January - February 2004 Featured Papers

Project Management Certification at the CIA

Michael O’Brochta, PMP, Senior Project Manager, Central Intelligence Agency

A key to successful project management enterprise wide is the level of skill, knowledge, and ability of the organization’s project managers. This truth has manifested itself repeatedly across the industry and has frequently led to efforts to raise the PM competency levels through training and certification. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is now embarking on this path; an internal agency-wide Project Management Training and Certification Program (PMTCP) is now being created. What are the conditions that led to the decision to launch a PM certification program at the CIA? What are the anticipated barriers? What type of certification program is being created, and why is it being aligned so closely with the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification by the Project Management Institute (PMI®)?

This paper examines the dynamics within the CIA associated with project management and presents the details of the process the CIA is using to put PMTCP into operation.

The paper draws on the guidance in the PMBOKâ Guide and from respected authors about project management certification, and it characterizes the importance of basing the certification program on clearly articulated needs from both the project management level as well as the senior executive level. Through mention of some interesting spy projects and a survey of CIA managers, the author uses experience from his thirty years in the project management business to describe the consequences of not paying enough serious attention to project management competency.

The paper includes answers to the key strategic PMTCP questions posed above, and it includes the rationale for these answers. A description is given of the levels of project management training that are being developed to support the certification. The status of the PMTCP program is presented and is followed by a summary of the major challenges anticipated as PMTCP moves from its design phase to implementation across the enterprise. Issues such as grandfathering, testing resistance, re-certification, and transitioning from the legacy curriculum to the new curriculum are examined. The paper concludes with a discussion about the effect PMTCP is expected to have on the project manager career advancement and job placement decisions as well as the effect anticipated on the organizational project management maturity.

Read the full text of Project Management Certification at the CIA

About the Author:

Michael O'BrochtaMichael O'Brochta is an experienced project manager, line manager, author,lecturer, trainer and consultant. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, a master's degree in project management, and is a certified PMP®. As senior project manager at the CIA, he is helping to lead the maturing of the project management practices agency-wide.

Michael O'Brochta's other recent work includes PMO formation and management. His papers and presentations at national, international, and regional conferences have been popular and well received. Email: michaho@ucia.gov

State of the Art of Project Management : 2003
Part 1 PM Within Organizations

Russell D. Archibald

The practice of project management (PM) has evolved over half a century and permeates all industries, institutions and governments throughout the world. This paper conveys a picture of the state of the art in this management discipline near the end of 2003, and provides some predictions of the direction of its continued evolution over the next five years.


Three topics are discussed in this part:

Read the full text of Part One

Acknowledgement: The author wishes to acknowledge with grateful thanks the contributions of four colleagues to parts of this paper: David H. Curling, Alan Harpham, David L. Pells, and R. Max Wideman. Please see their references for brief information on their qualifications.

About the Author:

Russell ArchibaldRussell D. Archibald , PMP, Fellow PMI and APM/IPMA, M.Sc. has held engineering and executive positions in the defense, aerospace, refinery construction and operations, automotive manufacturing and telecommunications industries. He has consulted in project management to companies and agencies in twelve countries on four continents, and has taught project management principles and practices to thousands of managers and specialists around the world.
russell_archibald@yahoo.com
http://www.russarchibald.com

The Psychological Contract: The Ticket to Enjoying One's Work

Harvey A. Levine, Principal,
The Project Knowledge Group

How often have you heard a manager ask a subordinate “what would you like to do here?” More often it’s “I’ll tell you just what to do and what not to do. And you’ll do as I say because I am the boss and I can hurt you if you challenge me.”

Now, here’s where the psychological contract comes in. Almost four decades ago, Edgar H. Schien wrote: "an organization cannot function unless the members consent to the operating authority system, and that this consent hinges upon the upholding of the psychological contract between the organization and the member."; While we may have questioned this position on authority twenty years ago, we certainly can see that it has become more of the norm as we enter the 21st century

Read the full text of Harvey Levine's article on the Psychological Contract

About the Author:

Harvey LevineHarvey A. Levine is in his 42nd year of service to the project management profession, providing applications, system design, & consulting services in project planning and control, mostly with the General Electric Company. He served on the Board of Directors of the Project Management Institute, as President and Chairman of the Board and is a PMI Fellow. Mr. Levine has been Adjunct Professor of Project Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and at Boston University. He has been recognized as the primary PM software industry watchdog, and is valued for his knowledge, understanding, and insights regarding both the vendor and user issues pertaining to the development and use of PM tools.
halevine@earthlink.net
http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ehalevine

Top of Page