Recently, I was meeting with a client, and they were talking about “accredited PMI providers” and as far as I know, there are NO accredited providers from PMI or any other professional association. However, to be sure, I asked the question on LinkedIn. I will conclude this post with two resources, the Ajam Acid Interview Questions, and How to Select a Project Management Training Provider. What did we ask and what were some of the answers? Read on.
Here is what I asked
What is the difference between accreditation and registration with an agency or association?
To be more specific, if a project management training company is part of PMI R.E.P. program, does it mean that PMI accredited or only registered this company?
Let us keep the focus on the terminology first; accreditation versus registration.
Then, in part 2.
- What does it mean to be in the REP program?
- For example, does it mean that PMI validates that this company is a quality provider?
- Does it mean that an accredited course is a good course?
- Does it mean this company has qualified “instructors”?
Here are some of the answers
I am not including the names if you wish to know who said what; follow this link.
Part 1
- “A REP is registered (that’s the ‘R’ part of the acronym)”
- “In the USA, “accreditation” is usually limited to academic programs. The meaning of “registration” can differ. It can be as simple as including a name on a list or nearly as complex as a formal accreditation process.”
Part 2
- “No. It means that PMI has assessed some content and is happy with the submissions and the courses are signed off by an independent PMP against one of a few criteria – the criteria do not involve assessing whether the course is ‘good’, its mainly about how well it fits with the PMBOK Guide. PMI does not have an instructor qualification program, so obviously being a REP does not qualify instructors.”
My views
My views are documented in this video.
Then, how to select a project management training provider?
We provide you with two resources
Guideline to select a project management training provider.
Here is a link to a past article on the subject. And, here is another link. Even with these, you might want to have a senior project manager interview the training provider or the instructor.
The Ajam Acid Interview Questions
These interview questions are useful for hiring a project manager but organizations could also use them for hiring a training provider. However, keep in mind that many of these questions are Basic PM 101, while others are bit tricky but any experienced project manager should now them. Do not be surprised if some of your PMs or Senior PMs do not know the answers, especially if they limit their learning to one school of thoughts. The Ajam Acid Interview Questions were the subject of the previous blog article.
We want to hear from you all; especially those who disagree with these views. Either we will convince them, they will convince us, or we will agree to disagree.
Oops, I almost forgot. HR; Learning and Development, Recruitment: if you want the answers, write us; we will only entertain requests from legitimate organizational representatives.
For those who think this is a critique or attack on PMI, verify our statements with PMI; or read the R.E.P. program handbook.