5 Major Changes Coming to the PMP Exam

Some fundamental changes are coming to the PMP® exam. Currently slated for July 2020, the content and composition of the exam will be completely revamped. As described in the new PMP Exam Content Outline, PMI commissioned a research study into trends in the project management profession. This study, called the Global Practice Analysis, investigated which job tasks and approaches people frequently use.

The job task analysis identified the knowledge and skills required to function as a project management practitioner. Now the PMP is changing to better reflect these practices; here are some of the major changes:  

1. New focus– Switching from the previous domains (initiating, planning, executing, etc.), the new exam will be based on three new domains: people, process and business environment. These new domains align more closely with the PMI Talent Triangle®sections of leadership, technical project management, and business and strategic work.

Since project management occurs in a variety of industries, the business environment domain only tests universal concepts and does not get into any specifics around project types. The split of questions between these domains is:

2. New content– The job task analysis revealed that many project managers are using agile approaches, or some agile concepts in hybrid life cycles. To reflect this, the new exam covers the complete value delivery spectrum including predictive, hybrid and agile approaches.

The inclusion of agile concepts and increased emphasis on the people aspects of projects represent a big shift. Concepts like servant leadership, conflict resolution and retrospectives were previously the domain of the PMI-ACP® exam, but will now be featured more frequently on the PMP exam (although not in so much depth or frequency).

3. New question types– A change announced by PMI at the recent PMI Global Conference in Philadelphia was the introduction of some new question types. PMI will be introducing question types that depart from the tradition multiple-choice format of four options and one correct answer.

The new format questions include drag-and-drop and clicking on a graphic region. These new question types allow questions such as asking the test taker to select the graph/chart that best fits a described scenario, or identify what part of an image applies to a described situation.

Crossword and coloring-in based questions will be added later (just kidding). Personally, I applaud the incorporation of visual questions; a large component of effective communication involves interpreting and creating graphs and charts, so any way to assess this capability is welcome.

4. Moving away from the PMBOK® Guide – The PMP exam is not a test of the PMBOK Guide.

This concept is so fundamental—yet so universally misunderstood—that I feel the need to repeat it: The PMP exam is not a test about or on the PMBOK Guide. This misunderstanding may have arisen because the domains in the old PMP Exam Content Outline matched the process groups in the PMBOK Guide. This was a logical (but flawed) assumption.

When question writers develop questions, they must reference at least two source documents for each question. This is to make sure the question is based on agreed-to sources and not just their belief or recommendation. Previously, the PMBOK Guide was frequently used as one of the sources, but it was always accompanied by at least one non-PMBOK source.

Since the Global Practice Analysis and job task analysis identified more people-based skills and agile approaches, then increasingly, the sources referenced will not include the PMBOK Guide. By structuring the PMP Exam Content Outline around people, process and business domains, PMI is further signaling the departure from PMBOK-focused topics. The list of new source materials is available here.

The takeaway for PMP aspirants is to base their studies on understanding and applying the concepts described in the domains, tasks, and enablers listed in the exam content outline.

5. Education evolution– These radical changes were planned to be implemented in December 2019. However, perhaps in part to questions from the training community, the changes have now been deferred until July 2020.

No doubt it will be a big change for Registered Education Providers (REPs) as they update their materials. Many PMP preparation courses followed the knowledge areas and domains of the old exam content outline. Now, with more of a focus on people and the decision to embrace the entire value delivery spectrum, training materials should be changed to better reflect the new exam content outline. This will take time but will result in a more practical exam.

Conclusion
I welcome the change to make the exam more realistic and better aligned with how projects operate. The increased emphasis on the people aspects of projects more closely reflects where project managers spend the bulk of their time and attention. While the process groups and knowledge areas were useful buckets for organizing content, they did not really map how the project management activities integrate across multiple domains simultaneously.

There will be an adjustment period as training companies adjust their materials. However, the end result will be an exam that better matches day-to-day work—which ultimately is where the exam should be moving to so that it’s a relevant assessment of project management activities.