Ways to earn PDUs for PMP

In one of our previous articles, we showed how to earn PDU’s for free and report to PMI. However, for example sake we had covered only one out of the many ways you can earn PDUs.

From PMP’s perspective, 60 PDUs are required to be earned by certification holders in 3 years to keep the certificate valid. This helps in making sure the certification holders remain competitive, retain the Project Management knowledge and develop business management skills among other qualities.

These 60 PDUs can come from the PMI Talent Triangle and a minimum of 8 PDUs need to be earned in each domain of the triangle. The 3 domains of the PMI Talent Triangle are,

1. Technical
2. Leadership
3. Strategic & Business

The PDUs that are earned under these are known as Education PDUs and PMI defines them as,

Learning activities that allow you to broaden your knowledge in one of the PMI Talent Triangle skill areas: Technical, Leadership, or Strategic and Business Management

These PDUs can be earned in the following ways,

1. Course or Training – In person or virtual classes, formal education

Courses and trainings from PMI certified REPs are usually paid sessions. These can be availed for PDUs

2. Organization Meetings – Chapter, company, or professional meetings limited to 2 PDUs

Up to 2 PDUs can be clocked under this head. However, in order to claim the PDUs, we should be very sure as to which domain of the talent triangle do they correspond to

3. Online or Digital Media – Pre-recorded Webinars, Podcasts, digital recordings

This is a free of cost option to earn PDUs. We have already discussed this in one of our previous articles and a video on how to claim the earned PDUs can be found here. IAG Consulting website, ProjectManagement.com etc are recommended resources for these PDUs

4. Read – Books, articles, blogs

In addition to webinars and podcasts, PDUs can also be claimed accounting to the hours spent in reading books, articles and blogs. Again, it is important to map the PDUs with the specific domain of the PMI Talent Triangle

5. Informal Learning – Structured discussions with other professionals or mentors

This doesn’t include coffee table and cafeteria discussions. As mentioned above the discussions need to be structured and well thought of

In addition to the above mentioned methods there are some other methods which can be helpful in earning a maximum of 25 PDUs in “Giving Back” field. Giving Back includes the below,

1. Work as a Practitioner
2. Other Giving Back

The PMI defines giving back PDUs as,

Activities that enable you to share and apply your knowledge and skills as a means to contribute to and help build the profession

PDUs under giving back can be earned in the following ways which are all self-explanatory,

a) Work as a Practitioner – Working in a profession related to your certification
b) Create Content – Authoring books or articles, creating webinars
c) Give a Presentation – Preparing for and speaking or presenting
d) Share Knowledge – Serving as a moderator, SME, or mentor
e) Volunteer – Volunteering without compensation

Most of the information shared in this article belongs to PMI, all copyrights acknowledged. Much more information on earning PDUs is available at https://ccrs.pmi.org/info/earnpdus