Moving Beyond Certification

Dr. Andrew Makar is an IT program manager and is the author of the Microsoft Project Made Easy series. For more project management advice, visit the website TacticalProjectManagement.com.

  Career Development   Knowledge Management   Lessons Learned   Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)  

Whenever I talk with PMs at the local PMI chapter, there is often a focus on certification and the easiest way to earn the professional development units (PDUs). Certifications and continuing education programs exist in many business domains including medicine, education, accounting and (of course) project management. I like the idea of certifications because it promotes establishing a common language across a group of project managers. However, obtaining certifications and maintaining professional development units has become a business model in itself.

You won’t see that on a presentation, but the topic is often expressed in hushed conversations. PMI offers five professional certifications, each with its own PDU requirements and three-year renewal fee. If you’re a PMP, PgMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP and now a PMI-ACP, you’ve passed a lot of tests, demonstrated knowledge in your subject area and are likely paying $300 every three years just to renew your certification (let alone maintain the PDU requirements). Despite all the training, do the certifications make you a better project manager?

Sure I’m a DMIT, MBA and a PMP, but who really cares? My co-workers don’t care about certifications, they care about how I contribute to the team. My business customers care about how I can solve their problems and my executive management cares about what I …

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