My first exposure to the PMP® (Project Management Professional) certification was several years ago when I was dealing with a stakeholder over at National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Though I had worked in technical consulting before, I hadn’t worked strictly as a PM until this point.  I remember seeing this stakeholder had this “PMP” at the end of her name and I also recall how she was horrible to deal with.  She was demanding, rude, and exhibited no control over what she did.  In retrospect, she didn’t follow the PMBoK at all.  My boss at the time made things very clear to me.  He said talk to her a lot.  She liked to feel important and in charge.  I didn’t have formal PM training at the time so I treated her like I would any customer.  I was polite and engaged her, listening to not just her needs but her wants.  Wow did she had a lot of wants.

Oh did I say I wanted that button in blue?  That’s not the blue I wanted.  Be specific?  Bluer then that.  Make it bluer than that but not too blue.  No, I won’t sign a change request.  Just do it.

I tried to understand her motivations.  But let’s face it, sometime people are just miserable and mean and you have just let it go.  Because she had a PMP credential, she was suddenly justified in her actions.  I compare this with the age old question, “What do you call the people who graduate last in their medical-school class?  That answer is “Doctor”.

This person clearly was hiding behind her credential.  As far as I was concerned, she gamed the system.  She passed the test but didn’t learn the lessons.  That’s not how I operate.  But, I saw the trend.  The PMP was getting the hype from stakeholders and hiring managers.  It suggests a PMP is a prerequisite to being able to manage a project.

My motivation was different from this “paper” PMP and many others I’ve met since.  I wanted to be a great project manager.  I wanted to create things and solve problems.  I wanted to be both disciplined and personal.  So, I studied and studied, with the hope of becoming a PMP and I did it.  For those out there who think they can go get the certification and be great project managers, think again.  That’s like saying all great cooks are great chefs.  They aren’t!  Great cooks can follow directions.  Great chefs can create something remarkable out of whatever they are given.  Just because you’ve been to culinary school doesn’t make you a great chef.  If you don’t have that creativity and passion, it’s just not going to happen.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not so arrogant that I think I am a great project manager.  I am merely a student of project management who wishes to refine his craft and teach others to do it as well.  If you think getting the PMP is what you’ll need to be taken seriously, do what you have to do.  I don’t write the rule book.  I just try to play the game the best I can.  If I can help others out there, I will.

This post was inspired by Geoff Crane and the comment he made here on The Critical Path.

(Image by officiallifebydesign.com)

Every month I get a copy of PMI Today and I annotate 3 data points: New PMPs for the month, New PMPs YTD, and Total PMPs.  You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see PMI is certifying a volume of PMPs with no end it sight.  In January, there were 3,714 new PMPs.  Since they’ve only reported January (2010) numbers, YTD totals match.  What is the shocker is the total number of PMPs.  We’re looking at 367,619, up from 361,238 in December.  That’s right, numbers are up overall 6,381 in one month.

I did a quick compare to January of last year.  The overall total of PMPs is up by 45,369 in 12 months.  Average that out and you’re looking at 3,780 a month.

Some of you out there with other credentials curse the PMP®.  I have to admit, some of the worst project managers I have EVER met, were PMPs.  I guess the same could be said for any profession.  Certifications don’t guarantee quality, but like it or not, a lot of people drank the Kool-Aid.  If you want to exceed in project management, many of you find yourself going after one certification or another.

I do think there is merit in the PMP certification, though I would feel more comfortable if I thought PMI wasn’t in it for the money.  That’s kind of hypocritical of me, since I do make money in the support of the PMP certification.  My prediction of 2010 is PMI will hit 400,000 PMPs by June and close to 450,000 by year end.

Though not all of these current 367,619 PMPs are currently PMI membership holders, if they were (at $119 each) you’d be looking at $43,746,661 in annual membership fees.

Isn’t math fun!?

After one of my readers asked me about PMP PDU claims, I made a telephone call to PMI. The question revolved around Category 2H and the proper way to prove you have met the criteria of the PDU.  In the past, I purposely formatted round-table discussion agendas a certain way to make it easy on the PMPs to claim PDUs.  So, what proof do we need to claim category 2H PDUs?  And, how many PDUs can you claim for being employed as a project manager?

Category: 2H
Description: Practitioner of project and/or program management services for more than 1,500 project hours per calendar year.
Maximum PDUs: Time in service 6 months: 5 PDUs Maximum 15 PDUs may be earned per cycle (3 years).

What does that mean?  Based on the telephone conversation I had, if you’ve worked as a PM for at least 6 months, you can claim 5 PDUs.  Otherwise, if you are able to say you spend more than 1,500 hours per calendar year in that roll, you also qualify to claim the 5 PDUs.  Within your Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) cycle, which is now 3 years, you can do this 3 times.  Do the math and you have a total of 15 maximum PDUs, if you’re a full time PM.  That’s not bad!  You’re 1/4 the way to meeting the goal of 60 required PDUs per CCR and you haven’t spent a dollar on training.

What about proof?  When claiming PDUs for something like a round-table discussion, the only proof you need is an agenda or something similar. But, I was really surprised by they answer I got from PMI for Category 2H.  You don’t need any proof.  When I was audited, prior to taking my exam, I provided a detailed account of my project experiences and areas of focus.  None of this is necessary to maintain your credential. I was very specific how I framed my question to PMI.

Me: Please confirm, yes or no, if I have my PMP certification and I show up to work every day with the title of PM, I rate 5 PDUs a year?  Nothing else is required?

PMI Answer: Yes, that is correct

I have to admit, I don’t agree with this.  What’s the point of telling people to follow a process if you have no mechanism in place to verify they are following it correctly?

What do you think?

This week I really wanted to turn up the volume of things I wrote about.  I have a lot to say (and write) about project management and if you missed reading my blog on a given day and don’t have an RSS feed or follow me on Twitter, you’d have to go searching in the archives to find it.  I don’t think that’s good enough.  I should make it easy for you to read what I write.  Hopefully, this week in review will help you find something new while you enjoy your coffee or tea.

1/28/2010

Seeing Value From The Customer Perspective

I don’t care if you’re using Agile, Waterfall, or other methods to deliver value.  What is important is you understand your process and what mechanisms provide the greatest value to the customer.  Just because a process does not appear valuable to you, it does not mean the process does not provide value…

1/29/2010

Refine Your Process If You Must Deviate From It

If you’re looking for a free Microsoft Visio template of a Sprint process workflow, which you can edit at will, you can download it here.  As I mentioned in my post Seeing Value From The Customer Perspective, if you think you need to deviate from a documented or understood process, rewrite or refine your process to account for the deviations…

1/30/2010

The Impact Of Social Networking On Project Management

Good leaders do not operate in a vacuum. They exchange ideas and information with people. Offer free information and it will come back to you tenfold. Listen to knowledgeable people and then make a more educated leadership decision… In this post I compared the traditional communication paths and how that process is turned on its ear, thanks to social networking…

1/31/2010

This Is How You Know When To Kill A Project

A personal rant about paper telephone books and how I never realized, until now, who the real customer was. There is a very similar parallel between the newspaper industry and the printed phone book industry.  They both believe or promote the scarcity of information.  That scarcity justifies cost.  To the contrary, we now live with an abundance of information.  That information is freely distributed and reaches a broader audience…

2/1/2010

The December Numbers Are In For PMPs

Yes, the December numbers are in.  December 2009 numbers for Project Management Professional (PMP®) certifications were published and it looks like there will be over 400,000 holding the certification in 2010…

2/2/2010

And The Best Methodology Is

I recently commented on two blogs that address similar topics.  Jesse Fewell wants to empower teams to succeed, equip managers to lead, and enable executives to unlock the secrets of high performing organizations.  Jesse wrote a blog post offering the real reasons behind the methodology wars.  It’s an insightful post and I would recommend you go and read it…

The other blog post was from Mike Cottmeyer, someone I turn to on a regular basis to find inspiration and wisdom within the industry.  Mike wrote a blog post asking Why is Agile so hard to sell? Again, it is a very good read and you should set aside some time to read some of his writings…

The Pain Of IE6 And Application Development

There are legacy applications out there that were built on IE6 and it’s not an easy migration.  There are some Agencies which ONLY use IE6 and the users don’t have permissions to install a new browser.  So, what do you do?…

2/3/2010

Updated 10 Step Help To Submit PMP PDUs

All PMPs need 60 PDUs during a CCR cycle so don’t put it off until the last minute.  I document the process on how to claim your require 60 PDUs…

2/4/2010

Using Common Sense With Documentation

Though I really love good documentation, going heavy on it does not guarantee a successful project.  My recommendation is you spend a little time identifying documentation that truly meets your needs.  More importantly, identify documentation that truly meets your customer’s needs…

2/5/2010

Managing Risks and Opportunities

Washington DC is in the process of getting 20-30 inches of snow, over the next 24 hours.  Though I know you can’t foresee all possible issues which may occur over the course of a project, you should make an honest attempt to identify them in order to open a dialog with your stakeholders.  Has weather ever delayed your project or pushed it over budget?…

I’m in the process of helping my client make their submissions for PMI Professional Development Units (PDUs). All PMPs need 60 PDUs during a CCR cycle so don’t put it off until the last minute. In this case, my client participated in a workshop. If you want to collect PDUs, you’re going to need some kind of evidence. It might be a program agenda, copies of a publication, transcript, certificate, registration form… do I need to go on? This is actually for you in the event PMI audits you. In this case, participating in a workshop, the evidence is not required to actually complete the PDU request online.  Because PMI has updated their website, I think it’s important you know the new process.

Know your PMI ID #, Cert #, and Last Name on file with PMI.

Step 1: Log into the PMI homepage.
A Membership Status box will appear in the left navigation menu with the following data:
PMI ID No.:
Member Since:
Expires:

A Certification Status box will also appear in the left navigation menu with the following data:
PMP No.:
Earned:
Renewal Date

Within that Certification Status box, at the bottom, is a link titled “View PDUs”
(If you follow the link before logging in, you’ll be asked to do so at that time)

Step 2: Select the “View PDUs” link
Step 3: In the left navigational column, select Report professional development units (PDUs)
Step 4: Select a PDU category and sub-category (if applicable) (“2e” for participating in a workshop)
Step 5: Select the Next button
Step 6: Complete the entire form (know the knowledge area and process group)
Step 7: Select the Next button
Step 8: Review for accuracy and enter the number of PDUs (if given the option)
Step 9: Select the Next button
Step 10: Select the checkbox, agreeing to the accuracy of the claim and Select the Submit button

Go back and review your Online Transcript in a few days to verify your submission was successful.

See, it’s not as hard as you thought!

I welcome any questions you may have about the process.

Regards,

Derek