Project management is ever-evolving and therefore it is necessary to be aware of the present project management trends to stay ahead of the game.
Project management is the application of different methods, knowledge, skills, processes, and procedures to attain a specific project’s goals according to the client’s requirements.
“At its most fundamental, project management is about people getting things done” – Dr. Martin Barnes, APM President (2003-2012)
Although prevalent throughout history, project management has changed drastically over the past couple of years. Project management is now relied upon to positively impact productivity, mitigate risks, and increase overall outcomes to reap profits.
Project management has changed progressively and adapted to the new market and what is expected to be deemed a successful project completion. This has been achieved through developing project management trends.
The teams have become larger and more diverse, the tasks required of them have also become more complicated and specific, and goals and milestones are more distinctly defined in meticulously detailed plans.
The project management industry is rapidly progressing in attempts to keep up with advanced technology and tools that are becoming more common, as well as the latest trends. Therefore, recent trends in project management have also adapted accordingly.
Read on below to find out what we believe are the two greatest project management trends that are gaining traction in 2021, that you should be aware of.
Keep an Eye Out for These Two Budding Project management Trends of 2024
There are many other trends in the project management industry, but some of those trends die an early death. Part of the reason is the constantly changing variables and the correlation of technology to the projects.
The one thing that’s for sure is the following two project management trends. They last through the year 2020 and prior, and here’s why we think 2024 will be no different.
Read on…
1. Artificial Intelligence and Automation
Project management is an industry aimed at managing a group of people towards a specific goal. For project managers today, it is common to be juggling multiple teams as well as multiple projects.
Companies are progressively integrating artificial intelligence into project management processes to give more strategy and data collection to these processes.
Research has shown that project managers spend a large amount of their time completing administrative tasks. Artificial intelligence is capable of easily handling such tasks allowing you to have more time on your hands to get down to the more intensive and complicated issues.
As a project manager, cutting out time-consuming but often trivial tasks allow you, to have more time to focus on the project at hand.
It allows you to free up time to properly oversee and communicate with your team which in turn allows for more efficient work and problem-solving.
Moreover, concentrating more on your team members gives them a feeling of being supported and having a more comfortable work environment. As in 2020 more project managers are prioritizing the well-being of their teams.
It is becoming more and more important in companies and organizations that the mental health of their employees is safeguarded and given importance.
Not only is this beneficial for the individual themselves but studies have shown that productivity as a team is directly linked to the mental health of the team members.
Artificial intelligence is allowing you as project managers to free up your time to focus on things that need the human touch.
“As more and more artificial intelligence is entering into the world, more and more emotional intelligence must enter into leadership” – Amit Ray
Almost all project management teams use some sort of project management tool, as you must be aware. Many such tools have automation options already present in the software.
However, to ensure that you use automation and artificial intelligence as a positive addition to your project you need to ensure that the data inputted is accurate. Artificial intelligence is simply as good as the data you provide it.
Another issue many projects have is that they run into delays creating problems for the team as well as the client. Less than half of all projects finish on time.
Artificial intelligence can help combat this with predictive analytics. Artificial intelligence can observe the way the project is moving and thus make predictions of the project.
Artificial intelligence can take over tasks such as reporting and scheduling that can be easily automated.
With the vast benefits of having artificial intelligence and automation support human effort and the rapidly growing technology available it is no wonder that these can be seen as being modern trends in project management.
2. More Tailored Approach to Projects
There has been a shift from pre-set approaches and procedures with the ever-increasing need for flexibility.
The shift means that you as a project manager will have to rely on your critical thinking and judgment. This room for customization of methodologies however is proving beneficial and providing a positive impact.
There has been an increase in adopting the Agile processing approach, which gives greater importance to speed to deliverables and changes readiness rather than documentation, plans, and processes.
This adoption towards Agile processes is creating options for project managers whether they adopt the approach completely or create a hybrid methodology.
As project management methodologies gain further traction you should research and gain information about the different philosophies and methods available.
With different benefits and drawbacks to each methodology, project managers are seen to be adopting different approaches according to what best suits them. However, with rapid change in the industry, some methodologies just aren’t cutting it for certain projects.
Thus, it can be seen that project managers are adapting by creating a hybrid by combining Agile and traditional approaches. These hybrid approaches are more beneficial as they are created with your team in mind and therefore work great for you.
This approach has been seen to be particularly effective for projects which mix business areas. As the hybrid approach allows for easy adjustments.
With new approaches being implemented, it is recommended to gain the help of project management tools to manage communications between your team members as well as manage workflow.
The hybrid project management method allows the team to pre-plan the project, while also dividing the development into deliveries that are short term.
Hybrid has an iterative nature and allows for requirement changes, delivering the product in stages.
Most ways project managers adopt the hybrid approach is that they use the Waterfall method to plan the project and then adopt the Agile method to continue on with the execution.
The hybrid approach allows for the team to react to changes and deliver accordingly. Moreover, scheduling and planning have been seen to be more accurate.
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The Shape of Project Management 2024 and Onwards
Modern project management incorporates technology as well as the wellbeing of its people.
There is no avoiding the constant evolution that the field of project management is going through.
This evolution can be difficult for project managers like you as well as organizations to keep up with.
We hope that these 2024 trends have given you an insight into what to keep your eyes open for. Hopefully, this will give you the knowledge to stay on top of all the changes and shifts coming about.
Good luck!
