PM Consultants Certification experience from Pilot certification in the Czech Republic

Transcription

1 27 th IPMA World Congress Professional paper PM Consultants Certification experience from Pilot certification in the Czech Republic Josef Hajkr, Michael Motal Czech Project Management Association, Brno, Zemědělská 5, , Czech Republic Abstract Following the meeting in Lisbon on 11 December 2011, the Czech Project Management Association launched the implementation of one of the recent IPMA products the PM consultant certification. To this end, a project was undertaken from February 2012 to January 2013 and a pilot group certification accomplished (by 8 April 2013). The paper presents a case study to report on the course and results of a project resulting in a successful implementation of the Consultant Certification product in the Czech Republic and hands-on experience based on a pilot certification of a group of 9 people. Keywords: PM consultants; certification; new IPMA products; pilot certification 1. Summary As a part of a workshop held on 11 November 2011, the Czech Project Management Association undertook to implement a new product: IPMA PM Consultants Certification. In February 2012, PM Consultancy First Assessors for the Czech Republic were appointed (Mr. Michael Motal and Mr. Josef Hajkr). They initiated a project whose aim was to implement this certification product on the market in the Czech Republic. The scope of the project included preparing the whole certification process including translation and an ICBC to NCBC (National Standard Competences of Project Management Consultant) upgrade, finalizing and testing the certification process with a pilot group of candidates, and harmonizing the expectations across the group of examiners. Both certification levels, IPMA PMC (Certified Project Management Consultant) and IPMA PPMC (Certified Programme and Portfolio Management Consultant) were implemented simultaneously. The project was implemented from February 2012 to January 2013 and the pilot group certified in April Aspects worth interest 2.1. Project process Sponsorship: Jaromír Pitaš Project manager: Josef Hajkr Project team members: Jiří Krátký, Pavel Máchal, Michael Motal, Igor Novák, Zdenko Staníček

2 All major outcomes were created. Some outcomes were postponed (e.g. an examiner manual) while other, originally not planned outcomes were created (some marketing materials, The Profile XT solution ( The project budget was fully covered by the National Association s own funds. The implementation was completed within one year. The implementation of the project drew on the rich experience of the team from implementing ICBver3.0/ICRGver3.0. Project WBS (1: breakdown level): Business model for CR has been created and approved (including ultimate and internal prices). Exam questions have been created and tested with pilot candidates. ICBC is converted into NCBC and displayed at Assessors have been appointed and their examining styles have been harmonized. Documents for candidates have been created and are ready to be published. We would like to point out some interesting aspects of the implementation of the project. Foremost among them was the necessity to design, like with ICBver.3.0, NCBC (National Standard Competences of Project Management Consultant), a suitable way of integrating the certification into the national context. This adjustment is proving to be crucial for the future success of the product on the local market. It turned out that merely adjusting the existing information for the use by applicants seeking project management certification is unsuitable and therefore we decided to create an entirely new set of information for applicants which follows a different logic. We came up with an online test The Profile XT as a new element in the certification process, which provides an efficient tool for assessing the behavioural characteristics of the candidate aspiring to the consultant position and helps the assessors to form a more accurate opinion of the candidates behavioural skills. To support the certification process, a specialized website section was developed (see The web pages are available in Czech at this moment Selecting specific parameters and experience requirements for the certification process The parameters of the certification process listed below show that the project team dealt with the links to the certification in project management in detail, in order to support cross marketing of both products (project management certification and PM consultant certification) and to support the recertification process.

3 Process phase Phase 1 Table 1. PMC certification process parameters Candidate is an IPMA C, B, A Level certificate holder Candidate is not an IPMA C, B, A Level certificate holder Application, Applicant s Statement, References, Application, Applicant s Statement, References, Professional CV, Self-assessment test, IPMA Level C (or Professional CV, Self-assessment test, List of projects and higher) certificate, List of projects and consultation consultation commissions, a draft of the Report on commissions, a draft of the Report on consultation consultation commissions, proof of certification fee commissions, proof of certification fee payment. payment. Phase 2 IPMA Level C written examination is waived. Candidate sits the IPMA Level C written examination. Phase 3 The candidate sits the PMC written exam and fills in The Profile XT online SPŘ assesses the written examination. The candidate sits the PMC written exam and fills in The Profile XT online SPŘ marks the written examination and evaluates the SPŘ marks the written examination and evaluates the suitability of the candidate based on The Profile XT online suitability of the candidate based on The Profile XT online commissions and a proposal of 10 questions for the project commissions and a proposal of 10 questions for the project Phase 4 Oral interview. Oral interview. Phase 5 Final assessment and feedback. Final assessment and feedback. Table 2. PPMC certification process parameters Process phase Candidate is an IPMA B, A Level certificate holder Candidate is not an IPMA B, A Level certificate holder Phase 1 Application, Applicant s Statement, References, Application, Applicant s Statement, References, Professional CV, Self-assessment test, IPMA Level B (or Professional CV, Self-assessment test, List of projects and higher) certificate, List of projects and consultation consultation commissions, a draft of the Report on commissions, a draft of the Report on consultation consultation commissions, proof of certification fee commissions, proof of certification fee payment. payment. Phase 2 IPMA Level B written examination is waived. Candidate sits the IPMA Level B written examination. Phase 3 Candidate sits the PPMC written examination and fills in The Profile XT online SPŘ assesses the written examination. Candidate sits the PPMC written examination and fills in The Profile XT online SPŘ marks the written examination and evaluates the SPŘ marks the written examination and evaluates the suitability of the candidate based on The Profile XT online suitability of the candidate based on The Profile XT online commissions and a proposal of 10 questions for the project commissions and a proposal of 10 questions for the project Phase 4 Oral interview. Oral interview. Phase 5 Final assessment and feedback. Final assessment and feedback.

4 The project team dealt with the question what experience to require of candidates for the individual levels and what proofs of this experience should be submitted. PMC (basically equivalent to IPMA Level B ): The candidate is required to have at least 200 man-days of consultation experience obtained during last 8 years. The experience must consist of a sufficient amount of activities essential to consulting. In case the candidate is a line manager, his experience can be recognized only if his position is closely connected to project management and he has worked in this position fulltime for at least 5 years. PPMC (basically equivalent to IPMA Level A ): The candidate is required to have at least 350 man-days of consultation experience obtained during last 8 years. Of this, at least 250 man-days have to be the PPMC level. The experience must consist of a sufficient amount of activities essential to consulting. In case the candidate is a line manager, his experience can be recognized only if his position is closely connected to project management and he has worked in this position fulltime for at least 5 years. PPMC is a strategic consultancy level. It is an A Level for consultants. A consultant certified at this level must be an equal partner to members of senior managements in small to big organizations. This must be reflected in his knowledge, experience as well as personal maturity (including personal ethics). Counselling Coaching + Mentoring Methods + Systems Degree of systemic intervention Methodology scope Table 3. What is and what is not PPMC relevant PPMC relevant Counselling aimed at whole organizations or their substantial parts. Impact across the organization (or affecting its substantial part). Coaching senior (top) managers, PM directors, PMO heads, or programme managers and people whose work consists in creating environments for project managers. Project management methodology concerning whole organizations, project portfolios and/or strategic management. The scope of activities should be organisation-wide (or at least division-wide). The significance of intervention is high (symbolically: Put through a change. ) Affects rules and processes as well as competences and environment. Methodology concerns not only project management but also management of programmes/portfolios, links to strategy etc. Not PPMC relevant (~PMC relevant) Counselling aimed at individuals (project managers) or projects. Impact within one project or a group of projects managed by a specific PM. Coaching or mentoring project managers or junior PMs + members of project teams, or people who are to perform. Methodology of areas within a project, methods for managing projects of a given type (IT projects; jobs; methods for developing some content within EU projects etc.) The significance of intervention is not too high (symbolically: Design a set of regulations. ) Methodology of project management (only) but be aware of the context (somewhere even this can be at the organisation-wide level).

5 2.3. Interesting products and approaches other National Associations might profit from The Czech Project Management Association is ready to share experience and created outputs. The following are the ones we regard as particularly useful and inspiring: NCBC (National Standard Competences of Project Management Consultant) development Specifying the application requirements in more detail Sophisticated links to IPMA project management certification, including price harmonization Including The Profile XT online test an a coaching interview to be able to better assess the suitability of the candidate for a position in consulting Making lists of compulsory and recommended readings available Test sets for the written part of the examination including sets of correct answers for the examiners Specifying the descriptions of requirements on examiners within this certification process in more detail 3. Conclusion The project and pilot testing were managed with a view to creating a system capable of effective functioning. The implementation in the Czech environment involved a number of innovative features including online testing of behavioural competences. We can report that the product has been successfully implemented on the Czech market and now the marketing phase is under way. As soon as the Quality Manual is finished, the product will be ready to be validated. The practical benefit of the successfully implemented product is that the two key certifications (of project managers and consultants) can now support each other. This case study presents relevant experience and may serve as inspiration for other national associations. References A. Godbold, Maria do Rosário Bernardo, R. Ch. Takac, S. Bartsch-Beuerlein (2011) ICBC ver. 1.0, Switzerland/The Netherlands: International Project Management Association (IPMA ) p. 46. A. Godbold, Maria do Rosário Bernardo, R. Ch. Takac, S. Bartsch-Beuerlein (2011) ICRGC ver. 1.0, Switzerland/The Netherlands: International Project Management Association (IPMA ), p. 36 Z. Staníček et al. (2012) National Standard Competences of Project Management Consultant ver. 1.0, Brno, The Czech Project Management Association, p. 42