Is the PRINCE2 Family of Credentials a Credible Way to Infer Professional Competency?
June 7, 2010 @ How to Manage a Camel - Project Management and Recruitment from DrPaulDGiammalvo
With the proliferation of globally recognized credentials supposedly attesting to project management competency, have you ever wondered how they compare against one another? And whether any of them actually measure either how “professional” or how “competent” a practitioner is?
To open, let us rely on the trusty Merriam Webster’s on line dictionary, which defines the adjective “professional” as being someone:
“characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession or an occupation : manifesting fine artistry or workmanship based on sound knowledge and conscientiousness : reflecting the results of education, training, and experience”
And the noun “professional” as:
“one who belongs to one of the learned professions or is in an occupation requiring a high level of training and proficiency”
Lastly, if we look at the definition of “competent” or “competencies”, we find that it derives from the Latin “competere” meaning suitable or agreeable and is defined to be:
“the quality or state of being functionally proficient, characterized by marked or sufficient aptitude + attitude + skills + strength + knowledge”
So for the purposes of this discussion, we will define the professionally competent practitioner to mean “a person who, through a combination of a high level of education, training, experience, and conscientiousness, has demonstrated through evidence of their fine artistry or workmanship, conducted in conformance to both technical and ethical standards, as having achieved a state of being functionally proficient, characterized by marked aptitude + attitude + skills + strength + knowledge”.
Summarized, a competent professional should be someone special, someone who stands out…. Not your “average Joe” (Or Josephine). Using sports as an analogy, a professional is someone who is good enough to make a living doing what others do as a hobby. Not an amateur.
So using the above definitions to establish the context, let’s compare a sampling of some of the more common professional credentials to see where the OGC/APM PRINCE2 credentials stand vis a vis the alternatives.
The baseline for this is the requirements for the US Professional Engineer (PE) license. Why? First, because engineering is recognized as a profession and given APM, IPMA, PMI and a host of other professional organizations seem hell-bent on trying to turn project management into a profession, let’s benchmark on an existing profession. Secondly, the US PE license (and its close cousin, the Canadian PE license) is known and respected around the world- those who hold it are generally respected as competent professionals. To provide even more relevancy, we will compare the requirements of the most popular project management family of credentials; PMI’s CAPM, PMP and their PgMP. To add to the benchmark, the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering has also developed a competency based credential, the Certified Portfolio, Program and Project Manager (C3PM) which is the first professional level credential to require a master’s degree or master’s degree equivalent. (The PE licensing process won’t require a master’s degree until 2020). We have also included AACE’s top knowledge (exam) based credential, the Certified Cost Consultant/Cost Engineer (CCC/E) credential, as this certification enjoys reciprocal recognition by the Royal Chartered Institute of Surveyors (RICS). Lastly, we have included three of the IPMA credentials as well. Using the specifications from the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management, (asapm) which is the US IPMA representative, we have included their “D”, “C” level and “A” level credentials.
Click on the image to see a full-size PDF of the findings
METHODOLOGY: Consistent with the definitions above, 16 different attributes were identified and selected as the basis to compare the certifications against the PE license. While clearly not all of these attributes are of equal value, applying the fundamentals of multi-attribute decision making, will give us a sense of where the PRINCE2 credentials stand in relationship to a sampling of other alternatives.
We have combined into one table, the non-compensatory multi-attribute models of:
- Dominance- using a simple color coding scheme, enables us quickly to get a sense of the relative dominance of each credential compared against the PE license and against each other;
- Satisficing- In the two columns to the far right, (Columns O and P) we have established a preferable standard, based either on the criteria of the PE; or where there is a numeric value, those values which scored above (green) or below (red) the average; and where there was a credential which exceeded the criteria of the PE, that was selected as the baseline. For those values which are questionable for some reason have been marked in yellow, with an explanation as to why provided in the explanatory notes.
- Disjunctive Resolution- To quantify what the color coding showed using Dominance, a ratio scale was created (see the bottom row) which compared the percentage of green to the total possible number of greens. This provides us with a rough order of magnitude to see just how much difference lies between each of the credentials.
ANALYSIS: As can be seem from the multi-attribute matrix, based on dominance as well as disjunctive resolution, it is clear that BOTH the PRINCE2 Foundation and the PRINCE2 Practitioner credentials are most like PMI’s CAPM and substantially lower than IPMA/asapm’s Level D. Very clearly they are considerably lower than both PMI’s PMP and AACE’s CCC/E. Taking the PE as being a fixed baseline, disjunctive resolution indicates that the PE license (80%) is orders of magnitude more robust than the PRINCE2 credentials (8%).
Analyzing the calculations on “satisficing” even though the differentiator was between above and below average, intuitively, one would expect a professional level credential to move beyond merely “preponderance of the evidence” (51%) to at least “beyond a reasonable doubt”, which is probably closer to 80%. (Pareto) This aspect would be ideal for interested researchers to accept as a challenge.
Looking more closely, the only attribute that the PRINCE2 family of credentials has in common with other knowledge based credentials is the fact it requires an exam, (Line Item 6) and by every other attribute, the PRINCE2 credentials are considerably lower than all other credentials. Other than Line Item 6, none of the experiential requirements normally associated with a professional level credential have been met. Furthermore, based on the length of the exam; the number of questions and the type of questions (multiple choice vs essay) as well as the extremely low passing score, it is highly unlikely that the PRINCE2 family of credentials is sufficient to qualify as a measure of either professionalism or competency.
This is especially disturbing given that in many of the Commonwealth Nations, the PRINCE2 credentials are second only to the PMP in popularity. This indicates that instead of moving the practice of project management up the scale on professionalism, by allowing or encouraging these kinds of credentials to be marketed or positioned inappropriately, we are actually causing harm to the image and prestige accorded to those who are professional practitioners.
To see a more robust and detailed comparison, go to www.pmforum.org/library/papers/2010/PDFs/feb/FP-Giammalvo-PMCertsCompared.pdf or to download the complete spreadsheet and accompanying narrative analysis, go to http://www.build-project-management-competency.com/download-page/ and download the two files:
- Project Management Certifications Compared- The NARRATIVE Explanation (964)
- Project Management Certifications Compared- The Excel Spreadsheet Model (1042)
As this is an on-going research effort, graduate and post graduate students are being sought out to carry the research further.
CONCLUSIONS: What can or should we, as practitioners do about it? The first step would be to rescind the request by APM et al to the Privy Council to give project management Royal Charter status. We have yet to earn the right to call project management a profession. Until or unless we can consistently deliver projects on time, within budget, in substantial conformance to specifications, while substantially achieving the objectives for which the project was undertaken to accomplish, we are more like medicine was back in the 16th and 17th centuries
The second would be to bring the PRINCE2 family of credentials in line with the standards established by other internationally recognized professions such as engineering, commercial aircraft piloting, medicine and accounting-
- Require at MINIMUM a 4 year degree or equivalent formal education;
- Require no less than 10,000 hours of combined education and VALIDATED experience, based on SUCCESSFUL projects;
- Require a robust written exam that includes open ended or essay type questions designed to validate Blooms levels 4, 5 and 6;
- Require that a log book be maintained for each project, using 360 degree evaluations signed off by not by friends, but professional colleagues, superiors, subordinates and clients/customers;
- Require that a portfolio of work be presented to an independent peer review committee to evaluate and assess the person not only in terms of technical ability, but his/her ability to make presentations, communicate verbally and in writing and otherwise present a truly well rounded and professional image;
Only by making the requirements to practice project management more robust will be able to eliminate the “accidental” project managers and encourage those who truly see project management not as a transitional occupation- a step on the corporate ladder to the corner office, but as an end career path position. A calling- something they want to be when they grow up.
Once we are able to differentiate those who are not seriously committed to project management as a terminal career path objective, we can then focus the efforts of the dedicated, full time professional practitioner on how best to earn the respect of the consuming public by consistently delivering projects on time, within budget, in substantial conformance to specifications, while substantially achieving the objectives for which the project was undertaken to accomplish. IF we can do that, then we may have earned the respect of the consuming public and other stakeholders that we are in fact, competent professionals.
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