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Every five to seven years, the Project Management Institute (PMI)® performs a “Role Delineation Study (RDS)”. This is basically a big survey among project managers like you and me from around the world with the goal to identify what it is that we do on our projects. As a result of the most recent RDS, PMI now has a pretty accurate picture of the tasks that we project managers perform, as well as the knowledge and skills required for our job.

PMI has used this information to update the PMP Examination Content Outline. This document is the basis for the PMP Exam. And because this document changed, the PMP exam also had to be updated.

The update to the PMP exam was scheduled for 11 January 2016. For information about these changes and what the mean to you in detail, please refer to this article: "The PMP Exam Changes After 11 January 2016. Here’s What This Means For You." 

In the run-up to this date and also after the changes took place a lot of people are asking me: "Is there also a new version of the PMBoK Guide released?" or "When will the new PMBoK Guide reflecting these changes coming?".

Well, short answer is: No! There is no new PMBoK Guide version coming along with those changes! The PMBoK Guide 5th Edition is and will still be valid. So, next question would be: "And when is the next Version of the PMBoK Guide being released?"

Well, according to the history of PMOBK Guide, PMI® would release an updated version of the PMBOK® Guide every 4 to 5 years.

Since the most current PMBOK Guide update was on December 2012, it could have been guessed that PMBOK Guide 6th Edition will be released at around end of 2016 or early 2017.
Meanwhile PMI has published the information that the new PMBoK Guide 6th Edition will be released in the end of 2017 as an online version, while the printed version will be available in the beginning of 2018.

Based on the history PMI will allow current PMP® Certification aspirants to continue taking the PMP Exam based on the current version of the PMBOK Guide for up to half a year. Therefore it is safe to begin your PMP Exam preparation based on PMBOK Guide 5th Edition as of now.

PMI has already started the review of the PMBOK 6th edition draft with volunteers and industry experts and since Monday, 07 March 2016, the PMBoK® Guide—Sixth Edition is open to the public for review and comment.

For further information or if you want to participate in this exposure draft review process (PMI login will be needed) please refer to this page:

http://www.pmi.org/PMBOK-Guide-and-Standards/foundational-standards-exposure-draft-process.aspx

The PMBOK Guide

PMBOK is an acronym for “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge”. It is the single most important publication by the PMI for PMP Certification aspirants to study and prepare for the PMP Exam.

Most PMP Certification aspirants have the misconception that the PMBOK Guide is the syllabus for the PMP Exam. In fact, the exam syllabus for the PMP Certification is outlined in the PMP Exam Content Outline. While there are many exam topics in the PMP Exam Content Outline covered by the PMBOK Guide, PMI has made it clear that the exam syllabus is “not bound by the PMBOK Guide”.

PMBOK has been considered as a primary source of preparation for all the PMP exam takers and industry veterans to acquire Project Management related knowledge and wisdom. PMBOK also has been a primary source to bring common understanding on the Project Management Lexicon being used by project management professionals across the globe.

PMBOK Guide 1st Edition [1996]

The first ever edition of the PMBOK Guide was first published in 1996 by PMI. PMI saw a need to put together an official document and guide to advance the development of the project management profession. It initiated a project in 1981 to develop the procedures and concepts necessary to support the development of the project management as a profession. In 1983, a special report titled the “Ethics, Standards, and Accreditation Committee Final Report” was published and the guideline for the Project Management Professional Certification was also created (the first ever PMP certification was awarded in 1984). The special report underwent further development and expansion during the subsequent years and in 1987, “The Project Management Body of Knowledge” was published as a standalone document. It was an attempt to document and standardize accepted project management information and practices. Finally after extensive consultation and revision, the PMBOK Guide (A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge) was published  in 1996 to supersede the previous documents. This was known as the PMBOK Guide 1st Edition.

PMBOK Guide 2nd Edition [2000]

It was based on the work in the PMBOK Guide 1st Edition. New materials reflecting the growth of the project management profession were included in the new edition. It aimed to include knowledge and practices that were generally accepted in the field of project management that were useful and valuable to most projects. Errors in the previous edition were corrected.

PMBOK Guide 3rd Edition [2004]

After the publication of the PMBOK Guide 2nd Edition, thousands of recommendations for improvements of the PMBOK Guide were received by the PMI. The PMI formed an editorial committee to review each recommendation and tried to incorporate the suggestions into the new PMBOK Guide as appropriate. One major change to the PMBOK Guide in this edition is to evaluate project management practices based on “generally recognized as good practice on most projects most of the time”. This essentially means that the project management practices included in the PMBOK Guide would be useful to most projects.

PMBOK Guide 4th Edition [2009]

This edition aimed to make contents the PMBOK Guide more consistent and accessible. Clear distinction between the project management plan and project documents was made. The widely recognized “triple constraints” for project management were expanded to six, namely, scope, quality, schedule, budget, resources and risk. New processes were added while obsolete processes were deleted.

PMBOK Guide 5th Edition [2013]

As usual, PMI received quite a lot of comments and recommendations to the PMBOK Guide 4th Edition and the 5th edition represents PMI’s continual efforts to update and upgrade the body of knowledge for the project management profession. The update team of PMI tried very hard to achieve consistency and clarity of the PMBOK Guide by standardizing the terms, processes, inputs and outputs. This edition also attempts to include advancements in the field of project management, in particular, rolling wave planning and adaptive lifecycle, in its contents. 

This is great news to all the PMP Exam aspirants out there. projectmanagement.plus is proud to announce the availability of its very first and unique interactive "Checklist":

The PMP Exam Preparation Checklist

On one hand an overview of what you need to think about when you are want to become a PMP; on the other hand a great tool which guides you through your PMP Exam Preparation!
 

People who are interested in PMP certification often ask the following questions at the beginning of their PMP journey: " What is this all about? Where should i just start? What do i need for it? How should i proceed? ..." and so on. Well, i guess every new PMP aspirant has such questions and we want to provide the answers!

But not only plain text (there is really just enough text to read and remember for you, trust me!), no, we add some value and developed a tool which not only delivers all the answers to those questions. No, you also get an instrument which you may use as a guideline, let's say as the "red line" through your exam preparations. And you may edit it to your very own preferences! But before we get in detail,

let's have a look on it (we can here only show a picture; explore the interactive version at www.projectmanagement.plus) :

How to use and work with the Checklist

Just klick on the little "Info" Button on the right side and there will open a sub-text field with additional informations and often links where you could find further informations or additional helpful sites or tools.

Follow the checklist from "head" to "bottom", hit the "checkmark" on the left side if you have fullfill this point and you will see the status bar "grow".

You can use the checklist included in this article as an overview and a starting point, you may print it or make a PDF.

But wouldn't it be more exciting if you could have and manage your very own Checklist?

Well, nothing easier than that! At pm.plus (and as far as we know only at pm.plus!) you could make a virtual copy of the checklist and than you will find a version of the original checklist under your "myChecklists" area in your profile. This version belongs only to you and it is fully editable to your very personal preferences!

You may add items, you may delete items and you even may create your very own, individual version! You are allowed to provide your own version to the community and you are even allowed to create your completely own checklists regarding whatever you want!

And the best: This is just the starting point! pm.plus will provide you many additional checklists in future, not only regarding PMP certification but also regarding all the project management aspects.

And like mentioned before: You may add your own input! You can make suggestions for changes at existing checklists or for additional checklists you want to see (i.e. in the comments to this article or directly in our discussion board at www.projectmanagement.plus ). Or you just create your own checklist, offer it to the community and earn your honors! The checklists have a rating function added ...

The opportunities seems endless ...

You may have a look under "resources/Checklists" to see what checklists we have to offer. You can make a copy there to your "myChecklists" area and than find the specific checklist in your profile under "myChecklists".

Just try it out (it is all completely free, but registration at pm.plus is needed) and let us know what you think and how we may improve this very new and unique feature for you!

Hope to see you soon at

www.projectmanagement.plus

Mastering the project management methods represents only one condition for the target-aimed managing of projects. Also other skills like  in-depth management, soft skills and strategic skills are required to succeed in the field of project management. With the new "Talent Triangle" PMI calls for this skills of its future candidates for recertification. This article is about the most important changes.  It explains you the new areas of expertise of the "Talent Triangle", provides an overview of how the PMI recertification is affected and shows ways to acquire the required competencies in there.

 Since PMI adressed the changes last year there rumors many questions regarding the change like:

• What means those described areas of expertise for my actual qualification ?
• What exactly will change per Decemeber 1st?
• How do we re-certification after 1 December 2015?
• How and where  do I find qualifications, which met the new PDU requirements ?
• and many more ...

This article should help answering those and may be all your other questions; therefore it describes,

•      what the new "Talent Triangle" is
•      describes the areas of competence a project manager needs to master, which are displayed in the "Talent Triangle"
•      an overview of the various PMI certifications,
•      the impact of the introduction of the "Talent Triangle" respectively on the future re-certifications  
•      opportunities to acquire the required PDU's accordingly to the skills mentioned in the "Talent Triangle"

Project Management Methods Are Only Half The Battle

Mastering the project management methods is only one of the prerequisites for goal-oriented management of projects. In order to be truly successful, a project manager needs much more knowledge and skills. This was the result of a market survey initiated by PMI and the feedback from certified project managers around the world. Therefore 71% of the asked companys think, that special leadership skills of the project managers are crucial important for the success of a project.

The evaluation of the market investigation and the feedback of the certified project managers resulted in a range of skills which help project managers to better carry out their projects. This was the basis where PMI developed the the "Talent Trinagle" from, which was published as part of the announcement of the changes in the recertification process early 2015t.

Under "Talents" PMI understands employees who perform their tasks optimally. In this sense the "Talent Triangle" is the description of the areas of competence, in which a project manager can act safely, in order to optimally fulfill his role. By emphasizing the leadership and strategic skills (Leadership and Strategic and Business Management) in addition to the methodological knowledge (Technical Project Management), the project manager is gaining profile.

The "Talent Triangle" and the re-certifications

 
The three sides of the triangle represent the talent necessary for a successful project management: Technical Project Management, Leadership, Strategic and Business Management.   

In the recent re-certification every form of qualification in project management issues has been recognized. In future the project managers must prove,  that they have continued to develop their skills in accordance with the "Talent Triangle". This way PMI wants to ensure that project managers focus their development on covering all areas of competence of the Talent Triangle and thereby strengthen their leadership and strategic skills more clearly.

The areas of expertise

The enumeration of the facets of the areas of expertise carried out here examplary.

Competence Area "Technical Project Management"

The term "Technical Project Management" can be described best by translating it with "methodical project management knowledge". Here is demanded by the project manager that he has the methodical knowledge that is required for project management; that he has the ability to apply this knowledge in practice and so he can fullfill his role as a project manager in the planning and implementation of the project adequately.

Required competencies therefore include (but are not limited to):

•     techniques for requirements analysis and definition
•     project planning and controlling
•     Risk Management
•     Scope Managament

The contents of this area of competence will vary by type of certification. So, for example, has a project manager for Agile projects to dominate the Agile methods, Scrum about Kanban through to Extreme Programming. A portfolio manager on the other hand needs to know how a project portfolio is managed - from the integration of projects in the company's strategy on the coordination of projects in a portfolio to the further development of the portfolio.

According to PMI, the competencies in the area "Technical Project Management" can best be learned via seminars, webinars, online trainings and so on, cause structured knowledge is appropriated here. In contrast, the soft skills which have to be learned in the competence area "Leadership" are associated with a fundamental change in behavior of the project manager.

Yet another study of PMI showed that 66% of surveyed organizations indicate that project managers with the appropriate technical skills very hard to find. (See also: PMI's Pulse of the Profession In-Depth Report The Competitive Advantage of Effective Talent Management, 2013.) This can not only be because there are too few project managers, but also the fact that the existing project managers often does not have the necessary technical project management knowledge, which the companies expect of them.  In fact this is a great argument why becoming a PMP (or gaining another available certification) is valuable and can benefit your project manager career!

Competence Area "Leadership"

By consciously naming and design of "Leadership" as its own area of competence it is emphasized that the successful management of projects not only requires technical/methodical knowledge, but also leadership skills. Management knowledge is more important, the larger and more complex a project is.  

With leadership knowledge is meant the ability to lead and develop a team and to show an situationally appropriate behavior  in dealing with the various stakeholders.
While a project manager with expertise in the area "Technical Project Management" can plan and execute the project; his expertise in the field of "Leadership" will help him dealing with the handling  of the various stakeholders in the project.

These include (but is not limited to).:

•     Negotiations 
•     Conflict Management
•     Motivation of employees
•     Feedback techniques
•     Ability to influence stakeholders
•     Team Development
•     Emotional intelligence

71% of organizations surveyed indicate, according to a further PMI study, management skills as most important for the long-term success and 75% consider it as very important for the successful management of complex projects. (See also PMI : PMI's Pulse of the Profession In-Depth Report Navigating Complexity, 2013.)
 

Competence Area "Strategic and Business Management"

"Strategic and Business Management" is -  like "Leadership" -  an element that also comes from the skills repertoire of managers. The definition of PMI for this area of ??expertise can be translated as: "Strategic knowledge and industry knowledge", which improve the project implementation and promote better corporate results.
This means specifically, that project managers implement and execute their projects accordingly to the strategy of the company as well as they acting with an entrepreneurial spirit and have knowledge of the industry they working in.
 

These include (but not limited to):

• Entrepreneurial activity
• Marketing and law
• StrategicPlanningand alignment of projects
• Contract management
• Management of complexity

Studies of PMI have shown that the success rate of projects by 58% rising to 72% if they support the company's strategy.  (See also PMI : PMI's Pulse of the Profession In-Depth Report Navigating Complexity, 2013.)

 [widgetkit id="3" name="PMI's Talent Triangle"]
(Source: pmi.org)

The certification scheme of PMI

PMI offers a wide range of certifications. These are aligned with the activities, the project manager has to do in project management. Below you can find a listing/overview about the available certifications.

PMP - Project Management Professional: This certificate validates the competence, that the credential holders adequately perceive the role as a project manager and that they have the competence for leading and directing project teams. ( for further informations about this certification please visit pmi.org/pmp ; for informations about how to start your PMP preparations, you may also visit our "Guide to kickstart your PMP Prep!" )

PgMP - Program Management Professional: This certificate proves that the credential holder can manage multiple, complex and interrelated projects/tasks within a program, which are combined to achieve strategic and organizational results. (for furhter information about this certification please visit pmi.org/PgMP )

PfMP -  Portfolio Management Professional: This certificate attests many years of experience and extensive knowledge as a portfolio manager to the credential holder. It demonstrates proven ability in the coordinated management of one or more portfolios to achieve organizational objectives for the credential holders (for further information about this certification please visit pmi.org/PfMP )

CAPM -  Certified Associate in Project Management: This certificate confirms a basic knowledge and understanding of project management, its (PMI)terminology and the related project processes. (for further information about this certification please visit pmi.org/CAPM )

PMI-PBA -  Professional in Business Analysis: This certificate attests experience in business analysis. The credential holder is able to work effectively with stakeholders to define their business requirements. They shape the output of projects and drive successfull business outcomes.  ( for further information about this certification please visit pmi.org/pba )

PMI-ACP -  Agile Certified Practitioner: This certificate is designed for those who apply the agile principles and practices in their projects. It certifies both experience as well as training in Agile methods such as Scrum, Extreme Programming, Lean and Kanban. (for further information about this certification please visit pmi.org/ACP )

PMI-RMP - Risk Management Professional: This certificate attests knowledge and experience in identifying and evaluating project risks and developing plans to mitigate risks and to capitalize on project opportunities. (for further information about this certification please visit pmi.org/RMP )

PMI-SP -  Scheduling Professional: This certificate attests demonstrated knowledge and many years of experience in the development and maintenance of project schedules. (for further information about this certification please visit pmi.org/SP

Re-Certification by collecting PDUs  

All these certificates must be renewed after a specified number of years. For re-certification you have to collect so-called "Professional Development Units (PDU)". The number of PDUs is determined by the respective certificate. A PMP credential holder for instance must making a total of 60 PDUs within the 3 year re-certification cycle.
It is possible to transfer up to 20 additional PDUs that he had acquired to the following year.
Since December, 1st 2015, a PMP has to be aware that he need PDUs for the categories of training from all three competence areas of Talent Triangle.

There are two PDU types: "Education" and "Giving back"

The PDUs to be acquired are divided into two different types:

•     Continuing Education (minimum of 35 PDUs over 3-year-cycle required) and
•     Giving Back to the Profession (maximum of 25 PDUs possible).

The two PDU types are further divided into different categories.
 

Education and Training:

    Category A: qualification courses from recognized education providers (R.E.P.) and qualification programs of the local associations of PMI (Chapters) and communities. For 1 hour training one PDU could be claimed

    Category B: Continuous training. This can be offered by universities, their own company or other training providers. again f or 1 hour training one PDU could be claimed. The evidence can be provided via an attendance certificate or course materials.

    Category C: self-study. They include the following learning activities: reading books, magazines and manuals; Watching videos or listening to podcasts; informal discussion with colleagues; Coaching by a colleague. for 1 hour self-study one PDU could be claimed .

The recognition of PDUs is requested at PMI using their online system "Continuing Credential Requirements" (CCR). PDU's i n category A training have already been approved in advance. The approval of Category B and C takes place after the application. In this case, the PDUs are only credited for certification if they are recognized by PMI.

Contributions to the development of project management ("giving back")

• Development of new project management knowledge: This includes writing articles as an author or co-author, posts in blogs or podcasts, lectures and presentations, performing training, conducting discussions or participation as an expert in a panel discussion. For every hour that is spent in these activities, 1 PDU may be invoked. Detection is carried out by reference to the finished product in the CCR system.
   
• Volunteerism: These include, for example, participation in a PMI organization, contributions to these PMI organization, such as directing an event or creating documents, project management support of charities. For every hour of work a PDU may be invoked. However, a prerequisite is that the activity was not remunerated. When applying for the PDUs, enter the appropriate activities and as proof a contact person who can confirm this activity. As a PMI Member you have several volunteer opportunitys (live and virtuell) around the world.
   
• Working as a project manager in the respective working environment: for 12 months of activity, you can make 5 PDUs submitted. Detection is carried out by a job description of the employer or client.

PDUs in the categories "contributions to the advancement of project management" can only be claimed for activities that have already been completed.

PDUs can be earned in one training for several competency areas when subjects treated of several competence areas. The PDUs must be divided according to the proportions of subjects in training. Assume a 2-day training with a total of 16 hours of training, where 10 hours related to the topics "Project Definition", "content and scope of the project" and the "Work Breakdown Structure" and 6 hours are related to the topic "negotiation with stakeholders "; than 10 PDUs could be claimed for " Technical Project Management "and 6 PDUs can be credited for " Leadership".  If the training provider is a R.E:P. such allocation can be seen from the exercise description.

In a non-recognized training program, the applicant must make himself the division. From the training plan is most apparent on which training topic omitted what times. The themes must then be assigned to the areas of expertise of the talent Triangle. For example, on the first day of a two-day seminar "methods and tools of stakeholder management" treated and on the second day "conversation with stakeholders". The hours of the first day will be assigned to the competence area "Technical Project Management" and the hours of the second day to the competence area "Leadership".

If the minimum number of PDUs earned in each of the competency areas that further PDUs (needed to complete the full number of PDUs in total) can be earneed in any competencearea. A PMP can e.g. making a total of 12 PDUs in the competence area of "Technical Project Management", a total of 12 PDUs in the competence area of  "Leadership" and a total of 11 PDUs in the competence area  "Business and Strategic" . He has earned the minimum number of required PDUs for the PDU-type "training and education"(namely 35 PDUs).

(Source: pmi.org)

For the PMI credential holders, it will not always be easy to assign any specific course content to one of the elements of the Talent Triangle. Great therefore is certainly that accredited training provider (R.E.P.) must assign their course content aligned to the competence areas.

How to effectively and efficiently acquire skills

Knowing what skills are needed, is important. However, how can these competencies be acquired as effectively and efficiently as possible?

Missing skills are not only acquired in formal training programs, such as training or seminar. The so-called. "70:20:10 Model for Learning and Development", which was developed in the 1960s by Morgan McCall, even emphasized that we acquire 70% of our knowledge through practical activities, 20% from other people and only 10 % through formal training.

Formal learning methods, such as e.g. Training, university courses or webinars, have especially great importance and effectiveness when new content has to be learned. In contrast, there are informal ways of learning, for example, the idea of introducing ??a new project management tool as part of a meeting, watching videos, or the advice of a colleague. This qualification can be submitted under the category C (self-study).

Choice of training provider

Both, the number of suppliers of Project training as well as the number of trainings offered to project management are very large. Therefore, it is important to find out the right one for the individual training needs.
Use the following checklist to verify that you have selected the training provider suits your qualification needs.

• Does the raining provider offer a specific seminar on the content / the competence to which I want or need to acquire/improve?
• Is there a detailed course description available?
• If not: Is it possible to request some?
• Is the to-learn content broken down by areas of expertise and PDUs?
• Are the announced methods suited to acquire the desired content / skills (e.g. role plays and exercises)?
• Is the institution and/or the teacher known as qualified in professional circles / from colleagues / my network?
• Are there any references to the seminar?
• Can I interview colleagues in the company or in my network, who have already attended the seminar?

What is better: Off-the-job training or training on-the-job?
 

Qualification Off-the-job - pros and cons

Off-the-job activities are formal qualification events such as seminars and trainings. The participants attended a qualification usually with a training provider.

Pro:
Off-the-job skills training are impulse. The participants get to know something new and gain inspiration. You should take advantage of off-the-job activities, if you want to familiarize yourselve with a new topic. For example, if you have not yet any knowledge in strategy development and want to learn tools such as the SWOT analysis.
O ff-the-job activities are also suitable for training of soft skills. Here you can try out new behaviors in a protected seminar environment. Off-the-job activities are usually offered only for very general topics such as basics of project management, presentation or team management. The fact that it is not directly involved in the daily operations, you can focus on learning.
 

contra:
Off-the-job measures have the disadvantage that the participants the newly acquired knowledge can not or only partially connect with his daily work practice. The transfer of learning, the implementation of what has been learned in the work practice, essentially determines whether the participants the knowledge and skills successfully appropriated. It can not be always resorted to the help of an instructor and the learner is usually left on their own.

With off-the-job training PDU in categories A and B can be earned.

 Modern learning formats

The modern learning formats are a special form of off-the-job measures. This term may be used to summarize all forms of learning, which are now offered in addition to traditional training and learning and which using new technologies such as the Internet, mobile devices or videos.

pros:
The advantage of these learning formats is that they can be used both in the work environment, as well as at home. In general, the lessons are offered in small learning units from 30 min to 2 hours. This learning can be well planned in the daily routine. Compared to presence seminars modern learning formats are usually cheaper also.
Modern learning formats should be used if you want to acquire specific topics quickly. Posted on: December 15, 2015 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (28)

The 12 most relevant study materials for PMP Exam preparations

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