Marketing professionals often hear about the PMP certification, yet have difficulty understand what is it, why take it and what are the benefits to their profession and careers. Here's a presentation to help demystify the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification for marketers / marketeers: - what is Project Management and its body of knowledge - the benefits and contexts in which it applies to Marketing - how certified professionals make the most out of the PMP and translate that into a Marketing career - BONUS: Project Management vs. Product Management comparison #ProdMgmt ~ Andre Piazza

1. PMP Certification for Marketers
Andre Piazza, PMP
Linkedin.com/in/AndrePiazza
@AndreAtDell
Slideshare.net/Apiazza

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Project Management History
For the Military, it meant coordinated efforts across resources
(people and raw materials)

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Project Management History
NASA utilized Project
Management knowledge
extensively while
executing very complex
projects where
constraints and risks
existed in levels rarely
seen before

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Project Management: current relevance
• Customer Experience
• Cross-functional teams
• Highly specialized tasks
• Slim budgets
• Complex organizations
• Dynamic markets
• Multiple stakeholders
all at once!

5. Project Management
Fundamentals

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Define: Project
<< a temporary endeavor designed to produce
a unique product, service or result with a
defined beginning and end, undertaken to meet
unique goals and objectives, typically to bring
about beneficial change or added value >>

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PMBOK currently in its 5th Edition

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Process groups and lifecycle = IPECC
this is an improved PDCA cycle

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Processes = Inputs, Tools & Techniques, Outputs
Example:

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“IS The Cat Quite
Happy Chasing
Rabbit Poop in
Sahara?”
Mnemonics: PM Knowledge Areas

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10 Project Management Knowledge Areas
1. Integration
2. Scope
3. Time
4. Cost
5. Quality
6. HR
7. Communications
8. Risk
9. Procurement
10. Stakeholder

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Spread 47 processes across 10 Knowledge Areas

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The same 47 processes grouped per lifecycle

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• Complexity keeps
growing over the
PMBOK versions
• Integration area
provides sanity
backbone to all
areas
How the 47 processes interrelate
according to PMBOK 5th Edition

15. Project Management
Highlights

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Project Management Triple Constraints
Risk
Think of it this way: “How would I operate if I were constantly
bound and restrained?”
That’s the job of the Project Manager and the Project Team

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Project Management Multiple Constraints
It gets complicated
this diagram only covers
time / cost / quality
scope and risk not shown
here
Project Management
aims at solving these type
of problems

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Project Management Laws Trivia: match columns!
1. Augustine’s Law
2. Lakein’s Law
3. Saint Exupéry’s Law
4. Fitzgerald’s Law
5. Parkinson’s Law
6. Constantine’s Law
7. Graham’s Law
8. Murphy’s Law
9. O’Brochta’s Law
10. Kinser’s Law
a. << Work expands to fill the time
available >>
b. << Failing to plan is planning to fail >>
c. << Project management is about
applying common sense with
uncommon discipline >>
d. << A fool with a tool is still a fool >>

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Project Management Laws Trivia: match columns!
1. Augustine’s Law
2. Lakein’s Law
3. Saint Exupéry’s Law
4. Fitzgerald’s Law
5. Parkinson’s Law
6. Constantine’s Law
7. Graham’s Law
8. Murphy’s Law
9. O’Brochta’s Law
10. Kinser’s Law
a. << Work expands to fill the time
available >>
b. << Failing to plan is planning to fail >>
c. << Project management is about
applying common sense with
uncommon discipline >>
d. << A fool with a tool is still a fool >>

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Stages of team development
Time

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Stages of team development

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Building High-Performing Teams
Time
learning about
each other
challenging
each other
working with
each other
working as oneteam
dynamics
PM role directing /
telling
coaching /
selling
supporting /
participating
delegating

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Building High-Performing Teams
Time
Solid project
management will attempt
at storming and then
norming as early as
possible so norming
happens during planning
and peak of performance
is reached early during
execution

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24 ways to refocus a team
Source: https://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/27-ways-to-refocus-a-team/

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Negotiation Styles
what’s your / theirs most
/ least common
negotiation style?
To improve yourself,
work on both ends (most
/ least common)
learn how to move
negotiations from one
style to another
learn how to exit
negotiations gracefully

26. PMP Certification

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PMP Certification
550,000+
certified PMP around
the world (mid-2014)
very few
marketers /
marketeers are
(required to be)
certified

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PMP Eligibility Requirements
when applying, this means
supporting project experience in
lengthy forms >>>

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PMP Certification: go / no go decision in 9 questions
1. Do you meet the minimum requirements to qualify to take the exam?
2. How established are your current project management methodologies and
are they working?
3. How unique/repeatable are your projects from one to the next?
4. How complex are your projects (cost, time, scope, risk, stakeholders), and do
they need more planning attention and documentation than just a timeline?
5. Is PMP certification revered within your organization, by outside
stakeholders, or within your industry?
6. Are you interested in a leadership / mentoring role within your project
management operation?
7. Would you benefit from networking with other PMP professionals?
8. Is advancing in the project management career field a priority, and do you
look to remain “marketable” for future job opportunities in the discipline?
9. Do you have the time and motivation to get through the process?
Source: AMA – American Management Association

30. PMP for Marketers

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Project Management in Marketing: most frequent areas
1. Agency
2. Creative (Campaign, Messaging, Product Marketing)
3. Programs
4. Product Management
5. Digital
6. Transformation / Change Mgmt
7. Operations (Ops / business as usual is the opposite of Project Management. Though, there are still
some PM areas within Ops to enable change, programs or delivery)

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Project Management for Marketers - Summary
1. Relevant topic
2. Fantastic body of knowledge
3. Variety of skills and experience required to be a great project manager
4. Certification may be a professional distinction
5. Certification requires study (2-6 months of heavy study), experience (3+ years) and on-going
dedication to maintain it
My approach to PMP Certification: once you decide to GO for it
a. Align yourself with project-oriented role / ensure on-the-job experience
b. Focus study in one knowledge area at a time
c. Find a mentor to guide you and avoid pitfalls
d. Leverage free courses (Coursera, SABA, etc) and resources (blogs, video, etc)
e. Find the right books to study
Confidence will build up gradually (1-3 years)
THEN… take the test

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Some books for PM or PMP study
Vijay Verma explains the
fundamentals of Human Dimensions
for Project Management here. It’s an
older book; a classic, nevertheless
While I studied for the PMP certification test, I
browsed through several books. This had
more visuals than any other book, and its
approach seemed to build upon the things I
had already learned (a great refresher!) and
extend the knowledge from there.

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BONUS: Project Management vs. Product Management
Guidance for transitioning: Start with Project Management
1. Get real experience with Project Management
2. Get a role in areas close to Product Management
3. Get a role in Product Management
Project Product
• Lifecycle
• What, Why
• Externally focused (Customer, Market)
• Max Value, new Rev streams
• Process
• When, How
• Internally focused (Business, Capabilities)
• Max Quality, Min Risk via Constraints
Cross-functional deliverables
Strategic objectives
Customer Experience

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Questions? Get in touch - often!
Fortune 50 Marketing leader ★
"The energy of a Sales maker, the brains of an Engineer"
Andre Piazza, PMP
Linkedin.com/in/AndrePiazza
@AndreAtDell
Slideshare.net/Apiazza