First, I PASSED the PMP Certification Exam: It was a thorough, 4-hour test, with 200 questions that covered all the knowledge areas and PM processes. All the practice tests taken during the course and as part of our homework really helped. Many of us hadn't taken such tests in many years, so fear-of-testing was something that needed to be overcome.

During the course I noticed that several knowledge areas that were extremely familiar to me because of my medical product development background seemed to be unfamiliar to many of the project managers. This seemed particularly true of Risk Management and Quality Management. I believe that this was the result of their working in industries that hadn’t focused as much on formal methods in these areas. This isn’t to say that the products of these projects didn’t have high quality or mitigated risks sufficiently, but that these disciplines hadn’t formally been used to evaluate project risk or insure compliance with project processes.

I’ve been lucky in that medical devices are regulated and companies must have a formal quality management system in place, and this includes very formal risk management and quality management processes and methods. ProjectConnections.com has a lot of information on these topics.

Coverage of other areas in the course made me realize I had some gaps in certain knowledge areas, such as Cost Management and Procurement Management. Although I had done many activities in these areas over the years, in most companies, there were purchasing agents or financial accountants who did most of the purchasing or financial management. My colleagues in the construction or government sectors certainly had more formal experience managing these two areas.

I also have observed that few companies I’ve worked for did a good job of project-based accounting in real time, and real-time feedback is essential for closely managing costs.

Another observation: most companies represented by my class had no formal project management process or product development process in place. In addition, no one’s company or organization had a formal Project Management Office [PMO] in place. This means that many PMs have little support or coaching built into their organizations.

So, now that I can put the PMP behind my name, what do I do differently? Well, I will volunteer to teach some units of the next PMP class. By doing this I not only earn the PDUs [professional development units] toward maintaining my certification, but I also get to give back to the profession that has been, and will continue to be, my livelihood. I will likely focus on risk management and quality management – areas I know very well and can give real life examples. Teaching is something I’ve always enjoyed.

Now get out there and use all your PM knowledge areas!

-- Matt Glei, PMP, www.KnowHowConsulting.biz

Related Links
Support current and future PM(P)s in your organization with communities of practice and support groups aimed at practical knowledge sharing. If you're not sure what kind of support your project managers want, ask them! For project managers working on their own development plans, try setting up a coaching arrangement with a trusted PM in your organization.

Comments

Congratulations, Matt! I know you'll put it to great use. Always fun putting letters behind one's name, and PMP is a non-trivial accomplishment. ^_^

I've been PMing for some time and think I'm ready to start studying for the PMP. I have read the 4th edition of the PMBOK but am struggling on what steps to take next. Ideas?

Thanks for your question, George.

The first thing I did was to find a local course for the PMP Exam Preparation. My local chapter of PMI sponsors these several times a year. They are designed for working PMs because they were held Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings for six weeks. There are also (usually commercial) courses that pack the course into 4 - 5 days. These courses don't really teach you PM - they assume you have experience. But they do help cover the material in an organized fashion and also help prepare you to take the test. The test practice was very helpful.

There are web-based courses that do this as well, but if you can do it in person I believe you'll get more out of it - questions from others often help spur your understanding.

Another thing you should do early on is go to the PMI website and start the application process. Part of the process is documenting thousands of hours of your PM experience and your training and education. Our chapter shared a spreadsheet someone had prepared that helped us organize the experience by project.

As part of this you will also need to be prepared to have references who can vouch for the accuracy of the project work you did. This can be very difficult for some who have since moved jobs and may have lost touch with previous supervisors. This should not discourage you, but is one of the activities that may delay your project to become a PMP.

Good luck. I'm glad to help in any way I can.