Emerging Trends in Project Management
Greater Reliance on Digital and Remote Teams
Project management is certainly not bound by the confines of a typical office. In fact, job boards have remote PM postings in abundance. Due to a number of factors—including greater connectivity, changing corporate values, and the rise of the gig economy—digital and remote teams are more common today than ever before.
While the prevalence of remote work was already on the climb, the onset of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced an unprecedented shift. In an effort to protect workers and slow the spread of the virus, organizations across the globe have adopted new work-from-home policies that favor digital communication over face-to-face interaction. According to the Brookings Institute in April 2020, it was estimated that up to half of U.S. workers are now telecommuting and that this trend will likely continue even after the pandemic subsides, which will present unique challenges for project managers.
For instance, some business functions are more easily carried out when all members of a project team are co-located. Spontaneous collaboration, team-building, project alignment, and other project management tasks are simply more manageable when all members of the team are in proximity to each other.
However, this challenge does not mean that digital or remote teams are inherently counterproductive. Remote work offers many benefits including increased flexibility, which can help an organization attract and retain top talent from all over the world.
Since the surge in remote work is likely to continue even after the global health crisis subsides, project managers must find ways to reduce friction or inefficiencies that might arise. Clear and open communication has always been a key strategy for effective project management, but it will become even more relevant as this trend continues to evolve.
Greater connections between projects and Strategy
Traditionally, project management is an organizational tool used to work toward and achieve discrete goals, which might include the launching of a single product or service or the pursuit of a particular outcome. In this sense, a project is a temporary endeavor with a finite start and end, and the role of the project manager is to shepherd the project through to successful completion.
In recent years, however, the role of project management in many organizations has begun to expand. Project management is more than just a tool for carrying out discrete goals; the framework is now also being applied to broader strategies and initiatives.
In last month's post, we highlighted the emphasis many organizations are placing on OKRs as they integrate and track strategic objectives with project execution.
For project managers who wish to put their skills to better strategic use within their organization, it is essential to understand the relationship between project, program, and portfolio management. Doing so will allow you to see how individual projects relate to each other and to overarching strategic goals, which can help you make smarter decisions for your organization moving forward.