CAPM & PMP ITTO questions PMBOK Guide 6th edition

You will learn about PMP ITTO questions based on the Process Groups Practice Guide (PMI has retired PMBOK Guide 6th ed. and moved the 49 processes and their related information to Process Groups Practice Guide) in this post. You will find out about:

  1. five different types of the ITTO questions
  2. sample questions based on these types
  3. tips to answer the ITTO questions

ITTO is an abbreviation for Input, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs. The bulk of the Process Groups Practice Guide, i.e all Chapters from 4th to 8th, are structured around ITTO. The Guide contains 5 PG (Process Groups), and 49 Processes. Each Process contains a large number of ITTO.

This post will be useful for both CAPM and PMP certification test aspirants. Both CAPM and PMP credential exams from PMI (Project Management Institute) are aligned to the PMBOK Guide, Process Groups Practice Guide and Agile Practice Guide.

The CAPM exam is entirely based on these Guides and most of its questions are direct knowledge based and ITTO oriented questions.

The PMP exam is not entirely based on the Guide. It is conducted in accordance with the PMP Exam Content Outline but most of its questions require a deep understanding of ITTO.

A complete understanding (and memorization) of the ITTO is must for successfully passing the CAPM and PMP certification exams.

Let’s take a closer look at different type of ITTO questions and understand how to correctly answer them.

PMP Exam ITTO Questions

There are broadly five type of ITTO questions that come in the PMI exams.

1. Direct Questions

These questions contain a Process name in the question statement and probe about the constituent ITTO.

Example Question:

An Input to the Close Project or Phase is

    1. A. Deliverables
    1. B. Accepted deliverables
    1. C. Verified deliverables
    1. D. None of the above

Answer & Explanation:

Option B is the correct answer. Process Groups Practice Guide reference, page no. 196, Figure no. 8.1.

To learn the ITTO and to correctly answer the Direct questions, you can download my ITTO process chart by clicking on the following button. It comes along with a companion workbook for doing exercises. It is a great resource for remembering and memorizing ITTO.

2. Reverse Questions

These questions contain an ITTO term in the question statement and probe about the parent Process.

Example Question:

Scope Baseline is an Output of which of the following processes?

    1. A. Plan Scope Management
    1. B. Create WBS
    1. C. Define Scope
    1. D. Plan Resource Management

Answer & Explanation:

Option B is the correct answer. Process Groups Practice Guide reference, page no. 87, Figure no. 5.9.

I have compiled an eBook containing learning oriented Mind Maps from the PMBOK Guide. The eBook contains 66 ITTO Minds Maps. You can look at a few sample mind maps on my Pinterest page.

The Mind Maps will help you in correctly answering the Reverse ITTO questions. You can buy the eBook by clicking on the button below.

3. Definition Based Questions

These questions probe about the definition of a Process or an ITTO.

Example Question:

Validate Scope is:

    1. A. Performed at the end of project planning
    1. B. Essentially same as control quality
    1. C. Formal acceptance of the completed project deliverables
    1. D. Primarily concerned with the correctness of the work results

Answer & Explanation:

Option C is the correct answer. Process Groups Practice Guide reference, page no. 169.

To answer these type of questions correctly, you have understand the definition and significance of each Process and their constituent ITTO.

4. Relational Questions

Many Processes in the PMBOK Guide are connected to each other through an Output/Input relation. Output of one Process becomes Input to another Process. These questions probe your knowledge about the relationship between such processes.

Example Question:

All the following Processes are connected to ‘Perform Integrated Change Control’ through ‘Approved Change Requests’ except:

    1. A. Direct and Manage Project Work
    1. B. Control Quality
    1. C. Control Procurements
    1. D. Develop Project Management Plan

Answer & Explanation:

Option D is the correct answer. Process Groups Practice Guide, look for Inputs of all the 4 Processes. Develop Project Management Plan does not have Approved Change Requests as an Input.

I have prepared an Excel spreadsheet with dynamic search and filters for finding out where all a particular ITTO term is used in the PMBOK Guide and how it is used. You can learn about its benefits in my post on ITTO Excel sheet.

The Dynamic ITTO Cheat Sheet will help you in correctly answering the Relational ITTO questions. You can buy it by clicking on the button below.

5. Situational ITTO Questions

The Situational questions are usually based on the real life scenarios.They are very different from an ITTO question but sometimes an ITTO question takes form of a situational question.

In such questions, a problem situation is described and then the question asks for a ITTO or Process name as a solution to the problem.

Example Question:

You are performing schedule network analysis along with your team. You want to analyze different schedule scenarios and their impact to the project. Which of the following technique would be useful?

    1. A. Alternatives Generation
    1. B. Schedule Compression
    1. C. Delphi Technique
    1. D. What-if scenario analysis

Answer & Explanation:

D is the correct answer. Process Groups Practice Guide reference, page no. 313, para on ‘What-If Scenario Analysis’.

For answering the Situational ITTO questions, you have to have a deep understanding of the PMBOK Guide concepts. I have prepared an eBook, which contains these concepts. You can learn about my Concepts eBook in my post on How to answer the PMP Exam Questions.

The Concepts eBook will help you in correctly answering the Situational ITTO questions. You can buy it by clicking on the button below.

How To Answer PMBOK Guide ITTO Questions Without Memorizing?

Here are 7 broad strategies for answering the ITTO questions correctly:

  1. Read the question carefully. The answer will be in the question itself.
  2. Identify the Process Group.
  3. Identify the key phrase(s) in the question.
  4. Use the process of elimination to expunge obviously incorrect options.
  5. Understand the purpose of PMBOK Guide Processes and ITTO conceptually.
  6. Understand the relationships between different processes e.g. output of process X is input to process Y.

You can’t escape ITTO if you are preparing for the PMI credential exams. You would need to use a combination of memorization, understanding logical relationships, reasoning, and analytical deduction to answer the ITTO questions.

My ITTO learning tools aids in all these things. You can buy these tools by clicking on the following buttons:

These tools are useful for both PMP and CAPM aspirants. In addition, you can also buy my ITTO Quiz for practicing questions and validating your ITTO knowledge.

You can also buy these tools as a bundle at 10% discount.

Over To You

Do you find questions based on ITTOs difficult? Have you ever tried to memorize the inputs/outputs? Was it easy? What has been your overall study approach so far?

I would love to hear from you

All the best for your exam.

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47 Comments

  1. I agree to what you have mentioned that answer to the question lies in question. Thanks for providing this tip.

    -Mayank

    Reply

  3. Thank you for your post. Now I am intrigued, can’t the identification of alternative techniques be also part of collect requirements? As you say, output of “Collect Requirements” is an Input to “Define Scope”, I understand why this would be “Define Scope”, however, before feeding the input into the “Define Scope” and establish which techniques should the project consider, I will be gathering information on alternative techniques, in order to select which ones should be more adequate, and this step will be performed during the “Collect Requirements”. Can’t I say that this is part of the “Collect Requirements” as well? Clearly the keyword here is identifying, so I am assuming that “identifying” relate us to “Define Scope”, if instead “identifying” the word in question was “collecting” or “gathering” this would indicate we were in the “Collect Requirements” stage?
    Thank you for your post. It will be useful for me next year when I start my study towards PMP.
    Have a nice Christmas.
    Helder Silva

    Reply

    1. Hi Helder

      Thanks for your comment.

      As I have suggested in the blog post, it is important to understand the logical concepts behind ITTO. Specifically (for this Q) the meaning of “alternative generation” should be understood. Without conceptual understanding Q will go wrong.

      “Alternatives Generation” cannot be used for Collecting Requirements. The PMBOK Guide states that “Alternatives Generation is a technique used to…different approaches…perform the work”. Collect Requirements is about “what to do” whereas Define scope is about “what to do, what not to do and how to do”. “Different approaches” is part of “how to do”.

      Hope it helps. Good luck.

      BR
      Praveen.

      Reply

  4. Dear Praveen,
    I came across your ITTO PDF guide just a couple of days before my PMP exam. It was a great great help. I am sure I would not have answered some of the questions around ITTO if not for your material. Thanks again for putting together the same.

    Best Regards,
    Vijay

    Reply

  5. Hello Praveen,

    Thank you for the good ideas on how to answer the tricky questions posed in PMP Exam. Can you please send the ITTO PDF guide or spreadsheet for the Sixth Edition PMBOK?

    Reply

      1. Hi! I downloaded the spreadsheet for the 6th edition. My exam in a few weeks will be based off the 5th edition still. Do you have this same spreadsheet for PMBOK 5?

        Reply

  6. HI praveen,

    Have you by any chance been able to update the ITTO guide for PMBOK Sixth Edition. if not, how soon should we expect it. It will be helpful if this is released before the 20th.Thanks as i await your usual consideration

    Reply

  8. Hi Alex, Cletus
    Thanks for your query. I am working on ITTO Guide based on 6th ed. I plan to release it in the coming week.
    BR, Praveen.

    Reply

    1. Hi Praveen
      Thanks the explanation was very helpful. When do you think the ITTO guide for the PMBOK Sixth Edition will be ready?

      Best
      Sarah

      Reply

  10. Hi Praveen, the explanation of question and PDF is very helpful. Good that I found out about this site! BR.

    Reply

  15. Hi Praveen, Gumroad has very poor reviews and I’m not comfortable rooting my payment through them for fear of unauthorised subsequent debits.

    Could you provide alternative means of payment, like paying directly to your account on PayPal?

    Thank you.

    Reply

    1. Hi Tiffany,

      The mails to your email id (t****ny@m*******s*******s.com) are bouncing. Can you provide another email id?

      BR
      Praveen.

      Reply

  17. Hi Praveen,
    Can you please give a short overview about the contents in the chart and also with the cost details.

    Thanks and regards
    Palani Anand

    Reply

  18. Hello Pravin Sir

    I have Read Rita Mulcahy’s guide to PMP 9th edition Thrice each time understanding it better, PMBOK guide- once, I have gone through ITTO’s and understood each and every Technique , Given Mock test 4 times before exam and score 60-75% every time , But still I failed in my first attempt.

    Now i don’t understand what strategy to use now for my second Attempt.

    Can you please help me out !!!

    Reagards
    Santosh

    Reply

  20. I recently took my CAPM test the first time. I failed. I want to be successful during my retest. I need to know what’s the best timeframe to retest? I’m thinking 6-8weeks. I also want to know will handwritten flashcards be a good tool to help out. I didn’t use them my first try.

    Reply

  21. Hi Kimberly

    Sorry to hear about CAPM. I think 6-8 weeks is good enough a timeframe.

    CAPM tests your knowledge of the PMBOK Guide so you should be thorough with its content especially ITTO.

    Flashcards in any form are good for rote learning but some people do not like them. Try to make a few and check if they are helpful. If you want, you can also buy my ITTO learning tools bundle – https://www.pmbypm.com/pmp-itto-learning-strategy. 🙂

    Wish you good luck for next time.

    Reply

  22. You state that you don’t need to memorize ITTOs but items 6 and 7 of your tips are literally saying you need to know the Inputs and Outputs of processes.

    6.Try to find relationships between different processes e.g. output of process X is input to process Y.
    7.Use Data Flow Diagrams described in the PMBOK Guide to understand process and inputs/outputs flow.

    Reply

    1. John,

      Which guide are you referring to? I have a number of guides on my blog. The guide referred to in this blog post does not have points 6 & 7 as you have written.

      Having said that, the points 6 & 7 still does not mean memorization of ITTO – it means understanding the significance of relationships between different processes of the PMBOK Guide.

      Br, Praveen.

      Reply

  24. Dear Sir,

    After reading your Sample ITTO Question explanation, I purchased the PMP ITTO Concepts eBook through the given link on this page.

    Thanks.

    Reply

  25. Hi Praveen,

    Cleared PMP with an overall score of “Above Target” in my first attempt. Bought this almost a week before the exam and i was very confident of anwsering any ITTO question. But, as you have mentioned, ITTOs are extremely over-rated. I didn’t find a single ITTO question in the exam. All the questions were scenario-based. But, i would still like to thank you in the sense that i was able to do a mind-map with the help of this guide to understand the knowledge areas across domains in a much better way.

    Reply

  26. Hi Praveen,

    I want to know if your eBook is up to date for the 6th Edition exam. I see a lot of comments from two or one year ago. My exam is in December 2020 and I am having a hard time with the ITTOs. I really see how to answer the questions and I really need a better way to tackle the ITTOs since I just can’t memorize all that information. So, please let me know if your ebook is for the 6th edition. I want to purchase it. Thanks.

    Reply

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