal then mention the steps required to achieve this goal.
Interrelationship Diagrams	Technique Used in Manage Quality Process	Map the relationships between different issues.
Matrix Diagrams	Technique Used in Manage Quality Process	Visual representation between 2 or more sets of items.
Prioritization Diagrams	Technique Used in Manage Quality Process	Useful for decision analysis about process improvement and quality management plan components that may need to change, you prioritize both issues and solutions.
Quality Audit	Technique Used in Manage Quality Process	It’s done by Quality assurance department or the project manager if there is no QA Department in order to verify quality of processes, to seek improvement, identify best practices, and reduce overall cost of quality.
Process analysis	Technique Used in Manage Quality Process	Mainly used when there’s multiple installations, lessons learned from first installations should help.
Performance Reporting	Tool used in manage Communications process	It is big part of managing communications as it should be collected and communicated to the right stakeholders in the level of detail required , there are different types of performance reports , Status Reports , Describes where project currently stands ,Progress Reports, Describes what has been accomplished , Trend Report, Examine project results overtime to see if performance is improving. , Forecasting Report , Predicts future project status , Variance Report , Compares actual results to baselines , Earned Value report , Integrates Scope , cost and schedule measures to assess project performance , Lessons learned documentation , reports on performance are used as lessons learned for future projects.
Project management information system – PMIS	Tool used in manage Communications process	it can ensure that stakeholders can easily retrieve the information they need in a timely way , such tools used for Managing project information includes : Electronic project management tools , Electronic Communications management and Social media management
Project Communications	Output of the manage Communications process	Includes performance reporting , deliverable status , schedule progress , presentations and other information required by stakeholders .
Issue log ( Action item log )	Output of the manage stakeholder engagement process .	Project document used to identify issues and track any concerns or conflicts
Pre assignment	Tool of Acquire resources process	Project manager should deal with team members assigned in advanced as part of project team.
Negotiations	Tools used in Acquire resources & Conduct procurements processes	Frequently used in gaining resources from within your organization or in procurement situations , also used when conducting project procurements
Multi Criteria Decision analysis	Tool of Acquire team process	Used in this process to select project team members based on a number of factors: Availability, cost, experience, knowledge, ability, attitude
Project team Assignments	Output of Acquire team process	Documentation of the team assignments records the team members and their roles and responsibilities for the project .
Resources Calendar	Output of Acquire team process	It identifies the working days , shifts , start and end of normal business hours , weekends and public holidays and when each specific resource is available .
Physical Resources Assignments	Output of Acquire Resources process	Documentation of the physical resources assignments records the materials , equipment , supplies , locations and other physical resources .
Ground rules	Technique of Develop team process	Setting ground rules help eliminates conflicts or problems and it’s very important when managing virtual teams, mainly used to decrease bad behavior.
Colocation (Tight Matrix)	Technique of Develop team process	The project may have “War Room” , Central location for project coordination, it improves communications , decrease impact of conflict.
Team Performance assessments	Output of Develop team process	Project manager should complete formal and informal team performance assessments as part of team development.
Team Building Activities	Technique of Develop team process	WBS creation is a strong team building tool. Trust is gained or lost from the first minute you meet a team member, it is affected by project manager repetition, team building activities may include outside work trips, birthday celebrations & milestone parties.
Observation and conversation	Technique of Manage team process	Project manager should watch what is happening and specifically talk to people to understand how things are going .
Project Performance Appraisals	Technique of Manage team process	Evaluations of employees done who supervise them, it also can be done with the “360 Degree” Method which includes inputs from coworkers, subordinates and supervisors.
Conflict Management	Technique of Manage team process	Conflict management can be applied by conflict Resolution techniques : Collaborating ( Problem Solving ) , Parties discuss differences and try to incorporate , leads to a win-win situation , Compromising ( Reconciling ) , Involves finding solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction of both parties , leads to lose-lose situation ,Withdrawal ( Avoidance ) , parties postpone a decision on a problem , leads to lose-leave situation , Smoothing ( Accommodating ) , emphasizes agreement rather than differenced in opinions , leads to lose-yield situation , Forcing ( Directing ( Involves pushing one viewpoint at the expense of another , leads to win-lose situation.
Bidder Conferences	Tool of Conduct Procurements process .	Mainly this tool is used to maintain integrity of the procurement process , it is a meeting where all sellers participating in the procurement will be invited and contains questions and answers session .
Prequalified Seller List	Tool of Conduct Procurements process .	list contains all qualified sellers for this service created in earlier project, procurement documents may be sent to this list only.
Independent estimates	Tool of Conduct Procurements process .	An estimate performed In house comparing prices with estimates made in house.
Presentations	Tool of Conduct Procurements process .	Usually used with Cost reimbursable contract type , it is a formal meeting between buyer and seller teams in order to give a chance for the seller to present their proposal .
Validated Changes	Input to Monitor and Control Project Work .	Actions taken as a result of the approved change requests are validated against the original change requests to ensure correct implementation.
Change Requests	Output of the Monitor and Control Project work and most of the M&C Process group processes.	Change requests includes 3 types : Corrective Action: An action taken to bring expected future project performance in line with the project management plan , Preventive Action: An action taken to deal with possible deviations from the performance measurement baselines and other metrics and Defect Repair: An action requested when a component of the project doesn’t meet specifications.
Variance Analysis	Tool of Control Scope Process .	A method to compare planned and actual work an determine the actions .
Earned Value management	Tool of Control Costs Process	Earned value is used in performance reviews to measure project performance against the scope , schedule and cost , the benefit of using earned value management is that it integrates cost,time and work done ( Scope ) and can be used to forecast future performance and project completion dates and costs.
Workarounds	Tool of Monitor Risks Process	Unplanned response developed to deal with occurrence of unanticipated events or problems on a project , spending a lot of time on workarounds is a sign of improper risk management performed.
Risk Audits	Tool of Monitor Risks Process	Performed by experts outside the project team for the whole risk management process, usually done by 3^rd party , Takes a look at what the project team has done for risk management and whether it has worked , It looks backward in time to what has occurred .
Reserve Analysis	Tool of Monitor Risks Process	An analytical technique to determine the essential features and relationships of components in the project management plan to establish a reserve for the schedule duration , budget , estimate cost or funds for the project . – Tracking the state of reserve through the project execution will provide summary information as to the evolution of the status of the corresponding risks .
Risk Reassessment	Tool of Monitor Risks Process	The primary objective is to ensure that the full risk management cycle is repeated as required to ensure effective control. – It involves identifying risks , Qualitative risk analysis , Quantitative analysis ( If needed ) and risk response planning .
Risk Reviews	Tool of Monitor Risks Process	A way to monitor risks and manage changes , It looks forward in time to what should happen for risk , It can be used for identifying new risks and make sure everyone understands the contingency and fallback plans .
Records Management system	Tool of Control Procurements Process	Every email , every payment, and every written and verbal communication must be recorded , kept and stored. , in big projects one person or more maybe assigned for recording only.
Claims administration	Tool of Control Procurements Process	Claim is an assertion that the buyer did something that has hurt the seller and the seller is asking for compensation , this technique deals with changes and disputes , disputes are the best to be settled through negotiations.
Procurement performance reviews	Tool of Control Procurements Process	Buyers project manager analysis all available date to verify that the seller is performing as they should., the purpose of this technique is to determine if changes are needed .
Contract change control system	Tool of Control Procurements Process	This system includes change procedures, forms , dispute resolution processes and tracking systems .
Final Report	Output of Close Project/Phase process	Document which provides summary of project performance such as scope , quality , cost and risk objectives .