First, a little background:

I have been functioning as a professional project manager for 30 years.  In that time I’ve worked primarily in the medical device field developing new patient monitoring products.  During my career I managed projects and groups that have resulted in at least 35 new medical products plus many more product improvements.  I have 6 patents, with 4 more pending.  Starting in 1999, I left medical for a couple of years as one of the co-founders of ProjectConnections.com.   After the initial start-up phase at ProjectConnections.com, I consulted to the medical field as a project manager for a product recall and as a program manager for a significant 6 sigma improvement program.  I then joined another medical start-up here in Hawaii and brought another unique product to market and scaled the operations to be ready for tremendous growth.  Now I am consulting again.

All that background aside, my training as a project manager has come in many forms.  Initially it was on-the-job training.  At larger, more mature companies I took many courses focused on the many skills a project manager needed.  I also brought in formal training in project management to train teams starting up a new, critical program.  As a consultant I have helped establish and equip several project management offices.  I even blog for ProjectConnections.com!

So why bother to become a PMP now?

Well, the science of project management has continued to evolve and improve.  It’s been almost 10 years since I formally took classroom PM training.  Many of my assignments over the years didn’t focus on certain aspects of project management such as cost and procurement.  And, as a consultant, it is very helpful to have the formal certification, similar to that of professional engineer certification.  Now days, many high level project management positions also require the PMP certification.  Many government or government contract jobs require it.

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

Well, I certainly hope so.  I sought out Certification Exam Prep rather than more project management subject training.  This training assumes that you have project management experience and just need to make sure you fill any gaps in knowledge and understand the specific terminology and philosophy of the test.  The course covers the material in the PMBOK® and makes sure to give you lots of practice taking tests.  The course is 36 hours over 6 weeks plus lots of reading and prep, so it’s designed for working project managers.

As I look over the material I see that it has many steps that many project managers take for granted, examples such as project charter, project scope and communication plans.  It focuses more on thorough planning before moving into the project than many companies permit.  In a company with mature processes many of these things are woven into the fabric of the company and are likely assumed.  In less-mature companies or in consulting or contract situations, NOT taking these for granted can really improve project performance, because you don’t skip the step and make false assumptions.  In particular, digging in on identifying stakeholders and discovering what their needs, wants and position are is especially helpful in a new organization or consulting gig.

None of the items I’ve encountered so far are useless or superfluous.  I’m going to pay attention to cost items since every company I’ve ever worked for would always trade cost to maintain schedule, because time-to-market always trumped everything else.  Not all projects you will encounter will make these same trade-offs, especially in construction or government work. 
Wish me luck.  In a class of about fifteen I am one of two people with grandchildren.  Many of the people in the class are my children’s age.  I have more years of PM experience than each of the instructors (so far) but they are already PMP-certified and are very helpful in giving real world examples and explaining PMI® terminology.  I don’t think we are ever done learning how to be better at the art and science of project management.

-- Matt Glei, www.KnowHowConsulting.biz

Comments

Matt, what prep class did you take? Thanks, I am in the same situation as you...been at this for many years.

Derrel,

Thanks for the comment. I was lucky, my local PMI chapter here in Honolulu sponsors a course two or three times a year that focuses on prep for the PMP certification exam. The course assumes you have the needed experience and covers the material covered by the exam in 12 3-hour sessions. Here they are held on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings so working PMs can attend. The cost is 400 -500 dollars. Some commercial suppliers also provide similar courses, but they tend to be condensed into 5 days (Monday through Friday) and usually cost significantly more. You need 35 hours of contact time in documented PM training to qualify for the PMP exam as well as four to eight thousand hours of actual PM experience, depending on whether you have a college degree or not. Please see the PMI website for specifics. PMI evaluates the material you supply and audits, so you must know who can attest to your experience. Please understand this effort before you get too far down the trail. Good luck in your endeavor.

If you guys are looking for project manager jobs, this helped me out with my job search, especially in this economy. It gives you inside information on what people at other companies with the same experience are earning. I found it useful, hope it helps
-Dave