A quick, solid foundation for scoring well on both the PMP and CAPM exams is to rehearse these over-arching MEGA-themes:

The project manager protects the project by:

Theme 1: Acting Proactively – influencing the factors that would have a negative (or positive) effect on the project knowing, respecting and following the rules, customs and norms of the project and its stakeholders timeliness & transparency in communications

Theme 2: Acting as the interface for all stakeholder groups, engaging appropriate parties throughout the projects many phases, gathering information, documenting, organizing, maintaining/updating and gaining formal agreement on project plans and deliverables

I have continued to condense these themes after several years of working with the material in the PMBOK Guide week after week, for more than 12 years, teaching thousands of people to pass the PMP and CAPM exams. I would be interested in hearing what other people see as their “short-list” of crucial, must-know themes (not facts or definitions) for effective project management.