Project Management as Competitive Advantage – Deliver On Time, On Budget, In Scope

By Tres Roeder, Roeder Consulting

When it comes to managing projects, it’s easy to feel like there’s always one more variable than you can keep track of. Below are several new topics to keep you in the loop on what’s happening in the world of project management today.

EARLY WARNING SYSTEM
During a large organizational change, it’s easy to get lost in the details and not realize something is wrong until it’s too late. With our over a decade of experience managing projects, we’ve gained some insight on how to spot red flags so you don’t have to put out fires. Having strong monitoring and controlling during all phases of the project helps ensure you know what to look for (and when to look for it) to ensure your project is coming along smoothly. Strong monitoring and controlling is a part of a mature project ecosystem.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY (PMM)
At its simplest, I view project management as “getting stuff done”, and project management maturity as an organization’s ability to do so. Knowing your organization’s PMM level helps with a whole host of details, from helping you design appropriate team-level training, to keeping your strategy in line with your aspirations. Contrary to what you might think, having the highest possible PMM level is not necessarily a good thing for every organization.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
Just a month before leaving office, President Barack Obama signed the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act into law. It received unusually high bipartisan support, and if executed properly, will shave wasteful spending and help the government manage its projects and programs much more smoothly. While this will significantly effect project managers who work in or with the government, it will likely also effect the standard for project management in the private sphere. However, our country’s current executive leadership has not made many actions toward implementing PMIAA.

AUTOMATION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
As more and more work gets automated, AI is increasingly shaping the world’s economy. Previously, only blue collar work was being shared by machines. Now, some of the highest paying jobs in the economy, like lawyers and surgeons, are seeing some of their tasks delegated to artificially intelligent machines. There’s even software that can do several of a project manager’s tasks! To get the most value out of their team, leaders should focus on hiring and training for qualities that AI will not be able to do as effectively as humans for the foreseeable future. Research shows that these qualities are communication and interpersonal skills.