Top 5 Trends in Project Management for 2022
As we emerge post-Covid, a chaotic 2022 is driving changes to how organisations approach their work.
What are the top 5 project management & PMO trends that are emerging as we reach the middle of 2022?
1. Nervous Supply Chains & Resiliency Programs
Just as supply chains were beginning to return to post-covid levels, geopolitics create another major global disruption.
In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, a return to normal was the main aim of many businesses and organisations. But the current worldwide disruption to not only products, but services this time, are causing a major rethink to where businesses are vulnerable.
There have been two responses:
- Assess and change suppliers: Businesses are reviewing and supply chains like never before. In many industries this is leading to a host of new projects to update suppliers and services with alternatives which are more robust. This drives unique projects and project issues around risk management, testing, and speed to market.
- Resiliency programs: A more fundamental shift is occurring in some quarters, with the creation of entire programs of resiliency. These programs (or newly dedicated teams) are looking at delivery and continuity of service as the outcome of a whole new portfolio
Resiliency and continuity are holding a lot of the mindshare in corporations today. Suddenly, building resiliency and minimising disruption have become key factors in projects and how we run PMOs.
It’s also worth considering this as project managers when pitching project ideas and financials. Whereas ROI (return on investment) is a simple calculation and is easily understood, showing investment value to maintaining revenue is notoriously difficult.
2. Additional focus on agility and less rigid processes
Similarly, as the pace of change is increasing, projects and project teams must become ever more adaptable.
We see major changes even from the PMI. The recent update to the PMBOK version 7 has entire sections rewritten, with the PMI adding
- More flexibility
- A move away from rigid “processes”
- And a more towards value creation and principles
In this way we are seeing a further integration of the old systems of waterfall and agile project management.
Industry data shows that more and more companies are adopting a hybrid approach to project management, rather than a binary choice between the two systems.
More hybrid and mixed systems appearing across portfolios, within the same enterprise, will create new challenges and opportunities for software companies (with companies previous choosing a waterfall approach or agile).
PPM (Project Portfolio Management) systems, used widely across large organizations, are used to align, manage and report on portfolios of projects across entire enterprises. How these systems can accommodate a greater degree of variety of project management approaches and frameworks is yet to be seen. An industry open to disruption perhaps.
3. Collaboration tools for remote working are here to stay
As the Great Return ends (the return to the office of millions of office staff), we are beginning to see the new normal in its clearest view yet.
Remote working and flexibility are here to stay, in varying levels depending on your industry. But the collaboration tools that reached their peak during the pandemic (when workers couldn’t meet at all) are certainly here to stay.
Zoom, Teams and Webex will remain a mainstay for years to come. Fundamentally, cloud-based file sharing and project management/coordination tools are very likely to remain on even when offices have settled down after lockdown.
The cloud-first approach of file sharing has both positives and negatives. Team members enjoying the frictionless creation of new teams, sharing and collaborating live within documents and new flexible software systems have transformed many companies
But the result has been a fragmented landscape. The average office worker now has:
- Multiple systems with which to interact with daily
- Multiple file locations and teams proliferating and increasing daily
- Easy access to every individual on instant messaging and other communication devices, creating distracting environments, at home or in the office
Based on the issues above, we’ll see project teams continue to struggle with the search for “one single source of the truth” on a project.
4. PMOs becoming EPMOs, SROs, OKRs and the alphabet soup!
As PMO maturity across different industries continues to increase, some will make the leap to the next level.
There are many buzz words and phrases in project management and PMO at the moment. Some key new concepts include:
- The creation of EPMOs (Enterprise Project Management Offices): groups which support or control projects across an entire enterprise, as opposed to the traditional departmental or divisional PMOs we are more familiar with. This leads to increased strategic alignment between the organisational goals and the projects within each department
- SROs (Strategic Realisation Offices): similarly, there is a growing trend towards shaping the PMO more as a strategic alignment group than a compliance to project management group
- OKRs (Objectives and Key Results): although in use in Google and other companies since the early ‘00s, OKRs are becoming a more fashionable way to frame project goals and objectives. Within increased authority within the project team, this way enables more flexibility in terms of how the objective is reached. We will see a continued move away from detailed charter documents early in internal projects towards a more flexible and agile approach as above.
5. Corporate & Social Responsibility
Businesses have never been held to account for their actions as in 2022. Responsible behaviour is expected from:
- Internal forces: Interview candidates, graduates, new and existing employees. A new generation with high expectations than in the past
- External forces: Boards, shareholders, governmental agencies and the media encouraging companies, and in some cases, watching for a misstep
In terms of environmental impact and sustainability, this one issue in particular has gained near-global consensus. Consumers are leading businesses in their choices in terms of materials, upcycling and buying into brand initiatives on conservation and sustainable business.
Greater Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (DE & B) is expected, while transparency within organization of their salary and diversity distributions are becoming genuine considerations for new talent and employees.
Key Take-aways
As project managers, we are constantly adapting to the changing environment around us. In the chaotic world of 2022, there are number of challenges and opportunities for us to face in 2022.
- Resiliency: Product and service disruption which could last into the future, and change how we view supply chains for years to come
- Agility: Consider ways to increase our ability to adapt and remain agile, while encourage systems and consistency within our teams
- Collaboration: Continue to promote collaboration with new tools and address issues of data fragmentation and distraction in the workplace
- PM Maturity: Progress and mature the project management cultures and processes within organization
- Sustainability: Meet the demands of the employer marketplace with sustainable growth and equality as a keystone of success
What have been the main trends in your organization or industry so far in 2022?
How well are you prepared to face the trends outlined above?
