The Power of Project Management Certification: an accredited trainer’s perspective

Almost 20 years ago, when I started out in project management, I looked with great interest (and maybe even a little jealousy) at older colleagues who were certified "project managers".  For me, obtaining such a certificate was on the verge of a miracle. Chronic lack of time or resources available were blocking me from obtaining my dream "status".

But the longing didn’t end. I did post-graduate studies in project management, unfortunately still without a globally recognized certificate, but they added to my experience. They opened the way for me to change my job or pivot to another space where the experience is supported by theoretical knowledge. Such studies gave me self-confidence in practice and the belief that what I do is right whilst leading me to the path of effective project management.

Years have passed and the certificate is still missing. Finally, in 2013, 10 years after graduation, I managed to get the AgilePM® Foundation certificate. And I was shocked. I took the knowledge pill in 2 days, not 1 year. A set of instructions and tips, a recipe to be an Agile Project Manager. How happy I was then.

But what did this certificate give me? Foundational knowledge, self-confidence, the recognition that I'm a fully-fledged project manager and that my, already considerable experience in project management, is confirmed by APMG with an official certificate it certainly helped me to change my job when I first came to a company which was organized in a purely agile way.

This coveted certificate was the first step into the world of agility and it was a confident and conscious one. Today I am a trainer of agile and classic project management methods and agile working frameworks. The list of certificates I have obtained is extensive (although it shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes to scroll through them on the computer screen…).

What do they give me right now? Different perspectives on project management, enterprise or product manufacturing. The awareness that my experience can be expressed by a means of vocabulary that is standardized and equally understood in local and international business. That when I talk about management with managers from the USA, UK or Poland I am sure that we all understand words such as "increment", "iteration", "requirement" or "transparency" equally.

Moreover, being a trainer of such methodologies as AgilepM®, AgileBA® or ABC Scrum Master, I am convinced that the knowledge I pass on to the participants is not only a collection of my experiences and observations made in the companies I worked for, but something more. It is a knowledge that is based on good practices and experience gained in many organizations. It is based on good practices forged into a standard. It is nice to refer to this standard, proving that something we often do intuitively and with common sense while running projects has its name and justification in the methodology.

It delights me that we can often surprise or otherwise be surprised with our students and that we can observe in our daily work-life a deviation from what the methodologies offer. That deviation can be realized and complemented by the viewer's opinion and perspective. This kind of work with participants gives me great satisfaction. This is why, in my opinion, certification is so valuable and why we should all try to work in this way.

About the Author: Romuald Krysiak
Approved AgilePM®, AgileBA®, SCRUM, PRINCE2® trainer with over 20 years of experience in the IT industry. Software developer, classic and agile project manager. A believer in Design Thinking facilitation. A promoter of Visual Thinking and other techniques related to self-development, such as mindfulness, assertiveness and stress reduction.