Projects often bring with them layers of complexity that can have an impact on operations across an entire business — and its staff and prodecures, in many cases.
Managing projects successfully is a part of many different businesses. No matter the industry, things need to get done and need to be done in the right way. However, this “right way” is constantly changing and updating thanks to the innovations in technology and business alike.
You need to learn about Strategic Project Management continuously while being able to manage the whole team and guide them with the tasks given to them.
As a result, you need your project management team to be agile, ready and willing to take on any changes in the space. With that in mind, this article is going to take a look at some of the most important and popular trends in the project management space.
The use of kanban boards
While they have been around for a while in Japan, Kanban boards have recently become more popular in North America. The method originated at Toyota as a way to improve manufacturing but quickly caught on to help keep project management structured.
It is a technique that uses a visual board complete with grids and cards to manage workflow and ensure everyone knows what they’re doing, and what the logical next step is. While they have more value with small and lean projects/teams, any company can use them. In addition to using physical Kanban boards, many companies are also using an online Kanban board to help track and manage their projects.
A Large focus on emotional intelligence
While the importance of emotional intelligence isn’t new, it is a growing trend in project management. Unfortunately, in an industry where productivity and being efficient is paramount, we can often lose sight of things like emotional intelligence. However, we are starting to see this change thanks to the importance of teamwork and collaboration in business today.
While technical skills are obviously still very important, soft skills like the emotional intelligence of a person are not to be ignored. Project management is all about communication, working with others and management skills. Being emotionally intelligent can also help you resolve issues that could threaten your project.
The collection and use of analytics
A big part of project management is making decisions. These decisions range from small personnel issues to major questions that could change the direction or outlook of the project. While these decisions can (and are) often made on a gut feeling or prediction, using data or analytics is a much more effective method.
Analytics are very important in project management. As a result, you should be tracking them. You should track how much time you spend on certain projects, how effective you are at staying on schedule, how productive different employees are being and more. Using analytics can also help you mitigate risk and save money in your projects, which are great things for the success and longevity of your company.
The growing importance of cybersecurity
With project management more online than ever thanks to the various tools, apps, and software that many companies use, the threat of cybercrime has never been higher. Sure, being online helps project management be more efficient and cost-effective, but it also opens you up to security concerns such as hacks and data breaches.
Data breaches and hacks are on the rise and you need to be sure that you are protected. You need to have security measures in place to ensure none of your information or the private information of your customers is released or leaked. If it did, you could not only be on the hook for a lot of money but also have to deal with a bad reputation.
We hope that this article is able to help you learn and identify some of the biggest trends in the project management space, and how you can utilize them.
