The New Year and new decade are upon us, and, as always, it promises lots of big changes for project management. With new methodologies, project management technologies, greater use of data and improvements in AI, the 2010s was already a decade of advancement that really put project management on the map. In many ways, the 2020s are shaping up to be more of the same. So, let’s take a look at some of the biggest project management trends for 2020.
Data analytics and business intelligence
All of the business world has been affected by data analytics, using it to improve outcomes and revenues, and project management will be no different. In 2020, organizations will be looking to continue the project management trends of recent years by increasing the input of their own business intelligence into their work.
The most common area for data analytics is in improving predictive efforts and making decision-making more data-driven. For PMs, there will be a growing need to understand what analytical outputs mean and how to read conflicting results.
Artificial intelligence
Many of the standard roles of traditional or Agile project management will also continue to change in 2020 due to artificial intelligence. Through automated response and update bots, as well as updating and predictive patterning around workflows, AI can take a significant load of work off the shoulders of project managers and allow them to focus on delivering greater value in other areas.
Hybrid methodologies
Many organizations in a wide variety of industries that are moving towards adopting Agile project management methodologies are either in a process of transition or don’t feel that Agile practices fully suit them yet. For this reason, hybrid project management methodologies are becoming popular.
Hybrid practices see teams eschew the orthodoxies that insist on using purely Agile approaches to combine different processes that best suit the task at hand. However, hybrid doesn’t mean teams just do whatever they want, but rather adopt a systematic and clear approach to blending processes.
Broadening emotional intelligence skill sets
As the shift to AI and data analytics puts more power in the hands of algorithms and supercomputers, project managers will need to adapt their skill sets to deliver value in this analytical world. They can do this by focusing on being the link between humans and machines.
While this might sound like the premise of a sci-fi movie, through 2020 and beyond, it will be the job of project managers to interpret and transmit intelligence and information in a way that can be put into practice by the project team. Especially in Agile project management, the need to collect, analyze and put lessons into practice from one sprint to the next will be key to an Agile PM’s success.
Flexible PM technologies
To cope with all of the various challenges and flexibility that modern project management trends call for, project managers need software tools that can help them keep up. For 2020, this means that PM tools need to have the functionality to accommodate different methodologies but also to be able to switch between them. Integrated teams and those with remote staff also need to be able to collaborate with ease in online spaces as they don’t have the physical proximity to work together easily.
Whether you’re overhauling your project management in the New Year or simply tweaking old processes, technology is key. Find out what Planview AdaptiveWork’s suite of project management tools can do for you by signing up for a live demo today.
