New business and tech trends keep coming out every year. But not many project management trends go noticed. However, there are a few exceptions. They start by creating a buzz, and some of them eventually become an accepted standard. As proper project management is vital when it comes to software development, every manager should be aware of those trends that show great potential.
That said, here are a few project management trends that came out on top this year, and will possibly have a much more prominent role next year.
Agile will cross over to other fields
Software development companies have been practicing Agile development for a long time now, and it’s become quite common nowadays. Apparently, agile is steadily climbing the ladder in parallel. It’s expected that Agile will soon cross over to other fields.
Even marketers use Agile in innovative ways. In addition, UI/UX professionals and graphics designers also use Agile to deliver without compromising quality. It’s particularly noticeable in the finance sector. Finance professionals often use Scrum, and editors use Kanban systems to organize content.
Evidently, Agile methodology is not restricted to the IT domain anymore.
Collaboration tools will be adopted more
Collaboration tools are vital for coordination between the teams involved in a project and the customer, especially in an Agile ecosystem. Using such tools considerably reduces the delay in projects and ensure proper communication among everyone involved. They can be particularly useful for conferences with customers, and between the teams to achieve a goal specific to the project at hand.
2018 would be seeing more use of collaboration software apps over traditional project management methodologies i.e. apps like Slack and Yammer will grow beyond where they are now. However, collaboration tools are not necessarily designed for project management. Yet they’ve found their place among various businesses.
As the project managers are also responsible for ensuring collaboration for each project, they will have to find ways to effectively adopt collaboration tools in the coming years considering the fact that companies have started showing more interest in such tools.
Project portfolio management is advancing
Project portfolio management (PPM) software is now a key component when it comes to creating enterprise products. This new product development (NPD) trend resulted in the creation of brands including GenSight, Sopheon etc. all with the use of PPM solutions. The close association between PPM and NPD will only become tighter with the rise of IoT and widespread adoption of Agile.
The present day developments require developers to come up with improved products for their customers, and this can’t be done with conventional PPM solutions. The NPD PPM will most certainly make a mark here, and will likely establish its presence on other fields as well.
Certifications may lose their importance
PMP and PRINCE2 are two of the most popular project management certifications, and both have been existing for years. But recently, the certifications have been criticized and their values questioned.
Many seem to argue that the accompanying cost is not worth it, adding that the exam content have also not been updated even though business requirements keep changing. Companies now value the skill of managing projects more than certifications. SMBs have started giving less attention to certifications and more to find people who can manage projects efficiently. This could likely mean that certifications may lose their importance, and PMPs won’t be required to have the certifications to prove their worth.
Big data is changing things for the better
One of the most popular technology trends that’s impacting project management is big data. Essentially comprising of all the data generated by software tools, big data analysis can reveal valuable insights including but not limited to logged risks, the failure rate of the team, and the members who are less productive.
However, to utilize big data for the betterment of the team and to improve project management, the manager will have to make use of effective analysis tools like for example Apache Hadoop, Skytree Server etc. This part of the problem is already being taken care of, which is why we will be provided with better ways to leverage big data next year.
Conclusion
This article only lists a few of the popular trends that announced their presence this year. The bottom line is that project management is all set to undergo a radical transformation in the coming times, and the best bet is to prepare for it beforehand and work with the best tools 2018 will present us with.
