What you need to know about PMI®’s upcoming changes for collecting PDUs!
Except the CAPM®, all PMP® Certifications are required to adhere to the Continuing Certification Requirements that support ongoing professional development through education or giving back to profession. If you are a PMP® certified professional or hold some other PMI® Project Management Certification, you must be familiar with the process of collecting PDUs and maintaining your certification. But, in case you haven’t heard about it yet, CCR program of PMI® is getting a makeover and there are significant changes to the requirements for certificate holders. And, these alterations are expected to be effective from December, 2015 and here is an elaboration about it so you may organize your own professional goals in relation to the same.
To build a better foundation for professionals to learn and maintain their certification as well as to give back to the Project Management profession, PMI®’s new changes focus on supporting professional and personal development in the complete process of maintaining an active certification status. Presently, the process for collecting PDUs is not terribly strict. If you already possess PMP® Certification, all you need to do is – earn a certain number of PDUs within 3 years to remain active and certified PMP® professional.
Changes in PMI®PMP® Requirements
There are significant changes to the sub-category or ceiling of certain kinds of PDUs (reference: Where To Get 35 Hours Of Project Management Education: The Right PMP®® Ingredient?), while the total PDU requirements for every re-certification cycle of PMP® is still 60. Below are the major changes that will be implemented from 1st December, 2015:
There are two updates coming to PMI®’s Continuing Certification Requirement process:
- Addition of the PMI® Talent Triangle
- Alteration in PDU requirements and the minimum number of PDUs that needs to be earned under specific categories
PMI® Talent Triangle
The new talent triangle for PMI® outlines the ideal skills set for Project Manager in today’s business world. Composed of 3 momentous management proficiency – Technical Project Management, Leadership and Strategic & Business Management, PMI®’s Talent Triangle represents a new combination of learning that is meant to outshine the skills that organizations have labeled necessary for Project Management. Additionally, these skills are the most sought after by employers in order to align the professional with the organization’s needs.
Below is the summarization of PMI®’s illustrations
Leadership Skills [minimum 8 PDU]
These are the skills that focus on motivating your team and all those who work alongside. Leadership skills comprise of the ability to communicate an organization’s vision and assist in reaching the goals and objectives.
71% organizations consider leadership skill most significant and mandatory for long-term success.
Business & Strategic Management Skills [minimum 8 PDU]
This category includes basic business knowledge and skills in industry that will assist in providing successful business outcomes. These are most significantly required to help you grasp the complete business; thereby, develop consistent organizational strategies.
72% of project success rate is directly proportional to the organizational strategy
Areas that utilize Strategic and business management skills:
- Operational functions
- Strategic planning and alignment
- Contract management
- Business expertise
- Finance
Technical Project Management Skills [minimum 8 PDU]
This is the practice of maintaining the knowledge and skills related to certain domains of practice for project, program and portfolio management.
66% of organizations say technical skills are most difficult to find
Areas that utilize technical skills:
- Requirement gathering techniques
- Project controls and scheduling
- Risk management
- Scope management
- Agile tools and techniques
How the Changes in PDU Requirements Affect PMP® Certification Holder?
Once the update takes effect in December 2015, you will need to have a minimum of 35 PDUs earned through education and all education PDUs earned is required to match the Talent Triangle requirements of a minimum of 8 PDUs per Talent Triangle skillset.
Refer the image below for complete screenshot from PMI® CCR Program outlining the changes of PDU requirements specific to category:
- You may earn less PMP® PDU by being a project manager (only 8 PDU)
- You need to earn more PMP® PDU through education and training (at least 35 PDU)
- PMP® can still earn the educational PDU through webinars, PMI® R.E.P., training and courses and self-directed learning
- The skills areas that the training and education addresses should be distributed among the “PMI® Talent Triangle” with at least 8 PDU in each area
- If a single learning activity contains component in more than one area, PMP® can divide the PDU for the activity up into portions for the areas (the smallest potion is 0.25 PDU)
- From 1 December 2015, education activities organized by PMI® or PMI® R.E.P. will include information on the number of PDU to be earned for the three skills areas
- For other activities, PMP® holders will need to keep a course description / course outline of the PDU education activity to prepare for the audit
If you are looking forward for the right resources and an easy way to excel your career graph – start with PMP® Online Certification Training with PMI® Authorized Training Partner – Multisoft Virtual Academy that supports you with 24*7 e-learning access and 35 Professional Development Units.
