So, not sure how many of you have seen that PMI now has a Program Management Certification but I'm curious as to what others think about this new certification. I haven't seen many job descriptions on the job boards that have this as a requirements. What do y'all think? Saving Changes...
Bipin Lekshmanan PMPProject Manager| Wipro TechnologiesEdison, Nj, United States
I believe this is the post, i have come across, that has the most postings. Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
Can't argue with what you say Bethany. Look at my posts a few years ago and you'll see my views on PMP were well established then. I now run a company that provides project management services and I and my staff have to be PMP certified to get in the door. I will still hire based on skills not paper, but I think you and I are in the unfortunate minority - simply because as you suggest many people who hire PMs don't understand the discipline. I will take a look at the volunteer opportunities - managing clients, a company and volunteer work would be good for my time management :-) - and besides, I need to introduce some Canadian spelling to the PMI!!! Andy Jordan, President, Roffensian Consulting Inc., www.roffensian.com Saving Changes...
Andy - that's so funny that you should say that about a few years ago because when I read Bipin's post, I knew that there have been far longer discussions about PMI here than this current post - I went searching and found the following from seven years ago!!! (you are in that discussion) http://gantthead.com/discussions/discussio...D=688&pageNum=2
Good luck with the company ;) Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
Memories..... Where are you Tom Welch, we miss you. Never a dull debate with Tom. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
I must say, this has been an enjoyable post..! I have mused for some time now that what is needed is a trusted scoring organization, independent of PMI and any other group, that assesses and scores knowledge and competency of project managers, program managers, portfolio managers, and PMO managers. And that the scoring takes into consideration all pertinent and meaningful factors so that IT PMs can be scored amongst IT PMs, PSO PMs can be scored against PSO PMs, construction PMs can be scored against construction PMs, etc. Much like a credit report, only better, professionals can have a score and an ability to impact that score based upon demonstrated competence with respect to their work and their working environment. Having a certification with PMI or any other organization would be a plus and contribute to the score. For example, a certification in Prince2 means something, eh? Also, such a trusted scoring organization would likely reduce the "pomp" and "over-valuation" of the PMP and maybe even drive PMI to compete based upon the merit of the PMP and its other credentialing programs, rather than simply creating a culture that if you don't have a PMI PMP or other credentials you can't get or compete for a job. Just because you belong to a Country Club doesn't make you a scratch handicap at golf. At the end of the day, professional certification ought to serve those being certified vis a vis a trusted process, not be a "cash-cow" for those participating in and creating an inflated, if not exploitative, professional community. Any thoughts? Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
Mark, although it's not something that I have got into myself, there has been an increase in this area (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) in consulting engagements focused on audits of projects and PMOs. I am sure there are similar trends throughout North America, if not globally. To my mind, what you are suggesting is ideally suited to that kind of work - a standard template for scoring project management performance. To be useful it needs to be associated with some kind of improvement practice - i.e. if you score low in area a and b then here is a suggested set of PM and or organisational improvements that you can implement before running the scoring mechanism again. The biggest challenge will be getting traction to make it happen on a large enough scale that it is accepted, but I am absolutely on side with the concept. The million dollar question is....... how can we take this from a few posts on Gantthead to a consistently applied process that allows us to successfully rate and compare a US based pharmaceutical company, a German construction company and a Korean IT company (or at least how can we start down that path?). Andy Jordan, President, Roffensian Consulting Inc., www.roffensian.com Saving Changes...
Andy Jordan, thank you for calling me out on this debate. I have been very busy working. Frankly, over the years, I have gone back and forth on this whole certification thing. And Andy, you are correct, just to be considered for a PM position today you pretty much need the PMP certification. But IMHO, that only buys you a basic understanding of project management.
My current position on this issue is the budget level managed, project size and complexity, number of resources managed, and TRACK RECORD trumps PgMP or any other PM certification out there in my book. If you want RESULTS, you need to hire someone experienced at getting results.
Three years ago, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. My PSA level was 73.4 (this is not a typo). Did I hire some snot nose doctor who knew the latest techniques? Heck no! I hired a doctor in his early 60s with years of experience and today I am cancer free.
Finally, a lot of people have come to the same conclusion that Mark Perry articulated on his June 15, 2007 post below.
Next time there is a call to arms, email me at [email protected]'ll be here!
Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
Tom, good to hear from you! A more importantly, good to hear the good news about your health. Rest assured if this small group of Ganttheaders gets some momentum on trying to make progress on some of the points being debated you will be hearing from us. Andy Saving Changes...
Bipin Lekshmanan PMPProject Manager| Wipro TechnologiesEdison, Nj, United States
I am trying to talk to PMI based on our conversations here. Saving Changes...
Bipin Lekshmanan PMPProject Manager| Wipro TechnologiesEdison, Nj, United States
