Project management is one of the most important skills that a professional can have. Effective project management helps to ensure that all tasks within a certain project are completed within set timescales and are completed to or under budget. This helps to streamline processes within a business, while also helping to ensure that consumer requirements and deadlines are met. However, while many project managers have been looking to the PRINCE2 qualification in the past, which is a more traditional waterfall methodology project management qualification, people are beginning to realise that this is not always the most effective way to manage projects - particularly in fast, ever-changing industries like IT. Here, we're taking a look at the future of project management, and how businesses can adapt to an ever-changing model in order to remain effective to the changing demands of customers.
Adoption Of Software Solutions
One of the key players in the future of project management will be technology - in particular collaborative software solutions. Project managers will no longer be solely looking after a team who are physically working alongside them, and a move to a more virtual space will be one of the major future implications in project management. This will lead to an increase in the use of collaborative software such as Google Docs in order to provide a single, distribution hub which is accessible to all those who need control of documents. Sharing, editing and reviewing project documentation will be a far more streamlined process. This will be a key future element particularly in the IT departments.
ITIL
ITIL is known as the most widely accepted IT service management approach in the world, with a key focus on business change, growth and transformation. project management is going to be a pivotal part of business change and development in the near future, and change is a catalyst for businesses to become far more competitive in almost every industry. ITIL offers the opportunity for businesses to understand a number of project management standards, while teaching practitioners how to adapt and demonstrate their abilities to the changing needs of an IT environment. Almost all industries are going to contain a form of IT environment, showing just how important project management qualifications tailored to this industry are going to be in the future. A fully competent candidate who demonstrates effective ITIL training, further knowledge and some experience in a project management role could provide a business with a true competitive edge in the future.
A Focus On Project Value As Opposed To Time & Cost
Some of the most important, traditional measurements that projects are generally compared to include time, cost and scope. Up until a few years ago, these were the main focuses of all projects in almost any industry and a project will be deemed as a failure if they were to overstep these metrics. However, new focuses within businesses of all industries suggest that project value is set to be the key metric in the very near future. Value will be determined by an evaluation of a project's outcomes, and consumer happiness and engagement. This means that, while cost, scope and time remain important, a project will be able to overstep these in some instances and still be deemed as a success.