8 Project Management Trends to Follow in 2022
Have you ever compared the current project management industry to what it was like 15 years ago? Back then teams used to be smaller and projects used to be simpler.
There used to be small setups with limited technologies and tools. The world is indeed moving fast, and so are the business trends.
Agreed, right?
However, the complexity of projects has just been on the rise over the years. The companies are growing bigger and bigger, but so are the projects. Now having modern technologies and tools is a necessity for every industry.
Coronavirus brought a massive change to how businesses previously functioned and managed their operations. Moreover, project management ways have changed immensely with the onset of the pandemic. The industry seems to be fast to the evolving trends, technologies, and tools.
Therefore, to keep up with the business world, you must stay one step ahead. So, in this blog, we’ve jotted a list of the top 8 project management trends that you should follow.
Let’s catch up to the bigger picture now.
8 Project Management Trends
Here is a review of the 8 project management trends to follow in 2022 to stay on top of your game.
#1. The onset of Fully Remote teams
The term “work from home” and “remote teams” has become more of a trend than a necessity since the era of Coronavirus. Even though many offices have gone back to normal but many employees still prefer to work from home. Thus, this is a tremendous change in project management and needs the project managers to cope with the new trend.
Remote working is undoubtedly a great way of retaining talent from all over the world and boosting your organization’s progress.
However, it requires the project managers to organize, manage and lead the team differently. They have to be tech-savvy and use project management software to handle their remote and physical team on one single platform.
Thus, the skill set bar would be raised, and a new work environment would occur.
Facts: It has been predicted that 70% of global organizations will have entire remote teams by 2028. (Upwork,2019)
#2. Adoption of Hybrid Project Management Approach
Over the years, we’ve witnessed many organizations shifting towards an agile project management approach over the traditional waterfall approach. As it seems like the new work methodology, many organizations are moving away from it.
Project managers and Scrum masters are now combining both techniques according to the project’s requirements. It is understood that all projects are not the same. Thus, teams will expand their spectrum and bring project-specific solutions rather than just following the book rules.
Thus, many more organizations will adopt a hybrid project management approach in the future. It will also result in greater adaptivity and flexibility in managing the projects.
Facts: It was observed that 21% of the PMs are using hybrid methodology compared to 17% using agile methodology only. (Capterra ,2021)
#3. Dependency on Project Management Tools
The digital trends and technologies are reforming every day, and so are the projects. More complex tasks and extensive data handling are increasing the organizations’ dependency on tools.
It is no surprise that making accurate decisions and coming up with the right strategies is challenging. Moreover, handling hybrid teams and ensuring ultimate collaboration requires more than just a plan.
Therefore, with the changing work environments and complexity of the projects, the demand for project management tools will rise significantly.
Facts: According to a report, 90% of the companies have found open-source software has boosted their efficiency and innovation.
#4. Focusing on Team Collaboration
So, the idea of collaboration revolves around exchanging emails most of the time. However, team collaboration will signify more than just exchanging emails with digital transformation. Since hybrid teams will become the new normal, the teams will get distributed.
Thus, promoting continuous collaboration between the teams will become challenging for the project managers. Therefore, the reliance on the collaboration software will increase significantly.
Team Collaboration tools can help you monitor, plan, and schedule all your team’s activities on a single platform. So, you can communicate with your remote and physical team effectively in one place.
Having a well-connected team is pivotal for meeting the company’s goals and stakeholders’ demands as well. Moreover, it also increases productivity and leaves room for new ideas and innovations.
Facts: A study shows that the use of project management software has helped 67% of companies to easily communicate with their clients.
#5. Shift Towards Cloud-Based System
The onset of the pandemic had brought many significant changes in the work environment. All the company’s data primarily used to be in files or limited access desktop files. However, many companies shifted towards cloud-based data sharing, and a colossal transition occurred within the organizations.
The skepticism of data breaches and the leak was put to bed. This trend will continue even in 2022 and the cloud-based system will become the “only” way teams rely on.
Facts: According to a report, 60% of organizations use cloud-based technology around the world, and 82% were reported to have saved money using a cloud-based system.
#6. Adaption of Soft Skills
Project managers don’t have to take the role of robots to manage teams and projects. The role of project managers is not limited to planning and assigning tasks. At its core, a project manager needs to understand their team and the best ways to manage them.
A successful project manager should maintain a balance of technical and soft skills to properly manage their team. The attitude of the project manager is directly proportional to the employees’ perspective.
An empathetic and non-biased leader will witness more happy and productive employees. On the contrary, strictness and biasedness will promote a culture of unhappiness and unproductivity.
Therefore, to ensure the successful execution of the projects, it is pivotal to have employees who love to come to work and see themselves growing.
Thus, adapting soft skills will become more of a need than a want in the upcoming years.
Facts: It was reported that around 56% of companies are not satisfied with their PM level of maturity and 38% believe that confusion about team roles and responsibilities is the most significant barrier to success.
#7. Increased reliance on Data Analytics and Numbers
The projects are becoming more complex with time and involve a lot of data. Therefore, data analytics and numbers are increasing for project managers to make the right decisions and get valuable insights.
Whether it is cost estimation, resource planning, or risk estimation, various parameters to make estimations are helping many organizations greatly. Many project management software comes with data analytics tools, so you don’t have to worry about numbers.
Such estimations help plan the projects more accurately and mitigate the potential risks. So, companies will rely more and more on such tools to get a complete picture of their project activities and stay one step ahead.
Facts: It has been reported that the business analytics and big data market is expected to have annual revenue of 274.3 billion USD by 2022
#8. Artificial Intelligence and Automation
The last emerging project management trend to follow in 2022 is AI and automation techniques. This idea is not new to many industries now; however, its use will significantly increase globally.
This would help project managers automate recurring tasks and invest time in other critical project-related activities. With AI estimation techniques, they will get the proper budget, cost, and risk estimations.
Therefore, the project success rate would likely increase, and so would the deadline management.
Facts: According to PMI, in the next five years, 85% of organizations believe that AI or project management software will change the way they operate their business.
Conclusion
To conclude, if you wish to stay at the top of your game, you must keep up with the changing trends. As a project manager, you need your team to be open to change and flexible.
Moreover, following these trends would also ensure the success of your projects as things are moving towards more on the factual side than just rough estimations.
Therefore, create a work environment equipped with all the new technologies and tools and stay ahead of your competitors.
If you feel like there is some trend that we must’ve missed out on, please write to us.
We wish you good luck in your future ventures!
About the Author!
Fred Wilson – Agile Expert at nTask
15+ years of experience working with Agile teams. I write about what inspires me, explore how great Agile teams perform, and avidly read about tech that has the potential to disrupt.
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