You’re a PMP, but Are You a Project Management Professional?
By Lee Lambert, PMP

In the last several years I have had the opportunity to speak to over 8,000 Project Management Professionals (PMPs) in many of the largest PMI membership chapters in North America. During those sessions I conducted non-scientific polls to determine the depth and breadth of the application of the Global Standard, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) to which this group of dedicated professionals had been tested to earn this prestigious certification and take their place among the elite in their chosen field.

Granted, 8,000 is a small sample from the over 350,000 PMPs worldwide, but frankly, I was shocked with the results of my simple survey and what the implications were. Fundamentally, I sought two pieces of input: 1) how many of the PMPs were consistently utilizing the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) as described and illustrated in The PMBOK on their projects and; 2) how many were implementing the Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) using the WBS Work Packages to determine logic relationships/work flow based on work content and resource allocation decisions.

When asked to simply raise their hand if their response to my verbal query was affirmative, the data distribution among the 8,000 plus respondents was as follows:

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