Project Manager Selection & Training
The goal of project manager selection and training is to assure that project managers of information technology projects at Virginia Tech possess the experience, skills, and competency necessary to deliver information technology projects within budget, on schedule, and within scope. Project managers must have demonstrated project management experience commensurate with the complexity and risk of the project they are managing. The project manager qualifications table below gives qualification guidelines. It is the responsibility of the project decision authority to determine if the project manager is qualified to manage a given project. Project managers are expected to maintain a personal portfolio containing descriptions of prior experience. If desired, use the project manager qualifications template to record experience, training, and certifications.
Project Manager Qualifications
| Project Type / Requirement | PM Training | PM Experience | PM Competency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low complexity & risk | Recommended | ||
| Medium complexity & risk | Recommended | Equivalent experience |
|
| High complexity & risk | Required | Equivalent experience |
Required |
| Major projects | Required | Equivalent experience |
Required |
*PM = Project Management
Recommendations
- All project managers are recommended to have project management fundamentals training unless demonstrated experience and training are adequate as determined by the project decision authority, or you have a project management certification or degree.
- Required project management fundamentals training is available free of charge to Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and students through Lynda.
- To access Lynda tutorials log in through Networked Learning Initiatives. Once logged in to Lynda.com search for "Project Management Foundations" or “Agile Foundations”.
- Print and keep the course completion certificate in the personal portfolio.
- Required project management fundamentals training is available free of charge to Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and students through Lynda.
- All project managers of information technology projects are strongly encouraged to thoroughly review the Virginia Tech project management standard for information technology projects.
- The standard is available online at http://www.pm.it.vt.edu/
- Instructor-led training providing an overview of the Virginia Tech standard is available upon request. Contact VT IT Project Management for details.
- The standard is available online at http://www.pm.it.vt.edu/
- All project managers must have demonstrated project management experience commensurate with the complexity of the proposed project as determined by the project decision authority.
- Low complexity projects may be led by a project manager with little experience. Coaching from an experienced project manager is a good way to gain needed experience. Interested project managers may contact VT IT Project Management for details.
- Medium complexity projects should have a project manager with experience managing similar risk and complexity projects. The project decision authority determines the adequacy of the experience.
- For major and high complexity projects, see below.
- All project managers of major and highly complex projects must have demonstrated project management competency through one of the following:
- Project management certification from a recognized, reputable project management organization, such as:
- Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI)
- Certified Project Manager (CPM) from the International Project Management Association (IPMA)
- Registerd Project Professional (RPP) from the Association for Project Management (APM)
- Master Project Manager (MPM) from The American Academy of Project Management (AAPM)
- Certified Project Manager (CPM) from the International Association for Project and Program Management (IAPPM)
- Professional Scrum Master (PSM) from Scrum.org
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM) from Scrum Alliance
- Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) (PMI-ACP)
- Certifications from the International Consortium for Agile (ICAgile)
- A degree in project management from an accredited college or university plus demonstrated project management experience.
- Experience managing other projects of similar risk and complexity. The project decision authority is responsible for determining the adequacy of the experience.
- Commonwealth of Virginia project manager qualification by satisfying the qualification standards and passing both the "Level One" and "Level Two" tests.
- Project management certification from a recognized, reputable project management organization, such as:
- Any Virginia Tech, information technology project that requires access to or integration with enterprise data or systems (Division of IT) must have a project manager with experience managing similar risk and complexity projects. Exceptions require Vice President of Information Technology & Chief Information Officer authorization for project decision authority to assume the risk and waive the requirement.
Maintaining Project Manager Credentials
- Project Managers that have not managed an information technology project for more than five consecutive years are recommended to complete project management fundamentals training and/or training on the Virginia Tech project management standard for information technology projects.