Becoming a certified project manager through the Project Management Institute (PMI) and coming out with your project management professional (PMP) certification in hand requires time, money, commitment, and dedication to your profession. Plus an agreement and understanding that such a certification makes a difference in your career, your advancement within the profession and how you will perform going forward as a project manager.

I, personally, believe that pursuing and obtaining PMP certification will help you in your career, will make you a better project manager, and is worth the time and effort it takes to get there. Do you have it in you? Yes, you do. Can you get there alone? I don't know. But I do know that an organization like PPM Global Services can help you get there. Plus, they take the worries out of many things associated with the PMP exam process...

You are guaranteed to pass. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. While not everyone passes the first time around when taking the PMP exam, with PPM Global Services you can rest assured that you will get there without paying for more training. If you fail to pass on your first try, you can continue to attend any of their public 3-day PMP Boot Camp classes until you do pass. So no more training dollars. Time, yes, but no more money.

The training time commitment is minimized. Most of us lead pretty busy lives – both personally and professionally. And they are always mixing and affecting each other. So when you must train for something like this, the last thing you want to do expensive traveling somewhere to take a two week training course. There just aren't enough hours in the day or days in the week. With the boot camp process they offer, PPM Global Services gives you a thorough training in 3 days. It's live, instructor led and in your own home or place of work...yes, online and not in person. Welcome to the 21st century. They get it – you need the right training, you need it fast, and you need it where you are...not where they are.

Provides you with necessary education hours required by PMI for certification. You come out of the boot camp with your training certificate in hand. But beyond that, it provides you with education hours you need to satisfy PMI's requirement for PMP certification. When finished, you'll have 35 hours of training. Through 27 hours of live instruction and 8 hours of online courses, you will have 35 approved hours of training and education you need for PMI certification.

Summary / call for input

You're a dedicated project manager. Do you need to be certified? No, it's not required. You can certainly be a project manager and perform professionally and successful without certification. But PMP certification can help you in several ways: career advancement, PM confidence, potentially a more successful PM career going forward, a common understanding of the details of the profession and best practices, and the readiness to apply for and obtain many desirable project management positions that are preferring PMP certification. Yes, it takes time, dedication and dollars. But if you're looking for great training with a guarantee without an extensive timeframe added on, you'll get that with PPM Global Services.

Readers – what are your thoughts? Are you thinking about pursuing certification but have been less than confident about passing and what it's going to take to get there?Or perhaps you have your PMP certification now and can share how it's helped you in your career and on your project engagements.

2017 PMP Classes:
September:  3-Day PMP Boot Camp (Sept. 18-20)
November:  3-Day PMP Boot Camp (Nov. 6-8)
Note: Using the the discount code BRAD500 will allow for $500 off any of their 2017 classes. 

​Each project resource on your very talented project team has his or her own unique talents that they bring to the engagement. Managing that team should have to be too hard. However, they do each come to the table with their own unique experiences, behaviors, attitudes, egos, and beliefs about how things should be done...

All you current, future, past, aspiring, and one-off project managers out there...to certify or not to certify? Where do you stand on the topic of project management certification as a way to be the best, show you're the best, and give yourself the best chance at project success and project customer satisfaction?

Is PMP certification a career goal of yours? Do you think it is necessary for your PM career advancement? Or perhaps you are searching for a new PM gig and you think it will help you land a lucrative PM role or contract. Whatever the potential reasoning...will it help? Yes. Will it make you a better project manager? Yes. Is it absolutely necessary and would I only hire certified project managers. No. I know too many extremely successful project managers who aren't certified. I couldn't bypass a great PM with lots of project successes under his or her belt if I was looking to hire. And I have created PMOs and hired project managers along the way. But certification gives a validation you can't easily show in any other way – there is no question about that. So let's consider 5 advantages to obtaining PMP certification...

The PMP gives you the advantage. All things being equal, the PMP doesn't necessarily make someone a project manager. That said, if you have two people of equal qualifications and demonstrated capabilities - the project manager who has gone the extra yard to earn the PMP is likely going to show more consistent project success on an ongoing basis.

Certification shows a commitment to the profession. You can definitely manage projects – and succeed at managing projects – without PMP certification. However, the certified PM has demonstrated a different level of commitment to the profession of project management by making the effort to earn the industry standard certification.

PMP certification shows that you have demonstrated yourself to have the requisite knowledge for the globally accepted standards of project management. This is not a minor demonstration in today's global economy. Being aligned with the global standard of project management can significantly reduce mis-understandings in how to do the work of project management. In a profession like project management where communication and common understanding can mean the difference between success and failure, this is critical.

Certification shows a willingness to accept the requirements of leadership with respect to projects. PMP certification shows the person has the maturity to accommodate the global standards for project management even though they themselves may in fact have their own best practices they prefer. Again this is a significant demonstration that they can also accommodate others' different ideas in how to get the job done. No man is an island - being able to work together with others improves success of an organization.

Certification shows dedication to a course of study to a level of discipline and rigor to pass a difficult certification exam. Do you want project managers who aren't willing to go the extra mile to ensure your projects will succeed? Do you want project managers who have shown that they are willing to go through a training and testing process to certify themselves in their chosen field.  Probably.  Some or all may not have the time to prep, study and take the exam due to current workloads. But if it's also important to the employer, they will make the time for their PM resources – possibly even offer bonus or promotion or salary increase offers as incentives to get certified. One of my employers offered a large boost in salary for PMP certification.

Summary / call to action

The bottom line is this – is it important enough to you and to your customer and to your employer and for your career to get certified in project management? If it matters to you, then stop making excuses and do it. It will only help you become a better project manager. Certification will open many options for the newer project manager and open new options for the more experienced project managers out there. Recruiters and companies seem to not be “requiring” certification much anymore, but most are still listing it as “preferred” and my guess is that the underlying theme is that they are basically requiring it. Do it – you won't regret it.

Readers - please share your thoughts and experiences on the needs and benefits of PMP certification?  Do you think it's necessary?  If you are certified, how have you benefited and why do you think it's important? 

​A high turnover rate is always an unwelcome sign, especially for project managers who rely on a committed team. The scouting and rehiring process costs precious money and time, resources that could be better used on completing company projects. Fortunately, there are ways to retain your workforce that don’t just rely on giving raises. Here are eight organic strategies that can improve your employee retention rate...

#&*%# happens, right?  We expect issues and problems (to some degree) on our projects. Heck, conflict can sometimes occur with team members, the customer or even with other projects in the organization.

It’s natural... It happens... But what if the conflict is between two of “your” projects?
​
But wait? You’re the project manager, an expert!...

​How do you feel about having all eyes on you? Being on your own stage? Do you shy away from such a situation or do you run with these types of spotlights and excel? Most of us don’t want that much attention…and as project managers we usually like to fly a bit under the radar...

No matter what project management tool you are using, one of the most important capabilities you will have is the ability to quickly and easily report on project dataand share that information with the relevant audiences in a format that works for them.
​
Having accurate, up-to-date, and accessible project reports is critical to understanding how a project is progressing and helps the team to make better,more informed decisions. Since project reports provide the visibility to deliver necessary successful projects, I wanted to put together some reporting best practices to help kick-start your reporting efforts!...