Date: Thursday, June 24, 2010
Time: 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM EDT
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PMP City
Articles, analyses, tips and tricks helpful to pass PMP exam | Easy ways to maintain your PMP credentialDate: Thursday, June 17, 2010
Time: 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM EDT
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System Requirements: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000, Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer
Provider: PMCentersUSA.com
There are different ways of getting your 60 PDUs (Professional Development Units). There are training programs, which can be expensive, but worth the money, if there are part of your professional development plan. In addition, there are PMI meetings that are less expensive, although more time consuming due to traveling to different events. If the networking is important for your business and personal development, this method should not be avoided. What should you do if your professional development plan does not include trainings that offer PDUs or if your business or job does not allow you to join the PMI meetings as often as you wish?
Are you in danger of not being able to accumulate the 60PDUs you need for re-certification? Rest assured – that is not the case. There are some free and easy ways of getting your PDUs:
1. Category 2H – Practitioner of project and/or program management services for more than 1,500 hours in a calendar year. You can claim 5 PDUs per 12 months practicing project management services, and not necessary from a project manager position. Think about the activities you documented on your experience form when you applied for PMP exam. Bottom of line you can claim 15 PDUs per cycle.
2. Category 2-SDL – Self-directed learning activities are individualized learning events involving personally conducted research or study. Learning may include informal activities such as discussions or coaching/mentoring sessions with colleagues, coworkers, clients or consultants. It may also include articles, books, instructional manuals, videos, CD-ROMs or other material resources. One thing worth mentioning is that, if you are thinking to claim PDUs for this category as a result of a coaching/mentoring session, you need to have been the person who was coached/mentored and NOT the coach or mentor. You may claim maximum 15 self-directed learning PDUs per cycle.
3. Category 3 – You do not have a limit of earnable PDUs in this category. There are many free webinars that offer PDUs. So, let’s start the hunt:
a. IBM Rational Project and Portfolio Management certification training e-kit – 18 PDUs
b.International Institute for Learning – 1 PDU per webinar
c. PMCenters USA – 0.5 PDU per webinar
d. ESI International – 1 PDU per webinar
e. AMS Consulting – 1 PDU or 0.5 PDU per webinar
The secret is to plan and follow the plan of getting your PDUs through free webinars. Assuming that you have 15 PDUs from practicing project management (Category 2H) and 15 PDUs from self-directed learning activities (category 2-SDL), what remains to cover is another 30 PDUs from attending free webinars. You can set a checkpoint at every quarter (three months) during your certification cycle of three years and plan for 3 PDUs per quarter. That means more than you need: 36 PDUs from free webinars.
Have you passed your PMP exam? Congratulations! That is good news. You can go in vacation and celebrate, but keep in mind: the PMP certification is not for life. You need to re-certify yourself by earning 60 Professional Development Units (PDUs). If you do not plan for them as a real project manager does, and if you do not follow your plan, you risk losing your certification after three years. In this case, the only remaining solution would be to take the PMP exam again. That means loss of money, effort, and maybe facing different exam rules. The “PDUs” blog category will provide tips and directions to get your 60 PDUs without investing too much money and effort.
To play the game well, you need to know the rules::
| PDU Category | Description | Maximum Earnable PDUs |
| 1 | Formal Academic Education | No maximum |
| 2A1 | Author of an article pertaining to project and/or program management published in a referred journal (e.g.Project Management Journal) | 30 PDUs per article (author) |
| 2A2 | Co-Author of an article pertaining to project and/or program management published in a referred journal (e.g.Project Management Journal) | 20 PDUs per article (co-author) |
| 2B1 | Author of an article pertaining to project and/or program management published in a non-referred journal (e.g. PM Network) | 15 PDUs per article (author) |
| 2B2 | Co-Author of an article pertaining to project and/or program management published in a non-referred journal (e.g. PM Network) | 10 PDUs per article (co-author) |
| 2C | Speaker/Teacher on project and/or program management topic at a conference, symposium, workshop or formal course | 10 PDUs per activity |
| 2D | Speaker on a project and/or program management topic at PMI Component meeting (e.g. Chapter Meeting) | 5 PDUs per activity |
| 2E | Member or moderator of a project and/or program management panel discussion at a conference, symposium, workshop or formal course | 5 PDUs per activity |
| 2F1 | Author of textbook that pertains to project and/ or program management | 40 PDUs (author) |
| 2F2 | Co-Author of textbook that pertains to project and/ or program management | 20 PDUs (co-author) |
| 2G | Developer of content for a structured project and/or program management learning program | 10 PDUs per new program |
| 2H | Practitioner of project and/or program management services for more than 1,500 project hours per calendar year. | Time in service 6 months: 5 PDUs Maximum 15 PDUs may be earned per cycle. |
| 2-SDL | Self- Directed learning activities are individualized learning projects involving personally conducted research or study. Learning may include informal activities such as discussions, coaching sessions with colleagues, co-workers, clients or consultants. | Maximum 15 Self- Directed Learning PDUs may be earned per cycle. |
| 3 | PMI Registered Education Providers/PMI Components | No maximum |
| 4 | Other Provider | One (1) contact hour of learning relevant to the specialty area of Project Management within a structured activity or course equals one (1) PDU. |
| 5A | Officer of Project Management Organization | Time in service 12 months: 10 PDUs Time in service 6 months: 5 PDUs Time in service 3 months: 2 PDUs Maximum 20 PDUs across Category 5 may be earned per cycle. |
| 5B | Committee member of a Project Management Organization | Time in service 12 months: 5 PDUs Time in service 6 months: 3 PDUs Time in service 3 months: 1 PDU Maximum 20 PDUs across Category 5 may be earned per cycle. |
| 5C | Providing PM Related Services to a Community or Charitable Group | Maximum 20 PDUs across Category 5 may be earned per cycle. 5 PDUs per activity regardless of time in service. |
During the PMP exam, is possible to encounter questions related to Point of Total Assumptions (PTA). I think the PTA concept needs an additional introduction, due to its unpopularity in the practical usage. PTA is used strictly connected with Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIF) contracts. These types of contracts motivate the seller to control the cost, in order to maintain his profit, by sharing the risks between buyers and sellers, based on a dynamic formula. However, FPIF contracts are not so “fixed” as the name implies. The only “fixed” part of these types of contracts is represented by the Ceiling Price, the highest price the buyer will pay in the worst-case scenario.
In order to understand what “the worst-case scenario” means, it’s necessary to define the terms used by FPIF:
Target Cost (TC) – is the negotiated cost that the contract is based on, and the point against which both profit and the ceiling price are being calculated.
Target Fee (TF) – is the negotiated profit assuming the target cost is met.
Target Price (TP) – is the sum of Target Cost and Target Fee.
Ceiling Price (CP) – is the maximum price the buyer expects to pay regardless of cost overruns. After the Ceiling Price is reached, the seller is responsible for all remaining costs. In most of the cases, the Ceiling Price is calculated based on the Target Cost.
Sharing Ratio – represents the negotiated ratio for sharing cost overruns. This ratio is typically expressed as something like 60/40 or 50/50 where the buyer’s share (BSR) is on the left and the seller’s share (SSR) is on the right.
Finally, Point of Total Assumptions (PTA) – represents the threshold for the actual costs beyond which all overruns are borne solely by the seller.
Considering the example below:
Target Cost = €100,000
Target Fee = €10,000
Ceiling Price = €119,000
Sharing Ratio = 60/40,
The costs distribution, the impact on the profit and PTA will look as following:
Line 1 shows the case when there are no overruns, so the actual cost is the same as the planned cost. The seller will take the target fee he planned for and the buyer will pay the target price.
Lines 2 and 3 show what is happening with the price and the fee when the actual cost exceeds the target cost with €5,000 (line 2) and €10,000 (line 3). Based on the sharing ratio, 60% of overruns are paid by the buyer and 40% are paid by the seller. For €5,000 overruns we are still under the Ceiling Price, so the buyer pays 0.6 X €5,000 = €3,000 and the seller pays 0.4 X €5,000 = €2,000. The adjusted profit (fee) would be target fee minus seller share, that means: €10,000 – €2,000 = €8,000. The contract price will be the combination of actual cost and the seller adjusted profit (€105,000+ €8,000 = €113,000).
Line 4 shows the case where the overruns take the contract price to the Ceiling Price. In this case, the actual cost represents Point of Total Assumptions. For our example, the PTA is €115,000.
Any additional cost above PTA will be borne solely by the seller as in lines 5 and 6. A graphical representation of this situation is shown below:
The PTA formula based on the terms defined above is:
PTA= (Ceiling Price – Target Price)/BSR + Target Cost and is relevant for both buyer and seller because it represents the point from which the risks are all in seller’s garden.
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