Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
I have read, here in the community, great dissertations on ethics, principles, etc...etc... PMI will stop publishing "PMI fact files" Do you consider that the removal of this information from the community could be interpreted as a lack of transparency? Do as I say...don't do as I do
Curiously... The latest annual report dates back to 2021 https://www.pmi.org/about Is it just a coincidence? Saving Changes...
I can't comment on the annual report - I'd have expected a not-for-profit to have those regularly posted for transparency purposes to all members.
However, as far as the certification & membership stats go, those did used to be in the PMI Today publication and when that ended they were migrated here which I never felt was the right place for them given that many PMI members aren't aware of or don't visit this community regularly.
The right place IMHO would be on pmi.org itself - certification numbers under the Certification menu, and membership numbers under the Membership menu. I have provided this feedback to Kimberly so hopefully she is successful in convincing "the powers that be" to make it so...
Kiron
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2 replies by Luis Branco
Jan 14, 2024 9:00 AM
Luis Branco
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Dear Kiron Thank you for participating in this exchange of opinions If you click on the link I sent you will have access to the report for the year 2021 We agree when you write: "I'd have expected a not-for-profit to have those regularly posted for transparency purposes to all members." Any organization, even non-profit organizations (with particular reference to those listed on the stock exchange) are obliged to publish the management report (which includes the accounts) and also the ESG report. It's not even a question of ethics. It's a question of (good) governance.
Jan 14, 2024 9:20 AM
Luis Branco
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Dear Kiron
We were both members of PMI when the "PMI Fact Files" were migrated from PMI Today to this community. This year, more than once and against my will, I had to intervene and request that the "PMI Fact Files" be published. In one of these situations I had the opportunity to read your suggestion to migrate this information to the PMI website. That is not what happened. This month and last month, Tara Leparulo published the "PMI Fact Files" instead of Kimberly Whitby as usual They arbitrarily decided to end the publication of the PMI Fact Files, creating a situation of lack of transparency Interestingly, both Tara Leparulo and Kimberly Whitby are part of the same forum: Ethics Bistro Blog Also part of this blog are the members of the PMI Ethics Committee (which now has a new name: Insight Team and the photographs have disappeared)
Big changes are happening at PMI. And isn't that what happens when the CEO changes? They immediately change the logo, change the values and the Code of Ethics, change the strategic plan, change the positioning, make disastrous acquisitions, change the PMBOK Guide in their own way, etc... Is this a sign of the times?
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Jan 14, 2024 8:03 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Luis -
I can't comment on the annual report - I'd have expected a not-for-profit to have those regularly posted for transparency purposes to all members.
However, as far as the certification & membership stats go, those did used to be in the PMI Today publication and when that ended they were migrated here which I never felt was the right place for them given that many PMI members aren't aware of or don't visit this community regularly.
The right place IMHO would be on pmi.org itself - certification numbers under the Certification menu, and membership numbers under the Membership menu. I have provided this feedback to Kimberly so hopefully she is successful in convincing "the powers that be" to make it so...
Kiron
Dear Kiron Thank you for participating in this exchange of opinions If you click on the link I sent you will have access to the report for the year 2021 We agree when you write: "I'd have expected a not-for-profit to have those regularly posted for transparency purposes to all members." Any organization, even non-profit organizations (with particular reference to those listed on the stock exchange) are obliged to publish the management report (which includes the accounts) and also the ESG report. It's not even a question of ethics. It's a question of (good) governance. Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Jan 14, 2024 8:03 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Luis -
I can't comment on the annual report - I'd have expected a not-for-profit to have those regularly posted for transparency purposes to all members.
However, as far as the certification & membership stats go, those did used to be in the PMI Today publication and when that ended they were migrated here which I never felt was the right place for them given that many PMI members aren't aware of or don't visit this community regularly.
The right place IMHO would be on pmi.org itself - certification numbers under the Certification menu, and membership numbers under the Membership menu. I have provided this feedback to Kimberly so hopefully she is successful in convincing "the powers that be" to make it so...
Kiron
Dear Kiron
We were both members of PMI when the "PMI Fact Files" were migrated from PMI Today to this community. This year, more than once and against my will, I had to intervene and request that the "PMI Fact Files" be published. In one of these situations I had the opportunity to read your suggestion to migrate this information to the PMI website. That is not what happened. This month and last month, Tara Leparulo published the "PMI Fact Files" instead of Kimberly Whitby as usual They arbitrarily decided to end the publication of the PMI Fact Files, creating a situation of lack of transparency Interestingly, both Tara Leparulo and Kimberly Whitby are part of the same forum: Ethics Bistro Blog Also part of this blog are the members of the PMI Ethics Committee (which now has a new name: Insight Team and the photographs have disappeared)
Big changes are happening at PMI. And isn't that what happens when the CEO changes? They immediately change the logo, change the values and the Code of Ethics, change the strategic plan, change the positioning, make disastrous acquisitions, change the PMBOK Guide in their own way, etc... Is this a sign of the times? Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Luis, my thoughts and opinion are in line with Kiron’s:
1) Annual Report: As a non-for-profit, I would expect those to be published annually and be available for all members. This is what sound governance is about so PMI must have a strong reason for not publishing those anymore.
2) Stats: Like Kiron, I believe that the right place for those is on PMI.org under certifications. Most organizations do publish all stats on their website broken down by credential. I am not sure why PMI doesn’t automate this task and publish those numbers on their website. Those numbers can actually help in both directions: They can help individuals understand how many certified professionals are there globally for each credential and maybe motivate them to earn some and at the same time could help PMI with marketing. Evidence based decision making based on data analytics is what many look for these days. For a large organization like PMI this should be a no brainer but not sure why they are not considering it. I did provide this feedback via email to both Kimberly and Tara last week without being aware that Kiron did provide the same feedback which is great as this shows that many, in the community, do believe that those stats are valuable and that the right place for them is on PMI.org website.
On other notes, I am going to open up about two issues you touched on as well:
1) Every now and then, PMI decides to remove features from this platform that the community members (End Users) do find valuable. It started with removing the PMI Influence Score (which majority of the community members were against removing) and now the PMI Certifications Stats. Every time a valuable feature is removed, we keep hearing that this is part of the platform improvement but in reality, the platform and community is taking a downward trend. I have been part of this community for the past 9 years consistently contributing but I am yet to see a meaningful improvement to this platform.
2) PMI keeps advocating every year that they care for the community members, but I honestly don’t see this really to be the case. As a matter of fact, every year I see more disconnect from the community members. I feel PMI is busy with Strategic Plans, Artificial Intelligence, Conferences, Posting on LinkedIn and the community is unfortunately forgotten. The only time they do remember the community members is when they look for volunteers but other than that, I don’t really see any real engagement with the community members. I had a couple of things happen lately (which I would like to keep confidential) and they really left a sour taste in my mouth.
I don’t mean to be negative, but you did open a can of worms with this post so I thought I should open up as well and provide some constructive feedback because I care about this community and about PMI as well. I am as involved with PMI as much as I am in my own full time job so seeing meaningful valuable changes makes a big difference for me.
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1 reply by Luis Branco
Jan 15, 2024 4:53 AM
Luis Branco
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Dear Rami Thank you for participating in this exchange of opinions
Don't even remind me of this sad story about ending PMI Influence Score Not to mention that initiative of the "community ambassadors" and, above all, the people appointed
Because I am interested in this community, PMI's involvement with its members and participation is why I created this topic Another reason for creating this topic was alignment with the PMI Code of Ethics and Conduct
I have not yet seen any of the PMI ethics heralds participating in this reflection I would like to read your arguments to justify the measure that leads to a lack of transparency You'll see they send you an email :-)
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Jan 14, 2024 2:42 PM
Replying to Rami Kaibni
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Luis, my thoughts and opinion are in line with Kiron’s:
1) Annual Report: As a non-for-profit, I would expect those to be published annually and be available for all members. This is what sound governance is about so PMI must have a strong reason for not publishing those anymore.
2) Stats: Like Kiron, I believe that the right place for those is on PMI.org under certifications. Most organizations do publish all stats on their website broken down by credential. I am not sure why PMI doesn’t automate this task and publish those numbers on their website. Those numbers can actually help in both directions: They can help individuals understand how many certified professionals are there globally for each credential and maybe motivate them to earn some and at the same time could help PMI with marketing. Evidence based decision making based on data analytics is what many look for these days. For a large organization like PMI this should be a no brainer but not sure why they are not considering it. I did provide this feedback via email to both Kimberly and Tara last week without being aware that Kiron did provide the same feedback which is great as this shows that many, in the community, do believe that those stats are valuable and that the right place for them is on PMI.org website.
On other notes, I am going to open up about two issues you touched on as well:
1) Every now and then, PMI decides to remove features from this platform that the community members (End Users) do find valuable. It started with removing the PMI Influence Score (which majority of the community members were against removing) and now the PMI Certifications Stats. Every time a valuable feature is removed, we keep hearing that this is part of the platform improvement but in reality, the platform and community is taking a downward trend. I have been part of this community for the past 9 years consistently contributing but I am yet to see a meaningful improvement to this platform.
2) PMI keeps advocating every year that they care for the community members, but I honestly don’t see this really to be the case. As a matter of fact, every year I see more disconnect from the community members. I feel PMI is busy with Strategic Plans, Artificial Intelligence, Conferences, Posting on LinkedIn and the community is unfortunately forgotten. The only time they do remember the community members is when they look for volunteers but other than that, I don’t really see any real engagement with the community members. I had a couple of things happen lately (which I would like to keep confidential) and they really left a sour taste in my mouth.
I don’t mean to be negative, but you did open a can of worms with this post so I thought I should open up as well and provide some constructive feedback because I care about this community and about PMI as well. I am as involved with PMI as much as I am in my own full time job so seeing meaningful valuable changes makes a big difference for me.
Dear Rami Thank you for participating in this exchange of opinions
Don't even remind me of this sad story about ending PMI Influence Score Not to mention that initiative of the "community ambassadors" and, above all, the people appointed
Because I am interested in this community, PMI's involvement with its members and participation is why I created this topic Another reason for creating this topic was alignment with the PMI Code of Ethics and Conduct
I have not yet seen any of the PMI ethics heralds participating in this reflection I would like to read your arguments to justify the measure that leads to a lack of transparency You'll see they send you an email :-)
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1 reply by Rami Kaibni
Jan 15, 2024 1:30 PM
Rami Kaibni
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Luis, I am not sure that removing those features goes against the code of ethics but it does somehow show lack transparency with the community.
To be fair and clear, the Community Engagement Specialists be it Kimberly, Heather, Laura and others are doing a great job and they are engaging with the community as much as they possibly can so I am not talking about this level of community engagement but more of an organization wide feel of community engagement and this is felt by seeing meaningful changes coming through, not by emails, or posts. Action speaks louder than words.
Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Membership owns PMI. They vote for the Board. The Board appoints the CEO and gives him annual targets. The CEO appoints leadership and sets success criteria for them. The CEO takes a low-key approach as long as the Board does not define how the CEO should engage with the membership. Like you would.
Yes, Luis and Rami, why do we perceive that PMI frustrates membership by gradually reducing engagement, services and respect? Members are not only paying customers.
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3 replies by Kevin Archbold, Luis Branco, and Rami Kaibni
Jan 15, 2024 7:50 AM
Luis Branco
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Dear Thomas Thank you for participating in this exchange of opinions Are the members who elect the Board of Directors? Is it the responsibility of the Board of Directors to define or change Governance? And control whether Governance practices are being complied with?
The roles and intervention domain are well defined
Thomas, I am not sure I am clear on what you meant with your comment. If would be great if you can elaborate further. Thanks!
Feb 18, 2024 11:15 PM
Kevin Archbold
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This is only partially true. A. The candidates for the Board are screened/approved by the Board/Nominating Committee, so the process is quite incestuous. B. When voting for Board members, members have no idea of individual past performance on the Board (for incumbents) nor any idea of what candidates have planned for the organization - people are voting based on a photo and a resume.
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Jan 15, 2024 7:00 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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Membership owns PMI. They vote for the Board. The Board appoints the CEO and gives him annual targets. The CEO appoints leadership and sets success criteria for them. The CEO takes a low-key approach as long as the Board does not define how the CEO should engage with the membership. Like you would.
Yes, Luis and Rami, why do we perceive that PMI frustrates membership by gradually reducing engagement, services and respect? Members are not only paying customers.
Dear Thomas Thank you for participating in this exchange of opinions Are the members who elect the Board of Directors? Is it the responsibility of the Board of Directors to define or change Governance? And control whether Governance practices are being complied with?
The roles and intervention domain are well defined
Dear Abolfazl Thank you for participating in this exchange of opinions I just now saw your post. Thanks. We are aligned :-)
Saving Changes...
George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
Luis,
We (project professionals) understand more than anyone that organizations must “change” and “adapt” if they are to remain relevant, even more so for the premier organization (i.e., PMI) that provides guidance and best practices for “all things—change.” Wouldn’t you agree?
Suppose a customer/member-impacting project is underway on this platform, as it does appear. Isn’t it incumbent on us “project professionals” to understand from our own experience the complexities that are often involved and provide PMI the “non-politicized space” to implement before we make any judgments?
Inevitably, some will not like the changes that get implemented, and that may include me. But for now, let’s corral the horses at the blacksmith’s house and allow its occupant the time needed to modernize the forge, as “stoking the fire” before that point serves no purpose but to cause a meltdown.
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1 reply by Rami Kaibni
Jan 15, 2024 1:35 PM
Rami Kaibni
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George, you do raise a good point which I totally agree with and I am sure there are exciting changes coming to this platform (which we’ve been waiting for for years now). Let’s hope better things are in the horizon. We all are here to support the community and PMI!
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear George Thank you for sharing your opinion with us I agree that organizations must adapt to all changes and the challenge of modern times is speed. All changes, however fabulous they may be, must be aligned with the Principles that govern these organizations Deleting information from members (without first consulting them... I don't want to make my political comment here :-) ) is not aligned with the Principles. Lack of transparency is never aligned with the Principles. There are so many places or ways to get this information to members (example: Kiron's suggestion). I'm not talking about the management report :-) https://www.pmi.org/about Saving Changes...
Community Champion
