Project Manager Competency Development Framework

For the longest time, the main standard that PMI focussed on was the development of the 'Guide to the PMBOK'. The purpose of that Guide was to 'Improve the Performance of Projects'. There is another standard (on WBS) to achieve the same purpose. In recent years, PMI has decided to address other goals like 'Improve the Performance of Project Personnel'. It is towards achieving this end that the standard 'Project Management Competency Development (PMCD) Framework' was developed. An exposure draft was released recently and this book is that exposure draft in it's entirety. PMI is now accepting comments on this exposure draft and a final version will be released soon based on the feedback.PMI has done a fantastic job in creating this standard. It is very usable, much more than the 'Guide to the PMBOK'. It is only 108 pages long out of which the main standard is only 70 pages long. The rest is Appendices that outline the process followed in developing the standard and a glossary of terms. Even in these 70 pages, the first 12 pages are the main material to be read. These 12 pages describe everything you need to know about the PMCD framework and how to use it. The next 58 pages are nothing but a giant checklist that you can use in assessing your project management competencies and coming up with a plan to fill any gaps you may have. These 58 pages will be the most used pages in your project management career.The basic idea in the standard is that there are three areas of competencies that a project manager needs to be concerned with - PM Knowledge, PM Performance, and PM Personal Competencies. When a project manager improves in these three areas, the projects will see an improvement in their success too. These three competencies are further split into multiple sub-sections and described in sufficient detail. A great way to use this standard is to read the standard cover to cover and come up with an individualized plan for oneself. I am currently in the process of coming up with this plan for myself and I plan on maintaining it for a year before revamping it. The print function on this electronic file is supposed to be disabled but it wasn't disabled on my download. I am currently contacting PMI to alert them of this so they can fix it. All their other standards that you can download have their print functionality disabled. Even otherwise, this book has a very small price to pay considering the benefits. How many other professions have such a logical and systematic approach that is documented in 70 pages to improve your skills? Overall, this is a standard that has been long overdue in the Project Management profession. There could be changes to this draft over the next couple of years as PMI gets feedback from people like yourself after you start using this framework and find room for improvement. Enjoy this valuable book!