Getting Practical About Improving Certifications

Mike Griffiths is an experienced project manager, author and consultant who works for PMI as a subject matter expert. Before joining PMI, Mike consulted and managed innovation and technology projects throughout Europe, North and South America for 30+ years. He was co-lead for the PMBOK Guide—Seventh Edition, lead for the Agile Practice Guide, and contributor to the PMI-ACP and PMP exam content outlines. Outside of PMI, Mike maintains the websites www.LeadingAnswers.com about leading teams and www.PMillustrated.com, which teaches project management for visual learners.

  Career Development   Using PMI Standards  

Project management certifications aim to help identify people who are proficient to manage projects. They can test knowledge, but how about the practical side or the people side of projects that are so critical for success?

Professional credentials can help you get a foot in the door for interviews, demonstrate a level of understanding and provide milestones for professional development. They are a starting point for assessing comprehension, but do not guarantee competence. That is why we still have interviews, trail periods and assessments.

In a way, most of today’s project management qualifications are a like driver’s licenses. They both demonstrate a certain level of competency at a point in time but do not guarantee effectiveness. There are plenty of bad drivers on the road, but it is preferable to a system that has no driver’s licenses at all.

However, most project management exams do without a practical part of the exam. When I took my DSDM Agile Leader qualification, I was interviewed and asked situational questions. However, this model is difficult to scale and distribute since you need to hire and train experienced examiners. When dealing with large numbers like the PMP, automated multiple-choice exams are the norm. Yet it is hard to design automated tests that go beyond recalling information and solving calculations. Multiple-choice …

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