PMI PDU´s

Recently I´ve got many questions from colleagues asking about what kind of PDU categories exist on PMI, and how can be earned the PDUs in each category.

The information about the categories is in the PMI website, but it is not so easy to find it. 

In the following picture can be seen where the pdf that provides the information about this topic is located. The file is called "PDU Category Caps and Rules".

About how to get PDUs in each category, I will refer to a post written recently by a friend, where he explains many different ways to get easily PDUs. (The post is in spanish)

LINK: How to get PDUs

Talking about mentoring in PMI Madrid

The last week I had the chance to talk in the monthly PMI Madrid meeting about the mentoring program that me, together with other four volunteers, have established for all the PMI Madrid partners.

PMI Madrid monthly meeting

The goal of the presentation was to show to the PMI Madrid partners that the program is available for all of them, acting as mentors or mentees or both, in order to increase the number of participants in the next edition of the program, that will be kicked off the next month of October. For it, I exposed the benefits that a mentoring program provides to the mentors and to the mentees, and a couple of partners who have participated in a previous edition of the program, exposed their personal experience, and the benefits they have achieved going through this mentoring program. 

As a summary of the main benefits for the participants I extract these ones:

Mentors:

• Contribution to the project management profession
• Strenght their leadership skills
• Satisfaction of helping to other colleagues
• Way to get PDUs

Mentees:

• Professional development
• Exposure to new ways of thinking
• Increase their self confidence
• Way to get PDUs

Project Management, a temporary fashion, or a need?

Project management, a temporary fashion or a need..... IS THIS STATEMENT TRUE?

Let´s make some research in order to check if we can consider that project management is a temporary fashion.

One metric that could make us think that project management is a temporary fashion could be the number of persons that belong to a project management organization or have a project management certification. Let´s look at the numbers in PMI, as the biggest project management organization with ones of the most worldwide accepted certifications.

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In the WORLD: (31/01/2012)

• PMI members: 377.589 
• PMP certified: 471.437

In the world: (31/01/2014)

• PMI members: 450.713 
• PMP certified: 603.216

This means a 19% increase of PMI members and 28% increase in the number of PMPs.

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If we check the same metrics for Spain: 

In SPAIN: (31/01/2012)

• PMI members: 2.638
• PMP certified: 2.831

In Spain: (31/01/2014)

• PMI members: 5.270 
• PMP certified: 5.984

We find a 99% increase in the number of PMIs!! and 111% in the number of PMPs!!!

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And if we check the number of members that belong to the PMI Madrid Chapter for the same period:

We see that the the number of members has increased by 66%.

Looking at these figures is clear that something is making the people in Spain to join project management organizations and getting certified. 

But.... which one could be the reasons for this impressive increase??

If we search in Google "more demanded certifications", what it calls my attention first is that most of the links are related to IT certifications, but in order to not to be focused in just one particular area, i check the link that says 15 Top-paying certifications for 2014, for finding out in the 5th position:

•  Project Management Professional (PMP®) - $108,525

On the other hand, checking data at INE, we can see that in Spain we had a 24.44% unemployment rate in March 2012, and 26.07% in December 2013.

And adding another component to the equation, there are companies, like the one I work for, where is mandatory to be PMP certified in order to be recognized as a project manager, what means that there are companies that are moving to a project driven mode as they have seen the competitive advantage that project management brings to the companies. (My company belongs to the IT & Telecom area).

What can we conclude from all these data??:

It´s clear that there is an impressive increase in the number of people joining organizations like PMI and getting certified, but is not possible to know which one is the main reason while not having data like unemployment rate in the project management profession, percentage of companies demanding project management certifications, percentage of companies working on a project driven mode, and so on....

Based on this, I can not say if project management is a temporary fashion...

But I can confirm that project management is a NEED, just for one simple reason: Project Management impacts directly the bottom line of the companies financial statements, and as consequence in the shareholder value.

Networking workshop focused in projects

This week I have attended a workshop organized by the PMI Madrid Chapter, related to networking from a project management perspective, in order to find out if our networking skills are helping or damaging our projects, and how to improve our skills. The workshop was given by Pino Bethencourt, senior advisor to top leadership and founder of "Hill of Tara foundation".

The event took place in the meeting room of a hotel where there were several round tables. Just after Pino introduced herself, she asked: "Please stand up all of you who are sitting down in a table where you already know someone from before". Not surprisingly, in all the tables stood up at least 2 persons. This is something very common in Spain. We always sit nearby someone we already know even if we are attending a networking event where we should meet new people!! Of course, Pino requested to everybody to move to tables where we did not know anybody else.

The first exercise of the workshop consisted on discussing in each table which one are the benefits and disadvantages of networking from our point of view. In my table, and I guess in most of the other tables as well, we had never thought about networking in a project context, as we assumed that it was embedded in the communication plan of the project. After some brainstorming we chose these ones:

• Benefits:
• Increase the commitment of the project team members
• Facilitates the professional relationships (key to have a first face to face meeting with each member)
• Having a good network helps to get quick access to subject matters expert

• Disadvantages:
• It can create internal groups inside the project trying to influence to the others
• Inequality in the team members may happen, getting the ones who are networked benefits
• Informal relationships could be not alligned to the project communication plan

After putting in common our thoughts we got from Pino her definition for networking:

"Networking is the art of starting and developing mutual beneficial relationships in an strategic way".

It is key to remark, that both persons must get benefits from the relationship. Networking in one way, trying to get something from the another person, not offering anything in change, it does not work.

Recently I have heard about a scientific experiment where it has been measured that the human beings get higher levels of personal happinnes when we try to make happy to other people. This could be related to the law of attraction: Whatever you give, you get it back.

The workshop concluded with an exercise where we had to get introduced to other people in the room that we did not know from before, and then get and provide feedback about the verbal and non-verbal communication and feelings experienced when talking to the other person.

In conclusion, a very interesting workshop where we got some basics for networking, that helped us to perceive what is networking from different angles and perspectives.

The benefits of Mentoring for Mentors and Mentees

Mentoring is a practice that is becoming quite popular in these last years all around the world as the benefits for the Mentors and Mentees are quite significant, The companies have measured and recognized the value of it, and are working on internal and external initiatives for spreading its use.

Mentoring has been used since the old times of our history. In fact, the name of mentoring comes from the old greek mythology. (Mentor was a close friend of Ulises who acted as a Mentor for his son Telemaco).

When talking to different people about what is mentoring, I have seen quite confussion between what is mentoring and what is coaching. I believe this is due to the popularity of the word Coaching and the role of the Coach in comparison to the less known word Mentoring and the role of the Mentor. Due to this, let me expose some of the "hundreds" of definitions available:

Mentoring: is a two-way mutually beneficial learning situation where the mentor provides advice, shares knowledge and experiences, and teaches using a low pressure, self-discovery approach. Mentors in either a formal mentoring program or informal relationship focus on the person, their career and support for individual growth and maturity. The Mentor has a deep personal interest, personally involved—a friend who cares about you and your long term development. As the Mentor is usually a more experienced individual, he/she can more easily facilitate reflection and problem solving, but generally refrains from giving direct advice or skill/knowledge transfer. 

The Mentor is both a source of information/knowledge and acts as a "Friend, Philosopher and Guide" towards the Mentee.

Coaching is a process whereby an individual gets support while learning to achieve a specific personal or professional result or goal. A Coach facilitates the development of specific skills for the task, challenges and performance expectations at work. The individual getting coached may be referred to as the client, the mentee or coachee, or they may be in an intern or apprenticeship relationship with the person coaching them.

Coaching may also happen in an informal relationship between one individual who has greater experience and expertise than another and offers advice and guidance, as the other goes through a learning process.

And the best way to see the differences between both are with examples:

Typical mentoring situations:

• To support/advice for professional development over the long term (e.g. career exploration, moving around the organization, feedback on goals setting or gaining perspective on the organization, etc)
• Guide the learner to grow in maturity / seniority
• To give advise, for discussion and give feedback on a variety of sensitive issues (e.g. change in behavior, cultural/gender/racial awareness, etc) situations)

Typical coaching situations:

• Developing a learner new in a position, new in a role or new at the company
• Building skills within technical/business areas, methods and for specifically defined competencies
• Individual career planning – what is the next step

The benefits for the Mentees are described above, but which one are the benefits for the Mentors? Why should I spend time doing this, that by the way, is a non-profit activity from an economical point of view?

Well, some of the benefits are:

• Get visibility in the organization and in the community
• Get recognition
• Expand your network
• Enhance your communication skills
• Develops active listening
• Helps you to review your past experiences and knowledge

And last but not least, in fact for me the most important, is the satisfation of helping to other people.

I have had the chance of experiencing the benefits of Mentoring from both sides, as a Mentor and as a Mentee. First inside my company, and later on as a volunteer in the PMI Information Systems Community of Practice.

Nowadays, as I strongly believe in the benefits of mentoring, I keep acting as a Mentor in my company, and I have recently joined the initiative launched by the PMI Madrid Chapter where I will work together with other colleagues of the chapter in the management of the mentoring program, trying to apply my own experiences, and the lessons learnt in similar programs by our colleagues from the Montreal Chapter and the Information Systems CoP.

I recommend of all you to promote these mentoring initiatives inside your companies and your associations, as the benefits for the persons involved, the companies, and at last, the whole society, are clearly significant and remarkable.

PMI´s Pulse of the Profession

PMI has delivered this week the PMI´s Pulse of the Profession 2013. PMI's annual Pulse of the Profession charts the major trends for project management - now and in the future. It features original market research that reports feedback and insights from project, program and portfolio managers, along with an analysis of third-party data.

Many interesting conclusions can be extracted from this year´s report. Some of them are:

 - Organizations undervalue project management and put inadequate focus on talent development
 - Project success rates are declining
 - Only a small percentage of companies (~15%) report to have high maturity project management practices
 - Training and development in project management is declining
 - Only four of ten project managers say there is a defined career path for project management within their organization

Do you feel identified with these results?....

For access to the report:

PMI´s Pulse of the Profession 2013

PMBOK 5th edition release

A new release of the PMBOK (5th edition) is already available for all PMI members. It can be downloaded at www.pmi.org.

The Fifth Edition continues to reflect the evolving knowledge within the profession of project management. Like previous editions it represents generally recognized good practice in the profession.

The major updates to the Fifth Edition are summarized below:

■ The content from Section 3 “The Standard for Project Management of a Project” has been
moved to Annex A1.  The new Section 3 addresses project management processes and Process
Groups as in previous editions.

■ A new Knowledge Area has been created called “Project Stakeholder Management” that
increases the focus on identifying and engaging stakeholders. This increases the number of
Knowledge Areas from nine to ten.

■ Four planning processes have been added to reinforce the concept that each major Knowledge
Area has a planning process focusing on how that area will be planned and executed.

A comparison between both releases can be found in these links:

PMBOK v5 - 47 processes

PMBOK v4 - 42 processes

What is PMI?

In following posts I will make multiple references to PMI and words like PDU, Chapter, Community of Practice and so on. Therefore, first I should explain what is PMI (Project Management Institute) and for that I will refer to what they say in their website:  www.pmi.org

In a competitive global economy, project managers can’t go it alone. So turn to PMI membership to give you the tools and support you need to make your mark on the profession. Discover more about what our membership is and what benefits it offers, and choose the type of membership that’s best for you. 

In a word, dedication. PMI membership signifies that you’re serious about your project management career and your professional development. It highlights this dedication to employers, colleagues and stakeholders, giving you an edge in the job market. It also provides you with access to valuable knowledge, networks and resources that help you improve and advance. 

As a PMI member, you gain exclusive access to PMI publications and our global standards, networking options with our chapters and online communities of practice, and leadership and volunteer opportunities. You’ll also receive discounts on certification exams and renewals, as well as our professional development offerings. 

Whether you’re new to project management or a seasoned veteran, PMI has a membership plan that’s right for you. Check out the membership options we have for practitioners, students and retirees. Group rates are also available.

I have been a PMI member for a while already and I confirm all the value they claim to have above. Being an active member of the PMI Madrid local chapter and the PMI Information Systems Community of Practice is becoming a really great experience. I will share more details about my involvement in this chapter and this community in future posts.