There is, currently, a great transformation in major areas of life and Project management isn’t left behind. Project managers who have been in play for a while will tell how methodologies used in the past differ from what we use right now. Even with this, we haven’t fully arrived at where we want to be. The trends that will occur in 2020 are going to be massive. But what do these trends look like?
Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
We seem to get massive invention or innovation year in year out, from electricity to mobile phones to internet and even now to Artificial Intelligence. I was watching WWE RAW televise a draw they fixed between Smack down and RAW. As much as I saw a couple of people working on it, I also saw a huge robot working around the room to contribute its quota. As results get announced, there were sad and happy moments. The most hilarious thing is the Robot also joined in all of the moods. Robot is a bit of Artificial Intelligence and it has shown how it will help every sector of life.
What Artificial Intelligence would do for Project management is to ease every work done. AI would be used to tailor a company’s service to the regular marketplace. This will interestingly aid decisions. Automation will be done using AI too.
As Machine Learning is a common family with AI, 2020 will see the Project management adopt machine intelligence to improve decision making, and make the everyday task go smoothly. Higher consistency will be achieved by using Artificial and Machine Intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence
As much as machines will take up more job roles from humans, they will, as a matter of fact lack the humanity to totally carry on. Emotional intelligence has been in play since the start of PM and must continue and further improve to set the best tone for PM marketplace. Social skills is a high ranked skill researched to be the most in-demand. In negotiating, show your tactful skills in relating, show your relational skills.
You are not a comedian and yes, it is true you might not get an appraisal for been the best emotionally, or for properly holding a negotiation. But you may consider yourself been inter-relationally equipped. This is going to be a necessary trend in 2020.
Improvised methodologies
When starting out as a standalone PM Company, you follow the normal methods and avoid breaking the rules. This is understandable because doing the normal which is not too good, is better than doing the unusual that might yield no result. As you go on, be sure to practice adaptability skill as only this would tell for how long you’d be in play.
Project Managers look for better and effective to do work so as to prepare for the future. To reduce cost and optimize productivity, new methods are constantly worked upon and this is not likely to change in 2020.
Remote teams
Working from your comfort somehow provides you the best environment. You don’t have to do with the everyday noise and pollution generally, defined terms and conditions, flexibility and time saving. The world is gradually swinging from the ‘9-5’ day job to a more flexible method. Expect to see more of this trend in 2020.
Kanban
Kanban was introduced by Toyota as one of their major ways to organize work and improve the quality of work production. Surprisingly rather than unsurprisingly, Toyota became even better with this technique and other companies bought the idea. 2020 will see an even greater usage of the technique as it specifies deadlines, appoint new tasks and cancel existing ones, and even rate individual performance in projects.
Kanban provides efficient way of carrying out tasks and it ensures project keep going.
Data Analysis
Data analysis has proved to be a major part of our everyday life. It has taken ground in all spheres of life leaving no area untouched. It is little wonder why Data Analyst are been revered. For Project Management, data gathered are easily worked on to deliver result that helps team and business holders get insights into their business. For this to happen, managers must get loaded on data analysis and the usage of some of its tools like Power BI, R, Tableau and some others.
The trends are currently been used and would get even better in 2020. To be in a good shape, be vast and flow well with the trends.
Project Management Tools
Tools that will be very much of trends are;
Strategic planning remains the number one tool. It uses short term and long term planning to remain adaptable.in order to thrive and sustain, companies need to strategically plan.
Another tool is customer relationship management. You may think your customers are the best but CRM will identify. An excellent CRM helps managing project.
Other tools are bench marking, advanced analytics, supply chain management, customer satisfaction, and change management.
Project Priority Matrix
Priority matrix is a tool used for making decision by sorting tasks and this makes important tasks go through even when the unexpected, sudden and urgent comes up. It prioritizes what is important to help focus on the long term goals.
Tasks are placed into quadrants and dealt with by the quadrants they belong to. The 4 quadrants are
- Important and Urgent
- Not urgent and important
- Not important and urgent
- Not important and not urgent
MBA in Project Management
MBA provides professionals with better opportunities and even greater pay at work. In 2020, the number of people who will enroll for an MBA in Project Management will increase by 2% over the previous years. Companies and bodies want to know how quickly you can effect a task and an MBA will, to a reasonable extent, give an edge over others.
How you want your learning structured if you decide to do an MBA is left to you. Recent graduates usually love onsite learning where they compare their campuses to their former institutions. Professionals tend to stick with online learning which affords them the chance of studying while working.
With an MBA in PM, you have various career fields to choose from. The top jobs however are Project Management, Project Management Consultant, and Operations Manager. Subjects to be offered are risk analysis and management, project communications management, planning and resource management.
Post Graduate Diploma in Project Management
A PG Diploma in Project Management are programs made for student to get a quick idea about how to apply Project Management methods to professions. Project management focuses on resource management, office management, financial management and more. PGD helps students in developing their communication skills and how to manage time efficiently.
Project Management courses and certification
Best Project Management certifications are
CompTIA Project+, Certified Project Manager (CPM), Associate in Project Management (APM), Certified Associate in Project Management, Project Management Professional (PMP), Professional in Project Management (PPM), Certified Scrum Master (CSM) etc.
