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Free PMP lessons in simple English
56 short lessons for PMP exam preparation, written for people whose first language is not English. Each lesson takes about 8 minutes: a real project story, one clear picture, the key rule, a worked example, the common traps and exam-style questions with the logic explained.
How to use these PMP lessons
Start with lesson 1 and go in order, or open the lesson for a topic you find hard. Every lesson page has a free preview here. 3 lessons are completely free. In the PMCLEAR app you also get the full lessons with quick checks and calculators, plus 1,765 PMP practice questions.
Project Initiation & Business Value · Starting the project
1. The project charter: the official 'go'FREE
After this lesson you can explain what the charter does, what it contains, who signs it, and what to do when someone wants to start work…
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2. Business case, benefits and project selection (NPV, payback)
After this lesson you can read a business case, compare projects using NPV, IRR, payback and benefit-cost ratio, and ignore sunk costs.
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3. Assumptions, constraints and competing demands
After this lesson you can tell assumptions from constraints, manage them in the assumption log, and explain how the competing constraints…
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4. Kick-off, the project management plan and project documents
After this lesson you can describe the purpose of a kick-off, explain what the project management plan contains, and tell plans and…
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Project Initiation & Business Value · The organisation around the project
1. EEFs and OPAs: the environment and the organisation's assets
After this lesson you can tell enterprise environmental factors from organisational process assets, and use OPAs to plan better and improve…
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2. Organisational structures and the PM's authority
After this lesson you can describe functional, matrix and projectized structures, and adapt how you get resources to the PM's level of…
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3. The PMO and project governance
After this lesson you can describe the three types of PMO, explain phase gates, tolerances and approval thresholds, and tailor governance…
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4. Project roles and the RACI chart
After this lesson you can describe the main project roles, especially the sponsor's, and build a RACI chart with exactly one accountable…
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Delivery Approach · Choosing how to deliver
1. Choosing the delivery approach: predictive, agile or hybrid
After this lesson you can choose a delivery approach from the level of uncertainty, and explain predictive, iterative, incremental and…
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2. The predictive life cycle: phases and gates
After this lesson you can describe predictive phases and gates, explain when predictive fits, and reduce its typical risks.
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3. Hybrid delivery and tailoring
After this lesson you can design a hybrid approach with controlled interfaces, and tailor processes and governance to the project's context.
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4. Rolling wave planning and progressive elaboration
After this lesson you can plan near-term work in detail and later work at a high level, and explain progressive elaboration and the agile…
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Delivery Approach · Agile foundations
1. The agile mindset: values and principles
After this lesson you can explain the four agile values and the key principles, and use them to choose answers in agile exam questions.
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2. Agile roles: product owner, scrum master and the team
After this lesson you can describe the three agile roles, decide whose call a situation is, and handle an absent product owner or…
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3. Iterations, increments and timeboxing
After this lesson you can explain iterative vs incremental delivery, why timeboxes are fixed, and the basic rhythm of a sprint.
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4. Sprint planning: goal, capacity and commitment
After this lesson you can run sprint planning around a goal, size the commitment from real capacity, and avoid the common planning traps.
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Scope & Requirements · Scope
1. Collecting requirements and the traceability matrix
After this lesson you can choose an elicitation technique for a situation, tell different types of requirements apart, and use a…
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2. WBS and the scope baseline
After this lesson you can build a simple WBS, explain the 100% rule and the work package, and name the three parts of the scope baseline.
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3. Validate scope vs control scope (and gold plating)
After this lesson you can explain the order control quality → validate scope, handle a customer who refuses acceptance, and recognise scope…
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Schedule · Schedule
1. Dependencies, leads and lags
After this lesson you can name the four logical relationships, classify dependencies as mandatory, discretionary, external or internal, and…
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2. Critical path and floatFREE
After this lesson you can find the critical path in a network, calculate total and free float, and say which delays will move the end date.
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3. Schedule compression: crashing and fast tracking
After this lesson you can choose between crashing and fast tracking, pick the cheapest activity to crash, and recognise when compression…
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4. Resource levelling vs resource smoothing
After this lesson you can explain the difference between levelling and smoothing, and predict what each does to the end date and the…
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Cost & EVM · Cost: estimating, budget and earned value
1. Estimating techniques: analogous, parametric, three-point and bottom-up
After this lesson you can choose the right estimating technique for a situation and calculate a three-point (PERT) estimate.
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2. Cost baseline, budget and reserves
After this lesson you can build a cost baseline and a project budget from estimates and reserves, and say who may use each reserve.
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3. Earned value basics: PV, EV, AC, CPI and SPI
After this lesson you can read any earned value report and say, in one sentence, whether the project is ahead or behind, and over or under…
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4. Forecasting with earned value: EAC, ETC and VAC
After this lesson you can choose the right EAC formula from the words in the question, and explain ETC and VAC in one sentence each.
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5. TCPI and reading performance reports
After this lesson you can tell the sponsor whether a budget target is realistic, and avoid the three most common mistakes when reading…
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Quality · Quality
1. Planning quality and the cost of quality
After this lesson you can explain why prevention beats inspection, sort costs into the four cost-of-quality categories, and tell quality…
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2. Manage quality vs control quality (and control charts)
After this lesson you can tell quality assurance from quality control, read a control chart, and apply the rule of seven.
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3. The quality tools: which one, when?
After this lesson you can pick the right quality tool from the question being asked, and read a Pareto chart.
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Risk · Risk management
1. Risk process and the risk register
After this lesson you can tell a risk from an issue, describe the risk process in order, and write a proper entry in a risk register.
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2. Risk analysis: probability, impact and EMV
After this lesson you can rank risks with a probability and impact matrix, calculate expected monetary value, and use EMV to size…
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3. Risk responses: threats, opportunities and escalation
After this lesson you can name the right response strategy from a short description, and explain contingent responses, workarounds…
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Procurement · Procurement
1. Contract types and who carries the risk
After this lesson you can choose a contract type from the level of scope certainty, say who carries the cost risk, and calculate an…
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2. Procurement: plan, conduct, control and claims
After this lesson you can describe the procurement steps in order, choose between RFI, RFP and RFQ, run a fair selection, and handle a…
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Change & Configuration Control · Change & configuration control
1. Integrated change control
After this lesson you can describe the change control steps in order, say what the project manager does FIRST with a change request, and…
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2. Configuration management: the right version everywhere
After this lesson you can explain the four configuration management activities and the difference between configuration management and…
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Monitoring & Control · Monitoring, issues and escalation
1. Monitoring and controlling project work
After this lesson you can turn performance data into useful reports, use variance and trend analysis, and decide when to act yourself and…
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2. Issues, impediments and when to escalate
After this lesson you can manage issues with an issue log, help remove impediments, and choose between solving, supporting and escalating.
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Stakeholders & Communication · Stakeholders and communication
1. Identifying and analysing stakeholders
After this lesson you can identify stakeholders early, classify them on a power/interest grid, and use an engagement assessment matrix to…
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2. Engaging stakeholders and handling resistance
After this lesson you can plan, manage and monitor stakeholder engagement, and respond to the typical warning signs of disengagement or…
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3. Planning communication: who, what, how and when
After this lesson you can build a simple communications plan and choose between interactive, push and pull communication.
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4. The communication model, noise and channels
After this lesson you can explain the sender–receiver model, reduce noise, confirm understanding through feedback, and calculate…
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People & Team Leadership · Leading the team
1. Leadership styles and sources of power
After this lesson you can choose a leadership style that fits the person and the situation, and recognise the five sources of power.
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2. Motivation: what really drives people
After this lesson you can explain the main motivation theories and choose a response that addresses the real cause of low motivation.
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3. Conflict management: five techniques and when to use eachFREE
After this lesson you can name the five conflict techniques, know which is usually best, and recognise the situations where another…
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4. Emotional intelligence: respond, don't react
After this lesson you can describe the four parts of emotional intelligence and use a simple notice–pause–understand–respond routine in…
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People & Team Leadership · Building the team
1. Team development: the Tuckman stages
After this lesson you can recognise each stage of team development and choose the right support for it, including when a team moves back a…
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2. Virtual and distributed teams
After this lesson you can identify the typical problems of virtual teams and choose practical ways to include everyone, build trust and…
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3. Servant leadership
After this lesson you can describe what a servant leader does and does not do, and pick the servant-leadership answer in exam situations.
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4. Self-organising and cross-functional teams
After this lesson you can explain who decides what in an agile team, and how to help a team become self-organising without taking decisions…
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5. Team charter and working agreements
After this lesson you can explain what a team charter contains, why the team must create it together, and how to use it when problems arise.
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6. Training, skills gaps and knowledge transfer
After this lesson you can find skills gaps early, plan training as part of resource management, and protect the project from single points…
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People & Team Leadership · Ethics and professional conduct
1. The four values: responsibility, respect, fairness, honesty
After this lesson you can apply the four values of the PMI Code of Ethics to common project situations and recognise the ethical answer on…
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2. Ethics in practice: gifts, conflicts of interest and reporting
After this lesson you can handle gifts, conflicts of interest, confidential information and suspected misconduct the way the PMP expects.
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Practise what you learned
1,765 PMP practice questions with the key words, the PMP rule and every wrong answer explained.
Create a free account →Questions about these PMP lessons
Are these PMP lessons free?
Yes. Every lesson has a free preview on this page, and some lessons are free in full. The full lessons with quick checks and calculators are part of the PMCLEAR app.
Who are they for?
PMP candidates whose first language is not English, and anyone who wants the PMP logic explained simply, with predictive, agile and hybrid examples.
Do they replace the 35 hours of training?
No. PMI requires 35 contact hours of project management education. These lessons help you understand the topics and the exam questions.