One of the recurring question's posed to us by the PMP workshop participants is 'Do we have to read the PMBOK?' - expecting us to say 'No, now that you have come to our workshop- you don't need too!'. However, we end up disappointing them - Unfortunately there is no escape- you have to read it- and end to end too!
With that settled- the next obvious question is how many times? Well, regardless of individual abilities, I think anyone preparing for the exam will have to read it at least once...but would most likely end up reading it two or three times!
The thought of having to read the 400 odd pages of PMBOK two to three times, makes the idea of taking the PMP exam a non-starter!
However, its not that difficult!
One of the best practice that I followed, was to not ever look at the entire PMBOK as a single book. I took the copies of individual chapters and stapled them.(Please ensure you have a licensed copy of the PMBOK for your use!) On any given day I would keep 2 or 3 chapters in my laptop bag and try to read them in whatever time I could steal at work and then some on the weekends! Its not a bad way, time permitting, to take a break at work!
Some of the smaller chapters could be read during a single coffee break! You will see you can cover anywhere between 2 to 5 chapters in a given 3 day period. If you travel by public transport, your coverage could be even better?
Always keep a pencil in hand and underline the important sentences! During the second pass of the chapter, use the same printout, but now use a florescent highlighter!
It should not take you more than 2 weeks to read through the PMBOK once. This is not that difficult after you have attended the workshop, by which time you would be fairly clear about the structure of the BOK and the Input-T&T-Output won't look so daunting!
The PMBOK can look intimidating and overwhelming! The trick is to 'Divide and Conquer' !
Happy reading!
Team Celtem.
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