How to Calculate Project Hours for PMP Process Groups

PMP certification is an important career move for a project manager.

Project Management Professional, or PMP, is a vital certification for a project manager. Distributed by the Project Management Institute, PMP certification is an indicator that a project manager has the skills and experience needed to guide a project from inception to completion. The application process for PMP certification requires that the applicant have a minimum number of hours of experience, and is specific as to what is acceptable.

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Instructions

- 1
  
  Write down all the projects you have worked on where you lead the project or directed project tasks.
- 2
  
  Write down the time frame of these projects, including the dates they started and ended, as well as how many hours per day you worked on each project.
- 3
  
  Make a note of any projects whose time frames overlap; you can only count the hours from one project if you worked on two projects at the same time.
- 4
  
  Add the hours of your various projects, excluding any hours that overlap another project's hours, to arrive at the total number of hours of experience as a project manager.
- 5
  
  Break the hours down into the five process groups: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.
- 6
  
  Calculate how many of your total hours were spent gaining approval for the projects you were working on, and place the amount under the initiating category.
- 7
  
  Calculate how many of your total hours were spent planning how the projects would be executed, and place the amount under the planning category.
- 8
  
  Calculate how many of your total hours were spent implementing the projects, and place the amount under the executing category.
- 9
  
  Calculate how many of your total hours were spent overseeing the people who were working on the projects, and place the amount under the monitoring and controlling category.
- 10
  
  Calculate how many of your total hours were spent delivering the final product, closing down the project, and documenting any lessons learned, and place the amount under the closing category.
- 11
  
  Add the total number of hours in each process group together and make sure it matches your total number of hours of experience.