PfMP® Certification Exam Preparation Training

The Strategic Alignment domain focuses on making sure that all the work in a portfolio components (programs, projects, and operations) stays in line with the organizational strategic objectives, goals, and priorities. It’s an ongoing process that helps ensure resources are being used on the right things. Portfolio strategic alignment also includes recommending portfolio scenarios and related components and outlining a high level portfolio roadmap to guide the organization in the right direction from the start.

This topic will help you learn how to ensure all portfolio components stay aligned with evolving business strategies. You will explore tools and techniques for maintaining alignment and communicating strategic impact.

In this topic, you will learn how to define strategic goals that support long-term business growth and act as a bridge between the organization's vision and its actionable objectives. You will also understand how to create specific, measurable strategic objectives that guide portfolio planning and execution, ensuring alignment with overall business strategy and driving value delivery across the portfolio.

In this topic, you will learn the purpose and content of a portfolio charter. You will understand how it formally authorizes the portfolio and defines roles, responsibilities, scope, and strategic intent.

In this topic, you will learn how to develop a portfolio roadmap that outlines the timeline and sequencing of initiatives. This helps communicate strategic priorities and ensures stakeholders understand how objectives will be achieved over time.

The Governance domain covers setting up the rules and structure for how the portfolio will be managed. It includes creating a plan, getting approval to move forward, and making sure everything is done properly. This part of portfolio management ensures that the right projects and programs are approved, and that the processes used to manage them are clearly defined and regularly improved.

In this topic, you will gain a foundational understanding of portfolio governance and its critical role in ensuring that portfolio decisions align with organizational strategy. You will learn how governance provides structure, accountability, and oversight to manage resources, risks, and performance effectively across the portfolio.

In this topic, you will be introduced to the various roles involved in portfolio governance and how each contributes to decision-making and oversight. You will understand the responsibilities and interactions of these roles in maintaining effective governance practices.

The Portfolio Performance domain focuses on managing the portfolio based on the rules and processes set by the governance model. It involves regularly checking how all the projects and programs are doing, making sure everything stays balanced, and adjusting as needed. It also includes reporting on progress to show how well the portfolio is helping the organization reach its strategic goals.

This module introduces the core concepts of managing portfolio capacity and capabilities. It sets the stage by explaining why this is important and outlines the key principles that guide how organizations should approach it. Essentially, it's about making sure you have the right people, tools, and skills to do the work aligned with strategic goals.

This module focuses on how organizations track and plan the use of their resources—like time, people, and budget. It explains how to understand current capacity and plan ahead to avoid overloading teams or falling short when demand increases.

This module focuses on matching what the organization can deliver (supply) with what’s needed (demand). It covers how to analyze gaps, allocate resources wisely, and make smart adjustments to get the most out of what's available.

This module is all about skills and strengths—what the organization is good at and what it needs to improve. It covers assessing current capabilities, building new ones, and making sure existing strengths are maintained over time.

The Performance Monitoring module looks at how to track performance and use data to make informed decisions. It also emphasizes finding the right balance between how much work the organization can take on and what it’s capable of doing well.

Portfolio Risk Management involves identifying and managing risks across the entire portfolio in a way that matches the organization’s comfort level with risk. It helps leaders make better, more informed decisions by keeping potential issues under control.

This module introduces what portfolio risk management is all about. It explains the importance of identifying, understanding, and handling risks at the portfolio level—not just individual projects. The guiding principles lay the foundation for how risks should be approached and managed across the entire portfolio.

This module will dive deeper into how to actively manage risks, not just react to them. The focus is on maintaining a balance—taking enough risks to grow, but not so many that the organization is exposed to serious threats. It’s about smart risk-taking.

This module explains how to prepare for and plan the risk management process. It introduces key elements like the risk framework (the structure for managing risk) and risk perception (how different stakeholders view and react to risk). It helps ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to understanding and planning for risk.

This final module focuses on building a solid framework and a clear, actionable plan to manage risk. It lays out how risk information is organized, tracked, and used for decision-making at the portfolio level. This ensures risks are not only identified but also effectively addressed in a structured and consistent way.

The Communications Management domain focuses on keeping open and ongoing communication with everyone involved in or affected by the portfolio. It includes understanding what stakeholders need and expect, handling issues as they come up, managing any conflicts, and making sure the right people are involved and engaged in decisions and activities.

This module explains how to design an effective communication strategy for managing a portfolio. It highlights the importance of aligning communication practices with the organization’s governance model and establishing the right tools, systems, and channels (communication infrastructure) to support clear and consistent communication.

This module covers the key documents and tools used to manage communication across the portfolio. It includes the Portfolio Management Plan (which outlines how the portfolio will be managed), regular reports to keep stakeholders updated, and reusable assets like templates and guidelines that help standardize communication.

This module focuses on ensuring that communication flows properly between the portfolio level and the individual projects or programs. It sets up rules and responsibilities to maintain clarity, consistency, and accountability in communication across all parts of the portfolio.

This module is about putting the communication plan into action. It involves managing the flow of information to and from stakeholders, addressing issues, resolving misunderstandings, and making sure the right people get the right information at the right time throughout the life of the portfolio.