The corporate world as we know it has undergone a massive change mainly because of the shift to a distributed workforce due to the global pandemic. Even companies that were vehemently opposed to having their employees work from home had no choice but to acquiesce to these shifting workplace norms. In the project and product management industries, an argument could be made that not much had changed given they were used to having remote teams pre-pandemic and this was more of a business as usual for them. However, there are new trends that have spread across the industry that all Project Managers should be cognizant of in 2021 and beyond.
- Sophisticated Project Management and Collaboration Tools
Collaboration between teams and within teams with distributed workforces has become key to the successful realization of companies’ goals and objectives. Virtual teams need to collaborate effectively to meet deadlines and close projects – both of which previously tended to heavily rely on collocated teams. Tools such as Zoom, Slack, Jira, and Trello have seen an increased adoption rate since 2020 given the ease of communication along with the ability for data to be stored in cloud environments that can always be accessed by teams located in different geographical locations.
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
The most productive Project Manager is one that is not bogged down performing mundane and repetitive tasks that could seamlessly be automated. Many companies have started implementing RPA bots to automate some of the very repetitive tasks in project management so that the Project Managers can instead focus on tasks that require an application of their human intelligence. The top RPA bot companies include Blue Prism, UiPath, and Automation Anywhere, along with plenty more that you can review depending on the needs of your project.
- Project Management Analytics
Data analytics help provide Project Managers with insights into how their project outcomes may be impacted based on different sets of variables. In highly technical projects, Business Intelligence (BI) tools such as Microsoft Power BI can be used to model and predict outcomes based on project management tasks like resource allocation, risk management, and cost management, operational efficiencies. These could be achieved using Software as a Service (SaaS) software that integrates project management tools with BI tools not only successfully complete projects but also improve similar projects in the future.
At PM Imperative, we cover the latest trends in Project Management and Product Management. As PM practitioners, we understand the value the Project Managers and Product Managers bring to each organization and that’s why we focus on the most practical strategies that Project and Product Managers can implement immediately. If you found this post useful, be sure to check out our latest book: The PM Imperative – Guide for Leading & Managing Projects, People & Delivering Value. https://pmimperative.com/shop/
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