Project management has been called the accidental profession. It is accidental for two main reasons.
George Sifri
Project management has been called the accidental profession. It is accidental for two main reasons. First, until quite recently, people typically become project managers after stumbling onto project management responsibilities. For example, a software engineer becomes responsible for managing a software development team. Second, knowledge of how to run projects is often not acquired through systematic inquiry but is gained in a trial-and-error fashion. Since they have received little or no formal training for their jobs, typical project managers acquire the knowledge of project management on the job. Frequently, their efforts result in expensive mistakes.
During the last ten years, project management has become an important discipline and one that is receiving increasing attention. In a recent study by Tom Peters, more than 50% of the work is done in a project format. Currently, organizations are using projects as the means by which they attempt to meet many of their strategic objectives. This results in a high-level consideration of the role of projects. Thus, organizations are requiring their employees to learn project management skills systematically. Many companies are working diligently to improve their project management skills and competencies. This new commitment to project management excellence is occurring in a wide array of industries. Some are traditional project-focused industries, such as construction, consulting, defense, aerospace, and engineering. Others are coming from nontraditional industries such as telecommunications, information systems, banking, insurance, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, commitment to upgrading project management skills is a worldwide phenomenon occurring in North American, East Asian, European, Middle Eastern, and Latin American organizations. These organizations are becoming increasingly active in putting their employees through formal project management training programs and encouraging them to become certified Project Management Professionals.
The Project Management Institute
The Project Management Institute (PMI), since it's founding in 1969, has grown to be the organization of choice for project management professionalism. With over 80,000 members worldwide, PMI is the leading nonprofit professional association in the area of Project Management. PMI establishes Project Management standards, provides seminars, educational programs and professional certification. There are other PM organizations but none have yet reached the size, credentials, or worldwide presence of PMI. In addition, it publishes A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) which describes the sum of knowledge within the profession of project management. The PMBOK Guide describes generally accepted knowledge and practices that are applicable to most projects most of the time, and that there is widespread consensus about their value and usefulness. It is also intended to provide common lexicon within the profession and practice for talking and writing about project management. It is also used by the PMI as a basic reference for its professional development programs including Certification of Project Management Professionals (PMP). The PMBOK Guide categorizes the project management body of knowledge into nine areas:
1. Project integration management
2. Project scope management
3. Project cost management
4. Project time management
5. Project risk management
6. Project quality management
7. Project communications management
8. Project procurement management
9. Project human resources management
The Project Management Professional Certification
The Project Management Institute (PMI) sponsors a project management certification program, the purpose and goal of which is the development, maintenance, evaluation, promotion, and administration of a rigorous, examination-based, professional certification credential of the highest caliber - the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential.
The PMP Program supports the international community of Project Management
Professionals and is designed to objectively assess and measure professional knowledge.
PMP program requirements and eligibility standards are applied fairly, impartially, and consistently with applicable laws. The PMP program complies with all USA state and federal government nondiscriminatory statutes and laws, and grants certification independently of a candidate's membership or nonmembership in any organization, association or other group.
To achieve PMP certification, each candidate must satisfy all educational and experiential requirements established by PMI and must demonstrate an acceptable and valid level of understanding and knowledge of project management that is tested by the Project Management Professional Certification Examination. In addition, those who have been granted the PMP credential (certificants) must demonstrate ongoing professional commitment to the field of project management by satisfying PMI's Continuing Certification Requirements Program. For more information, please visit www.pmi.org.
Computer-Based Examination
The PMP Certification Examination is offered via computer at locations in the United States, its territories and Canada, and in other countries worldwide. For a complete list of testing locations, please visit www.2test.com. The examination covers the five groups of project management processes:
1. Initiating
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Controlling
5. Closing
Eligibility Criteria
Candidates applying for certification as a Project Management Professional must satisfy the educational and experiential requirements for category 1 or category 2 and agree to abide by the Project Management Professional Code of Professional Conduct
Category 1
At the time of application, the candidate holds a baccalaureate or global equivalent university degree and has a minimum of 4,500 hours of project management experience within the five project management process groups. The number of hours on the Experience Verification Form(s) must total at least 4,500 hours and the project dates must indicate that the candidate has at least three years of project management experience within the six-year period prior to the application. Candidates must indicate at least 36 unique (non-overlapping) months of project management experience on the Experience Verification Form(s) to satisfy the three-year requirement. Additionally, at the time of application, the candidate has obtained 35 contact hours of project management education. Candidates can document all project management education hours regardless of when they were accrued. The hours must include content on project quality, scope, time, cost, human resources, communications, risk, procurement, and integration management.
Category 2
At the time of application, the candidate does not hold a baccalaureate or global equivalent university degree, but holds a high school diploma or equivalent secondary school credential and has a minimum of 7,500 hours of project management experience within the five project management process groups. The number of hours on the Experience Verification Form(s) must total at least 7,500 hours and the project dates must indicate that the candidate has at least five years of project management experience within the eight-year period prior to the application. Candidates must indicate at least 60 unique (non-overlapping) months of project management experience on the Experience Verification Form(s) to satisfy the five-year requirement. Additionally, at the time of application, the candidate has obtained 35 contact hours of project management education. A time frame is not associated with this requirement; therefore, candidates can document all project management education hours regardless of when they were accrued. The hours must include content on project quality, scope, time, cost, human resources, communications, risk, procurement, and integration management.
Who Recognizes the PMP Certification?
Major companies and government agencies worldwide recognize the PMP certification. Some companies demands that all of its employee or subcontractors that are engaged in project management activities should have be PMP certified. In other words, the PMP certification has become a market differentiator. In other words, companies that do not have PMP certification programs are at a competitive disadvantage. Some of the major companies that support project management certification include AT&T, Bell South, Bell Core, Bell Atlantic, US West, Motorola, GSK, Novartis, US West, Citibank, IBM, EDS, HP, Asea Brown Boveri, Compaq, Pacer International, Verizon, and many others. Government agencies supporting certification include the U.S. Defense Systems Management College, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Canada's Department of National Defense.
Project Management Education Providers
For many years, business schools did not recognize project management as a specialized discipline. It was extremely difficult to find a formal project-management-training course. One of the first and major players in this field is George Washington University and Educational Services Institute (ESI). They created a new project management curriculum that would reflect the needs of the information age projects. Tens of thousands of business professionals attended these training and earned the "Master's Certificate of Project Management" from George Washington University (GWU). This program is available with options for specializing in core project management, information technology project management, and contract management.
The program covers all the nine knowledge areas, and prepares the participants for the PMP exam. The passing rate for participants that completed the seven modules of the GWU Master's Certificate program is 95%. In addition, ESI offers an advanced curriculum directed for professionals that are PMP certified and wish to earn the required contact hours for their continuous education.
Other Project Management Certification Programs
The PMP certification program is the most publicly recognized certification in the project management profession. Nevertheless, there are other programs that complement the PMP and directed towards specific industries:
- The Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) offers the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), which is directed towards managing information technology audits. For more information please visit www.isaca.org.
- The Computer Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) offers the Certified Software Development Professional program, which is directed towards managing software engineering projects. For more information, please visit www.computer.org.
- The Institute of Certified Computer Professionals offers the Certified Computer Professional program, which has many specializations such as business systems, software development, and networking. For more information, please visit www.iccp.org
- An individual can also get certified in all of the nine knowledge areas of project management. For example, certified procurement manager, certified cost estimator, etc.
George Sifri PhD, PMP, CISA, CCP has more than 15 years of experience in managing information technology projects. He is the Head of Software Development at Consolidated Contractors International. His specialty is Project Management Information Systems. Mr. Sifri resides in Athens, Greece. For more information, he can be reached at e-mail: gsifri@ccc.gr
