Cost Effective method of obtaining PDU’s to maintain PMP certification

Introduction

The PMP certification is valid for a period of three years from the day you pass the exam. To maintain the PMP certification beyond that, you need to accumulate at least 60 Professional Development Units [PDU’s] during the three year period. As per the PMP handbook, you earn one PDU for every hour of planned, structured learning experience or activity. This learning has to be related to Project Management. Further the handbook lists the various categories under which one can accumulate PDU’s. Here let me highlight some of the categories under which PDU’s can be obtained in a cost effective manner.

PDU Categories

The following are the commonly used categories to obtain PDU’s. For the complete list please refer to the PMP handbook.

Category 2 D : Under this category you can earn PDU’s for speaking on a topic related to Project Management at a PMI component meeting, like the PMI Bangalore Chapter meeting. You earn 5 PDU’s per topic that you speak on.

Category 2 H: Many of you would be actively performing the role of a Project Manager at your organization. Under this category, you can earn 5 PDU’s per calendar year if you are a Project Manager for at least 1500 hours in that calendar year.

Category 3: Under this category you can earn PDU’s by attending knowledge sharing sessions organized by PMI components like the PM Footprints at PMI Bangalore Chapter. You earn one PDU for each session you attend.

Also under this category, you can earn PDU’s by attending educational courses offered by PMI Registered Education Providers [REP’s]. Many of these REP’s offer courses in the form of online books, webinars and white papers. Depending upon the length of the course you can earn one or more PDU’s. Some of the prominent REP’s are International Institute for Learning, Prodevia and Learning Curve Associates. The PMP handbook provides a searchable database of REP’s.

Category 5: Under this category, you can earn PDU’s for becoming a volunteer at a Project Management Organization like the PMI Bangalore Chapter. You need to be a volunteer for a minimum period of three months and can earn up to 5 PDU’s in a year.

Plan Certification Maintenance

Consider PMP Certification Maintenance as a mini Project where the scope is to obtain 60 PDU’s in a three year schedule at minimum cost. With this in mind, prepare a plan at the beginning of the first year in the following manner:

·         List out all the categories under which you would like to earn your PDU’s. Understand the constraints in each of the categories. For example, Category 2H allows you to earn only 5 PDU’s in a year.

·         Next, consider the cost per PDU in every category. For example, to earn one PDU in Category 3 could cost you upto10$. Search for educational courses that are offered free of cost by REP’s.

·         Last but not the least; consider the Quality of the activities planned. Do not plan to attend all the knowledge sharing sessions for simply obtaining the PDU’s. Plan to attend those sessions where the topic would have a direct relevance to your area of work.

Based on these calculate how many PDU’s you can earn in each of these categories. Ensure the total is at least 60 PDU’s. Spread these activities over a three year period and prepare a schedule. Have milestone targets for one year and two years.

In this method you accumulate PDU slowly. It is time consuming but cost effective. This method is suitable if you still have time left for your recertification. But if you are already late you will not be able to follow the above method. In that case you will have to attend costly educational courses which will offer you PDU’s in a short span of time.

Some of the best practices that you can follow:

1.      Remember you can claim your PDU’s online at the PMI website. Raise your claim as soon as you complete the activity and have received the certificate of completion. This way you will not loose track of your activities.

2.      Maintain proof of completion of activity. This would be required if there is an audit check at the time of recertification.

Creating Balanced Project Teams Using Belbin Model

Introduction
Dr Meredith Belbin is the architect of the Belbin model. He is a British researcher and management theorist and studied team-work for many years. He observed that team members in teams tend to assume different “team roles”. He defines a “team role” as “a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way". There are nine team roles that are described in this model.

  

Belbin Model

The nine team roles in this model are divided into three groups: Action Roles, Social Roles, and Thinking Roles. Each team role is associated with typical behavioral and interpersonal strengths and also characteristic weaknesses that tend to accompany the team-role.

The three Action Roles are Shapers, Implementers and Completer – Finishers

The three Social roles are Coordinator, Team Worker and Resource Investigator

The three Thinking roles are Plant, Monitor-Evaluator and Specialist

Shapers are dynamic and thrive in a challenging, pressure filled environment. They have the drive to overcome obstacles. But they are also prone to provocation and offend other’s feelings.

Implementers are disciplined and conservative. They can turn ideas into practical actions. But they are inflexible and slow to respond to new possibilities.

Completer-Finishers are painstaking workers. They weed out all errors and omissions and deliver on time. But they may worry unnecessarily and find it hard to delegate.

Coordinators are mature, confident people and become good Project Managers. They promote decision making and delegate well. But they can be manipulating and may over delegate.

Team Workers are co-operative, mild and diplomatic. They build the team and avoid friction. But they can be indecisive in crunch situations.

Resource Investigators are extroverted, enthusiastic and good in communication. They explore new opportunities and develop new contacts. But they can be over-optimistic and lose interest too soon.

Plants are creative, imaginative and unorthodox people. They can solve difficult problems. But they tend to ignore constraints and fail to communicate effectively.

Monitor-Evaluators are sober and strategic. They evaluate all options before arriving at a decision. But they are unable to inspire others.

Specialists are single-minded, self starting and dedicated. They provide specialized knowledge. But they lack an understanding of the big picture.
    

Balanced Project Team

Teams can become unbalanced if all team members have similar styles of behavior or team roles. Hence Project Managers can use the Belbin model to help create more balanced teams.

Project Managers can use this model in the following ways:

·         In a new Project, during planning phase, Project Manager should identify team roles essential for the project. Select team members who would easily fit into these team roles.

a.     If the project requires specialized knowledge, Project Manager should plan to have team members in the Specialist role.

b.    If the project is expected to be very challenging, Project Manager should plan to have team members in the Shaper role.

c.     Also the Project Manager should identify if a team role is required only for a particular stage of the project and plan accordingly. For e.g., a Monitor-Evaluator may be required only in the design stage of the project to evaluate all options and arrive at a design approach for the project. 

·         In a running Project, during execution phase, the Project Manager should observe the behavior of the individual team members and map them to one or more of the team roles. The Project Manager can also solicit the help of HR consultants who are proficient in mapping the team members using standard questionnaire. This knowledge can be used to

a.     Identify and manage interpersonal differences within an existing team.

b.    Identify if any necessary team role is missing in the team. Solution would be to move an existing team member to the needed team role or a new team member inducted. For e.g., if new ideas and approaches are required in the project, one of the team members has to assume the role of Plant.

c.     Identify cases where a single team role is assumed by many team members and hence weakening the team overall. Some of the team members need to be moved into a new team role or replaced with new members. For e.g., if there are too many Team Workers, decision making will be poor in the team.