The Million-Dollar PM Question...

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A few weeks ago, we went deep into creating SOPs. After the newsletter went out, readers started replying and asking if I had tried Tango.

When the crowd speaks, I listen.

So I went over to Tango.us and built my first SOP in minutes. Not hours. Minutes. You turn on the Chrome plugin, do your thing, and Tango automagically records it step by step. Give it a try - it’s free!

You’re sitting in the hot seat. Sweating from the studio lights.

You’ve used all lifelines except for “call a friend”…

And then this comes up as your million-dollar question:

So what do you do? You call me.

I’ll tell you this: if I made $1 for every time I answered it, I’d be a millionaire without ever appearing on TV.

Jokes aside - it’s an important question.

And it goes far beyond whether a certificate is worth it or not. It’s a question about how to invest in your career as a project manager.

Let’s look at a few scenarios together.

Scenario 1: Mid-career PM

Let’s say you’ve been managing projects for a few years. You have some practical experience and are ready for the next step in your career.

In that case, a certificate can open doors. It can help you get promoted or hired elsewhere. Especially if your current employer values it and wants to pay for it, it might be a good idea.

But before you smash the A-button, remember that nothing comes for free.

Going down the certification path will take up time and development credit from your employer. That means you’ll have to turn down other learning opportunities.

The best way to create career opportunities is to be great at what you do. And being a great project leader means developing yourself in 3 areas:

1. Leadership & soft skills

2. General business acumen

3. Technical project management

(Yes, those are ranked in order of importance.)

That means you have to ask yourself: where are the gaps in my skillset? If they’re in the third category and you think a title may help your career, a PM certification might be the right move.

If you have room for growth in the other two areas, I suggest you address those first.

Scenario 2: not a formal PM (yet)

If managing projects is not your primary job (yet) - this is an easy one.

C: No.

Why? There’s no need for you to know the minute theoretical detail of project management.

Listen…

The gap between theory and practice is huge.

Most of the certifications and materials are a decade old, written for large corporate environments, and rarely survive first contact with a customer.

On top of that, you’ll get way more out of certification if you have some practical knowledge to connect with the theory you learn.

If you want to become a great project leader, invest in your skills and optimize for learning on the job. Prioritize experience over certificates.

Take some chances. Read ideas from the trenches. Try, learn, and be clear to your manager/employer about what you want and how you can get there together.

This goes for both those early in their career looking to move into project management, and for those where managing projects is part of their job.

Scenario 3: experienced PM without certification

This is where D: Maybe comes in. Hear me out…

It may shock you, but I meet people like these all the time.

Savvy, experienced PMs without any kind of certificate.

One of my favorite examples is a woman leading corporate-scale ERP implementation projects.

In case you don't know: that’s the stuff that keeps your CFO up at night. They never go as planned. But she’s crushing it.

Her background? She has a math Ph.D. and worked on oncology research for the first decade of her career. She slowly transitioned into leading projects and ended up where she is now because she learned what she needed on the job.

Driven by curiosity, with guidance from a few mentors along the way. By carefully looking at the gaps in her skillset, and filling those gaps.

And by taking the odd leap of faith.

You can’t earn a Ph.D. or become a doctor through learning on the job. Those are protected titles for good reason.

But when it comes to project management, I’ll take street-smart and practical over theoretical spreadsheet gurus any day.

With all that said, why is this not a hard no?

Leadership.

Most of you in this category won’t get a PMP to prove your value or to advance your career. But what if you become the manager of a group of project managers?

I’ve seen many organizations where certain certifications are the norm. And if you lead a team like that, you have to lead by example.

Not only does it show that you as the leader are not above the law, but it also lets you help your team with specific questions or the application of it in your business.

That’s why I see some people that are WAY overqualified show up for a PMP exam. And I applaud it.

What about you Jasper?

Let me address the elephant in the room. I don’t have a PMP. I have a decade-old Prince2 certificate hidden somewhere in my parent’s attic.

It’s in a folder labeled “IMPORTANT”, along with my university degree and my shoelacing diploma. They were all a huge achievement at the time, but have served their purpose.

To conclude

You probably won’t be in a TV studio when you’re asking yourself this question. But if it ever comes up, at least you now have some context on how to think about it.

Is a certificate necessary to succeed as a project leader?

Absolutely not.

Will it open doors for you with current or future employers, and let you learn technical skills that may come in handy one day?

It depends.

In the end, I don’t have anything against any certification. But I think they are a means to an end, and should never be a goal in itself.

In most scenarios, you’re better off learning from people in the trenches. The stuff that works in practice, not just in a classroom.

And that’s the whole reason why I started this newsletter. To keep myself sharp, and to share what real people are doing today in real projects.

Will a certificate help you get ahead? Only you can answer that. But hopefully, this has given you some ideas on how to think about it.

It can be valuable in the right scenarios.

But in any other scenario, let curiosity lead your learning.

Not a title.

• Want to join Tango and get your brand in front of 11,000 project managers and decision-makers? Reply “deal” to get the sponsorship conversation going.

That’ll do for this week. Next week, I’m sharing a story about how poor change management ruined one of my first big projects, and nearly cost me my job.

The good news? I’ve come a long way since, and I’ll also show you what I do today to manage change in projects.

Cheers,
Jasper