CompTIA Project+ study guide
CompTIA Project+ · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
CompTIA Project+ is an entry-level project management credential offered by CompTIA, aimed at professionals who coordinate, support, or lead projects as part of a broader technical or business role. It suits people moving into project work for the first time, team members who need to speak the language of formal project delivery, and IT staff who manage small initiatives alongside their primary responsibilities. Unlike credentialing programs that assume years of documented project leadership, Project+ is positioned as a foundational certificate, which makes it a common starting point before more advanced project management designations. The exam is structured around three broad areas: project management concepts, including roles, constraints, and lifecycle models; planning and forecasting, covering scope, schedule, cost, and risk baselines; and executing and delivering, which addresses stakeholder communication, quality, change control, and project closure. Topics on this exam: Project Management Concepts, Planning and Forecasting, and Executing and Delivering. The CompTIA Project+ study guide has 3 sections and about 991 words.
01Project Management Concepts
A project is a temporary, unique effort that creates a defined product, service, or result. Operations are ongoing and repetitive. Programs group related projects; portfolios group projects, programs, and operations to meet strategic goals. A common trap is labeling routine, indefinite work as a project.
313 words, about 2 min02Planning and Forecasting
Planning creates the scope baseline: scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary. Decompose work until packages can be estimated and assigned. Scheduling means defining activities, sequencing dependencies, estimating durations, and developing the schedule. The critical path is the longest path through the network and determines the shortest possible project duration; its activities have zero float.
353 words, about 2 min03Executing and Delivering
Execution includes directing and managing project work, developing the team, performing quality assurance, managing communications and stakeholder engagement, conducting procurements, and implementing risk responses. The PM coordinates work, removes impediments, and keeps baselines current through change control. Any change to scope, schedule, cost, or quality should go through integrated change control: document the request, assess impacts, obtain approval from the change control board or delegated authority, update plans and baselines if approved, and communicate the decision. Gold plating means adding unrequested features; it is not scope validation.
325 words, about 2 min