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| Uncommon Solutions
Four global professionals give insight into how the PMP credential has furthered their careers.
 As head of IT for British American Tobacco Services Ltd., Lui Sieh, PMP, says his Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential has helped him craft interesting solutions to day-to-day IT operational and service issues. One challenge, Mr. Sieh says, has been the project versus operational dichotomy he has experienced in the IT world.
"Projects according to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) are 'a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result,'" he says, "whereas operations are 'ongoing and repetitive.' To me, however, the practice of IT operations and services seems to be a series of projects aimed to provide customer satisfaction. Under this broader, holistic view, project management practices ought to be adopted to provide that customer satisfaction."
To adopt those principles, Mr. Sieh used his education, his professional project management work experience and knowledge gained while studying for and maintaining his PMP credential to break down project parts according to knowledge areas, specifically stakeholder management, risk management, HR management and communications management. "I used a lot of process workflows and mapped daily operation issues according to the PMBOK® Guide framework to illustrate how our challenging issues can be resolved through a project management approach," Mr. Sieh says. "The PMBOK® Guide framework is general and simple enough to be a good beginning place for most people not [very familiar with] project management."
Over time, Mr. Sieh's project management processes became standard within the company.
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 The Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential has earned Ian McAllister, PMP, a project manager for The Carphone Warehouse, London, U.K., increased respect amongst his colleagues and customers. "I have found that my views and suggestions on process and standards are valued by my peers and change leaders, which is a significant asset in driving project management improvements through the organization," he explains.
It also has given Mr. McAllister "a sense of pride and duty to my qualification to act in a professional manner" when placed in a very difficult situation at a previous organization. "The company I was contracting for at the time had not been fully open and honest with its customer, a large retail organization, in terms of delivery capability and expectations," he says. "[It] continually 'drip-fed' changes and excuses for lateness, in fear of losing the business."
Not wanting to be a part of that practice, Mr. McAlister enforced a re-evaluation of the budget, which he increased by 50 percent, and the project timeline, which he extended by one year. "I felt that my PMP [credential] helped me maintain my integrity as a project manager," he says. "[It] gave me the credibility in the eyes of the customer that allowed me to make such drastic changes."
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 In November 1999, Rodrigo Loureiro became the first project manager living in Brasilia, Brazil, to obtain his Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential. He says becoming a PMP holder provides project managers with a level playing field globally. "Once I became a PMP [holder], my points of view related to project management were taken into account from the beginning," says Mr. Loureiro, who is now CEO of IT company Roma Systems in Brasilia. "When there are other PMP [holders] involved, we know that we can start the work with a common set of knowledge."
What's more, the credential has helped him develop his problem-solving ability. For example, to combat problems with scope definition at Roma Systems, Mr. Loureiro used knowledge he gained during his PMP exam studies about scope management and communications management. "I set up the practice of formalizing the interface layout during the scope definition phase to deal with the problem," he says.
This practice led to a more controlled development process and a decrease in scope creep. "The knowledge related to scope management and communications management helped me to figure out the problem and find the right solution."
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 After passing the Project Management Professional (PMP®) exam in June 2005, Michelle Mills, PMP, knew that to be an exceptional practitioner she needed to call upon her project management experience, which she demonstrated in the credential's application process. "My ultimate desire is to always feel I deserve the PMP credential," she says. "I am the same person I was prior to becoming a PMP, but having the credential shows I am committed to project management excellence." This includes finding unique solutions to everyday challenges—the biggest of which Ms. Mills says was the lack of understanding some of her coworkers had of formal project management concepts.
In addition to her education, professional project management work experience and use of the knowledge she gained in preparing for the examination, she began to mentor and train small groups based on their individual needs. "The method I use is to first assess their needs and from there decide how to proceed," she says. "Some teams need training weekly and others do well with monthly 'brown-bag' sessions."
This method prevents people from assuming the problems lie within the "other guy" or team, Ms. Mills says. "They are giving input into their own team issues, so are more responsible for the outcome."
Through her efforts, Ms. Mills has helped staff gain more mature project management skills without forcing anyone to accept deeper process knowledge they weren't ready to understand. "It allowed us to create a Project Management Resource Center that provides project management outreach and mentoring services."
After receiving this individual attention, some staff members may be interested enough in the project management process to pursue the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) credential—leading to a win for the company and the individual.
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