Project management carreers on the rise: PMI
- 23 February, 2010 10:37
- Comments (1)
Career options for project managers are escalating with a 150-fold increase in postgraduate courses in the discipline, according to the industry’s global non-profit association, the Project Management Institute (PMI).
The PMI accredits educational institutions with its industry-wide certification for the delivery of courses in project management.
PMI’s president and CEO, Greg Balestrero, says there is a significant trend for undergraduate and graduate work on project management as companies are demanding “more execution skills”.
“Since 2000 we’ve gone from 12 masters degrees in project management to more than 300 today, and we’re accrediting 15 to 20 university programs annually,” he says.
Just this week the University of Sydney announced its Master of Project Management degree at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies was accredited by the PMI global accreditation centre for project management education programs (GAC) for seven years, effective February 1, 2010.
Balestrero says there is a growing trend for graduate interest in project management, and project management certifications for software developers and IT professionals can be quite lucrative in terms of career advancement.
“In federal governments there is a tendency to look for an IT project manager. We have a global standard guide for project management [and] we feel those knowledge centres are applicable to any industry -- construction, IT or healthcare. And the project manager manages diversified teams of technologies.”
Balestrero cited a CNN Money survey in the US of the top 20 jobs for the new decade, where number the number five spot is occupied by IT project managers, as an example of the growing interest in the profession.
In Melbourne for the PMI’s second congress in Australia in three years, Balestrero says there are about 8000 members and 5500 certified professionals in Australia and New Zealand. PMI has also recently open an office in Sydney to better serve the region.
When asked why IT project management has garnered a reputation for a high failure rate, Balestrero says progress has been made, but “not as much as we would like”.
“One factor is the executive sponsor. If that support is visionary and clear and [has] the ability to connect every IT project with a business solution it can enhance the overall performance of the organisation.”
Balestrero added an increasing level of certification has also contributed to an improvement in project success rates.
Keynote speaker Scott Berkun says the interest in project management is also increasing as more organisations move to a “everything is a project” philosophy, not just large projects.
“I wish more people thought about that as a way to attack problems,” Berkun says.
On project management software, Berkun says technology gives you a lot of things “but it can’t change culture”.
“People like to think they can buy a technology and make something happen. Technology can’t change culture, leaders change culture.”
“It’s easy for leaders to make proclamations, but if things don’t change that doesn’t mean anything.”
Join CIO, the CIO Executive Council & IDC on 6 October at Australia’s premier Melbourne event for senior IT executives – the CIO Summit 2010. Find out more or register now.
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Comments
Unhappy PMI Member
PMI - "Do as I say, not as I do"
PMI's lackluster execution of their Virtual Communities Project (VCP) where the independently operated Specific Interest Groups (SIGs) were forced to merge into the parent organization of PMI or lose their charter is proof that they do not follow the project management methodology that they evangelize. Many members of PMI will tell you that the value that they get from PMI membership actually comes from their additional membership in the SIGs. Under the new model there is less individual ownership and direction setting of the groups that will replace the SIGs (Communities of Practice (CoP)), therefore there is less incentive for individuals to volunteer. They are converting a system that works pretty well (with a few exceptions), to a system that is simply not sustainable. With fewer volunteers there will be less content generated, and thus less value created for PMI members. It has been frustrating that PMI doesn't see this - or perhaps they do know this and have a larger reason behind why they are doing this that they haven't shared. Asked what risks they are managing as part of this transition, and the answer is none. Asked what their measures for success are and the answer is none. Have any of you PMP's out there ever worked on a project run like this? Not likely in a company where people are held accountable for the outcome of projects. But then again... maybe that is the crux of the problem with PMI. In an age where things are becoming more open and transparent, PMI seems to be moving in the exact opposite direction. I fear what this means for the long term viability of PMI and the value of my certifications.
I urge other PMI members to become more informed on this topic. Several SIGs have already either ceased operations or have broken away from PMI completely and set up shop as a new organization to support their members. Those that have converted have had abysmal results due to low volunteerism. For proof PMI members can access the Retail Community of Practice (for free) through the PMI.org website - which has had a total of 6 posts in it's forum so far in 2010.
I truly hope someone at PMI is willing to stand up to this mess and put an end to it once and for all, but realistically expect that all SIGs, and eventually all CoP's will simply just fade away.
Then they can do a project closeout... or not.
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