Top 5 Project management trends that are here to stay 2023 and beyond

With the ongoing uncertainties in the global economy, organizations are figuring out new ways of working and delivering solutions. There are many complexities to overcome yet. Project management is all about how efficiently you can manage and complete the project overcoming all the uncertainties. Every year, we can witness significant changes in every industry due to technological advancements and implementations.

 The growing demand for project management is highly noticeable in recent years. While the world is still coping with the effect of COVID-19 on industries, projects, and working norms, the project managers are one of the most essential change-makers who are working in this transition phase. In the recent PMI study, it is cited that, skilled project managers are one of the top five areas business leaders are looking forward to in coming years.

According to PMI’s Talent gap 2021,The global economy needs 25 million new project professionals by 2030. To close the

talent gap, 2.3 million people will need to enter PMOE ( Project Management-Oriented Employment ) every year to keep up with demand—this includes project managers and all changemakers. Also,

Let's look into the latest project management trendsthat are here to stay in 2023 and beyond:

• Advance Resource Management
• Expansion of AI Automation And Implementation
• Agile Redefined: Virtual Agile
• Managing A Hybrid Team Or Multigenerational Team
• Growing attention to Mental Health
• Advance Resource Management

Project performance is highly dependent on the right resources. Times have changed. Gone are the days when google sheets and excel were used for resource management. There are many advanced resource management tools that highly eliminates manual work and provide an efficient and automated approach.

 Resource management is not an administrative function anymore. It is an integral part of the company’s strategy. Many organizations are in the transition phase, gradually moving towards Professional Services Automation (PSA) platforms that automate the resourcing functions used to drive business. Integrating other tools such as time tracking, integrated skill tracker,  project management, financial management, and business intelligence into one platform through PSA tools.

Some of the top-rated PSA software tools in 2023:

• BigTime Software
• Kantata Cloud
• Workday Professional Service Automation
• Atera
• Teamwork
• Wrike
• BQE Core
• Adobe Workfront
• Connectwise PSA

Expansion of AI Automation And Implementation

Automation is one of the buzzwords used in recent years. Automation and its implementations have come a long way now.  The world of technology driven by AI is growing tremendously fast. AI Automation is not just reducing human tasks or repetitive tasks but it is also helping with complex data processing tasks. The AI-driven system develops insights from project performance against various parameters and helps you to automate tasks and improve the overall project performance.

According to PMI’s AI Innovators: Cracking the Code on Project Performance,

• Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are prompting a seismic shift in how work gets done, according to new Pulse of the Profession® data: 81 percent of respondents report their organization is being impacted by AI technologies.
• The rise of AI is sparking a shift in how projects are managed. Pulse data found that over the next three years, project professionals expect the portion of projects they manage using AI to jump from 23 to 37 percent.

 Agile Redefined: Virtual Agile

Organizations continue to prioritize agility. The world is embracing a major cultural shift and a hybrid model in every sense such as hybrid work environments, hybrid events, hybrid project management, etc. Agile practices are still ruling the industry even with the most challenging transition.

 Agile, in most parts of the world is ‘Virtual Agile’ now. According to the 16th Annual State of Agile Report 2023,

Agile practices with virtual proximity are not easy but Agile technologies have come a long way. It has evolved to run seamlessly irrespective of the locations of the developer. To achieve an efficient agile environment in virtual proximity, organizations need to set up a few things such as

• A multi-local operating model or multiple operating hubs
• Cloud environment
• New work practices and mindsets
• Virtual performance management

Managing A Hybrid Team Or Multigenerational Team

The working model in most of the organizations are either hybrid or remote. We can say, the coronavirus pandemic has a long-term influence on the working model across all the generations in organizations. The distributed work environment has many challenges including managing multi-generational teams across multiple locations and time zones. The multi-generational team includes,

• Gen X (People born between 1965 and 1978)
• Gen Y or Millenials  (People born between 1981 and 2000)
• Gen Z (People born between 2001 to 2020)

 The managers are expected to face all the challenges with positive intent and by setting clear expectations. Managers should offer support and create a flexible environment to get the work done. All generations have their own challenges working in a hybrid team.  Few ways to face the challenges created by hybrid work environments across all the generations:

• Creating a workspace at home.
• Cross-generational monitoring
• Blanace digital exhaustion
• Go for a workation

Growing attention to Mental Health

In the current era of a challenging work environment, the mental health of employees is a top priority in many organizations all over the world. Poor mental health or mental disorders at work impact an employee’s ability to work effectively, eventually losing confidence and identity at work.

 According to World Health Organization,

Globally, an estimated 12 billion working days are lost annually to depression and anxiety at the cost of US$ 1 trillion per year in lost productivity.

Project Managers should possess the emotional intelligence to identify, manage, evaluate and understand the emotions of the team for effective productivity and a positive work environment.

 Emotional intelligence is one of the significant factors in the productivity, growth, and success of an organization. Emotional Intelligence is responsible for 58% of job performance.

In this virtual world, the project manager is an agile leader. An agile leader should possess:

• Integrity
• Innovation
• Urgency
• Engagement
• Direction

Image source: Linkedin

Conclusion:

Project management in 2023 is highly impacted by the recent change in working norms. The world is in a transition phase. Digital security, effective remote working, cloud computing, etc are the key challenges of a project manager. Advanced project management tools, resource management, and automation. Knowing the above-mentioned trends can help project managers to drive operational efficiency.

We at Gold Standard Certifications continue to offer the best Project Management Education. We conduct Instructor-Led training, self-paced courses,  live sessions, and workshops, to engage learners and provide opportunities to understand on-the-job problems to get the upskilling and training you need.

Contact us at [email protected] or call us at +1 281-394-1224, visit our website: www.goldstandardcertifications.com