Leading project management advisors, ESI International, have published their annual predictions for the project management trends to be aware of in 2013.
Amy Harris, the Community Manager for Expert Market UK, helps summarise the predictions for this year.
Predictions for 2013
Listed among ESI International′s Top 10 are the following forecasts:
– The role of Project Manager will be diversified to include organizational departments. This includes HR, Legal Services and Marketing. The identification that each of these corporate disciplines will demand the management of projects at some juncture will lead to the traditionally IT based PM role to be viewed in a different context.
– Many organizations which are managing multimillion pound projects will be looking to develop their own in-house expertise. Rather than be at the mercy of outsourced contractors as is now the case.
– More PMOs (project management organizers) may find 2013 a challenging year for them. The demands of management and shareholders expect ever higher rates of success from project investment and performance. Despite the fact that this is a multifaceted problem which combines lack of training, unrealistic expectations, resistance to change and work overload, ESI are forecasting that it will be the beleaguered PMOs of the industry who will pay the price with their jobs.
In addition to the points already highlighted, there are further indications of what may be in store for the sector this year. Industry insiders and opinion formers all have their own specific viewpoint on what will be hot, and what not, during the next twelve months.
Agile or Not So Agile?
Another of ESI’s leading predictions was that many organizations will begin to take the view that Agile has fallen short of the achievement potential as the principles fall short of the promised payback.
They have concluded that the problem lies in the fact that those who have been selected to implement Agile projects have failed to receive adequate training in the methods and that companies adopting the strategy are not fully culturally prepared to accept the principles.
ESI caution that it is not enough simply to train a skeleton team of Scrum mates to initiate the project, an entire Scrum team incorporating testers, developers and product owners should also be familiar with the implementation of the methods.
In order to get the Agile ethos back on track for 2013, company executives must be educated in destroying the cultural barriers standing in the way of effective adoption.
Identifying Your Limits
Possibly one of the biggest elephants in the room for any professional is the temptation to continue accepting more and more project work when, realistically, you know you have reached your limit.
We are simply not programmed to tell our superiors that we have reached the ceiling of our capabilities, assuming that, if we are being asked to accept a greater workload, we must inevitably be up to the job.
Perhaps one of the greatest shifts in power during 2013 will be those in the Project Management sector regaining some control over their own career goals and aspirations in an effort to achieve a better balance between project ‘fire fighting’ and project fulfillment and rewards. The initial steps are to ask some difficult and uncomfortable questions:
– How am I performing in my current role?
– Am I constantly behind schedule on what should be delivered?
– How good (or bad) are the customer satisfaction levels in historical project delivery?
– How does my workload compare with other PMOs in the organization?
– And finally and perhaps most importantly, if you are still managing effectively at the moment, how many more projects would it take to push you over the edge?
With the on-going economic challenges exerting pressure on all commercial sectors, it will come as no surprise that the demands for successful ROI in project management is ever present. However, perhaps 2013 should be the year to re-implement that old adage to not just work hard, but work smart.
About The Author:
Amy Harris is a writer for Expert Market which offers a free service to businesses, providing a sourcing tool for finding office equipment. She enjoys helping other businesses stay on top of the trends by offering project management advice.
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