Understand it
If you understand something, you are more likely to remember it. Ask questions during the course and get fully involved in the exercises to reinforce/test your understanding. And be honest with yourself about what you do and don’t know. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.” If your grandmother was in front of you could you explain Earned Value Management to them?
Structure it
‘Join the dots’, find patterns, put related things together in a meaningful order to reduce the sheer volume of information. Some people use mindmaps, others prefer tables to capture and structure information. The table below shows just some of the processes that delegates will encounter on the course – some process steps are remarkably similar. There are also similarities in the ways that stakeholders, benefits and risks are Identified. Some of the management plans in the Project Management Plan also have very similar content. The more patterns you can find, the less you need to recall and the less intimidating the exam becomes.
Quiz, do not re-read
Passive reading rarely makes things stick. Do lots of practice questions, like the one’s given in the PMQ book. Also use Flash cards, physical ones or free online versions like Cram which has apps for mobile devices and lots of existing sets on the PMQ subject areas.
Relate it to yourself
Personal relevance makes things stick and takes advantage of what you already know.
Visualise it
Associating information to sensations is memorable and vision is the most sensory cue for most people. So draw pictures to capture the key aspects of subjects.
Target your exam revision
Concentrate on things you understand.
