Project Management Institute (PMI) is the leading professional association for project management, and the authority for a growing global community of millions of project professionals and individuals who use project management skills. Collectively, these professionals and “changemakers” consistently create better outcomes for businesses, community and society worldwide.
PMI empowers people to make ideas a reality. Through global advocacy, networking, collaboration, research, and education, PMI prepares organizations and individuals at every stage of their career journey to work smarter so they can drive success in a world of change.
Building on a proud legacy dating to 1969, PMI is a not-for-profit, for-purpose organization working in nearly every country around the world to advance careers, strengthen organizational success, and enable project professionals and changemakers with new skills and ways of working to maximize their impact. PMI offerings include globally recognized standards, certifications, online courses, thought leadership, tools, digital publications, and communities.
What is Project Management?
Project management is the use of specific knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to deliver something of value to people. The development of software for an improved business process, the construction of a building, the relief effort after a natural disaster, the expansion of sales into a new geographic market—these are all examples of projects.
All projects are a temporary effort to create value through a unique product, service or result. All projects have a beginning and an end. They have a team, a budget, a schedule and a set of expectations the team needs to meet. Each project is unique and differs from routine operations—the ongoing activities of an organization—because projects reach a conclusion once the goal is achieved.
The changing nature of work due to technological advances, globalization and other factors means that, increasingly, work is organized around projects with teams being brought together based on the skills needed for specific tasks.
Leading these projects are Project Professionals—people who either intentionally or by circumstance are asked to ensure that a project team meets its goals. Project professionals use many different tools, techniques and approaches to meet the needs of a project.
Some projects are needed to quickly resolve problems, with an understanding that improvements will be made over a period of time. Other projects have a longer duration and/or produce a product or other outcome that will not need major improvements outside of projected maintenance, such as a highway.
Still others will be a mix of both of these types of projects. Project professionals use a variety of skills and knowledge to engage and motivate others to reach a project’s goals. Project professionals are critical to the success of projects and are highly sought after to help organizations achieve their goals.
What Does a Project Manager Do?
Project Managers have a broad and flexible toolkit of techniques, resolving complex, interdependent activities into tasks and sub-tasks that are documented, monitored, and controlled.
They adapt their approach to the context and constraints of each project, knowing that no “one size” can fit all the variety of projects. And they are always improving their own and their teams’ skills through lessons-learned reviews at project completion.
Why Become Certified
Research indicates that employers will need to fill nearly 2.2 million new project-oriented roles each year through 2027. The Project Management Professional (PMP)® is the world’s leading project management certification. The PMP® supercharges careers for project leaders across industries and helps organizations find the people they need to work smarter and perform better. But anyone involved in The Project Economy can improve outcomes through awareness of specific foundational concepts of project management, described as follows.
The PMP® and other PMI professional certifications ensure that you’re ready to meet the demands of projects and employers across the globe. With a PMI certification you can work in virtually any industry, anywhere in the world, and with any project management methodology.
