Tag Archives: Marketing the Profession

International Project Management Day

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International Project Management Day will be held on November 3 this year.  Initiated and organized by well-known educator and consultant Frank P. Saladis, the annual celebration of project management has grown from eight participating organizations in 2005 to twenty-five organizations and twenty-nine events in 2010.  Organizations planning an event for 2011 are being encouraged to get involved with a Sister City, and request their government issue an IPM Day proclamation.

The vision for IPM Day is of an international community, “Acknowledged for their contributions to the business, government, and nonprofit environments.”  Frank describes the mission of the OPM Day community as:

  • Provide opportunities for project based organizations to express their appreciation for the leadership and commitment demonstrated by project managers who make significant contributions toward organizational success.
  • Create connections between project management organizations to share ideas, foster professional relationships, and appreciate the value of cultural diversity in the global project environment.
  • Enhance the awareness of the value of project management.
  • Communicate the contributions and importance of project management and project managers to business leaders at all levels and across all industries.

Over the last few years, I’ve come to appreciate the value of marketing the practice of professional project management as beneficial to both project managers and the organizations they work for.  PMI’s new slogan, “Making project management indispensable for business results,” is as much about driving perception among decision makers as it is about adding value.  And that is one of the principle value-adds of a professional organization – presenting a voice for the community to our customers, employers, and other critical stakeholders.  IPM Day is one more channel for both networking within the professional community and communicating the value we bring to the organizations we serve.

Is the Value of the PMP Credential Being Diluted?

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Lately, LinkedIn and the blogosphere are awash with anecdotes about inexperienced or just plain lousy project managers with the PMP credential.  Patrick Richard, of The Hard-Nosed Project Manager, posted several specific examples  just the other day.  “We are not talking here of a lack of familiarity with specific tools but rather with basic project management concepts.”

As a long-time PMP credential holder, I don’t want to see marginally skilled or largely inexperienced project managers with the PMP.  Obviously, if PMI is credentialing people who don’t have the necessary experience to sit for the exam, then they should consider requiring independent verification, or at least increase their application audit sample rate.  Those looking to “break in to project management” should be encouraged to pursue the CAPM.  Perhaps PMI should improve their pitch on who should apply for which credential, possibly adjust pricing to make CAPM more attractive, and work to improve industry acceptance of CAPM as an entry-level certification.

As a hiring manager, I value the PMP credential as a filter.  Over the years, I’ve seen quite a few self-described “expert project managers” who weren’t.   Same thing with bad programmers, bad drivers, bad cooks, and bad parents.  Professional society credentials are at least an objective indicator (if not a guarantee) of some level of mastery.  However, managers shouldn’t make hiring decisions based entirely on a resume.  They should do extensive reference checks, along with multiple in-person interviews, and possibly proficiency tests or situational assessments for those claiming specific skills. And those managers who still make a bad hire, despite the filters and rigorous selection process, need to figure it out quickly and take appropriate action, because that’s what good managers do.

Those of us who are in leadership positions have to take some responsibility for development of those who will eventually replace us.  Used wisely, the PMI standards and credentials are useful tools for professional development.  But they aren’t the whole picture, and we shouldn’t curse a yardstick for being a poor micrometer.

Marketing Requires More Than Relentless Self-Promotion

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Some years ago, I attended a presentation by Patricia Fripp (for you King Crimson fans, she’s Robert’s sister), where she talked about the concept of “relentless self-promotion.”  This was back in the early days of “personal branding” for ordinary people.  Nowadays, of course, we have YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and all the other myriad ways for people to get visibility.  Today, Facebook has over 500 million users, Twitter around 200 million, LinkedIn around 90 million, and people now watch two billion YouTube videos every day.  It seems the idea has caught on, big-time.  So with all this relentless self-promotion going on, maybe we need to ask a few questions.

  • Who are we promoting ourselves to?
  • What do they think they need (that we have to offer)?
  • Why do they think they need it?

I bring all this up because Miles Jennings, CEO of iMediaVentures, recently initiated a poll on LinkedIn, “Is PMP certification becoming more or less important for project managers?”  The question drew 2,771 votes and 248 comments.  A full 57 percent thought it was becoming more important, but the comments showed an interesting divergence: those who thought it was becoming less important stressed the number of PMP holders they knew who were not effective.  One even wrote, “PMI and PMP is a racket.”  Another commented on the scope of the testing, “Unfortunately, the PMP does not measure the art or social skills that a PM [possesses] …”

Meanwhile, while those who felt it was becoming more important stressed the market value of the credential.  “It’s been my experience that all employers weigh PMP certification as a plus and many require it.”  Others wrote about perceptions in the workplace, “There is something about having the PMP to back me up when making decisions that have an economic or resource impact.”  The opinions expressed largely diverged along the lines of those who considered the value of the PMP credential to themselves, and those who considered the value of the PMP to their target market.  Clearly, these folks have a larger view of “self-promotion” than simply maintaining a LinkedIn page, and they’ve thought about who they are promoting themselves to , and what they have to offer.  But for the PMP credential, it is largely up to PMI to drive why that target market thinks they need it.

If you go to the PMI website nowadays, you’ll see their tag line, “Making project management indispensable for business results.”  Some are a bit shocked at the idea that a professional organization should try to manage the public’s perception of the profession and its practice.  Once upon a time, PMI’s mission was about expanding the knowledge base and publishing it in the PMBOK and other documents, identifying and promulgating best practices, and making resources available to the practitioner.  Of course, they still do all these things, but now the mission of growing PMI has been placed front and center.

And they’ve been successful – over the last eight years, the number of PMP credential holders has about quadrupled, as has the number of PMI members.  They’ve also added four other credentials to the original PMP.  And PMI is now making the Certified Associate in Project Manager (CAPM) credential easier to pursue – they’re going to allow applicants to complete the required 23 hours of education prior to sitting for the exam, rather than prior to submitting the application.  They’ve also expanded the number of Prometric test sites to about 5,000.  I expect similar small steps in making the PMP and PgMP credentials more accessible, as Mark Langley settles in to his new role as President and CEO of PMI.

Naturally, this makes a lot of long-time members queasy about diluting the value of the credentials by making the club appear to be less exclusive.  But in a large market, marketing requires more than relentless self-promotion – it requires alignment with established brands that are actively working to be successful.  And in order for a brand like PMI to be successful, it requires the support of those who have bought in to their vision, in the form of membership, gentle advocacy, and mentoring of beginners.  And, ultimately, it requires growth in order to dominate the market. So, whatever you might think about PMI’s mission, or the value of the PMP credential, I’m going to simply say that I’d rather hire an experienced project manager who has demonstrated their ability to understand and perform to a specified standard, than one who believes that self-certification to a personal, undefined standard is preferable.  Your mileage may vary.