Trends that are spearheading Project Management towards the future

2015 and 2016 has been quite eventful for project management. A host of new technologies, revisions in PMP qualification process, introduction of several portfolio management software solutions, etc. marked its steadfast growth. The growth story doesn’t end there. Here are some project management trends that project managers must watch for and stay tuned to elevate their professional frontiers.

Wide scale adoption of cloud storage services

Cloud storage solutions offer high-end data security and flexible scalability at affordable costs. Just the combo that businesses of all sizes and types are eager to have. Project managers will have a pivotal role to play in overseeing and executing projects that involve higher cloud storage adoption rates. In fact, in the ecommerce industry adoption of cloud based Omni channel retail management systems are already demanding higher infusion of project management processes.

Project Management Experience wins more weightage

Enrolling for the PMP certification requires a candidate to have at least 4 years of working experience under a PMP qualified project manager. The Project Management Institute also audits 5% of the applications to ensure that only candidates who have acquired the desired work experience are enrolled to the certification process. While PMP certification holds immense value in the professional market, it is candidates with relevant work experience who are able to win good job opportunities. Candidates who fake the experience or who have inadequate experience are given little preference by recruiters.

Assuming thought leadership

Since 2015, enterprises are focusing on placing themselves are ‘thought leaders’ who can have larger impact on their stakeholders. Project Managers will also have to follow suit by revamping their project management and implementation strategies to deliver value than follow processes. The PMI conducted strategic initiatives in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group, Forrester Consulting and Economic Intelligence Unit to spot trends in the evolution of PMOs from being process oriented to value delivery.

Fewer and converged project management tools

In the past, project managers used to rely on multiple project management tools for various purposes. From resources allocation to monitoring progress, each task was bundled into distinct project management tools. Learning these tools and using them separately obviously limited the working efficiency of project managers.

Since the past 3 years, several converged project management tools like CMiC, Zoho Projects, Microsoft Project, Basecamp, Hive, etc. with single interface for everything have started making their rounds. A host of project management mobile apps are also allowing project managers to make decisions and implement them on the go without having to wait till they reach their workstations.

Four major industries spearhead PM growth

Engineering, IT, manufacturing and pharma remained the top benefactors of project management. However, in today’s scenario, project management has become the buzz word in the service sector including industries like Finance, Retail, Healthcare, Insurance, etc. The PM popularity of these industries can be depicted as below:

Multitasking will become routine

Multitasking in project management is no recent news. However, team members working on multiple projects simultaneously will become commonplace. Enterprises will continue to look explore options to make maximum advantage out of their available resources. In the IT sector, the same team or team members will be assigned to multiple projects with similar processes for quicker project turnarounds.

Agile project management will dominate

Almost 38% of the organizations were reported to have been using Agile project management methodology in 2015. This number would have crossed the 50% mark by now in July’16. Agile project management has several inherent benefits compared to waterfall. It delivers better results at reduced costs and ensures no resource is abnormally spent during the project duration. As a result, more enterprises will lean towards Agile project management in the coming years.

Email will remain the primary mode of communication

The assault of enterprise instant messaging solutions has proved to be less formidable to emails as the primary mode of communication in project management. Project management requires audience-focused communication. Instant messaging does derive some benefit in this area, but nevertheless email is far more reliable and accessible compared to instant messages. With smartphone penetration, there is no stopping the email from being tumbled over by instant messaging as a tool for communication in project management.

What other trends do you think project management is heading towards in the coming years. Would love to hear from you.