Business Miscellaneous Technology

Project Management in 2019 – Here’s What to Expect

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As the old saying goes – “Change is the only constant thing in this world”. And the same is true for the project management world. Just look at how much this industry has evolved over the past few years. Isn’t it interesting to see how business used to operate without any dedicated tool or online dashboards? I bet it is. Well, the good thing is that we have come a long way from where we began. Today’s project management is constantly evolving and the changes we see are both exciting and intimidating. That said, let’s see what we have learned about project management so far and what it will look like in 2019.  

Project Management Overview              

Project management is about adopting the best practices and methodologies to ensure the timely completion of a project. The project management lifecycle is grouped into five major stages – initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure. Now, it’s just simple math for project managers and teams that each of these stages have a crucial role to play in the project’s success. Here are the top project management stats that will provide you with a better overview of where things are heading and what changes need to be made.

  • According to executive leaders, more than 37% of projects fail due to a lack of clear goals and objectives across the team.
  • 90% of companies agreed to the fact that using open source software helps to increase their efficiency, interoperability, and innovation.
  • Only 37% of teams reported completing their projects on time and on budget in the UK.
  • Managing project costs (49.5%) was the biggest problem faced by project managers. Hitting deadlines (45.8%) and sharing information across teams (43.9%) weren’t far behind.
  • 59% of teams accept the fact that ineffective communication is the biggest obstacle to success, followed by accountability (29%).

6 Project Management Trends to Watch Out For In 2019

Agile and Scrum methodologies will grow in popularity.

It’s no secret that the market today is dynamic and the user experience is constantly changing. As a result, popular project management methodologies like Agile and Scrum are gaining acceptance across every small, medium, or large business. Organisations are inclining towards adopting Agile and Scrum principles to achieve desired results at the end of a project management process. And based on the success rate that teams have achieved so far, these simple, effective project management methodologies are expected to grow in popularity. 

Project managers will be in great demand.

The finding of popular project management surveys in 2018 clearly show that project management professionals and project managers will be in great demand as the industry grows. It’s common knowledge that companies from almost every industry are constantly looking for people with skills and capabilities to run teams and manage projects successfully from start to finish. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), there will be a demand for 87.7 million project managers by 2027, particularly in China and India. 

Skilled teams will outrank certifications.

It was not too long ago that you needed an array of certifications and degrees to make it as a professional in the corporate world. But the time has changed and today, anyone with great decision-making instincts and good work skills can make it, irrespective of what qualifications or certifications they have. Now, this doesn’t mean that degrees and certifications are not important. The truth is that in today’s competitive market the skills and personality traits of an individual play a much bigger role as compared to the certifications on their resume. 

Effective collaboration will gain even more importance.

The culture of remote teams is expected to grow in the coming year and so is the concept of effective team communication. With technology dominating every aspect of the business industry and providing people with the flexibility to work from anywhere, project managers and team members will get familiar with the importance of effective team collaboration. They will realize that effective communication makes things easier and productive. This will trigger a sense of commitment among teams and motivate them to work more productively as one unit. 

Work management and prioritization will become a necessity.     

Work management is one of the biggest challenges faced by project managers and teams today. The reason being the complexity of breaking larger projects into smaller chunks and determining the order of tasks/activities based on their relevant priority in the project. Luckily, with the introduction of Kanban boards and Gantt chart tools, it has become easier for project managers to maintain a dynamic workflow and create a collaborative problem-solving work culture. 

Project management tools will continue to play an important role.

Organisations have recently shown a lot of interest in online project management tools. As a result, the sheer volume of project management tools and apps available in the market is increasing tremendously. ProofHub, Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Freedcamp, Trello, Asana, and Zoho Office Suite are a few trending solutions that teams are relying on today. Whether a team is looking for something to give them better control over their project’s success, improve collaboration in the workplace, or simply make client invoicing accurate, there are tools for every aspect of managing projects and the numbers are expected to increase in the near future. 

Conclusion 

So there you have it – the biggest project management trends that are likely to shape 2019. It’s no secret that the world of project management is constantly evolving and it would be a great challenge for professionals to keep up their game in the coming years. Hopefully, these trends and predictions will help you brace yourself and your team for everything that is coming down the pipeline in the course of this next year.

About the author

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Vartika Kashyap

Vartika Kashyap is the Marketing Manager at ProofHub and has been one of the LinkedIn Top Voices in 2017. Her articles are inspired by office situations and work-related events. She likes to write about productivity, team building, work culture, leadership, entrepreneurship among others and contributing to a better workplace is what makes her click.