As you know, project management is one of the better professions now-a-days, which every individual want to take up. I heard people gossiping that Project Manager X is a good project manager and sometimes heard Project Manager Y is a bad project manager. Later I wanted to discover the reason behind this gossiping. You will be surprised to hear that they were differentiating project managers on the basis of the number of credentials project managers carry. Further I put some time on understanding the value of credentials – and in doing so I thought to discuss with those people who were gossiping.
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I arranged a meeting with those people and started brainstorming using Delphi method on the role and value of credentials. My role was like facilitator. I was gathering everyone’s consent and at the last got to conclude that the definition of best project managers was – they have some good credentials such as PMP® or PRINCE2 or something else and they were using best practices and methodologies in the project event while the definition of bad project managers was – no credential holder and less knowledge of best industry practices in a place to deliver the good result in the various project. Very less number of people were voted for good project managers without credentials.
However, it is not always true that without having credentials you cannot be a good project manager. But, it is also true that having a credential such as PMP® or PRINCE2, you could govern a project in more effective way. At least a credential could show you some path on how to initiate the project, how to plan the same and how to execute and monitor the change in the project to get work done as per the requirement of the customer.
Now, the question could come in mind – how credentials could play an important role in project management? In addition, it could be asked how the credentials could be used to get excel in the life and other similar questions. The answer is yes. Credentials such as PMP® and PRINCE2 play a very important role in the arena of project management. Let’s discuss some of the usefulness of the project management credentials.
Better Way to Understand Business Case
Very few people know that project manager could play an important role in project-choosing stage. That means a project manager could do business case activities overwhelmingly. Unfortunately in sub-continent a project managers’ role starts from project planning or somewhere from project execution. Ideally, a project manager should be appointed before the planning stage. This is because in initial stage of project s/he could play a huge role. And in doing so, a project manager needs some theory, some knowledge and some expertise and her/his credentials could be used as a catalyst. Credentials shows a path – how to pick the project from many projects – here, they could pick the options based on the requirements such as whether it would be cost–benefit analysis or internal rate of return etc. The credentials could be used in various decisions making activities during that stage.
Better Understanding of People’ Requirement
It is also very imperative for a project manager to understand the role of other people’s role in getting work done for the project. The project manager is singlehandedly not sufficient for getting entire work done in good shape. S/he needs various people’s assistant in accomplishing the task in a timely manner. Many project managers fail to do so effectively. Here, comes the role of credentials in use – per PMI®, there is separate knowledge area viz., stakeholder management area; where a project manager learns how to manage various expectations of the people around the project. Remember there are so many stakeholders such as program managers, other higher management staff and project team members, members of PMO, suppliers and buyers who could play an important role in project success and as a project manager you need to manage their expectation towards getting the project goals. Through credential you will be getting a lot of processes and methodologies on how to involve the key stakeholders in the project.
Better Project Planning Strategies
I have seen so many project managers not putting sufficient time in the planning stage. Good-quality project managers always spend more time on planning and they accordingly act on the execution and monitoring part. How carry out effective planning? - This question always challenges project managers. Through credentials such as PMP® or PRINCE2, you can understand how to initiate the planning stage by rolling wave planning and later when scope becomes clear and defined you can change your planning baselines by maintaining the actual requirement of the customer. So, credential help much at this stage as through it you know how to plan the entire work, how to in-sync with iterations, how to involve people and many more.
Conclusion
You cannot conclude that only credential holders project managers could perform better in project management. There are so many examples of better project management without any credential. But, yes, if you are a credential holder, there is a possibility that you could manage the project in better way as you have the knowledge of the best practices and methodologies through credential. But, in any way, credential never certifies that you know the better project management. As an individual you need to perform on the project by utilizing the credential's concept to show that you know the better project management - then only your credential will carry some weight and value.
PMP is a registered trademark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
