I85PREP
⌘ K
PEI PMA Grade 3 study materials
PEI PMA Grade 3 study resources

PEI PMA Grade 3: Project fundamentals

PEI PMA Grade 3 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Project fundamentals

What this domain covers

PMA Grade 3 tests whether you can describe a project as a temporary, unique endeavour producing a defined output, and distinguish it from operations, programmes and portfolios. Expect questions on the business case, charter, lifecycle, development approach, organisational structure and the role of the project manager and PMO.

Core rules

  • A project is temporary and produces a unique product, service or result; operations are ongoing and repetitive. A programme groups related projects for coordinated benefits; a portfolio is a collection of projects/programmes selected to meet strategic objectives.
  • The business case justifies the investment and is revisited at stage gates; the benefits management plan defines who measures which benefit, when, and the baseline.
  • The charter authorises the project and names the project manager; the project management plan integrates subsidiary plans and baselines.
  • Predictive, iterative, incremental and agile approaches differ in delivery cadence and change handling; the lifecycle phases and stage gates are governance choices, not fixed rules.
  • Organisation type affects authority: functional (PM coordinates), weak/balanced/strong matrix, projectized (PM has most authority). A PMO may be supportive, controlling or directive.

Worked example

A utility is replacing 40,000 streetlights with LED units over 18 months while the maintenance crew continues routine repairs. The replacement has a defined start, end, unique output and a benefits case (energy savings, reduced failure rate); it is a project. Routine repairs are operations. If the utility also runs a smart-meter rollout and a network-resilience upgrade under one transformation director to share benefits, those projects form a programme. The portfolio is the whole capital investment plan.

Traps

  • Calling a repetitive service a project because it is large.
  • Treating the charter as the detailed plan; it is authorisation, not scope baseline.
  • Assuming a strong matrix gives the PM complete control of resources - functional managers still own line resources.
  • Confusing product scope (features of the streetlights) with project scope (the work to install them).