PMI-ACP (Agile certified practitioner) certification exam is designed on the basis of an integrated set of skills and knowledge drawn from different agile principles and tools along with several agile approaches. The project management institute does not endorse any specific study guides for the PMI-ACP examination. However, PMI does list a few PMI ACP books on their website for reference. In this article, let’s take a look at how you can select good books for PMI-ACP certification preparation.
Since a single study guide cannot cover all the agile topics for the ACP examination, the PMI-ACP aspirants will have to go through a range of study guides, and books that cover all the topics as per the exam structure.
Choose the Right PMI ACP Books and Study Material
You will come across several PMI-ACP books and study material in the market, but you need to choose the right PMI-ACP study material with the objective to clear the examination and get certified. Here are a few things that you must consider to select the right PMI-ACP study material.
Topics Covered in The Study Guide
You have to ensure that the ACP book covers the entire exam outline. It is important to read the exam content outline (ECO) before selecting a particular book.
Format
Format refers to the book available in the form of a digital or physical copy. It depends on the personal preference of candidates as some prefer a portable digital copy of the ACP guide, while some prefer a physical copy to mark important pages and make notes in the guide itself.
Ease Of Availability
It refers to how easily the book can be made available to you. Whether the ACP book requires to be ship from abroad or whether the book will reach you on time for you to go through them before the exam.
Writing Style of The Concepts
Every ACP study guide follows a different writing style. Some follow a simple writing style and are suitable for candidates new to agile methodologies, whereas some books follow complex academic definitions of topics.
Therefore, it is important to select the books that are suitable to your skills, experience, and are easy to grasp.
Author Credentials
You can check out the author of the book before selecting it for your preparation. Some books are written by highly experienced agile practitioners and it is always a good idea to go through the author bio section of the book.
The Freshness of The Content
You have to make sure you select the latest books with the updated exam structure as there are possibilities that you will encounter a wide range of old books in the market from previous editions with outdated content.
Price Of the Study Guide
Study guides and books can be a bit expensive. It is recommended to consider your budget before purchasing a book. You can also find pre-loved ACP guides and books from second-hand marketplaces.
If you are interested to know more about PMI-ACP, go through our latest blog on How to Become ACP and get ready to ace the interview.
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List of the Best PMI ACP Books
Here is a list of books recommended by PMI for the ACP exam preparation.
- PMI-ACP Exam Prep (Updated 2nd edition)- Mike Griffiths
- Agile estimating and planning- Mike Cohn, 2005
- An Agile practice guide- PMI,2017
- Agile project management: creating innovative products (2nd edition)- Jim Highsmith, 2009
- An Agile retrospectives: Making good teams great- Esther Derby, Diana Larsen, Ken Schwaber, 2006
- Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game (2nd Edition)- Alistair Cockburn, 2006
- Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition- Lyssa Adkins, 2010
- Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme (8th Edition)- Robert K. Wysocki, 2019
- Exploring Scrum: The Fundamentals- Dan Rawsthorne with Doug Shimp, 2011
- Kanban In Action- Marcus Hammarberg, Joakim Sunden, 2014
- Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for your Technology Business- David J. Anderson, 2010
- Lean-Agile Software Development: Achieving Enterprise Agility- Alan Shalloway, Guy Beaver, James R. Trott, 2009
- User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development- Mike Cohn, 2004
Conclusion
PMI-ACP Certified can be quite beneficial for candidates aspiring to showcase their skills and knowledge in agile project management. More and more organizations irrespective of the industry are employing agile methodologies in their projects.
The candidates need to have all the necessary agile skills and knowledge to ace the PMI-ACP examination in the first attempt. In order to ace the ACP exam, one must select the right study material for preparation. The books that you choose during your preparation journey will play an essential role in cracking the ACP exam and you can also refer to these books from time to time.
Want to learn more about PMI-ACP Certification, you may also check our blog related to Steps to Achieve PMI-ACP Certification. The books that we have mentioned in this article are some of the top ACP guides that you can consider for exam preparation.
FAQs
You can go through the list of PMI ACP preparation books mentioned in this article. However, the agile practice guide published by PMI is a must-read for exam preparation.
PMI ACP is an open book exam that candidates can take from anywhere in the world and it still requires candidates to prepare for the exam as per the exam syllabus and structure prior to the exam date.
PMI-ACP consists of 7 main domains of agile practices and techniques. You can refer to the PMI ACP syllabus for the preparation.
The PMI ACP exam may not be as difficult as the PMP exam, but it still requires candidates to have a wide range of knowledge about agile methodologies, have familiarity with all the topics, and have the ability to answer questions quickly.
A candidate gets three attempts in a year to pass the PMI ACP examination.
