I vividly remember doing my PMP certification exam in 2005. At that time, I was in Infosys and we were setting up the Enterprise Solutions practice for Infosys in Hyderabad. It was a new campus and we were all lateral hires, trying to do our 1st projects for Enterprise Solutions Group in Infosys. It soon became the fastest-growing group for Infosys and is one of the largest revenue-making groups in Infosys now.
PMP Success Story – First PMP Certification Workshop at Infosys
Infosys for the 1st time had organized a PMP certification workshop in Hyderabad and had selected 15 Senior Project Managers & Practice Managers to be part of the training. I happened to be one of the privileged groups and that was my 1st tryst with PMP Certification training. Infosys also photographed the batch and gave everyone the photo frame of the 1st training in the Hyderabad campus and for the Enterprise Solutions group.
The 4 days of training was amazing and it introduced me to a whole new world of project management. There could be so many things I could do differently, I thought, and value adds to my clients and customers. Project Management became one of my interesting topics to explore and I decided to do more in this space of project management.
PMP Success Story – Challenging Assignments at Infosys
At Infosys, we tackled challenging assignments in a fast-growing group, handling large accounts and projects that pushed us beyond our limits. And I love this kind of challenging assignment else I get bored quickly.
In Infosys, post the training, I became aware of a lot more things on the project scenario – introduced to why risks are important and started doing projects in a little more structured way. The project managers in Infosys at that time were not pure (I do not imagine any different now as well) but we were supposed to have domain knowledge of an area say CRM, technical understanding – so project management was just one of the many things.
Transitioning to Microsoft – Into Project Management
At Microsoft India, I joined to incubate the Microsoft Dynamics (CRM + AX) practice for the Microsoft Consulting division. The role required me to focus on depth rather than breadth—quite different from my experience at Infosys. As a Program or Project Manager, I was expected to excel in the role and refrain from taking on responsibilities outside it.
I had no option but to go into depth of project management and here I used my PMP knowledge quite effectively. I recall that we got one of the biggest government projects in AX (ERP) and I happened to be the project manager. The contract negotiations delayed this project and I used this opportunity to develop a 1500 line project plan which was quite new for a lot of people at that time. One of the things I learned there was, that the more details you put, the fewer people go through it J. Alternatively, I am alone in control of a lot of data and intricacies of the project and I, therefore, had a lot of control on the project. This is reflected in my conversations with the customers and once the customer started trusting you, your managers and skip managers make you the “go-to” man.
Overall, this increased my confidence in handling the project tremendously and one thing led to another, and I got new opportunities in the project management space, even with the corporate HQ in Seattle, USA.
Founding ProThoughts – A New Perspective on Project Management
If I have to pick one simple thing from my experience and which I tell all my participants of ProThoughts workshops, PMP Certification increased my confidence to handle the projects manifold. This opened up the space of project management for me and also landed me great opportunities and great exposure. This ultimately led to ProThoughts where I love what I do. We are creating a new space – a new category of Project Management, giving a new dimension, a value-add that a Project Manager brings to the table. I interact with many project managers in a month and it is fantastic to see the impact we are creating by building ProThoughts. PMP Certification would be one of the building blocks of this journey.
Any learning unless applied becomes just awareness, but after implication becomes enriched experience.
So, I firmly believe that if you want to build your career in the Project Management space, you need to undergo formal training in Project Management and experience how doing project management in a structured way with its own strategies tools and techniques can transform your project success.
Join the ProThoughts Journey
At ProThoughts, we believe that certification is just a by-product when you start applying project management best practices in the real world. And that is my and ProThought’s endeavor – to change the way we do projects and succeed in your projects.
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