Scrum Alliance

It is the world-renowned, largest and most influential certification organization in the Agile community. This is the most established non-profit organization in the industry and it has been founded in the year 2001. It has certified more than 750,000 practitioners across the globe. This organization provides education, support, and resources to practitioners of Scrum and Agile.

The vision of the Scrum Alliance is to “Transform the World of Work”. Their mission is to guide and inspire individuals, leaders, and organizations with practices, principles, and values that create a joyful, prosperous and sustainable workplace.

Scrum Alliance offers various certifications categorized by Scrum and Agile Practitioner:

1. The first category is the Scrum team role and it offers the following certifications:

a. Scrum Master Track: Certified Scrum Master, Advanced Certified Scrum Master, Certified Scrum Professional- Scrum Master

b. Product Owner Track: Certified Scrum Product Owner, Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner, Certified Scrum Professional- Product Owner

c. Developer Track: Certified Scrum Developer, Certified Scrum Professional

2. The second category is Guide level certifications: Certified Team Coach, Certified Enterprise Coach, and Certified Scrum Trainer

3. Then the last category is Agile Leadership: Certified Agile Leadership I and Certified Agile Leadership II

Here we will be providing insight into some of the most popular Scrum certifications to help individuals to understand which certification is suitable for respective profile:

1. Scrum Team Role

A) Category: Scrum Master Track

Certified Scrum Master (CSM)

This certification is suitable for those wishing to fulfill the role of Scrum Master or Scrum team member. Once you are a certified Scrum Master, you will gain knowledge of Scrum framework and understanding of team roles, events and artifacts.

Advantages of being a Certified Scrum Master are:

• This certification will help the Scrum team to perform at their highest level
• You will learn the foundation of Scrum and scope of the role
• You can demonstrate the core Scrum knowledge
• Further, you can expand your career opportunities across all industry sectors adopting Agile practices
• You can engage with Agile practitioners committed to continuous improvement

Advanced Certified Scrum Master (A-CSM)

This certification is suitable for Scrum Masters who have one or more years of work experience in that role. Once you are a Scrum Master, the next step in your Agile journey is to achieve Advanced Certified Scrum Master (A-CSM) certification.

Advantages of being an Advanced Certified Scrum Master are:

• Once you are an Advanced Certified Scrum Master, you will attain foundation knowledge with enhanced implementation skills
• This certification can distinguish yourself in the global market
• You can stand out in the industry as a member of the globally recognized Scrum Alliance community
• Then, you can demonstrate your value to the potential customer as a highly trained Agile professional.
• You can learn to facilitate better dialogue between the Product Owner, Scrum Team members, customers, stakeholders, and executives
• You can increase engagement to encourage greater accountability, commitment, and buy-in
• Furthermore, you can respond confidently when encountering resistance to change, lack of engagement, low motivation, and unavailability of key people

Certified Scrum Professional-Scrum Master (CSP-SM)

This certification is suitable for experts wishing to develop mastery of the Scrum Master track. Once you are a certified Scrum Professional-Scrum Master, you will learn to find practical solutions and improve your implementation of Scrum in the workplace.

Advantages of being a Certified Scrum Professional-Scrum Master are:

• You can establish a gateway and milestone toward becoming CST, CEC or CTC
• You can attract more recruiters and command a higher rate of pay
• Moreover, you can attend exclusive CSP events with other leaders in Scrum and Agile
• You will receive a free Premium subscription to the world’s largest Agile assessment and continuous improvement platform ‘Comparative Agility’

B) Category: Product Owner Track

Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)

This certification is suitable for individuals who are closest to the “business side” of the project. Once you are a Certified Scrum Product Owner, you will learn to create the product vision, order the product backlog, and make sure the best possible job is done to make the customer happy.

Advantages of being a Certified Scrum Product Owner are:

• You will learn the foundation of the Scrum and the scope of the Product Owner role
• You can demonstrate the knowledge of core Scrum
• Besides, you can expand your career opportunities across all industry sectors adopting Agile practices
• You can engage with Agile practitioners committed to continuous improvement

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO)

This certification is suitable for product owners who already have one year of experience on a Scrum team. This is the next step after CSPO in your Agile journey.

Advantages of being an Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner are:

• You can increase your credibility as a product expert and become recognized as a person who delivers real business results
• You can manage multiple business initiatives from competing stakeholders
• Also, you can clearly order and express Product Backlog items
• You can define a clear product vision that ensures your product remains focused on the features your customers and end-users will actually use
• You can communicate effectively with various stakeholders groups to achieve alignment
• Moreover, you can define and validate business value
• You can identify crucial opportunities and avoid wasting time
• You can enhance your fundamental knowledge with implementation skills
• Furthermore, you can distinguish yourself in the global market
• You can stand out in the industry as a member of the globally recognized Scrum Alliance community
• You can demonstrate your value to a potential customer as a highly trained Agile professional.

Certified Scrum Professional-Product Owner (CSP-PO)

This certification is suitable for experts wishing to master the Product Owner track. Once you become Certified Scrum Professional-Product Owner, you will learn to solidify your approaches for validating product assumptions, advanced interactions with customers and users and master advanced Product backlog management.

Advantages of being a Certified Scrum Professional-Product Owner are:

• You can establish a gateway and milestone toward becoming CST, CEC or CTC
• You can attract more recruiters and command a higher rate of pay
• Besides, you can attend exclusive CSP events with other leaders in Scrum and Agile
• You will receive a free Premium subscription to the world’s largest Agile assessment and continuous improvement platform ‘Comparative Agility’

C) Category: Developer Track

Certified Scrum Developer (CSD)

This certification is suitable for software developers or programmers who are building software in a Scrum environment. This is an introductory program for software developers. Once you become a Certified Scrum Developer, you will learn the most important tools and techniques needed to build good software in the iterative and incremental fashion that Scrum requires.

Advantages of being a Certified Scrum Developer are:

• You can sharpen your skills to become a better practitioner of Scrum and Agile development
• You can learn the foundations of Scrum and scope of Certified Scrum Developer role from the best minds in development agility
• Besides, you can demonstrate to peers and employers your understanding of core Scrum knowledge
• You can expand your career opportunities by staying relevant and marketable across all industry sectors adopting Agile practices
• You can engage with a community of recognized Scrum experts who are committed to continuous improvement

Certified Scrum Professional

This certification is an advanced certification suitable for software developers.

Advantages of being a Certified Scrum Professional are:

• You can establish a gateway and milestone toward becoming CST, CEC or CTC
• You can attract more recruiters and command a higher rate of pay
• Further, you can attend exclusive CSP events with other leaders in Scrum and Agile
• You will receive a free Premium subscription to the world’s largest Agile assessment and continuous improvement platform ‘Comparative Agility’

2. Category: Guide Level

Certified Team Coach

This certification is suitable for a Certified Agile Coach (CAC) who focuses primarily on one or more teams or on a subset of an organization in a project/program.

Advantages of being a Certified Team Coach are:

• You can work with Scrum teams, stakeholders and management to improve performance and outcomes
• Organizations will employ you to provide coaching, facilitation, training, mentoring and leadership in support of collaboration
• You will get the opportunity to work across multiple teams.
• It offers a recognized credential to qualified coaches who have experience with many teams or departments.

Certified Enterprise Coach

This certification is suitable for a Certified Agile Coach (CAC) who focuses primarily on guiding entire organizations through the real-world challenges of Agility and Scrum.

Advantages of being a Certified Enterprise Coach are:

• You are considered as an expert in Agile practices and theory including Scrum
• You gain an in-depth understanding of practices and principles of Scrum and real-world experience with actual organizational Agile transformations.
• Besides, you help organizations to become an Agile organization to transform the world

Certified Scrum Trainer

This certification is an expert level program for those who wish to help others understand the principles and values that form the foundation of Scrum.

Advantages of being a Certified Scrum Trainer are:

• This is the most rigorous certification to achieve in all the Scrum certifications
• You are encouraged to actively involve in the community by speaking at and attending events, blogging, participating in online discussions and user groups.
• You play a vital role in the Scrum community and thus can help spread awareness for Scrum and hence, in turn, transform the world of work.

What is Scrum SEU?

Scrum SEU refers to Scrum Education Units (SEUs). Scrum SEUs are required by Scrum Alliance to maintain your certification by completing education training or learning opportunities. You can earn Scrum SEU by attending the Scrum related courses, independent learning or attending other events. There are basically 4 categories which offer Scrum SEU credits. You are free to choose the category and accumulate the required amount of Scrum SEU to renew your certification.

For instance, in the case of CSM certification, you need to accumulate 20 Scrum SEU to renew your certification. Here if a person is involved in one hour of preparation or participation or webinar then he/she is entitled to 1 Scrum SEU. Hence, Scrum SEU is based on a 1:1 ratio of contact hours to points.

Ways of Earning SEUs

There are 4 following broader categories through which you can earn Scrum SEU:

1. Attending Events

You can participate in events like Scrum Alliance Global Gatherings, Scrum Alliance Regional Gatherings and Scrum Alliance sponsored events as well as user group events and activities. Scrum SEU earned in this category can be put in Category A while renewing the certification.

• Global Gatherings: These types of gatherings are conducted twice a year. You can meet people from the Scrum community and everyone shares their experience to gain knowledge. You just need to look for such type of gatherings in your location and can add Scrum SEU to your account.
• Regional Gatherings: In such type of gatherings, they generally take 2-3 days where you get a chance to meet Scrum trainers, coaches, and practitioners.
• Sponsored Events: These events are sponsored by the Scrum Alliance and provide Scrum SEU.
• Coaching Retreats: This retreat is generally for managers, product owners, Agile coaches or aspiring coaches and Scrum Masters who can connect with their peers about Agile practices so as to enhance their skills.

Further activities like presenting the topics, coaching and attending sessions are other ways to earn Scrum SEU.

2. Learning

You can earn Scrum SEU by working with Scrum Alliance CST (Certified Scrum Trainer), CECs, CTCs, and REP. Another way to learn Scrum SEU is by preparing presentations, authoring relevant books, articles or blogs. Further, you can earn Scrum SEU by watching a training video/webinar or reading a few books in depth.

You can enroll in any of the courses with Scrum Alliance REPs, CSTs and CECs courses like CSM, CSPO, A-CSM, A-CSPO, and CSD. You need to attend courses in the form of webinars, e-learning, face to face sessions or training courses offered by REP and can earn Scrum SEU credit and put in Category B while renewing your certification.

Let’s suppose you are not a social person or you don’t have time to spare after a hectic office schedule. Hence, you don’t have time to attend a seminar, training. Therefore, you can read a book and rewrite it!

Another way to share information these days with people is to write a blog, article or book. Even if you spare some time to simply watch a video will help you earn Scrum SEU which can be put in category E during the renewal of certification.

3. Volunteering

Scrum Alliance believes in giving back to the community. Hence, you can provide professional services that won’t be compensated but you will get Scrum SEU.

Here you get a chance to provide a presentation or lecture but free of cost. Actually, this is a volunteer service where you can teach and gain Scrum SEU points without any compensation. You can put them in category D while renewing the certificate. Moreover, this gives you a golden opportunity to stay connected with the Scrum community. Also, you can further share your knowledge with the fresh minds that need your support.

4. Other

You can earn Scrum SEU through a variety of other learning activities that Scrum Alliance acknowledges.

For instance:

Outside Events – Here you do not need any Scrum Alliance sponsor. You can easily participate in any outside event like Agile conferences, REP courses such as Kanban, SAFe Agilist, PMI-ACP, Agile Scrum Master, SAFe Scrum Master, and Lean or get trained from a noncertified Scrum trainer as well. Here you can put earned Scrum SEU in category C.

You can participate in collaborative learning events with Scrum practitioners and can earn a maximum of 15 Scrum SEU. Even if a non-CST will deliver the live webinar, it will also be considered that you earned Scrum SEU and afterwards you can put them in category F while renewing the certificate.

Another exception to above is that, for instance, if you are into training or coaching experience then it means that these hours of participation will be counted in your work experience rather than earned Scrum SEU.

However, there is an exception where there are 3 scenarios mentioned below of training or coaching experience that can be counted as earned Scrum SEU.

1. You have prepared or researched about the training material then it shall be counted in ‘Learning’ Category.
2. You have volunteered training for a non-profit organization other than your employer then it shall be counted in ‘Volunteering’ Category
3. Or you are a co-trainer and learning from a more experienced trainer then it shall be counted in ‘Learning’ Category.

Further, another way is the REP program which is also a means to achieve Scrum SEU. These SEUs can be applied for the renewal of certifications.

Scrum Alliance Registered Education Providers (REPs)

They are organizatiıns that deliver Continuing Education (CE) and Certified Scrum Developer (CSD) courses. These providers can be training organizations or instructors who can deliver these programs. Here Continuing Education programs are designed to enhance skills of Agile practitioners by providing additional professional development opportunities that complement the Scrum framework. Whereas the Certified Scrum Developer course offered by a REP is empowering developers and other technical-minded team members with powerful Agile skills.

Why Should I Renew My Scrum Certification from Scrum Alliance?

Prior to 2019, Scrum SEU requirement was applicable to only professional level Scrum certifications like CSP, CSP-SM, and CSP-PO. They had to earn 40 Scrum SEUs in order to renew their certification. Scrum Alliance’s requirement for renewal of a Scrum certification was to complete earning Scrum SEU every 2 years before the renewal date of Scrum certificates.

Now Scrum Alliance has changed the requirement since 4^th Feb 2019. The new renewal policy requires both foundational level i.e. CSM, CSPO or CSD and advanced level i.e. A-CSM, A-CSPO certification owners need to earn Scrum SEU to renew their Scrum Certification.

First, let us see what are the benefits of Scrum Alliance Certifications:

1. Wider applicability

• Agile Certification is a big umbrella for various certifications of Agile approaches such as Scrum, Kanban, Crystal, and FDD. Hence this enables Agile practitioners to choose the most appropriate Agile approach applicable to their work.

2. Global opportunities

• Having an Agile Certification validates an individual to have basic skills and knowledge of Agile methodologies. This helps an individual to more market opportunities, better jobs across the globe and higher salary.

3. Change in approach

• These days, many industries are shifting from the traditional approach to an Agile approach to meet the changing customer requirements and to obtain a quick adaption to changes easily and quickly. Hence Scrum Alliance certifications help in determining new areas or applications for dynamic project management

4. High success rate

• An organization having many Agile certified individuals will have a high success rate in completing the projects on time and with high quality. Thus demonstrating high potential will garner more projects or work from the customer.

5. High credibility in the market

• It is quite true that certified professionals will garner more respect and opportunities than noncertified professionals. Even if the company plans to invest money in training and certifying the team then it will be a valuable investment with long term benefits.

6. Better projects

• Most of the organizations that have adopted Agile project management require Agile certifications or Agile certified professionals. It helps them to showcase talent in their organization to prospective clients to grab better projects.

Consequently, the renewal of certification gives you the benefit of staying connected with the Scrum community. Further, it will help you to update your knowledge with advanced topics of the Scrum by attending seminars, training, etc to obtain Scrum SEU. Hence the renewal of the certificate is really valuable to stay connected in the industry and for knowledge enhancement.

What are the Scrum SEU Requirements?

In order to renew different certifications at different levels, you need Scrum SEU and also the renewal fee as follows:

• For foundation level certifications like CSM, CSPO, and CSD, you need to earn 20 Scrum SEUs. Also, you have to pay 100 USD as the renewal fee
• For advanced level certifications like A-CSM, A-CSPO, you need to earn 30 Scrum SEUs. Also, you have to pay 175 USD as renewal fee
• For professional level certifications like CSP, CSP-SM, CSM-PO, you need to earn 40 Scrum SEUs. Also, you have to pay 250 USD as renewal fee

8 steps to acquire your Scrum Alliance Certification

1. Firstly you need to enroll yourself for Scrum Alliance certification such as Certified Scrum Master (CSM).
2. The second step is to attend the CSM Course
3. Now you have to log in to Scrum Alliance’s website with provided credentials or create your own credentials
4. Take the online exam
5. Pass the exam
6. Receive the license agreement
7. Now enjoy 2-year membership of Scrum Alliance
8. Once 2 year time period is about to expire then its time to renew the certification

Scrum SEU Online Courses

The most convenient and affordable way to earn Scrum SEU is by attending Scrum SEU Online courses. Especially for working professionals as these online courses are more convenient to attend than classroom format. These Scrum SEU courses give working professionals the flexibility to attend at their own pace.

Advantages of attending online courses are:

1. Self-paced

• Scrum SEU online courses are self-paced programs. These programs can be accessed from anywhere, anytime and at your own convenience.

2. Approved courses

• All Scrum SEU online courses are approved by the Scrum Alliance. Hence you won’t need to waste time in irrelevant courses.

3. An easy method

• In order to earn Scrum SEU, you need to enroll in these Scrum SEU online courses. You have to attend the course, thereby earn Scrum SEU and finally renew your certificate. Hence get relieved from the stress of renewal of certification quickly.

4. Quality of learning

• Attending Scrum SEU online courses makes you learn new practices in the market and strengthens the Agile concepts. Hence, as a result, you gain a high knowledge of Agile practices in the industry.

5. Affordable

• The most affordable way to earn Scrum SEU is to attend Scrum SEU online courses.

Free Scrum SEU Alternatives

There are free courses for Agile as well as free events like webinars, conferences, workshops, etc which you can attend and earn Scrum SEU. But if you are a working professional then earning all Scrum SEU for free won’t be a viable option. There is no doubt you can earn a few Scrum SEU with free resources. But for filling the entire criteria of Scrum certification renewal, the best way will be to enroll in an online course and earn Scrum SEU.

However, we will list a few ways to earn free Scrum SEU for different categories:

1. Category A: Scrum Alliance Scrum Gatherings

This category has a limit of a maximum of 45 Scrum SEUs. You can earn these Scrum SEU by attending Scrum Alliance events which can be Scrum Global Gatherings, Regional Gatherings, Scrum Alliance Sponsored Events and User Group Events. Hence if you are not a working professional or a working person who can spare sometime well in advance then you can earn 20-30 Scrum SEUs in a 3-months time period easily.

2. Category B: Scrum Alliance Courses or Coachings

This category has no limitation on Scrum SEU. But SEUs can be earned by paying money.

Let’s suppose you want to be a Certified Scrum Professional (CSP), then you need to be a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) by which you can earn 16 Scrum SEUs. Further, you can attain the Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) certification training which will give you 16 Scrum SEUs. And lastly, if you go for the Certified Scrum Developer (CSD) certification then you can earn 40 Scrum SEUs. Hence if you attain all 3 certifications then you will earn 56 Scrum SEUs in total from this category alone.

However, you can get free Scrum SEU for CSP certification assuming that you have earned 16 Scrum SEUs in this category either from CSM/CSPO or CSD.

3. Category C: Outside Events

In this category, you can earn 15 Scrum SEUs. You can earn them by attending any Agile/Scrum program such as PMI-ACP, Kanban, SAFe Agilist, Advance Scrum Master, DevOps. For this, you need to look for meetups in your city for product management, DevOps meeting, etc which will not be free but chargeable at a low amount.

4. Category D: Volunteer Service

This category can give you 15 Scrum SEUs through voluntary work. For this, you need to check with the local user group community and offer your help in spreading Agile/Scrum knowledge by working with a community leader

5. Category E: Independent Learning

This category can give you 15 Scrum SEUs. You need to read 3 books and you can earn 15 Scrum SEUs free of cost.

6. Category F: Other Collaborative Learning

This category can earn you 15 Scrum SEUs. You can earn through a variety of collaborative learning activities engaged with other Scrum practitioners or you can attend a webinar and earn Scrum SEU free of cost.

10 Steps to Renew Your Scrum Alliance Certification

Let’s talk about the renewal of the most popular and demanding Scrum certification i.e. Certified Scrum Master (CSM). CSM certification credential lasts for 2 years only. Hence you need to maintain your certification to continue your CSM journey. Remember that you need to be within 6 months of your current CSM certification date.

1. The first step is to earn the required Scrum SEU in different ways explained above.
2. Then, log in to your certification account on the Scrum Alliance’s website.
3. Besides, you can confirm the number of SEU required for any certification. For that, you need to click the Scrum SEU calculator on the Scrum Alliance’s website.
4. Click on the Settings -> ‘Certification Dashboard’
5. Under my credentials, you will find ‘Manage SEUs’
6. In the ‘Scrum Education Unit’, you must select the ‘SEU category’ i.e. A, B, C, D, E or F from the drop-down menu.
7. Further, fill in all the details based on your category and respective Scrum SEU and credit points will get added.
8. Once you are done with the SEU update, now its time to renew the certification.
9. Then, scroll to the ‘Actions’ window and pay the renewal fee according to certification of Scrum Alliance you are going to renew
10. Now click the renewal link and your certification will get renewed. Hence, you can stay connected with the Scrum community.

What is the grace period to renew the Scrum Master certification?

For instance, if it is about CSM certification then you get 2 years to renew from the date of receiving the certification. And, further, you get 3 months or 90 days grace period from the expiration date to complete Scrum SEU requirement and hence renew the certificate.

If you have a PMP certification, you can consider earning PMP PDU and submit same PDU courses as source of SEU hours as well.

The post Scrum SEU – How Can I Renew My Scrum Certification Easily? appeared first on Project Hipo.

The project manager has to deliver their projects on time, on-budget results, with the available resources, and within the scope requirements. Thus, they need to learn how to integrate the organization’s need for the project with different project variables. Accordingly, project management is the application of the knowledge to different project activities and tasks to achieve this need as well as the skills, the tools, and the techniques.

Although project management practice is as old as human civilization beginning, it was not formally introduced until recently. PMI one of the leading institutes in the project management domain formulated the practice Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. PMBOK Guide identifies five groups of project management processes Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling and Closing. At the same time, the PMBOK  PDF Guide also identifies 10 project management knowledge areas. These areas are Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, Procurement, Human resources, Communications, Risk management, Stakeholder management, and Integration.

Importance of Project Management Training for Companies

Still interested in project management training? Now let’s explore the reasons why so many companies see it valuable. As a start, companies lose a lot of money due to the unorganized efforts spent on different change events. As a method of managing changes, project management offers a wide set of benefits. These benefits include having control over deliverable, effectively meeting business goals and meeting stakeholder expectations. In addition to the previous, effective project management helps in increasing the chances of success and delivering the right products at the right time. Moreover, it provides a great framework for resolving problems and issues, responding to risks in a timely manner. In addition to other benefits that can benefit the company business greatly. The following are some of these additional benefits:

• Optimizing resources use
• Recovering or terminating failing projects
• Balancing constraints influence on the project
• Managing changes in a better way

At the same, effective project management training offers benefits but the lack of effective project management training causes many disadvantages. These disadvantages include missing deadlines, overspending costs, poor quality, rework and uncontrolled expansion of the project as well as, failure in achieving the objectives for which the project was undertaken. Moreover, it may cause issues that exceed the project itself like stakeholders’ dissatisfaction and loss of reputation for the organization.

Project Management Training

So what is the right project management training? How does it look like? What is the proper outline for it? From what we described above you can draw the outline of what sufficient project management training should include. Thus, effective project management training must cover project management key concepts and frameworks. Also, it should include a clear definition of project manager roles and responsibilities. Then project management training should cover scope management, schedule management, cost management, and resource management. These, of course, besides quality management, stakeholders management, and communication management. Additionally, the PM training should cover risk management and procurement management. Finally, the training must cover the key knowledge area of project management which is called integration management. What we mentioned in this section are called knowledge areas

Project management training should also cover the project life cycle and process groups. Understanding the different project life cycles is essential for project managers. Different life cycles require different approaches and methodologies. Thus, a good PM training should automatically involve a clear description and explanation of different life cycles and how to approach them. Also, understanding the different process groups is crucial to understanding project management in general.

Evolution of PM Training Programs

Project management training originally focused on waterfall methodologies only but this lasted from the late 60s to the early 2000s. Ever since then a huge evolution in PM training programs took place and that increased the popularity of Agile project management approaches. Thus, the demand for Agile Project Management Training Programs is popular now as well. The growing popularity of Agile Project Management shifted some attention from waterfall project management. At the same time, waterfall project management didn’t lose its momentum completely since it promotes efficiency. Accordingly, this shift created a new need for mixed approaches. Thus, companies look for project management professionals who have knowledge of both project management approaches. The evolution made many changes concerning the way companies look at project management training.

For a starter, the project manager must have multi-skills to manages different project life cycles. Also, organizations and companies become less focused on adopting a specific methodology and they are now more focused on getting work done. At the same time, achieving efficiency whenever possible requires waterfall planning to take advantage of the predictive nature of some projects. On the other hand, Agile methodologies do not come cheap, it requires more cost wasting some time, resources. However, it offers horizons that can be not achieved by waterfall approaches. Some changes and projects do not have enough clarity for the project team to predict how to carry out tasks. Thus, making waterfall approaches ineffective and putting forward the question: what is the alternative? The right answer for this is Agile project management.

Now the companies are more keen to benefit from both approaches. Thus, most companies prefer PM training that covers both approaches Agile and waterfall.

What are the important points you must be careful when choosing a PM training?

Now that’s the million-dollar question and to answer this question we have to go back to the basics. We will list down the most important criteria that you can use to evaluate different project management training options. You can use these criteria together to decide the right PM training option. Accordingly, we will base these criteria on the key important points when choosing a project management training.

Training provider’s credibility

It might look obvious still worth mentioning as it’s almost the most important feature. Training provider’s credibility means their wide positive recognition and their reputation of delivering their promises. In addition to this, their connection with knowledge bodies like PMI, Axelos, Scrum Alliance, PMO Global Alliance, American Society of Quality, etc. is crucial. Normally, Registered Education Providers achieve this status through compliance with strict standards the certifying organization set. Thus, being one of the registered providers to any of the globally recognized institutions increases the provider’s credibility. In addition to this factor, reputation among project management professional communities also counts.

Instructor expertise and reputation

The second important and key point for your decision to select the right project management training provider is the expertise and reputation of the instructor. A well known and well-recognized instructor offers you confidence in the offered program. Still, there are additional factors that contribute to the instructor offering confidence in the program. These include their background in terms of experience in project management, their knowledge of different project management practices as well as, their studies, academic background, professional certifications, and memberships.

Curriculum and content outline

Moving on to another key important point which should contribute greatly to your project management training decision. This important point is the program content. As we explained before in this article, project management is a mix of knowledge areas and project has more than one approach for management. Thus, it only makes sense that a good project management training must cover these knowledge areas in addition to covering the different project management approaches. A program outline that covers waterfall and Agile approaches is a good choice that should offer you exactly what you need. However, a program that offers you additional required skills like training for project management tools is even more than just good, it is brilliant. So make sure to select a training program that offers you an integrated bundle of training which includes both approaches and other required skills.

Quality of the content

That one is an obvious one I presume, having content that covers everything is good but having quality issues is far from good. Many providers provide extensive material and content that does not provide proper examples for their material. Some even offer material with key errors in understanding project management knowledge. To be honest that may represent the majority of programs out there all over the internet. So you need to be careful not to fall in the trap of extensive material and content with low quality, because you will be trading quality for quantity. Also, the quality of the media which the content is offered through is also as important so keep that in mind as well.

Student reviews

Now we come to our last criterion here, student reviews. Students are the customers for the training providers they offer you their experience while dealing with the training provider. Thus saving you the burden of going through unpleasant experiences. The collective reviews of students provide you with an immediate insight into how satisfied are the provider students with their learning journey. A feature that allows you to escape poor experience easily and skip those providers with poor reviews. Also, student feedbacks and comments are as valuable as the rating itself or even more. Students usually provide any outstanding or outrageous experience they passed through with the provider. Thus giving you an exact image of what makes the provider good or bad and allowing you to get a full picture of how the experience might look like. You can read more about Project Management Courses.

Top 10 PM Training Programs

ِAs we explained the meaning of project management and the evolution of project management training, now we come to help you explore the top 10 project management training programs. Thus, we will list down our picks for the top 10 PM training program providers based on the criteria we explained earlier. Accordingly, we will offer you a list of these picks alongside a review of the benefits of each option. Also, we are going to go through the content outline of each program and what they cover. By going through this list we will help you to identify your best option for project management training and to have a good idea of the best available options. Accordingly, you will have sufficient knowledge of the best options out there, thus you can decide which option you should choose.

These options are carefully selected and reviewed at your disposal. We’ve collected them for the sole purpose of providing you with the collective knowledge of options to save your time. Thus we’ve searched for options with the highest review score and the best feedback. In addition to this, we chose the programs with the high quality of content, comprehensive content that covers key project management concepts as well as covering Agile project management and waterfall project management different methodologies. Also, we focused on PM training providers who have a high level of credibility and host top tier project management instructors. This way we ensure the listed project management training programs and providers satisfy the criteria we mentioned earlier.

#1 PM Training Program – Master of Project Academy PM Training Bundle

Master of Project Academy is in the project management training business for years and they have several types of PM training programs. The Master of projects has a well-deserved reputation among its students with very good student reviews. They have waterfall and Agile project management courses such as PMP training and Agile Scrum training. Master of Project Academy PM Training Bundle covers waterfall and Agile PM approaches plus MS Project Training. So, you make sure that you will learn conventional and trending PM techniques during your PM training program. Besides, you will learn how to use MS project step-by-step.

Bundle details and specifications

The whole bundle is 100% online which makes it a completely self-paced project management training program. The bundle includes 35 self-paced contact hours of Project Management Professional Certification Online Training designed by industry experts. The second course is 10+ contacts hours of self-paced Agile Scrum Certification Training. In addition to the previous courses, a Microsoft Project Training course offers 9+ contact hours which will help you to create realistic project plans. Also, the bundle includes 2,100+ practice questions which can help you to prepare for the PMP certification exam. In addition, it includes 7 complete PMP Certification Sample Exams which will prepare you to the exam. Also, Master of Project offers a step by step project plan creation via MS Project with a real project example. All of this, in addition to PMP and Agile Cheat Sheets and more. You can read more about PMP certification requirements.

PMP® Certification Training – 35 Contact Hours Online PMP Training

The PMP certification training is a gold standard for project management professionals with wide global recognition. It is based on the PMBOK guide 6th edition which covers project management new trends and emerging practices and it provides the concept of tailoring considerations. Also, it focuses on strategic and business knowledge and carefully outlines the role of the project manager. The course also includes a sample PMP practice exam. You can read more about the best PMP training programs.

#2 Project Management Plus Bundle Masters Program – Simplilearn

Another project management training provider we will list here is Simplilearn. Simplilearn offers a group of interesting project management training programs. This training program that we are going to talk about covers both waterfall project management and Agile project management approaches. In addition to this, Simplilearn also offers Microsoft Project training. This satisfies most of the project management training content outline. This allows you to acquire the knowledge for most up to date knowledge for project management training.

The offered PMP Plus Bundle mainly helps you to earn around 60 PDU for maintaining PMI certification active status. Also, it helps to develop the necessary key skills for professional project managers, in addition to improving your knowledge in multiple domains. The courses in this bundle include Project Management, IT Service Management ITIL, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training. In addition to these, it also features Agile training course, Microsoft Project course, as well as Risk Management course.

This program enables you to implement quality to projects and apply the Lean Six Sigma approach as well. Furthermore, understanding Agile approaches and Scrum methodologies and also understanding and applying advanced risk management concepts and strategies. The program has the benefit of being self-paced training as well, so you are able to customize your learning path and pace. This project management training program also offers you access to high-quality virtual classes, e-learning, and real-life case studies. In addition, you can access quizzes at each chapter’s end, full simulation exams, and student community.

PM Plus Bundle Masters Program content covers the following training courses:

Project management professional

The PMP certification training is based on the PMBOK guide 6th edition and it covers both new project management trends and also emerging practices. It has a great emphasis on strategic and business knowledge. This course carefully outlines the role of the project manager.

Agile Scrum Master

This Agile training offers a deep dive and insights into the new trendy and highly popular Agile Scrum methodology. It covers the key concepts of Agile as a project management framework and how to lead project management teams. In addition to the prior, the training allows you to develop and deliver high-quality products.

Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

This certification training course for Lean Six Sigma Green Belt covers the core principles of Lean Six Sigma and how to implement them for quality projects. Also, it integrates lean and DMAIC methodologies through case studies alongside real-life examples. The course aims to polish your skills and application of continuous process improvement.

Microsoft® Project

Intended to offer you the additional skill, this Microsoft Project 2013 Certification Training helps you to acquire the knowledge and application of the industry’s most popular project management tool. The Microsoft Project training course offers a comprehensive overview of project planning, scheduling, resource pooling, and consolidation. Introducing you to how to create customized reporting is another Microsoft Project skill obtained by this course.

ITIL® 4 Foundation

An extensive course over the IT service management popular framework ITIL. The course intends to introduce you to the key concepts and applications of the ITIL framework and prepare you for the ITIL Foundation certification exam.

PMI- RMP® Certification

This training course aims to upskill your knowledge and skills in risk management. The course introduces you to advanced techniques in project risk management. Also, this training course qualifies for PMI- RMP certification exam and prepares you for it.

#3 Project Management Training Bundle Program – Learning Tree

Since projects grow more complex, the need for having well trained and certified project managers became essential. The complexity of the projects is also growing in addition to the need for multi-skilled project management professionals. Accordingly, Learning Tree offers an integrated group of project management training. This bundle includes predictive waterfall project management training and adaptive project management training approaches. In addition, the programs cover Microsoft Project training as well. It also offers a variety of methodologies for both waterfall and Agile approaches. The group of training programs is offered separately through classroom, live online and on-demand learning formats. The project management training is can be scheduled through the Learning Tree’s website where you can select the training date that suits your calendar.

#4 Project Management Training Bundle Program – Global Knowledge

Global Knowledge is one of the top tier training providers that offer Project Management training programs that include wide content. Although Global Knowledge does not offer a bundle based training program, it still offers different sets of project management training courses. These project management training courses include different waterfall project management approaches in addition to offering different Agile project management training approaches. Still, the training courses are offered separately where you can select the set of project management training courses. Global Knowledge has an amazing reputation of top quality, however, it comes at a high price which is usually not affordable for many people.

Agile project management training

The training courses for Agile include Agile Project Management Foundation & Practitioner (AgilePM®) and Certified Professional in Agile Project Management (CPAPM). Also, they include packages for training and exams like Certified Scaled Agile Framework Leading SAFe® 5.0 and Certified SAFe® Product Manager / Product Owner Training and Exam in addition to Agile Project Management Foundation (AgilePM®) and Agile Project Management Practitioner (AgilePM®). The Agile training courses also include Agile Programme Management (AgilePgM®). Also, there are other various additional trainings including Agile Overview, Agile Project Management Black Belt /Green Belt, Agile for Teams and Agile User Stories.

Waterfall project management

This category includes project management training courses that cover different project management methodologies. These methodologies include PRINCE2 with its different levels from foundation to practitioner as well as PMI PMBoK 6th edition framework with its different certifications training.

Project Management Certification Exam Preparation

Summary of Project Management Training

In this article, we have explained what is project management, what are the main approaches of project management and the evolution of project management training. Also, we have discussed waterfall project management and Agile project management. Additionally, we have offered a list of criteria on how to select the right project management training provider. And finally, we have explored in detail the different offerings of project management training bundles and what they should include.

This article journey then concluded by listing down a list of the top  10 project management training bundle programs that fit the early defined criteria. This whole journey aimed to help you get a collective view of the best options you can pick from and then, provide you with insights into what these bundles contain and what value they can deliver. You should be aware of maintaining certification once you obtained it. For instance, you must earn PMP PDU points to retain your PMP certification. Scrum SEU points are required to renew your Scrum Alliance certification.

Overall, the provided list has more than one good option, however, we highly recommend that you focus on those options with great student reviews. Also, it is important that you make sure that the project management training provider is well recognized and has a well-recognized team of instructors. Finally, review the content outline as it’s an important indicator if it’s going to offer you the end-to-end content that you need.

We hope you have enjoyed this journey as we did and we wish you the best of luck in your journey.

The post Project Management Training – Top 10 PM Training appeared first on Project Hipo.

All the project managers look for project management education. Not only the project management professionals but also the project management aspirants as well as those who want to explore project management as a field to pursue their careers. The project management education is a must-have for all such individuals whether they are PMPs or not.

Why Project Management Education?

There could be several reasons one can explore and opt for project management education. Some of the main reasons can be as follows;

• In case you are a PMP, you must be exploring ways to enhance your project management knowledge on the latest trends. But you must also be looking for various options to acquire your PMP PDUs so that you can comply with PMP renewal criteria set by PMI.
• You are an undergraduate and want to pursue your career in the field of project management, you must be interested in project management courses and bundle offerings.
• Or you are pursuing your PMP certification or exploring further project management trainings to set and expand the horizon of your PM skills.

In this article, we will share the 10 best project management education options with you without any emphasis on PMP exam related education. These project management education programs include project management courses, leadership, and management training packages. Also, other courses that are related to Agile, Scrum, technology, infrastructure which you can opt to lay a strong foundation of project management knowledge and experience.

Market Dynamics and Project Management Education

In the current era, the dynamic market trends result in organizational challenges. And organizations need to meet the challenges and pressure to grow their business and sustain on top of the market. This makes the organizational culture dynamic and agile. Many organizations, irrespective of their domain, strive to introduce new products and enhanced services to the customers. So their market share increase by engaging the new customers meanwhile retaining their old customers by providing better services.

In other words, we can say that the organizations are competing with each other for their survival. As the survival of the fittest theory applies, so is the case with the organizations. And in order to compete in the market, organizations launch many programs within their portfolio to bring the best products and services. Each of these programs may comprise of one or multiple projects. Hence the projects play a key role to meet the organization’s sustainability in the dynamic environment. Moreover, organizations need experienced project managers and project teams to successfully deliver the projects.

Equip Yourself with Project Management Education

Sounds high-level overview? You obviously need to prepare yourself to handle the practical aspects of all these dynamics management. Surely, it means that you need to equip yourself with the right knowledge and skillset to initiate and advance your journey on this track. In the field of project management, there is no end to knowledge. Project management education is one of the basic ingredients to succeed in this area. Project management education covers a broader spectrum. It gives knowledge about cost, schedule, resource, procurement, schedule, integration, leadership, innovation, technology, stakeholder, communication, risk management, change management, soft skills and many more.

In order to learn all these aspects, you can not confine yourself to the specific individual course. So you may look for the courses that best fit your current or new future needs. Covering the roadmap step by step will enable you to be a seasoned project manager.

Trends in Project Management

It is quite interesting if we look back in the earlier civilizations where many inventions were made and even wonders of the world were created. Some of them include Pyramids of Egypt, Great Wall of China and many more.

Even in recent centuries many management related theories and principles were introduced and practiced with very good results. Though the project management in the modern sense can be claimed to gain its roots in the mid of 19^th century, when different tools and techniques like Gantt Chart, Critical Path Method (CPM), Program Evaluation Rating Technique (PERT), Work breakdown structure (WBS) and many more were introduced.

Project Management International (PMI) body played a vital role in the area of project management. PMI,  since its inception in 1987, focuses primarily on the standardization of the project management discipline. Since 1996, PMI has released six versions of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) which has become an international standard for project management. PMI offers various project management certifications. So far the number of project management professionals has outgrown 740,000 PMPs globally and the number is increasing with the passage of time.

Evolution of Project Management Education Programs

In the current era, globalization poses a lot of pressure on organizations. They are under pressure to respond rapidly to change, meet customer needs and maximize resources. The project managers are on the front to face these challenges. They need to establish consistent, repeatable methodologies that reduce risk, cut waste and provide a competitive advantage to the organizations.

Project Management Methodologies

There was a time when the waterfall was the only main project methodology to consider for large projects. But with the passage of time, it has been realized that it takes a long time to achieve top business objectives. Eventually, the business value can not be obtained in case of dynamic projects especially when the project requirements can not remain fixed.

The project’s nature became more demanding due to factors like technical requirements and technical complexities. For such projects, the iterative and incremental ways were opted to get the project along with these factors. Eventually, the project’s nature demanded the transformation from stringent rules to flexible agile management. But in the end, there is no single golden key methodology. Now the project managers have to adapt the project methodologies with respect to the project nature. Scrum is one of the most commonly used frameworks which enables project managers to deliver the most value to the customer at the earliest and helps to maintain the fast pace of delivery.

Now project management education is also transformed towards these methodologies such as Agile and Scrum Methodology, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Agile Product Owner Certification, Agile Scrum Master Certification. and many more.

Project Management Technical Skills and Methodologies

The technology trends are also growing dynamically due to the need for innovation and sustainability.

Now the project managers need to align their skillset with these methodologies so that they can assess and evaluate the right fit based on the project’s nature. Project managers may not only require to choose the project methodologies. But they also may be required to customize the methodologies according to their needs. In other words, they can even use hybrid methodologies.

Cross-Cultural and Virtual Environments

Likewise, there are many other aspects of project management that have outgrown due to the latest trends in the global market. The projects are no more confined to the colocated teams. Current project managers have to interact with many people across different locations and cultures which is only possible through web applications and infrastructure provision. Project managers need to have their skill bags full of different tools and technologies. For instance, they need to be proficient in handling conference meeting tools to conduct virtual meetings. Project managers need to use Scheduling Softwares to prepare online project plans and schedules and then publish them to broadcast to the stakeholders.

In the same context, cross-cultural aspects, soft skills, and emotional intelligence are the areas where project managers have to develop and enhance their skills. Furthermore, you have options for team management, conflict management, decision making and many more.

Information Technology

Similarly, information technology has been a vital part of the projects. Knowledge management is managed through deployed applications in this regard, project managers may need to integrate several applications to develop a complete solution. There is a need for deployment experts who can fully manage the builds and releases on remote servers. It means that the technical requirements are advancing day by day. The trends like technology usage, cloud computing, infrastructure platforms are also on the top of the list for technical project managers.

Leadership and Strategies

The innovation and leadership dimension is also another main area. These developments require project managers to have a good grip in these areas. They need to learn how they can outsource and manage the overall complex projects. Because many large companies have to perform projects through outsourcing and many companies are working as joint ventures to implement complex projects based on their niche and expertise.

Furthermore, project management professionals are keen to enhance their skillsets. They may look for training related to program managers, and business strategists, etc.

Analytics and Business Intelligence

Along with other soft and technical skills, project managers need to enhance their analytical skills. There are many project management education options available for these skills. These skills may require you to choose technology and learn specific toolset. These trainings include but not limited to big data analysis, business strategy.

What are the important points you must be careful about when choosing a Project Management Education?

There may be certain important points you will be careful about while choosing a project management education. Out of these points, your considerations may vary as per your subjective priorities. However, when you are generally looking for the points, you may consider the following;

• What are the available training formats for the chosen training?
• Do I get a certificate in the training?
• What is the quality of the training?
• Is the training provider well known?
• Are the trainers well experienced?
• What is the course outline?
• What material will I get during the training?
• Does the training program offer the flexibility of time and/or location?
• What do I get as training material in the training?
• What is the feasibility of the training?

Top 10 Project Management Education Programs

There are many project management education programs from several training providers. We will list here the top 10 project management education providers and their PM education programs to give you a brief overview of what kind of courses these training providers are offering. Since each project management education training provider has its own unique aspects to offer, a variety of courses and bundles related to the different aspects of project management, we will not necessarily compare these training providers on a single yardstick.

#1 Project Management Education Program – Master of Project Academy PrM Training Bundle

Master of Project Academy is in the project management education business for years and they have several types of project management education programs. They have waterfall and Agile project management courses such as PMP training and Agile Scrum training. Master of Project Academy PM education bundle covers waterfall and Agile approaches as well as MS Project Training in its training bundle. So, you make sure that you will learn conventional and trending PM techniques during your project management education program. Besides, you will learn how to use MS Project step-by-step.

#2 PM Education Program – Lynda.com

Another project management education option where you can look at a variety of courses is Lynda.com. Lynda.com is now LinkedIn Learning because 100% of Lynda.com’s courses have moved to LinkedIn Learning.

Lynda offers courses in the main categories like:

• Business Management
• Design
• Software Development

Website Development

Within these categories, you can find many short courses. The duration of many courses is around 1 hour especially if you look for the Business Management Categories. However, an interesting thing is that there are a lot of areas covered in these courses that can help you pick multiple courses based on your choice so you can build your custom path learning by selecting the courses from these categories.

Business Management Courses

In case you are a technical project manager, the business management category can be very helpful for you to opt for business and interpersonal aspects that will help you cover and groom your skill gaps. For example, you can find courses like:

• Developing a Competitive Strategy
• Building High-Performance Teams
• Managing Virtual Teams

It is not possible to list all the lynda.com courses here. Here we mention some of these project management education courses just to give you the glimpse that to enhance your project management experience and knowledge, you will require to set the foundation in your required areas. These courses can be your best shot.

With each of these courses, you will find the topics, duration, skill level. Moreover, you can get exercises and files provided you are a premium member of Lynda.com. The provider offers monthly as well as yearly membership with a one-month free trial option. These memberships provide you with the following:

• Access 15,000+ expert-led Lynda courses. These courses are available in English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.
• Certificate on completion of course
• You can watch anytime as per your pace and flexibility
• Practice with exercise files and quizzes
• Access LinkedIn’s Premium Career features

Project Management Learning Path

Lynda also offers various learning paths. These learning paths comprise the course collection that contributes towards its relevant skill development. Lynda offers a project management education learning path for the project management aspirants. This is 26 hours of expert-created video tutorials which include 17 topics within the path. The mainstream module in this path is Microsoft Project 2019. The duration of this module is more than 5 hours which extensively covers the topic to set the foundation.

#3 Project Management Education Program – AZTech

AZTech Training is a leading international project management education provider. They also offer quite a wide range of training courses in various categories. To name a few that may be closely related to project management education field includes:

• Management & Leadership
• Strategy
• Audit and Quality Assurance
• Finance & Accounting
• Human Resource Management
• Project Management
• Contracts Management
• Procurement & Materials Management
• Instrumentation & Process Control
• Information Technology

This list gives the idea of the course coverage by AZTech. Within each of these categories, you can find several course offerings. These courses are not focused on PMP trainings, however, such courses focus on the development and enhancement of the skills required by the project managers especially for their career advancements.

The upcoming trainings are displayed on their website but you will have to look out for the courses offered on your desired premises. In addition to this, these courses are being offered in limited locations within different countries. For example, you can find trainings in Houston if you are looking for the trainings offered by AZTech in the USA.

Furthermore, trainings are quite expensive. For example the course Leadership, Innovation & Enterprise Skills is a 5-day course. The course objectives, way of delivery, course outlines are clearly defined and course material includes interactive practical exercises, video material and case studies, a very impactive visual presentation, group, and class teamwork sessions.

But the course may not be available at the required venue option. So if anyone is looking for such a project management education option, they may have to wait for their venue option to choose the course.

Mini MBA Series

AZTech also offers the Mini MBA Series. In this series, they offer different modules so that the aspirants can attend these training events. For instance, Mini MBA: Quality Performance Leadership.

The training course offered as a mini MBA bundle. This course consists of two modules which can be booked as a 10-Day Training event, or as individual, 5-Day training courses. The course modules of this course include:

• Module 1 – The Leadership Journey
• Module 2 – The Leadership Challenge

You may assess the feasibility of these courses for you considering the factors like cost, location, time availability, and course available within your closest premises. Besides, you may have to travel a long way to attend such project management education courses.

The ratings are also mentioned along with specific courses. So one can get the idea of the course quality they are looking for.

#4 Project Management Education Program – Coursera

Coursera is another option for project management education. Coursera was founded in 2012 by two Stanford computer science professors with a vision to provide a world-class education to anyone which they can access from anywhere. The founders, Professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng put their courses online.

On Coursera you can find online courses, specialization, certificates and degrees from 190+ world-class universities and companies, including Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Google, IBM, and more.

Project Management Education Course

This course is offered by Coursera in partnership with the University of California Irvine. This program aims to educate the candidates on how to lead complex projects to successful completion and tap into new career opportunities.

The course is offered in instructor-led virtual sessions. This is a 6 months professional certificate. On completion of this course, you will receive a Professional Certificate issued by the University of California, Irvine and 12 units of continuing education academic credit.

There is no deadline or start date for this course due to its training format. This is a part-time course with an average part-time duration for 1/2 year. With this project management education course you will get:

• Pre-recorded videos
• Online readings
• Practice exercises
• Peer-reviewed projects
• Comprehensive final project portfolio
• Real-world project management simulation (with 100% virtual group projects

Specialization – Introduction to Project Management Principles and Practices

A Coursera Specialisation is a series of courses that help you master a specific skill. You can enroll in the Specialisation directly, or review its courses and choose the one you’d like to start with. When you subscribe to a specific course that is part of Specialization, you are considered as a subscriber of full specialization. However, you can just choose to complete one course or you can proceed further with the remaining courses within the specialization track.

This project management specialization program offers multiple courses:

• Initiating and Planning Projects
• Budgeting and Scheduling Projects
• Managing Project Risks and Changes
• Project Management Project

Similarly, there are several other project management education options within Coursera. UCI Project Management Professional Certificate is another good option. UC Irvine is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Coursera has bagged many good reviews. Below is just one glimpse of these reviews.

#5 Project Management Education Program –ASPE Training

American Society of Professional Education (ASPE) is another project management education option. Since inception, ASPE has trained Fortune 100, thousands of professionals across the globe.

Even though their main footprint is IT professional development company, however, they also specialize in building customized, enterprise solutions. They offer a wide range of training options that include:

• Courses
• Course Bundles
• Masterclass Series Special Offers
• Certifications

ASPE offers short courses related to Project Delivery, IT Ops & Management, Business Performance. These dimensions are very much pertinent to the project management and project team growth. Especially when the dynamic nature of project demands from project managers to understand different methodologies and how these methodologies pose demands on the project team members.

In addition to this, business performance related courses can be your best choice for project management education. These will help you in developing and enhancing your product management skills. If you are looking for such project management education courses, you can opt for ASPE’s short courses by selecting the ones you are interested in.

ASPE offers various short courses that you can choose from the listing within the different tracks. For instance, the Agile Track offered by ASPE comprises of short courses further categorized as:

• Optimizing Agile
• Agile Coaching & Leadership
• Enterprise Agility
• Agile, DevOps, Tools, and Technologies
• Scrum

The categories enlist the short course accordingly. You can choose the project management education course and take it based on your requirements. If you are new to Agile, you can opt for the basic course and if you are experienced and want to scale up your knowledge, you may op for Enterprise Agility. Each course has a different duration and price. So you may like to opt for your best-required one.

Course Bundles

ASPE also offers course bundles. If you are looking to strengthen your core skills, Bundled Learning from ASPE provides a combination of courses to jumpstart your path to success. There are several course bundles that can appeal to you for further advancement. The project management education related bundle options are Agile jumpstart, PM Jumpstart, ICAgile Expert Fast Track, and Data Analysis Jumpstart.

Flexible Training Formats

ASPE also provides a flexible training format. These training formats include both Live and Self-Paced learning formats. Live Online Courses are instructor-led, but you join in virtually. With this format, you will get all the benefits of a classroom learning experience without the need to travel.

Whereas Self-Paced Online Courses are best for busy individuals who do not have much flexibility to travel. You can follow along with a carefully prepared lesson plan at your own pace and complete your project management education in your own time frame.

#6 Project Management Education Program – PS Consulting

Another option for project management education is PS Consulting Company which is an international training company specializing in project management education. PS Consulting was founded in 1997. In other words, they have more than 20 years of experience in project management education and consulting. PS Consulting has a large contribution to training. They have trained more tens of thousands of project managers worldwide.

Their headquarters are located in Haiterbach, Germany. Their customer base has a global reach and they provide in-house seminars in seven different European languages but their trainings are not limited to a European context. PS Consulting operates worldwide, in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Israel, Japan, Canada, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Singapore, USA, United Arab Emirates, etc. They offer in-house seminars in German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, and other European languages.

PS Consulting offers a long list of project management education course offerings. These course offerings are categorized as Project Management Methods, Communications, and Conflicts, Leadership, and Teams.

Project Management

For project management education they offer trainings relevant to:

• Project Management Fundamentals,
• Scrum in Projects,
• Agile Principles in Projects
• Claims Management
• Project Management for Executives and Managers

They also offer a variety of certification courses pertinent to PMI, IPMA, and Prince2.

Leadership and Teams

Likewise, for Leadership and Teams, they offer the following trainings;

• Leading and Consulting Customers
• Agile Leadership
• Situational Project Manager Advanced
• Developing Project Teams

Managing Stakeholders

Moreover, they offer the following under the head of Managing Stakeholders;

• Conflict Resolution and Negotiation
• Communication Power for  Project Leaders
• Communicating Successfully in Projects

These are quite specific areas identified for project management education. For instance, Conflict Resolution and Negotiation can be a good course for you irrespective of your experience and certifications. Because all the project managers need to deal in many situations that demand them to resolve the possible conflicts and come up with a decision that will work right for the situation.

PS Consulting offers this course as a 2 days intensive training program. And you can avail of 16 PDUs / certificate of further education for IPMA. The topics covered in this course include:

• Recognizing conflicts
• Resolving Relationship and Role Conflicts
• Negotiate Factual Conflicts
• Resolve Inner Conflicts
• Peer Consulting

The course provides 2 days of intensive training from a top-class trainer. Extensive documents and material are provided along with the course. They offer this course in the English language.

#7 Project Management Education Program – IIL

Another alternative to project management education is the International Institute of Learning (IIL) which a global leader in training, consulting, coaching and customized course development. Over the last 26 years, they have provided education to many top global companies. They have various core competencies that include Project, Program and Portfolio Management, Business Analysis, Microsoft® Project, Lean Six Sigma, PRINCE2®, ITIL®, Agile, DevOps, Leadership and Interpersonal Skills, Corporate Consciousness and Sustainability.

They offer trainings in all the formats which include on-demand, virtual, and classroom instructor-led formats. So you get the option to choose the project management education format based on your requirements and suitability.

PDU PowerPacks

IIL offers several PDU offering training programs called PowerPacks. These PowerPacks can help you to maintain your PMP certification and other credentials with PDUs. These PDUs are aligned with the PMI Talent Triangle. These PowerPacks are listed along with the number of videos and PDUs associated with them. You can choose your desired PDU PowerPack as per your focused target area. Some of the PowerPacks IIL is offering include:

• Project Management PDU PowerPack™
• Agile PDU PowerPack™
• Leadership PDU PowerPack™
• Technical PDU PowerPack™
• Strategic & Business PDU PowerPack™

For instance in Strategic & Business PDC PowerPack is a 10 PDU offering bundle. The bundle provides 10 videos. Once you register for this project management education course you get 10 hours of self-paced learning with 60 days access. Additionally, you get knowledge checks and quizzes along with these videos. Some of these videos include;

1. Managing Benefits in Your Projects: Powerful Principles to Bolster Project Success
2. Business Continuity Planning
3. Organizational Survival: Double Meaning of Sustainability
4. Lean Tools and Processes: How to Apply them in Your Business
5. Transforming the Organisation While Implementing its Strategy

Other Courses

IIL offers a long list of courses other than these PowerPacks as well. You can opt for these courses to broaden your project management education exposure. These are quite unique courses to consider that can help you cover 360-degree aspects of project management maturity:

• Change Management
• Management of Portfolios Manager
• Managing Benefits
• Managing Successful Programs
• Management of Risk
• APM Practitioner Qualification
• Project Management for non-Project Managers

#8 Project Management Education Program – Management Concepts

Management Concepts is another project management education option. Management Concepts collaborates with and supports Federal Government agencies and state and local governments. Since 1973, they are delivering transformative consulting solutions. They work to empower individuals, teams, and organizations through trainings. Management Concepts has developed a number of strategic partnerships and alliances that extend the services of Management Concepts.

Offer a wide range of training options. Which helps individuals to enhance their skillset. Management Concepts offers certification programs as well as professional certification programs. The trainings are provided in various formats. These formats include classroom, virtual, and self-paced formats.

Some of the areas in which Management Concepts provides training include Analytics, Acquisition & Contracting, Financial Management, Government Auditing, Leadership, Project and Program Management.

In the Project & Program Management category, you will find the following areas:

• Agile Courses – courses related to Agile methodology
• Business Analysis – courses for Business Analysts
• Core Project Management – courses related to core project management
• FAC-P/PM Courses – courses related to Federal project managers
• IT PM Mastery Suite – courses for IT project managers
• Program Management – a course for those who want to pursue their careers in program management

FAC-P/PM Courses

Federal project managers in the acquisition field have unique training needs. This project management education course range covers all levels including entry, mid, and senior-level courses. They offer virtual delivery options for these courses and have the shortest in-class time of all FAI-verified vendors.

In this project management education course set, you will find a long list of courses that can help project managers to develop their skillset. Some of the courses listed within FAC-P/PM courses include:

• Applied Leadership in Projects and Programs
• Progressive Leadership in Program Management
• Applications in Business, Cost, & Financial Management
• Progressive Contracting Strategies for Programs
• Applications in Project & Program Management
• Applications in Contracting

You can find the project management education course of your choice and see the training schedule and options to match your schedule requirements. For instance, Applied Leadership in Projects and Programs course focuses on effective project leadership in the Federal environment for successful implementation. In this regard, project managers must demonstrate creative and innovative leadership that helps to build and maintain high-performing teams to support organizational goals. This course helps you to explore key leadership skills, learn to manage conflict, practice making decisions, and develop the tools to advance team members’ competency.

#9 Project Management Education Program – Global Knowledge

Global Knowledge is another option for project management education.  Their contribution to the global technology community is more than just IT training. They train beyond the traditional IT topics and train more people than corporate IT. Their main aim is to address the total skills profile of technology professionals.

Global Knowledge offers a vast range of trainings to enhance skills for IT professionals. There is a complete variety of these courses you can opt to advance your technical project management knowledge. Business analysts can look for courses like Analytics and Data Management, Business Analysis, Agile and Scrum.

Courses

If you want to pursue your career as an IT infrastructure project manager Global Knowledge has many courses that you may opt for. These courses include data center, virtualization, IT Service Management, Networking, and Wireless. If you are working as an IT Team member you can look for Business Skills, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, Application Development, DevOps. In case you want to pursue your career as a project manager, you may opt for project management education courses like IT Policy and Governance, IT Service Management.

Global Knowledge covers a long list of brands in which they offer specific trainings. Some of these brands mainly include Adobe, Apple, AWS, CISO, IBM, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, Oracle, and Red Hat. You can choose your relevant trainings with respect to the brands as well depending on your training requirements.

Project Management

Global Training provides a comprehensive project management certification portfolio which includes many project management education course offerings. These include Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP), Six Sigma from Green Belt to Master Black Belt, ScrumMaster Certified Scrum Product Owner, Prince2 Agile Foundation and Certified Scaled Agilist: Leading SAFe.

#10 Project Management Education Program – Simplilearn

Simplilearn is another project management education provider. Simplilearn is one of the world’s leading certification training providers.

Who they are

They are based in San Francisco, California, and Bangalore, India. Simplilearn provides online training in disciplines such as Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Project Management, Digital Marketing, and Data Science and several others.

They have helped over one million professionals and companies across the globe. They have more than 40 accreditations as an official provider of certification training. Their training courses are designed and updated by renowned industry experts. They offer a blended learning experience that combines online classes, instructor-led live virtual classrooms, project work, and 24/7 teaching assistance.

Learning Paths

Simplilearn offers various learning paths for individuals. You can also explore these learning paths. When you register in these learning paths, you get access to eLearning content for all the courses included in the learning paths. Furthermore, you get access to exclusive forums, moderated by expert faculty and industry thought leaders. In addition to this, you also get monthly mentoring sessions by faculty and industry experts.

Digital Project Manager Masters Program

You can enhance your skillset by opting in their Master’s programs. For instance, the Digital Project Manager program may be a good option to explore. In this program, you get access to the complete learning path of a digital project manager. This aims to build awareness about the latest digital technologies with courses covering Digital Transformation, Digital Marketing, Big Data, and Data Science.

This program helps you to learn core project management and extract the benefits of digital technologies to ensure the smooth functioning of Agile projects. You also learn the core principles of Lean Six Sigma. Additionally, you learn best practices for enhancing the quality of IT service management to reduce costs and increase productivity. The principles of continuous development, deployment and configuration management.

In addition to this, you learn core digital marketing concepts and the processing of large volumes of data. Also, you learn the basics of the Microsoft Project application.

This project management education program offers mandatory as well as optional courses. The courses within this learning path includes:

• PMP
• Agile Scrum Master
• Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
• Digital Transformation for Leaders
• DevOps Certification Training
• Digital skills in Data and AI
• Digital Marketing for Leaders

The optional courses within this program include;

• ITIL^® 4 Foundation
• Business Analytics with Excel
• Microsoft^® Project 2013

Summary of Project Management Education

This article highlights the various aspects of project management education. We shared with you various benefits that project managers and aspirants can reap through the project management education programs. Then the article highlights the high-level project management evolution overview and also discusses the transformation of the project management education aspects. Then we focused on the training requirements with respect to the latest trends in project management. Additionally, we also shared with you the possible criteria for the evaluation of the project management education training programs so that you can assess the project management education provider. Finally, we discussed the top 10 project management education programs.

Furthermore, each training provider has its own unique aspects to offer a variety of courses and bundles related to the different aspects of project management. So we did not necessarily compare these project management education providers on a single yardstick. It is also important to note here that these PMP education providers are not addressed based on their PMP course offerings. The aim to highlight these project management education providers is to help the project managers to get an overview of what kind of courses are being offered by various project management education providers. While reading you can pick the best suitable project management education courses as per your requirements. Also, in this article, we did not compare the prices of these courses.

The post Project Management Education – Top 10 PM Education Programs appeared first on Project Hipo.

Project management is the art of planning and organizing the company’s resources to achieve a specific mission, event or duty towards completion. The resources managed include personnel, finances, technology, and intellectual property. Project management is often associated with engineering and construction fields, but recently project management also entered healthcare and information technology (IT) fields. These fields usually have a complex set of components, which project managers complete and assemble to create a functioning product. Regardless of the industry, project managers prefer to work on defining project objectives as well as determining when to complete different project components in addition to determining who will perform these activities. They also work on creating quality control tests to ensure that the completed components comply with a specific standard. Thus, this makes us wonder what the project manager’s mission is, what are his responsibilities towards his work and towards his team?

Responsibilities of the Project Manager

The project manager’s responsibilities include Planning, Executing, and Closing Projects. In addition to that, there are other responsibilities such as defining the project scope, building its comprehensive work plan, and managing the budget. Managing teams, facilitating commitment and productivity, removing obstacles, and motivating team members are also a part of the project manager’s responsibilities.

These responsibilities not only require many skills, but they also need to develop these skills continually. Therefore, to become a professional project manager, you must develop your skills. You can do this by constantly obtaining relevant courses and project management certifications that enhance your expertise. You have to bear in mind that these courses and certifications need to be accredited from internationally recognized providers. This will allow you to have a great deal of confidence in your project management certification and boost your project management skills.

So, did you fail to achieve a goal because you did not plan for it well? Have you ever wondered why your project final look did not look as expected?

We must admit that one of the most important tools of success is to set the steps to achieve this success. Therefore, project management contains a number of groups of steps to achieve the project goal. These groups’ steps are Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitor and Control, and Close.

Initiation

This stage begins by asking two important questions, what is the project extensively? What is the benefit and return from its implementation?

In order to answer these questions, the project manager creates two important documents:
Business Case: All the reasons for needing this project are explained, which includes the analysis of the return on investment.
Feasibility Study: You need to evaluate what the project’s goals are, the timeline to completion and how much will it cost. You also need to know what resources will be required to fulfill the project and whether it makes sense or not financially and commercially.

Planning

If the upper management approves the project, the project manager starts planning for the project. Starting by how to manage the project so that it can achieve its goals within budget and on time. The project plan should include the necessary resources, funding, and materials. Also, the plan gives direction to your team and the following:

Scope: A written scoping statement that reiterates the need for the project.
Definition: Here you can divide large products into smaller ones.
Tasks: Identify the tasks necessary to produce the results, and see if any tasks depend on other tasks.
Timetable: Determine the duration of tasks and set dates to complete them.
Cost: Estimate the costs involved in the project and formulate a budget.
Quality: Ensure achieving the quality objectives throughout the project.
Organization: Observe how the project will be organized, and including reporting on progress.
Staff: Define the roles and responsibilities of the project team.
Communication: Decide how to publish the information, to whom and with what frequency.
Risk: Identify potential risks and how they will affect the project, and then plan how to solve them.
Procurement: Specify the work or materials to be contracted. Also, identify the contractors.
Management: Managing the secured contracts in the project.

Implementation

After the completion of the planning, it is time to act and start the project. You must follow the plan you created, assign tasks to team members, manage and monitor their progress using project management tools, such as the project dashboard.

Monitor and control

To ensure that the project plan is in progress the project manager must monitor and adjust the plan as needed. To do this, they have to follow these operations:
Reporting: Get a benchmark to measure project progress and a tool to provide this information.
Scope: Monitor scope and control changes.
Quality: Measure the quality of the deliveries and ensure meeting the planned quality. If not, evaluate how to improve quality.
Schedule: Tracking delays or blocks that affect the project schedule and adapting to the correct course.
Cost: Monitor costs and control cost changes.
Risk: Note the changes in risk throughout the project and respond accordingly.

Close the project

Once the project achieves its goals and objectives, the last stage of the project is to close it. This stage includes the following set of activities:
Scope: Ensure that the project results are completed as planned.
Management: Closing all pending contracts and administrative matters, archiving and publishing papers to the appropriate parties.

Now let us discuss the top tier Project Management Certifications available across the globe. There are multiple reputable Project Management Certification programs. We will go through each of them in the following section.

#1 Project Management Certification Program – PMP Certification

What is PMP? Wherever you are in your career, the internationally recognized Project Management Certification (PMP) tells employers, peers and the world you know what to do with project management. Even if the Project Manager is not part of your job title, the PMP as a project management certification still applies to anyone who helps complete the project. Just as the CPA certificate validates the experience for accountants, PMP understands your ability to manage projects – and the hard work you have done so far. This makes us wonder how important is of PMP certification? What is its impact on my project manager’s career?

As a PMP certified you can work in almost any industry or location. While you need to complete a few steps to get it, it can be a powerful tool. Here are some reasons why PMP certification can help you build your career successfully.

Why PMP certification is important for your career?

Across all different project management certifications, PMP is one of the best. There are multiple reasons motivates you to acquire project management professional certification, those reasons are illustrated below:

It adds credibility to your skills

As a PMP certified, you are a professional in this field. When looking for a job, this is a clear demonstration of your abilities and skills. Your CV will not only look more credible but also become a trusted expert for potential employers and future employees. You can see PMP training options.

It can increase your employment opportunities

Like most of the project management certifications, PMP provides its holders with higher pay than their peers. According to the PMI report, by 2027, employers will need 87.7 million individuals working in project-oriented roles. However, there is a shortage of qualified talent.

The best way for you to increase your chances of finding a job is to get your PMP certification. It will help you stand out from the competition and get hired much faster.

It can help you achieve career growth

The PMP certification course can help you not only learn a lot of new skills related to your profession but also broaden the way you learn and grow. These form the perfect foundation for you to keep growing and working your way up.

It allows you to keep abreast of industry trends

Project Management Institute (PMI) is always up to date with changes in the rapidly changing industry. Course content is constantly updated and updated based on the current industry situation, which means you will be familiar with the latest project management trends.

Helps you establish effective relationships

There are 791,448 PMP holders currently. When you become a PMI Club member, you will get the chance to meet new people who can be of great help to know them in the future. Whether you need help finding a job to enjoy or need a recommendation, these colleagues can help you.

Helps you know new job opportunities

PMI often organizes meetings around the world for its members. As a PMP Certificate Holder, you will be able to attend these meetings where you can easily see all the important business opportunities from your fellow PMI members.

Helps you to improve your skills

To pass a PMP certification test, candidates need to undergo training and a large number of courses. This means that you will have to spend hours and hours reading material, research and practice to be able to handle any aspect of the exam.

Helps you rise to the occasion

The skills you learn through the course are many and can help you do your job better and justify employer confidence. No matter what type of project management task you advance, you will be able to show your new boss that you can adapt to any challenges you face, thanks to the knowledge you have gained.

It increases your marketing

PMP certification is internationally accredited and recognized by the entire global business community. One of its biggest advantages is that it can help you increase your marketing ability and legitimize your experience as a project manager. As a result, you will be able to search for work wherever there are project management jobs available.

Allows you to earn a higher salary

These are the main factors affecting salary increase after PMP certification:

When you choose a specific course to upgrade your qualifications, you are definitely looking at financial rewards. PMI conducts surveys in various countries regularly to analyze project managers’ salary increases once they obtain PMP certification. Documented reports confirm the value of obtaining a PMP certification. Besides PMP certification, the 6 most important factors affecting salary are position or role, the average project size, the average project budget, the average size of the project team, years of experience in project management, job location.

Accordingly, as soon as you get a chance to manage a large project with a large team after getting a PMP certification, your opportunities will grow significantly.

Impact of PMP certification on salary:

According to PMI’s ninth PM salary survey, a PMP certified project manager gets a 20% higher salary than an uncertified project manager. This survey covers a total of 26,000 project managers in 34 countries. The survey results show a significant variance between project managers with the PMP certification and PMs without it.

It makes you add value to any organization you work for

Certified project managers add significant benefit and value to any organization. Not only are they able to deal with problems and setbacks more easily, but they can also organize their teams better and achieve the necessary results with minimal effort and resources, making them a valuable asset for every company they work in. An individual with PMP certification can work in almost any industry or location. While you need to complete a few steps to get it, it can be a fairly powerful tool. You can read about PMP certification requirements and PMP certification cost.

#2 Project Management Certification Program – Agile Certifications

Starting from the early 2000s Agile project management certifications became more popular especially after 2010s. Especially the IT and Software industry has a high demand for agile certified professionals. There is a variety of agile project management certifications offered by a variety of institutions across the globe. These project management certifications usually are based on the same frameworks and methodologies. Accordingly, we have picked a number of top-tier agile project management certifications to review in this article.

PMI-ACP project management certification

This agile project management certification initially developed by the Project Management Institute. It aims to assist people who practice Agile’s on-the-job approach. To take the exam you must study various agile methodologies, such as Scrum, Lean, Kanban, and XP – to broaden your knowledge base. Thus, gaining a PMI ACP certificate testifies that your credentials when it comes to agile practices. You should learn most of the agile practices understanding differences, methods and ways to pass the test. This not only opens your mind but also makes you more skilled in agile practices that you already know.

Getting certified means that you have the features to implement agile methodologies, and it gives the employers confidence in you. The value of the certificate does not drop, due to the high standards set by the PMI globally. The certification requires not only hard work on your part but also requires that you have extensive project experience.

PMI-ACP project management certification requirements

This extensive experience requires a candidate to have at least 2000 hours of project experience. Therefore, you will never have to waste your time proving your credentials to anyone. PMI ACP has seen a rapid rise to the top of the best Agile Certifications on the market and hence there is a great demand for certified practitioners today. PMI ACP is used as an employer benchmark to measure your knowledge of Agile practices, especially for companies that use Agile.

Certified practitioners are always preferred compared to their unaccredited peers. Their high levels of knowledge of various Agile practices, such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP and Crystal also help them reach the top of the group. There are more benefits to getting a PMI ACP Certification. The PMI also provides a certification maintenance program, which enables the practitioner to keep abreast of the many developments in Agile. This means that the degree never becomes irrelevant and contributes to your career growth significantly.

PMI-ACP project management salary

Your career opportunities are also enhanced because all companies want employees who are able to apply and understand internal business aspects. Being a reliable source of enterprise, employers tend to chase you to get your high qualifications in this field. The average salary of a certified practitioner is approximately 20% higher than their non-accredited colleagues – which clearly enhances the value of this certification. According to surveys, it was found that Agile certified professionals earn about $ 120,000 on average, while employees without certificates earn only about $ 95,000 at the same level. The certification not only increases your shares with employers but also significantly increases your profits. In conclusion, PMI ACP project management certification may be new to the market, but it is one of the most effective and comprehensive testimonials available on Agile’s practices.

All of Agile’s methodologies and frameworks are covered under this single certification, giving you a better view of each Agile practice and its differences with each other. This certification opens you up to massive career growth and a large number of new job opportunities. The exam can be expensive, but the benefits are huge – you always keep in touch with new developments, your inventory is constantly rising, and the money spent on training and exams can be recovered within two months, even. So what are you waiting for? Take an Agile course accredited by the Project Management Institute!

PMI-ACP project management certification evolution

With the growth of the Agile community and institutions beginning to apply the Agile methodology excessively to implement their projects in a dynamic environment, PMI-ACP has become a popular and rapidly growing certification. The PMI ACP certificate offers its holders a huge advantage over others through its formal recognition of their knowledge and experience of Agile principles as well as using Agile tools. PMI ACP certificate is a set of qualifications combining Agile Training, Agile project experience and Evaluation of Agile Principles and Practices. Organizations usually depend on project practitioners to apply various project management approaches. Thus PMI-ACP serves this purpose as one of the global certifications which elevate professionals’ ability to support that need.

PMI-ACP project management certification benefits

The benefits of acquiring PMI-ACP project management certification are the following:

High demand

Around the world, there is a great demand for competent project managers in industries. Regardless of the academic background, the correct certification will demonstrate your expertise in project management skills. With various that heavily utilize Agile related technologies, there is a demand gap of professionals who apply Agile methodologies and practices. Thus, for practitioners who have working experience within an Agile environment even as project managers and developers, ACP project management certification offers a reason to praise their achievement.

Wide range

PMI-ACP includes more than one method of Agile methodologies including Scrum, FDD, XP, Kanban, DSDM, Crystal, etc. The purpose of this certification developed by PMI is the ability to credit professionals who practice Agile approaches, tools, and techniques in their work. It shows to employers that a professional has practical experience working in an agile environment. It has become a more popular and desirable certification by PMI.

Professional growth

PMI ACP certificate provides a vital role for your professional growth opportunities. It demonstrates to employers the level of professionalism in Agile practices required in project management. It increases your professional skills in project management tools and techniques. PMI ACP also helps you learn about the different Agile methods and improves your ability to adapt to Agile technologies which ultimately enhances customer satisfaction and team productivity. This certificate also proves you have the required level of experience in Agile as well as the knowledge of Agile tools and techniques and that you have professional resources to undertake any project based on Agile methodology.

Make you marketable

PMI-ACP project management certification enhances your CV, earns appreciation in your organization as well as with other employers and provides you with better job opportunities for career advancement. Proven to be incredibly helpful for your career in Agile Project Management, it opens doors to many methodologies for project development, collaboration, and better job opportunities. This certificate makes you a salable employee. The increased demand for Agile professionals, agile certifications like PMI-ACP tempts employers to chase you, given your competence in project management.

Benefits the organization

Today more and more companies are adopting the Agile approach instead of the traditional waterfall model. PMI-ACP certification helps discover technologies to effectively manage project scope and learn Agile principles and practices that improve team performance and collaboration that ultimately ensures better delivery.

Scrum Project Management Certifications

The Scrum methodology is an incredibly powerful group of values, principles, and practices despite being lightweight.
Scrum methodology depends on teams that are cross-functional which deliver work in short time boxes. Thus enabling fast feedback, rapid adaptation to change, continuous improvement and accelerated delivery. Generally, Scrum works by breaking large work into smaller pieces to complete in a short time. Typically, Scrum teams test each group of completed components. Then, the teams learn from their previous work, feedback to adapt upcoming work, minimize risk and reduce waste. Accordingly, repeating the cycle until the full completion of work in a manner that meets the needs of the customer.  This happens due to the opportunities for adjustment at the end of each cycle.

Benefits of using Scrum

Scrum teams give the highest priority to the continuous creation of working functionality, the business benefits with the maximum possible investment returns. Thus, utilizing Scrum offers businesses benefits like faster innovation, quickly moving the idea to delivery, generating a higher level of customer satisfaction and increasing the level of employee morale.

a-) Scrum Alliance project management certifications

Scrum Alliance offers a wide range of agile project management certification types which ranges between various tracks. These tracks include Scrum Master track, product owner track, and developer track. To obtain the advanced level of any scrum project management certification tracks you will need to acquire the prior level first.

Scrum Master track

The Scrum Master track has three levels of project management certification. The first level is Certified Scrum Master, which is the intro level for this track which fills the role of scrum master or scrum team member. The second level of this track is the Advanced Certified Scrum Master project management certification. Finally, the top tier level of this track is Certified Scrum Professional – Scrum Master, which certifies that you are able to challenge scrum teams to enhance the application of Scrum and Agile principles. At the same time, this project management certification certifies your demonstrated scrum experience, received training, and knowledge.

Scrum Product Owner track

The Scrum Product Owner track contains three levels of project management certification as well. Certified Scrum Product Owner is the first level of this track. This project management certification recognizes the role of creating product vision, ordering Product Backlog as well as ensuring the best possible job to satisfy the customer. The second level of this project management certification is the Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner. This project management certification testifies the holder’s ability to maximize business value as well as optimize Product Backlog to reach the best way possible to increase key stakeholders’ satisfaction. The top tier level project management certification of this track is the Certified Scrum Professional Product Owner. As a Certified Scrum Professional, you are able to challenge your teams to enhance the application of Scrum and Agile principles. Also, this project management certification testifies that you demonstrate scrum experience, training, and knowledge.

Scrum Developer track

This track of project management certification Certified Scrum Developer includes two levels, the Certified Scrum Developer and the Certified Scrum Professional. Those two project management certifications certify development professionals who work within scrum teams.

b-) Scrum.org project management certifications

The Scrum.org offers a wide range of project management certification tracks, which all are based on scrum. The institution offers seven main project management certification tracks. Professional Scrum Master track is the first of these seven tracks. This project management certification track has 3 levels, to proceed for a higher level you must complete the prior level. The second track is the Professional Scrum Product Owner track and it has three levels with the same rules applied. The Professional Scrum Developer is the third track, which targets Scrum Development Team Members with 1 level only. Following there is the Scaled Professional Scrum track, which validates your ability to understate the key elements of agile scaling with 1 level only.

The Professional Scrum with Kanban track offers 1 level project management certification which verifies your ability to use Scrum and Kanban methodologies. The Professional Agile Leadership certificate validates that your leadership abilities and understanding Agile added value to the business. The final track Scrum.org offers is the Professional Scrum with User Experience. This track validates your understanding of how Scrum Teams integrates Scrum with User Experience to improve the creation of value.

#3 Project Management Certification Program – Prince2 Certification

The Prince2 project management certification offered through the Axelos institution. It is more popular in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India and in some EU countries despite the fact that PMP is much more popular all around the world.

Benefits of having PRINCE2 Certification

Unlike PMP’s PMP, PRINCE2 is an effective project management methodology. The key difference between them is basically within the process as well as the body of knowledge. PMP is all about providing best practices for project management around the world in a standardized format. In fact, it turns away from recommending the processes to follow while managing projects, and here PRINCE2 project management certification comes into the picture, as it fills the void left by PMP.

The entire project is justified even before it starts

The PRINCE2 methodology requires full justification for actions at every level. The project should provide regular updates on business cases throughout the project life cycle to ensure delivery of the intended value to the project and its clients. Failure to do so will end the justification for continuing the project.

PRINCE2 tailoring according to any project in size and complexity

The best part about PRINCE2 is that you can tailor it according to project size and complexity. In PRINCE2 you can never remove an operation. Process activity must be completed, but you can customize the process to suit the right environment. Moreover, a lot of resources and time are saved because PRINCE2 is a built-in methodology, which means PRINCE2 will be applied to all aspects of the organization.

Improving salary opportunities with global opportunities

Professionals with PRINCE2 certification qualifications have more chances to land their dream job and pay well. Especially in countries like the UK, Europe, Australia, and Asia, your employer has all the rationale needed for your skills to give you an increase in salaries. According to Payscale.com, the highest average annual salary for PRINCE2 certified professionals ranges between approximately $ 60,000 and $ 123,000.

Employers all over the world have a great demand for project practitioners. Thre is more demand for PRINCE2 credential holders in the UK Australia, New Zealand, India and in some EU countries. While the demand for PMP certified professionals is more in the US and the rest of the world. At the end of the day, it all depends on the institution and the type of project you are dealing with to choose the right certification that best suits your career. The PMP certification is useful for obtaining a comprehensive view of project management, and PRINCE2 also mainly helps in understanding the processes and people in the project.

For project management practitioners to take their next level for their project management skills, they need to undergo accredited training in both PMP and PRINCE2. It will help you gain an in-depth understanding of project management approaches and apply project management techniques that are best suited for successful project completion.

Prince2 Certification levels

Axelos provided Prince2 Certification has two levels where you have to acquire the 1st level in order to acquire the second level.

Prince2 Foundation Certification

Foundation level certification of Prince2 requires you to have an in-depth understanding of how to work with Prince2 methodology effectively on projects as well as understanding the basics of Prince2 methodology and terminology.

Prince2 Practitioner Certification

It is the advanced level certification of Prince2. The requirement for this project management certification is to confirm your ability to customize Prince2 principles to fit project requirements. While as a Practitioner, you become fit to lead teams that use Prince2 Methodology.

#4 Project Management Certification Program – CAPM Project Management Certification

Are you in your early years of Project Management career? If yes, that means you do not have enough project management experience. Thus, you are not qualified for some project management certification such as PMP. CAPM project management certification is entry-level certification of PMI for project managers in their early years in their careers.

What are the different benefits of CAPM project management certification?

CAPM project management certification can be a starting point for your career as a project manager. It has many advantages.

1. It will give you global recognition

PMI is world-famous for its literature and project management certificates. CAPM is an entry-level project management certification. It is widely accepted all over the world by various organizations. By earning this accreditation, you will be recognized as a knowledgeable professional.

2. It will enhance your knowledge

By studying for the CAPM project management certification exam, you will learn about various project management tools and techniques. In addition, you will learn about project management practices that have proven to improve the project’s success rate. Some might say that knowledge can be acquired without preparing for the test. Right! But everyone knows that true knowledge comes only when seriously preparing for the exam.

3. It is a professional achievement

CAPM project management certification is a relatively difficult exam to pass. The credentials give you instant recognition and respect among your peers.

4. It will increase your confidence

The idea of passing a globally recognized certification exam level is a challenge. You will feel comfortable and feel good after passing the exam. It would give a huge boost to your confidence.

5. It has the potential to give you better job opportunities

Since CAPM project management certification is a well-recognized certification that enhances your knowledge, it may open doors for junior project management jobs. Even if you do not have commensurate professional experience or are not fully qualified for a job, companies may give you preference over more qualified candidates.

6. Organizations tend to give you greater responsibilities

After getting the CAPM certification, you will be recognized as more knowledgeable and skilled than your peers. Organizations tend to benefit from your additional knowledge in assuming project responsibilities. This can lead to more complex project management.

7. It can improve the project’s success

The credentials give you the knowledge to apply project management tools and techniques to project activities. This improves the overall efficiency of project management and will likely lead to more successful projects.

8. It can improve customer satisfaction

CAPM project management certification enhances a person’s basic knowledge about project management that appears in their commitment to action. It also increases the customer’s confidence in your abilities and skills.

9. It enhances the marketing of your organizations

CAPM project management certification comes with global recognition. Your organization can use it as a marketing tool to win more contracts from clients.

10. It can serve as a platform for PMP certification follow-up

The examination content for CAPM project management certification and PMP project management certification is almost the same. CAPM project management certification relies only on the PMBOK Guide while PMP project management certification mostly relies on it. After you get the CAPM project management certification, you are almost ready to pass the PMP project management certification exam. Once you are eligible for taking the PMP project management certification exam, you can apply for the PMP project management certification immediately.

#5 Other Project Management Certification Programs

I addition to the project management certification programs we mentioned, there are other top tier project management certification programs we will list and discuss below for your review.

Certified Project Director – CPD Project Management Certification

CPD is a project management certification at the orientation level as it is not only difficult to take the exam, but the accredited institute also has certain requirements to keep the CPD project management certification course active. As an approved project manager, this obligates you to “maintain” your degree by completing a pre-determined number of hours in the field service.
Likewise, the courses for subordinates are also an additional point. CPD contains two units; the official and unofficial CPD documents. You should not confuse them with each other because the official, certified project manager is considered a professional with structured online education, appropriate certification, and supporting documents.
Regardless, CPD is one of the most prestigious accredited project management courses. As much as CPD itself represents a daunting adventure, it rewards qualified employees with equal job opportunities and salaries.

Requirements for a certified project manager

Since CPD project management certification accredited with GAQM, they have been tasked with obtaining solid knowledge about project management principles and methodologies. Additionally, you need to demonstrate practical knowledge in project management as a manager to qualify for the exam.

Certified Project Manager – CPM-IAPM Project Management Certification

The Phytosanitary Measures Authority introduced more than a decade ago when the terrorist attacks shook the foundations of the US government on September 11, 2001. The main body at that time offered the course of the Certified Project Manager course due to the unexpected nature of the disaster at hand.

Along with buildings and other physical ruin, the attack sent tremors through IT infrastructure. Companies were not prepared to deal with such pressure and needed certified project managers to assess their skills through practical experience. Since then, this certification has been internationally recognized by project management training institutes.

Requirements for a certified project manager

CPM and CPM-IAPM tests are relatively easier. There are no prerequisites for taking the test, except for proof of attending a 3-day course.

Professional Project Management – PPM Project Management Certification

Although it is not difficult to obtain a certificate such as PPM project management certification, companies prefer to hire experienced professionals compared to those who have just completed their courses.

As a certified PPM professional, if you are looking to enter the job market, many companies will expect you to have knowledge/skill regarding resource allocation and QoS maintenance with minimal risk and effective communication and perseverance to bring about change in the company.

Just like CPM, the PRO line up in Project Management Certification with Risk and Crisis Management Training.
Professional in project management requirements:
• Unlike its peers, the PPM certification exam does not require that you obtain an official university degree
• Candidates need at least some experience in project management. If this is not a possibility, then you need to demonstrate your knowledge and familiarity with project management in one way or another

Master Project Manager (MPM)

Project management is growing at a rapid pace and is used in all industries, whether health, communications, chemicals, and energy, as well as in the social sector. The MPM project management certification is designed for professionals who want to increase productivity in the workplace.

MPM project management certification mainly focuses on professional project managers, but in addition, it also supports these professionals in technical and business management roles.

MPM project management certification is one of the certifications that help you earn additional points for IT professionals who are in the field of project management in their company. It provides a simple yet effective training environment for professionals with a technical background by identifying and linking management teachings to engineering.

Professional in Master Project Manager requirements
• Three years of training and project management experience makes applicants eligible for exemptions with a master’s degree with relevant job experience
• Graduates who have less than three project management years of experience are eligible to take this certification.

Associate in Project Management (APM) Project Management Certification

Associate in Project Management is one of the introductory project management certifications.

It is an internationally recognized important accreditation in the field of project management that demonstrates that the candidate has the required knowledge in this field that is limited to the level of project management initiation.

The exam consists of 50 questions to choose from which the candidate needs to obtain 70% (35 out of 50 correct) to pass the test and the total exam duration is one hour (60 minutes).

Professional in project management requirements
• No formal education or experience required

Certified Project Management Practitioner – Project Management Certification

Immediately after the establishment of the European Council in 2001, the government wanted to address some of the fundamental issues that resulted from the notorious terrorist attack. For this issue, the CPMP project management certification was created as a standard for those with a talent for managing disaster recovery operations.

It is expected that people with a certified project management practitioner certification will take a number of projects related to infrastructure development, administrative obstacles, and leadership obstacles. Although CPMP project management certification is not a high degree, it does serve as a solid foundation for anyone looking to enter a field that requires work experience.

As a result, value is added over time to management expertise, leadership characteristics, and technical skills.

CPMP project management certification requirements.

The CPMP project management certification requirements are rather simple. There are no prerequisites for this certificate. However, you have to submit a non-refundable fee of $ 200 for the exam. CPMP project management certification is taught in various training companies in two to three days. They charge exorbitant fees for these categories, so set aside a large portion of your budget in advance.

Six Sigma Black Belt Project Management Certification (CSSBB)

The next one on the list is CSSBB – also known as the Six Sigma Black Belt project management certification. Yes, it has a great name, and this name accompanies a good salary check with a host of challenges.

Another interesting thing about CSSBB project management certification is that it is not the only certificate in this category. If you are not up to the challenge or do not meet the prerequisite, you can sign up for the Six Sigma Green Belt certification. This is a lower-level certification and serves as a starting point for those looking to get a “Black Belt”.

CSSBB project management certification is internationally recognized and accredited through the ASQ Institute. ASQ Body of Knowledge has 18 other certificates. Three of these certifications are for project managers, while others elevate the PM level experience to a more professional level.

CSSBB project management certification is difficult to obtain. The path is strict due to the complex prerequisites and different fee structures. The good news is that once you’re done, you’ll enjoy the benefits of a decent wage schedule and many other perks offered by major corporations to professionals.

Six Sigma Black Belt Certification requirements (CSSBB)

In order to get the exam, or at least be eligible, you must prove that you have completed two different projects before. ASQ will require you to produce pre-written written project certificates plus 3 years of experience in this field.

Breaking the deal with this certificate is that it is only valid for three years. This is not a bad part. In order to retake the test, you need to retest all 18 certification exams that are part of the CSSBB structure! It looks cool, right?

Six Sigma Green Belt Certification Certificate

This certificate is part of another project management certification in the Six Sigma Black Belt certification group. There are a total of three certificates, and CSSGB project management certification is one of them. Three certificates are necessary for anyone looking to hone their skills as a project manager.

As usual, the ASQ Institute accredits CSSGB project management certification. Before the exam, candidates must have at least three years of experience in Six Sigma Projects. Additionally, the work experience must be full-time and paid for. Therefore, detainees or part-time workers are unable to pass the six accredited Green Belt exams.

The good news is that within the limits of the Green Belt Authority certification, you will be able to do one of the following with great ease and comfort.

• Dealing with related phase projects. The stages in Six Sigma can be customer voice, fundamentals of project management, project identification, planning, resource management, team dynamics, and vice versa. Each “stage” is a legacy of its own.
• You will also be able to perform operations analysis, measure the performance and capabilities of team members in a project and collect the data necessary for the current Six Sigma preparation.

Six Sigma Green Belt certification requirements (CSSGB)

CSSGB project management certification requirements are somewhat complicated. As mentioned earlier, you need to show written certificates or contracts for a minimum of 3 years of experience as a full-time worker in Six Sigma Projects.

ITIL Certification

ITIL is an IT service management certification that Axelos offers which has a lot of relevance to project management certifications. The ITIL set of certification systems offers a standard approach to the context of the ITIL framework. It consists of various levels of qualifications that concentrate on different pillars of ITIL service management best practices. This offering comes with varying levels of detail. The progressive nature of certification creates flexibility in terms of different areas and disciplines in addition to the ability to study only the areas of their main interest.

ITIL 4 Certification theme

Axelos offers four levels of certification within the ITIL 4 :

Foundation level

Designed as an introductory level to ITIL 4 to test exam taker’s understanding of IT service management within an end to end operating model. This is done through the creation, delivery and continual improvement of services and products. This level of the certificate does not require any perquisites, however, the certificate holder must pass the level exam.

ITIL 4 Managing Professional level

The ITIL 4 Managing Professional level offers practical and technical knowledge in terms of running successful IT services. It mainly targets IT service management practitioners who work within the technology context. This level requires you to certify the foundation level first before applying to any certification within this level. This level or stream contains four modules the candidate can take:

• First Module: ITIL 4 Specialist Create, Deliver and Support
• Second Module: ITIL 4 Specialist Drive Stakeholder Value
• Third Module: ITIL 4 Specialist High-Velocity IT
• Fourth Module: ITIL 4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve.

For Axelos to certify you with the ITIL 4 Managing Professional designation, you must complete all modules in the stream.

ITIL 4 Strategic Leader level

ITIL 4 Strategic Leader level recognizes the ITIL value, for all digitally enabled services not only for IT operations. To Become an ITIL 4 Strategic Leader, you must demonstrate a clear understanding of the influences of IT over business strategy. ITIL 4 Strategic Leader level stream consists of two modules. Those two modules are ITIL 4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve and ITIL 4 Leader Digital and IT Strategy. For Axelos to certify you with the ITIL 4 Strategic Leader designation, you must complete all modules in the stream.

Master level

The highest level of ITIL is the ITIL Master certification. To achieve this level, you must explain and justify your personal application of a range of principles, knowledge, techniques, and methods of ITIL in addition to, explaining management support techniques, to achieve the desired business outcomes in practical assignments.

Summary of Project Management Certification Programs

In this article, we went through different top tier project management certifications and discussed the details of each project management certification. We went through the major project management certifications like PMP, Agile project management certifications, Prince2, and others. In conclusion, selecting the best project management certification for you depends on your location, experience, and career plans. Also, selecting one project management certification is not the optimum choice as each project management certification has its own areas of strength. While all project management certification has its strengths, still project management professional certification (PMP) standout as the top of all of them. As explained earlier, PMP is the top recognized project management certification across the globe.

The post Project Management Certification – Top 5 PM Certifications to Earn appeared first on Project Hipo.