How to Earn Professional Development Units
IFYKYK. For those not in the know, professional development units, or PDUs, are continuing education credits required to maintain Project Management Institute (PMI) certifications. The most common PMI certification is the Project Management Professional, or PMP, with 1 million plus certification holders worldwide.
In this post, we’ll review the requirements for earning PDUs towards your PMP and share some strategies for racking them up that in no way involve retaking your PMP exam—because you wouldn’t wish that pain on your worst enemy.
PDU Requirements
First, the basics. One PDU equals one hour of time spent on continuing education. For the PMP, you’ve got to earn 60 credits over a three-year cycle to be able to maintain your certification. Occasionally, PMI changes up the requirements for how to earn PDUs, so be sure to check the PMI website for the latest guidance. You can also download the Continuing Certification Requirement (CCR) Handbook for the fine print.
While 60 hours of continuing education over three years may not seem like a lot, it can be if you let the deadline sneak up on you. You do NOT want to have to cram 60 hours’ worth of training into one week. (Not that I know anyone who’s done that…)
PMI divides the 60 required hours into categories that each have a set of minimum requirements.
Education - a minimum of 35 PDUs
Giving Back to the Profession - a maximum of 25 PDUs.
This basically means that you don’t ever have to give back to the community if you don’t want to. The focus of the PDUs is on continuing education. But, that doesn’t mean you should skip this category entirely, if only because it offers some easy ways to collect PDUs. Read on to learn more!
Education PDUs
Within the education category, you need to earn at least 8 PDUs in each of the so-called “talent triangle” areas. Setting these minimums by area is PMI’s way of forcing you to learn about content that may not be in your preferred area of interest. It’s good for your continuing education but less convenient for earning PDUs.
Talent triangle categories include:
Ways of working (these are skills purely related to the discipline of project management)
Power skills (leadership)
Business acumen (learning more about your industry.)
Options for building these skills include:
Participating in a course or other training
Attending events or meetups related to project management
Consuming online or digital media
Reading (that’s right, time spent reading this blog or my newsletter counts toward PDU requirements!)
“Informal learning” sessions (e.g., mentoring or lunch and learns.)
Giving Back PDUs
Giving back options include:
Working as a practitioner (if you’re a practicing project manager, you can earn PDUs simply by doing your job!) You can only claim a maximum of 8 PDUs per renewal cycle in this category.
Creating content or giving a presentation
Sharing knowledge through mentoring
Volunteering with PMI.
Your PDU Recertification Strategy
OK, now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s get to the good stuff. What’s your plan for renewing your PMP?
Three Ways to Earn PDUs from Doing Your Day Job
First things first—you’ll want to collect your max 8 PDUs for working as a practitioner. If you have a job as a program manager, then you can claim these credits and knock out this requirement right away. 8 down, 52 to go.
See if you can apply any required organizational training towards your education PDUs. Does your company require you to take manager training? Boom, leadership credits. What about vendor training on the program management software you use? Voila, technical skills.
Make sure to sign up for anything offered through work that can help you earn PDU credits. These courses are a win-win…they’re required for your job, and they’re required for your cert. Easy peasy.
Ditto if your company sponsors you to attend any conferences or other industry functions related to program management. You can claim the conference as education credits if the topics pertain to program management or to cultivating business acumen.
Pro tip: since many companies require a trip report to share learnings following a sponsored event, why not turn that trip report into a company presentation so you can earn giving back PDUs also? Win-win-win.
If steps 2 and 3 don’t apply to you, never fear. You’ve still got plenty of options for earning PDUs; it’ll simply require a little more planning. Read on for the skinny.
Additional Strategies for Earning PDUs
Formal Training Options. Beyond annual required training, many workplaces also fund professional development opportunities to help employees further their skills. These programs can be formal, but they can also be informal and ad hoc, so even if your company doesn’t have such a program, be sure to check with your manager. You may be able to work something out.
If you have the opportunity to take employer-funded training, I’d recommend sitting down and booking a training course as part of your annual goal setting process. If the training covers the three legs of the PMI talent triangle, then you can do a two-day training course annually to get you within 10 PDUs of fulfilling your requirements (including your 8 hours claimed for working as a practitioner.)
2 days x 7 hours of daily training (minus 1 hour for lunch) = 14 hours of training
14 training hours x 3 years PDU renewal cycle = 42 PDUs
Additional pro tips for training:
Schedule the training in advance so you can block the time off on your calendar
Schedule it early enough in the year that, if something comes up, you can postpone it without throwing off your PDU plan
Sign up with a colleague to make the training more fun.
If you’re looking for program management training suggestions, I’d recommend the Digital Project Manager or Louder than Ten.
Self-Paced Learning. If your company doesn’t offer training, you can’t spare the dedicated time block, or you’re convinced corporate training is too dull, design your own curriculum. This is where you can get creative with reading blog posts and articles, signing up for webinars, watching YouTube videos, or listening to podcasts.
Here is a sample of some of my favorite project management media to help you get started:
The Digital Project Manager (browse the site for access to articles, a podcast, and mini-courses)
Best Work Life blog, Float
Coax magazine, Louder Than Ten
Manage This podcast, Velociteach
Time & Attention podcast, Chris Bailey
Async newsletter, Twist
Let me know in the comments if there are any other great project management resources that I’ve missed!
