Project Management Profesional (PMP)® Reboot
Project management is a profession that’s always evolving. So as the industry best practices keep changing, Project Management Insitute (PMI) updates its Project Management Professional (PMP) ® exam content regularly.
Regular updates ensure that certified PMPs are equipped with the education, skill, and competency necessary to manage all sorts of projects — from the simplest to the most sophisticated.
In this post, you’ll learn about the significant changes in the PMP exam and the reasoning behind them. You’ll also get a glimpse into the concept of The Project Economy and what the future looks like for this certification.
Understanding the New PMP Exam Content Outline
The new PMP Exam Content Outline, published by PMI back in June 2019 for the exams starting from July 2020 , has introduced a radical shift in the exam content.
For starters, instead of the previous five domains, there are only three domains in the latest outline:
1. People: 42% of all exam questions.
2. Process: 50% of all exam questions.
3. Business Environment: 8% of all exam questions.
Apart from the reduced number of domains, there’s also a new term, “enablers.” A quick overview of what enablers do is that they provide examples of what the finished work should look like for each task.
The number of tasks for the current exam is 42, whereas the new exam will have 35 tasks. Although it may seem like the new exam is smaller, it’s actually bigger. The new domain named “Process” seems to contain as much as 50% of the current exam, while the other two domains contain many new ideas of their own.
As flexibility is important for most modern projects, there’s also a strong focus on agile or hybrid approaches, with half of the exam focused on those practices. Whereas, predictive project management strategies represent the other half.
Most experts agree that the new exam will be more challenging, as there are so many new topics and methods you’ll have to understand and master.
The Shift Towards Project Economy
Everyone has a theory on how work will be done in the future. While many experts have been betting on the gig economy, PMI has made a strategic shift towards what they’re calling The Project Economy.
The core idea is that the future of work lies in turning lifelong careers into project-based roles. Thus allowing people to deliver value on projects and tasks they’re best suited for, and then move on.
According to the PMI President and CEO Sunil Prashara, global trends like population growth at the crazy rate, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are changing the way work is done, are some of the driving forces behind The Project Economy.
Thanks to technological advancements, we now have a plethora of different options right under our fingertips. With help from the project economy, we can quickly bring ideas to life and complete them one project at a time. This helps immensely while also enhancing creativity and pushing things to the next level.
Also, ideas without projects are just wishful thinking. The project economy helps innovate, focus on growth while also expanding and experimenting. The project economy is always trying to push the boundaries and it helps you set goals, while also splitting major tasks into smaller, actionable projects and goals that you can achieve.
The project economy brings in great potential for our society. It’s a lot easier for a company to expand and grow naturally through the use of comprehensive, well-thought-out projects. Not only that, but the project economy eliminates many of the reasons why companies fail.
It offers a sense of focus while also creating strategies that support those projects and aligning the project with the organizational model. In the end, this helps bring in more value to customers, all while allowing businesses to expand and experiment at their own pace. There will always be great ideas in the business world, and the project economy is what will bring them to life and expand our society the right way!
The Future of PMP Certification
PMP has been the leading industry-recognized certification for project managers for a long time now. But with project management evolving rapidly, it’s good to see that the PMP philosophy and content is changing accordingly.
The latest changes and strategic shifts are a good step towards ensuring PMPs are well equipped to lead the projects of both today and tomorrow. Thus, ensuring a thriving future for the certification and its holders.
