Project Managers riding the ‘WAVE’
More methodologies, more tools, bigger teams, and more complex projects… The Project Management landscape is changing briskly and the change doesn’t seem to slow down.
It is important to consider how these changes will impact how organizations manage and execute projects. Especially, project managers should consider what they can do proactively to be prepared to ride the wave.
Drivers of ‘waves’
Wave #1 — Urbanisation, connectivity and smart cities
Connected communities and smart cities. Better infrastructure, greater sustainability, better human health and higher quality of life.
Sounds catchy, right?
All these benefits are wide-ranging and they should provide for future economic growth, but there are of course challenges like public trust, consent and the Smart City Project Management(SCPM), challenging the project managers involved in designing and delivering change.
‘’Smart city systems are not smart because of clever technology: they are only smart if they reflect the needs of residents and deliver benefits to them.’’- APM
According to APM, the world will have 43 megacities by 2030 and global spending on smart cities could hit $135bn by 2021.
Wave #2 — 4.0 Industrial Revolution- Robotics, Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
This technological revolution is playing a key role and will drive the evolution of the project management profession in the years ahead (Project Management 4.0).
According to U.K based Association for Project Management(APM), up to 800 million jobs globally could be automated by 2030.
Wave #3 — Climate change, clean growth and sustainability
Promoting sustainability in project management is essential. The future orientation of sustainability involves considering the full life cycle of a project, from conception to closure and disposal. Sustainable Project Management is long-term oriented and considers the interest of this generation and future generations.
‘’The climate change challenge will touch every area of the economy and society in the years ahead. It will affect all professions, and the project profession more than most. The work that our profession delivers will have a huge bearing on humanity’s success in cutting carbon dioxide emissions, achieving clean growth and delivering sustainability, in all around the world.’’- APM
Wave #4 — The Future of mobility and transport
The future of driving will be radically different from what we know today, and the Project Management profession will be involved in delivering transformational projects in transport and mobility.
‘’New infrastructure, physical and digital, will be needed to enable new modes of transport. New systems will be created for managing transport services. New business models will be created, as companies transform their products and services to make the most of new technology.’’- APM
Wave #5 — The 100-year life
Life expectancy is increasing and all around the world and people are living longer and longer. According to some experts, the prospect of a 100-year life is a reality for as many as half of today’s babies.
‘’Longer lives are much to be welcomed but adapting to them will be far from simple.’’- APM
Wave #6 — Future Workplace, future skills
The technological advances from the IoT revolution and of course Covid 19, shifted the society in remote working. Project managers are becoming more agile than ever and flexible to pivot with changing times.
According to PMI’s research Pulse, the key factors for achieving success are organisational agility (35 per cent of respondents), investing in the right technologies (32 per cent) and securing relevant skills (31 per cent).
Trends for 2021
- Hybrid project management - ‘’Agilefall’’
Mixing the traditional approach with the Agile methodology is tremendously rising because projects involve many more individuals, more than could fit in a multi-skilled Scrum team and large organizations are not prepared to run their project in an agile way.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Automation
AI technology’s role in project management is playing a key role in automating simple tasks and obtaining performance insights by Intelligent Project Management Assistance, which can minimize human error and can help teams and project managers achieve more in less time.
Additionally, because the proactive Management of Risk is one of the most important roles of project management, with the growth of huge data streams with associated data analytics, project managers will have deep levels of diagnostic and Predictive Analysis.
3. Data Analytics
Data will talk to us if we are willing to listen, right? Shaping the project management world with data analytics by predicting the future audience behaviours based on their past behaviours, using inferences to develop regressive/predictive models, making rational project decisions with analytical certainty and evaluating objectively the project performance.
‘’In God we trust. All others must bring data.’’- William Edwards Deming
4. Emotional Intelligence
What drives people? Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to sense, understand, manage and apply the information and power of emotions as your greatest source of energy, motivation, connection and influence. In Project Management, EI is playing a vital role by learning the art of emotions.
‘’Successful Project Managers engage member’s hearts as well as their minds. Now is your time and now is your responsibility. Using your EI, now lead your project teams from good to excellent and accept responsibility for bringing out your professional and personal best to serve clients, team members and management. Today is your time and your responsibility is clear.’’- Project Management Institute (PMI)
The Future is bright?
The future for Project Managers is extremely unpredictable… But for sure it belongs to those who identify the trends and act quickly.
The role of the project manager is challenging and requires a lot of learning. I highly suggest a recent story from Aleksandra Janakievska, about how to improve your learning and see yourself become better over time.
Currently, the global demand for project managers is increasing. According to PMI, by 2027 employers will need nearly 88 million people in project-related roles.
‘’Demand over the next 10 years for project managers is growing faster than demand for workers in other occupations. Organizations, however, face risks from this talent gap.’’- PMI
Surfers, are you ready to catch the next wave?🌊
