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Cornelius Fichtner

Today, we are shining a spotlight on Professional Development Units (PDUs).

More precisely, we are going to review the PMI Talent Triangle™ and how this triangle affects the way that you need to earn your PDUs. And if you are a project manager who holds a certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI)® then you know about PDUs, because you need them for your certification renewal every three years.

And just to be absolutely clear: you need PDUs only after you have passed your exam. If you are still studying for your certification, then you need what PMI® calls Contact Hours.

So our focus right now is on the PDUs that you need after you pass your exam. Also, I know that most of you are certified Project Management Professionals (PMP)® so I’ve chosen my examples to be primarily about PMP PDUs. You need 60 PDUs for PMP renewal for each recertification cycle once you have passed your exam. Most project managers earn a mixture of free PMP PDUs and PDUs they pay for to ensure they meet the requirements and use quality sources for their professional development.

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Episode Transcript

Below are the first few pages of the transcript. The complete transcript is available to Premium subscribers only.

Podcast Introduction

Cornelius Fichtner: This episode is part of our PDU Spotlight and we take a look at how to earn Professional Development Units, better known as PDUs, with a focus on the Project Management Institute (PMI)® Talent Triangle.

Podcast

Cornelius Fichtner: Hello and welcome back to The Project Management Podcast™ at www.pm-podcast.com. This is Episode 435 and I’m Cornelius Fichtner. Thank you for joining me.

Today, we are shining a spotlight on professional development units, that’s PDUs. More precisely, we are going to review the PMI Talent Triangle™ and how this triangle affects that you need to earn your PDUs and if you are a project manager who holds a certification from The Project Management Institute, from PMI, then you know all about PDUs because you need them for your certification renewal every three years.

And just to be absolutely clear, you need PDUs only after you have passed your exam. If you are still studying for the exam then you need what PMI calls contact hours. Therefore, right now, we look at the PDUs that you have to earn after you are certified.

Also I know that most of you are Certified Project Management Professionals (PMP)®, so I have chosen my examples to be primarily about PMP PDUs. Let’s get started.

As a project manager, you know that your professional learning doesn’t stop after you passed the PMP Exam. Everyday is a learning day on some projects. The skills you need to deliver successful projects also evolve overtime depending on the industry you are in and the type of work you are doing. If you asked your colleagues or your peers about what makes a good project manager, you would hear as many responses as people asked.

Being a successful project manager means developing a vast range of skills, competencies and behaviors. So how do you do that and more importantly, what skills exactly are we talking about? Well the PMI Talent Triangle™ answers both those questions while providing a framework for your ongoing professional development.

The PMI Triangle covers three distinct areas. That’s Technical Project Management, Leadership, as well as Strategic and Business Management. And I want to show you how it works and how you can and even have to map your PDUs to the Talent Triangle.

I have a number of quick topics for you, each only about two to three minutes long. They are first of all: What is the PMI Talent Triangle and those Technical project management, Leadership and Strategic and Business Management topics I talked about?

Then I have an important note for anyone who has multiple certifications. I will show you how to determine where your PDU courses fall onto the Talent Triangle, and also tell you where you can go and learn more about that.

And we’ll talk about why it is important to know how PDUs fit in to the Talent Triangle and how the Talent Triangle has in fact changed how we as certified project managers report PDUs and I’ll close with some key takeaways for you.

So let’s get started with the first question: What is the PMI Talent Triangle? It is at the center of the Continuing Certification Requirements System. That’s the CCRS. The CCR Handbook sets out the guidelines and policies for earning PDUS. Therefore, if you want to earn PDUs and continue your certification with PMI, you need to understand the Talent Triangle and what the handbook says about it. PMI created the Triangle after consulting with many project managers like you and I and industry experts from around the world about what makes an excellent project manager.

The Triangle reflects the broad skills and requirements for acting as a professional project manager. It represents the ideal skill set, if you wish, for someone in our role.

The Talent Triangle reflects the fact that project management isn’t simply about the hard skills and technical disciplines like scheduling of projects or doing the financial management --- the budget.

To be successful as a project manager, you need to be able to draw on a wide range of business management and leadership skills, and that’s what the Triangle is all about.

Above are the first few pages of the transcript. The complete transcript is available to Premium subscribers only. Please subscribe to our Premium Podcast to receive a PDF transcript.