The Big Time

Have you heard of Wicked Problem Solving (WPS) ? This is a new course offering by PMI and I have to say, it is one of the best courses I’ve taken. 

Upon completion of the course, you will receive a Practitioner Badge and 18 PDU’s. 

What does this course come with  ?

This course will deep dive into the three most important skills of today as per the World Economic Forum:
 

• Complex Problem Solving 
• Collaboration
• Creativity 

WPS is a confluence of Agile, Lean, Design Thinking and other modern ways of working with the goal of helping you improve how you work with your team by focusing on:
 

• Asking the Right Questions
• Making Ideas Visible
• Engaging with Forward Actions
   

While it is a self-paced course, you will also be using Miro, the digital white-boarding Tool. 

The course is outstanding, very well-structured, and while there is no live interaction, the way the course was designed makes it semi-interactive and you also get to learn how to use the colalborative platform Miro. I highly recommend this course. 

Stay tuned for more to come ! 
 

Organizational Transformation Series of Courses and Micro-Credentials was recently launched by the Project Management Institute and Brightline Initiative . The series is divided into three courses:

• Organizational Transformation Foundation (OTF)
• Organizational Transformation Implementation (OTI)
• Organizational Transformation Orchestration (OTO)

Before jumping into the specifics about each course, below are some general information related to the courses / micro-credentials: 

• Self-Paced courses (5 to 10 Hours per course) 
• Courses Fees range between $199 to $299 for members
• Each course has 1-Hour Online, non-proctored course-based exam
• Exams are 30 multiple choice questions
• Upon completion of the course, you earn 10 PDU's 
• Upon successful completion of the exam, you earn a PMI micro-credential and badge (no expiry)
   

Organizational Transformation Foundation (OTF)

Organizational Transformation Foundation (OTF) Micro-Credential is suitable for professionals who wish to expand their knowledge on the basics of organizational transformation from the fundamentals of navigating change in transformation projects to the five building blocks of successful transformations with a focus on the human-centered approach to enabling change.
 

Organizational Transformation Implementation (OTI)

Organizational Transformation Implementation (OTI) Micro-Credential is about the "Doing" part of the Organizational Transformation which concentrates on:

• Managing rapid response teams
• Building core capabilities

It goes through the domains of:

• Understanding Transformation Strategies
• Assessing Transformation Readiness
• Building Capabilities
   

Organizational Transformation Orchestration (OTO)

Organizational Transformation Orchestration (OTI) Micro-Credential is about the "Leading" part of the Organizational Transformation which concentrates on:

• Capturing Value
• Driving Continuous Growth and Prosperity 

It goes through the domains of:

• Leading People-Centered Transformation
• Achieving Organizational Outcomes
• Market Awareness and Strategic Response 
• Assessing Capabilities 

Being one of the first few professionals who completed the whole series, I can attest that the series added lots of value and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in Organizational Transformation. It is very well structured, and supported by case studies and online resources.

Stay tuned for more to come ! 

In my last blog Citizen Development from the Eye of a Non-IT Project Manager , I discussed what Citizen Development is, it's benefits and an overview of key roles in Citizen Development. This blog will be about the Citizen Development Foundation course which is the first in four planned courses related to Citizen Development. 

Below is some basic information on the course: 

• 90-Minute Self-Paced course 
• Course Fee is $79
• Upon completion of the course, you earn a PMI Certification.
• You earn 2 PDU's (1 Technical + 1 Leadership)
• No exam, no expiry date

My passion for CD started after taking this course. I highly recommend everyone to take advantage of this opportunity and take this course.

Feel free to reach out to me for the Reigstration Link. 

The foundation course is mostly about what CD is with an introduction to the CD Canvas. It includes three modules, as follows: 

A) Basics of Citizen Development

B) Citizen Development Canvas

• Project Delivery
• Capability Development
• Operating Model
• Organizational Alignment
• Maturity Model

C) Ideation 2.0 

In the next blog, I will go into the details of the CD Practitioner Course, so stay tuned ! 

Recently, I’ve taken two courses that introduced me to a very interesting and valuable new concept called “Citizen Development”. My passion about this topic started when I took the foundation course after which I participated in the pilot for the CD Practitioner’s course. 
 

Being a new concept to many, I decided to write an introduction blog about Citizen Development before I dive into the details of each course I’ve taken. In this blog, all figures are quoted from PMI Resources. 
 

Citizen Development is a very interesting initiative and concept. In the beginning, I thought that it only applies for professionals with a background in IT but after deep diving into the subject and taking couple of courses, my view completely changed in that Citizen Development can be beneficial for all individuals and organizations.  
 

The Citizen Development Movement

Introduction to Citizen Development

The below slides provides a brief overview of what Citizen Development is, why it is important and what are the benefits of CD: 

Transformative Benefits of Citizen Development

Citizen Development Canvas and Maturity Model

Citizen Development Courses

PMI are working on a series of courses related to Citizen Development: 

• Citizen Developer Foundation - Released 
• Citizen Developer Practitioner (PMI-CDP): End of May 2021
• Citizen Developer Business Architect: Q3 - 2021
• Citizen Developer Strategist: Q4 - 2021 

What is the difference between a Practitioner, Business Architect and Strategist ?  (The below definitions are quoted from PMI Resources) 
 

CD Practitioners: Those who do the work by creating apps and using them in their day-to-day work. They range from students to project professionals to SME's. They could be but not limited to, the following:

• Business Analysts
• Project Managers
• Business Consultants
• Sales Executives
• Marketing Managers
• HR Managers
• Finance Analysts
• Operations Analysts. 

CD Business Architects: Architects manage Citizen Development teams, the governance process and the collaboration between stakeholders in IT and the business. They facilitate access to relevant tools and methods. They can come from IT and may already be enterprise architects or may come from the business as an agile coach or product owner. They could be but not limited to, the following:

• Lines Manager 
• Enterprise and IT Architects
• Demand Managers 
• Portfolio Managers
• Agile and Scrum Specialists 
• IT Managers and Team Leaders 
• Business Transformation Consultants 
• Organizations Design Consultants 
   

CD Strategists: Strategists manage and lead the creation of the operating environment that allows Citizen Development to thrive, instilling the cultural practices and mandates that foster adoption and scaling of Citizen Development and drive organizational transformation by harnessing the power of Citizen Development application platforms. The are members of the senior management team and can include, but not limited to, the following: 

• Chief Executive Officers
• Chief Strategy Officers 
• Chief Information Officers
• Chief Transformation Officers 
• Digital Transformation Directors 
• Organizational Designers 

What are your thoughts on Citizen Development ? 

In the next blogs, I will discussing each of the courses separately in details so stay tuned. Meanwhile, feel free to reach out to me for the courses Registration Links. 

As a Career Coach and Professional Developement Mentor, I believe growth comes from within so I continiously keep working on myself by exploring new ideas, taking courses and certifications for areas that I feel are valuable. 
 

Agile and Waterfall Kick-Off is a very valuable and interesting initiative by the Project Management Institute that will provide you with the basic concepts, tools and techniques you’ll need to get started managing projects in both Waterfall and Agile environments:
 

• It’s a FREE short 45-minute course.
• Upon completion of the course, you will earn two PMI Badges. No exam, no expiry.
• It's suitable for Project Managers (Formal and Informal), PMO's, L&D Leaders.

I highly recommend everyone to take advantage of this opportunity. Feel free to reach out to me for the Registration Link. 

How can Kick-Off help you and your team ? 
 

The majority of projects in the working world are managed by informal project managers who struggle to meet organizational goals on time and on budget. Being a free digital learning tool, Kickoff is the fastest and easiest way to for you and your team to get started: 
 

• Get smarter with foundational knowledge that’s critical for project success.
• Put learnings into practice immediately—so you can move your project forward.
• Learn how to rally and inspire a team you can trust to get the job done.
• Gain new skills that can make you a more confident professional leader
   

Stay tuned for more blogs on some of the latest PMI Course Offerings !