10 Project Management Trends Emerging in 2022

10 Project Management Trends Emerging in 2022

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1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) And Automation

Project Management Institute notes that 81% of professionals say that AI is impacting their organizations. That number is likely to increase further in the coming years.  Thilo Huellmann, Chief Technology Officer at Levity.ai, notes that automation holds immense promise. “By automating low-value-add tasks, project managers may 

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1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) And Automation

focus their efforts and energy on tasks that will most dramatically benefit their businesses, allowing them to affect greater change, increasing the possibility of each project reaching its strategic goals.”

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2. Advanced Resource and Project Management Software

A 2020 report from Wellingtone notes that 54% of organizations lack access to real-time KPIs for their projects and over a third of them spend over 1 day to collect data.  This underlines how project management tools can no longer be ignored. Combined with AI-based automation capabilities, project management software can 

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2. Advanced Resource and Project Management Software

bring about positive changes in the way organizations go about managing their projects, no matter how complex they are.

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3. Rise in Remote Working

Remote working was already on the rise but recent years have seen its adoption boosted to unprecedented levels.  While the global pandemic forced organizations to let employees telecommute due to safety concerns, it is likely that remote working will continue for the foreseeable future. This brings up some interesting challenges for project managers. 

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3. Rise in Remote Working

According to Forbes, up to 97% of employees are not interested in going back to their offices full-time.

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4. Demand for Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

While organizational and analytical skills are necessary for project managers, there has been an increasing demand for emotional intelligence in recent years.  The Future of Jobs report by the World Economic Forum supports the increasing demand by employers for emotional intelligence and other social skills. This is 

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4. Demand for Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

relevant for project managers since, in essence, their work involves having a deep understanding of people.  To lead projects to success, they must manage their people resources more effectively and to do so, they must understand those people first. The ability to connect and empathize with others has become a lot more important due to one of the 

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4. Demand for Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

other project management trends: the rise in remote working.

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5. Increasing Focus on Data Analytics for Data-Driven Project Management

Organizations of all sizes generate copious amounts of data every day. Therefore, it is only intelligent to leverage that data to drive decisions. Data analytics and reporting can help project managers identify early signs of scope creep, measure project progress rates and more. AI-powered analytics provide a complete picture of the entire 

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5. Increasing Focus on Data Analytics for Data-Driven Project Management

organization and all projects. They deliver granular-level visibility into the activities and generate custom reports to help visualize the data in the exact way needed by the project managers.  With these tools, project managers can make informed decisions in real time instead of making gut-based decisions based on reports that are compiled manually.

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6. Hybrid Project Management

In the post-pandemic era, there have been renewed efforts to find a more reliable and efficient methodology for project success.  To that end, organizations have begun to experiment with a hybrid approach in which different elements from two or more methodologies are brought together. It is no longer about agile, scrum or lean only 

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6. Hybrid Project Management

but rather about bringing specific attributes together for increased flexibility in driving project success. This has enabled organizations to find unique approaches to suit specific industries and projects.

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7. Increasing Emphasis on Soft Skills

Traditionally, the value of project managers depended on their certifications and their skills in implementing different methodologies.  However, more and more organizations are now shifting their focus to soft skills. This project management trend is understandable as AI-powered solutions have become capable enough to handle the trickier 

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7. Increasing Emphasis on Soft Skills

technical parts of project management. Managers are free to focus on other responsibilities and that is where soft skills become necessary. Project managers now need to focus and strengthen their soft skills such as conflict resolution, stakeholder engagement, negotiation, mentoring and training, 

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7. Increasing Emphasis on Soft Skills

decision-making, and team building. Developing these skills will help project managers deliver more value to their organization.

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8. Projects and Organizational Strategy Coming Together

Projects and organizational strategy have traditionally been separate domains.  Essentially, the role of a project manager was only to execute projects to successful conclusions. However, current trends in project management show that this role is now being expanded upon. Project managers are taking on a more hands-on role in executing the 

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8. Projects and Organizational Strategy Coming Together

broader organizational strategy. This is understandable since organizations have had a difficult time in executing their strategy and acting upon them.  That is why project managers are increasingly being asked to focus on understanding the relationship that exists between program, portfolio and project management. This allows an organization to see how 

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8. Projects and Organizational Strategy Coming Together

individual projects are related to each other and how they connect with the overall strategic goals of an organization.

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9. Cloud-first Approach Becoming The Standard

The demand for cloud computing solutions is increasing rapidly with more and more organizations shifting to the cloud to keep up with the changes in how they operate.  To increase their operations, organizations are looking for cost-effective measures that do not sacrifice functionality or performance. That makes cloud computing the ideal solution.

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9. Cloud-first Approach Becoming The Standard

The rise in hybrid and remote working environments have also increased focus on cloud solutions as they enable resources to work from anywhere without losing access to critical business applications.  Cloud solutions, additionally, have become more accessible and flexible, making them easier to adopt. With all these 

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9. Cloud-first Approach Becoming The Standard

changes, it is quite likely that a cloud-first approach is going to become the new standard to manage projects intelligently for organizations everywhere.

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10. Growing Attention to Mental Health

There has been a growing focus on mental health in recent years. With organizations beginning to reopen offices or shift to hybrid or remote working, there is bound to be elevated levels of stress among employees who have to acclimatize to these changes.  To keep their employees motivated and productive, 

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10. Growing Attention to Mental Health

organizations must seek ways to help them manage stress and mental health effectively. There are several steps that organizations can take to prioritize their employees’ mental health. To start, organizations can implement flexible hours to give their employees more freedom with “how” they work. Fitness programs also make for a good 

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10. Growing Attention to Mental Health

option. From a project management perspective, managers should set clear expectations on project deadlines and goals while trying to offer more praise than criticism.  These are just a few steps that organizations can start implementing for improved mental health of their employees.

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