Where can Project Management go from here?
Has project management really had anything new introduced in the last 10 years?
You say..."Yep... how about Agile or Project Management 2.0", etc.!
Lately the move to Agile has really sky rocketed, as companies are tired of their projects taking so long to be completed. However, Agile originally was introduced in the late 1980s and early 1990s….so not really that new!
Project Management 2.0 was first discussed in 2007 and there really has not been many changes there…!
PMI and other Org’s have been formalizing Portfolio Management, Programme management and so on…the evolution of what project management started.
So can Project Management evolve any more…? Maybe…Maybe Not?
When I was doing some research for this blurb, I found an article from Brad Egeland, written in December 2015 with the opening statement of; “As a discipline, I see project management as being fairly static. Still, there are changes and movements happening.””
“Top-5-predictions-for-project-management-in-2016”
Brad predicts:
- “Emergence of CPOs. (Chief Project Officers)” – Yep, I have started seeing that this year in large companies… but really, what does it mean. Brad thinks; “It may mean the end of PMO directors and/or centralized project management offices (PMOs)...we will have to see how that plays out.”
- “Decrease in PMOs. Project management offices are still failing or at least not serving many organizations very well.”- I have not really heard or seen any decreases in PMO’s happening as of yet, but definitely agree with Brads comments in his article. Many companies are now trying to refocus there PMO so to get the value the management really need from them.
- “Shift away from PM certification focus.” – Definitely have not seen this happening yet or any real move towards this in the Asia market... However, I concur with Brads comments in his article about experience being more valuable then certification. Personally, I think education/training and experience is always the best…but certification proves you remember the info you learnt... however briefly that might be... ;-)
- “Decentralized project management in all but the largest of organizations?. We will also see the increased use of project managers and consultants throughout the organization in individual business units and departments or just more of an independent pool of professionals.” – Again I have not really seen this happening yet!
- “Increasing reliance on remote project managers and consultants – growth of virtual team situations.” – After the last two years of doing this myself, where I have worked ridiculous hours, managing remote project team members in Canada, Ireland, England, Poland and India (fortunately from the comforts of my home office,) I am seriously thinking of setting up my own remote PM practice.. (Anyone care to join me...hehe)
Good Article Brad. :-)
Other areas I see some movement in, is the combination of Waterfall and Agile, or BIModel. I am not really sure if the naming is correct, but it is how to merge Agile and Waterfall for when you have large programmes, transformations etc. and the problems that comes with that combination. Again, this is being done so to accelerate delivery.
Changes that are not specifically in the project management practice, but heavily impacts projects are the improvements being made in the requirements management area and new improved tools and processes that are evolving… as all good pm’s know if your requirements are crap... sorry...bad ;-) then your project outcome is usually in for trouble.
But, back to the original question “So where an project management go from here?”
So what do you think... have we reached the end of the road...? Are there only refinements that can be done from here…?
As always… thanks for reading.
Delivery Director
8 年Hi Iain, Ben, great comments and this is exactly what I was trying to get going from my blog, a good dialogue so to inform/drive towards the changes still needed in the project management practice. Iain I completely agree with your observations and the industries are very slowly going in that direction. Ben...the move towards a CPO role would seem to support your question about projects becoming part of the mainstream of any business... I only know of two big companies that have done this so far. Thanks for your link to your earlier article, they are very true the points you made.
Programme Director (Transformation and Post Deal Integration)
8 年My big question for you, Anthony, is whether we're starting to see Project Management as a mainstream part of any business rather than on the periphery? Does disruption actually cause that kind of change in businesses where the existing income streams are under serious threat and the requirement for re-invention is the primary focus? I wrote something some time ago on the need for project based organisations... see below if you're interested. https://bendehaldevang.com/2014/09/17/the-project-based-organisation/
Project management should not be visible. The future is one where 'project' services are integral and ingrained into all the things we do - a hidden and guiding hand. Starting to see this in some emerging technologies and this has been the case for a while in PLM (Product Life-cycle Management). Organisations are moving from the illusion that they are transactional hierarchical to the realisation that they are 'matrixed' and driven by projects, collaboration, knowledge/information management and social interaction. Furthermore, the focus should be on driving the organisation - the organisation = portfolio.