Project Management Trends 2022: Forecast

Changes are an evolutionary part of any process, as it means development and movement. Project management is one of the areas that undergo constant changes to improve the way how the work is done and how the planned goals have been achieved. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the current reality requires new skills to conduct business, and its transformation happens globally. Many organizations today choose the strategy to be prepared to respond today to the demands of tomorrow. The global shift towards remote work, the usage of automation and AI, new soft skills to lead the team, all these factors testify that project management infrastructure experiences changes as all other spheres and it’s the time to pick into the near future to know what to wait for and which skills to gain to stay competitive.

So, what are the PM trends in 2022?

1. Focus on remote work:

Working remotely is how most employees have to or choose to work now. Thus organizations worldwide need to create special environments for their workers. According to the Projectmanager.com statistics, about 60% of respondents work remotely nowadays and this number increases. Since face-to-face communication takes second place, migration to the cloud to complete projects at each stage should be without loss of quality. Teams working remotely should be skilled enough to work well within the team and deliver business value. Since the shift continues, new methodologies and tools need to emerge.

2. Increase usage of hybrid project management approaches:

Every project can be completed by using one (Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Lean) or several methodologies (for example hybrid+ waterfall). Since some teams have become to mix several methodologies as have seen their effectiveness, this process has brought to the hybrid project management approach and its popularity in the project management field. The PMI Disciplined Agile certifications are what will help you master your skills in project management, that’s why it’s strongly recommended to visit the PMI website. This globally recognized IT vendor has developed a toolkit (Disciplined Agile), which shows how to combine several approaches in a scalable manner to deliver value faster and meet the customers’ requirements. Among the certifications you can choose are Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) certification, PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), and Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant (DAVSC) Certification, to name a few.

3. Demand for digitized PM tools and software

Since more people work remotely, and projects are carried out on various cloud platforms, their tools and software have been digitized as well, since they have become incorporated in the project management process. According to the statistics delivered from the Europeanbusiness review website, about 77% of successfully implemented projects included a wide range of tools and software to plan, carry out, and manage the project process. The tools that will lead to successful completion of any project include project planning, scheduling and time management, collaboration and communication, deadlines and budgets. All these tools should be properly incorporated in all stages of the project execution plan to reach the goals, so they help to carry out and complete the project on time.

4.Emphasis on new soft skills:

Being a project manager is much more than just be certified. It also implies that a professional possesses the required soft skills that assist him in delivering business value. It also means that the knowledge of how the projects should be performed, which tools to use, which approaches to combine and implement is, of course, essential, but creating a comfortable atmosphere within the team, setting the tone for working, collaboration and communication within the team, is a task for a real talented and dedicated PM leader. Thus, according to PMI, the main soft skills for PMs include communication, motivation, leadership, trust –building, organization, conflict management, and decision-making.

5. Implementation of Artificial Intelligence and Automation

The impact of AI can be traced in any field that exists in the world, be it finance, healthcare, aerospace, software development, or project management. Some project management organizations have already started implementing AI to manage their projects and carry out daily tasks. The thing is that automation has proved to be helpful in making optimal and smart decisions. In addition, the usage of AI and automation assists much in carrying out complex tasks like data visualization and scheduling. Companies that won’t integrate AI and automation in their projects will bear the losses. So, it’s essential to understand how to use it to be among the winners in project management field. The correct usage of AI in project management will bring you such benefits as easier project performance, task automation, reduce of costs, real data as regards project duration, and its progress.

Conclusion

Taking into consideration the new reality, business transformation is what happens globally, and to keep pace with the current changes in project management, one has to be knowledgeable of the new trends in this sphere. Thus, remote work, incrementing of AI and automation in project management processes, developing new skills to manage projects, using digitized PM tools and software, as well as implementing hybrid approaches are trends that will dominate in PM in 2022. Knowing them will help you grow in this field and stay competitive. Also equipping yourself with the right PMI Agile certifications as well as new skills will ease and accelerate achieving success in running the project.