[May 24, 2018] |
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Strategic Role of Project Management Elevated as Organizations Manage Disruptive Technologies
According to a new in-depth report by Project Management Institute
(PMI), 91 percent of organizations are feeling the impact of disruptive
technologies and those that are not currently experiencing the impact
are preparing for disruptive technologies to change their business over
the next five years. From cloud and AI to IoT and blockchain, digital
disruption is changing the way work is done, providing an opportunity
for innovative organizations to drive a competitive advantage.
As organizations continue to face increased disruption, effective
project management practices are more valuable than ever. Leading
organizations are elevating the role of project professionals to take
advantage of disruption. The 2018 Pulse (News - Alert) of the Profession®, In-Depth
Report: Next Practices: Maximizing the Benefits of Disruptive
Technologies on Projects, based on a global survey conducted by PMI,
identified two key performance levels among responding organizations -
innovators and laggards.
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Innovator organizations are high-performing with a mature digital
transformation strategy, risk tolerant, have adopted or committed to
change and consider disruptive technologies to be a high
organizational priority.
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By contrast, laggards have an immature digital transformation strategy
(or none at all), are risk averse, and consider disruptive
technologies to be a low organizational priority.
"From Uber to Airbnb, disruption has become part of the norm in business
and we know that successful organizations are those that can rapidly
adapt to new opportunities and challenges," said Mark A. Langley,
President and Chief Executive Officer, Project Management Institute. "As
disruptive technology impacts the work we do, project managers become
more valuable than ever as advocates and agents of change with the power
to significantly impact the bottom line."
Disruptive Technologies Impact Project Management Success
Disruptive technologies are displacing established technologies and
shaking up the global marketplace. These technologies include tools or
resources employed in production, such as 3D printing, or the finished
product or service itself, such as a self-driving vehicle. According to
the survey, 83 percent of innovators indicate the adoption of disruptive
technologies has had significant results in meeting or exceeding
business objectives.
Among a list of thirteen disruptive technologies, cloud solutions,
Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence rose to the top as
the most impactful for gaining a competitive advantage on delivering
against strategy.
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Cloud Solutions: 84 percent of innovators say the cloud
is giving their organization a competitive advantage, compared to 57
percent of laggards. For project management, the cloud offers whole
new levels of collaboration and information access and frees up
schedules so professionals can lend expertise to projects and customer
issues.
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Internet of Things (IoT): 62 percent of innovators say
IoT is giving their organization a competitive advantage, compared to
26 percent of laggads. IoT offers project managers constant
connectivity and increased data efficiency enabling more accurate
data-driven decision making.
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Artificial intelligence (AI): 60 percent of innovators
say AI is giving their organization a competitive advantage, compared
to 22 percent of laggards. AI enables faster and more reliable
decision-making based on large amounts of stored information, can help
reduce human error and biases and drives project management
efficiencies to help project professionals devote more time to
ensuring that projects achieve organizational goals.
The other disruptive technologies deemed impactful by survey respondents
include 5G mobile Internet, voice-driven software, building
information modeling (BIM), advanced robotics, 3D printing, blockchain,
autonomous (self-driving) vehicles, large-scale energy storage,
gene sequencing and genomics.
Innovators Provide a Roadmap for Embracing Disruptive Technologies
Organizations need to understand and manage the impact of disruptive
technologies and rely on proven project management practices to survive
and thrive during these times of change. Those that invest in project
management experience better project outcomes. In fact, for innovators
that embrace project excellence, 71 percent meet the original goals or
business intent of their projects, compared to only 60% of laggards.
These organizations provide a roadmap for others to achieve success as
they adopt disruptive technologies. Innovators focus on using disruptive
technologies to their benefit, driving agility and collaboration, and
believe that the project professional should be the advocate and driver
for adoption. According to the survey, innovators use disruptive
technologies to enhance the role of project management with their
organizations:
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Encourage greater efficiency and automation (75% versus 53% of
laggards)
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Increase productivity (69% versus 59% of laggards)
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Promote the development of better products and services (61% versus
45% of laggards)
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Automate mundane tasks to free time for higher level work (59% versus
47% of laggards)
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Develop more strategic roles and leadership skills (57% versus 35% of
laggards)
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Build stronger connections among team members (44% versus 34% of
laggards)
Managing in Times of Disruption
The role of the project manager has expanded to one of a strategic
advisor, innovator, communicator, big thinker, and versatile manager.
Project managers are becoming even more valued as disruptive technology
frees them from mundane routines, providing them more opportunity to
innovate.
Organizations look to their project managers to help take advantage of
disruption - not just react to it - making effective project management
practices more valuable than ever. Innovator organizations prioritize
three critical roles for the project manager working with disruptive
technologies:
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Advocate for the technology (56% versus 41% of laggards)
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Supervisor for course correction (42% versus 31% of laggards)
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Authority on disruptive technology (32% versus 21% of laggards)
Those that harness technology to change the way they operate and the way
they manage projects are working in new ways. These "next practices"
combine approaches and technologies, such as DevOps, human/user-centered
design, cloud computing, the IoT, and AI help organizations manage
digital disruption and thrive.
Changing the Future of Work
As the profession of project management continues to change, PMI, like
many other organizations, is currently undergoing its own transformation
to ensure that it meets the evolving needs of project professionals. As
PMI marks its 50th anniversary year next year, its transformation
efforts will ensure that the association stays ahead of trends in the
marketplace and serves its customers and the entire project management
community even better.
Addressing the topic of digital disruption, Murat Bicak, Senior Vice
President, Strategy for Project Management Institute (PMI) will join
representatives from the European Commission, Google (News - Alert), and Tata
Consultancy Services at the European Business Summit to discuss the path
ahead to upgrade the skills of the European workforce to adapt for the
rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The session, Artificial
Intelligence: How will it change the future of work? will take place
on May 24 from 9:00 AM-10:45 AM.
About the PMI Pulse of the Profession® Survey
2018 Pulse of the Profession®, In-Depth Report: Next Practices:
Maximizing the Benefits of Disruptive Technologies on Projects was
conducted online in February-March 2018. The report highlights feedback
and insights from 1,730 project management professionals, from a range
of industries, including information technology, financial services,
manufacturing, government, energy, healthcare, construction, and telecom
around the globe. In-depth interviews were also conducted with seven PMO
directors and seven C-suite executives
The full Pulse of the Profession® In-depth Report can be viewed at www.pmi.org/pulse.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180524005233/en/
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