Let’s get straight to the point. Any company that wants to be competitive on the outside, must have a strong internal methodology when it comes to Project Management. Projects have become mountains that you need to overcome and the tools have more or less been improved enough for these occasions. Let's face it, no one wants to climb mount Everest with a pair of crocs and a printed map from the 60's right? The evolution of how a project or a product is managed has separated the visionary brands from the old, grumpy, stuck-to-the-old-ways companies that still rely on traditional methods. 

Fast forward into 2022 and the project management field has boomed. Everyone can have access to tools and methodologies that can help a brand/organisation excel internally and externally through organised tasks, workflows and planning. 

But what are the most talked about topics among project managers (PM)? What are their concerns and what are the new technologies that are going to shape the future of management?

Let’s break down 4 trending subjects:

You heard it here first folks, AI is coming to eliminate Project Managers, just like any other job really... This statement is actually false, or at least not true for the foreseeable future. See, even though AI is able to do the job of automation just fine, it needs someone to coordinate and set tasks for it. So relax, and embrace AI in a way that is helpful, minimises time consumption for data collection, pipelines, reminders etc. 

Project Managers can use AI to help them with various tasks such as scheduling, reporting and most importantly communication. An AI chatbot can automate the process of exchanging messages between the organisation and the user/customer. Automated responses and info collection can be done 24/7 without even knowing it. In zero time, you have results, leads and information about your audience. Why is communication an important part of project management? Check no.2 below…

Every project manager has to deal with more than just deadlines, files, gantt charts and all that. Most importantly, a project manager has to manage other people and partners. That is why it is important for PMs to have high emotional intelligence and communications skills. And here is where things get tricky.

Imagine having to be strict on deadlines but not able to communicate this message to a colleague or a client. The deadline will be missed, the PM will be at fault and the trust will be lost. 

More importantly, understanding the team's feelings and working together should be the priority for every PM. Learning what drives and motivates a team is a valuable tool that can guarantee project success.

Thank god for technology and the internet. The world is at a stage that wherever the need there is surely a solution. That includes project management tools like scheduling apps, budget and invoicing platforms,even content management tools. It’s easy to say that you are organised and clean, but every project has a lot of information to be considered. 

Planning can be better organised, scheduling can be automated and deadlines can be met. Just having a project management software can help you clear out what needs to be done by when and by who. Everyone is aligned and knows what they are doing. Timelines and Pipelines are not words that just rhyme but words that are pleasant to hear rather than cause fear with the use of a project management tool. 

The world has been through Covid for the past 2 years, and people have distanced themselves even more so than ever before. That’s not all bad if you look at it from a different perspective. Working from home is now a thing and not a future fantasy like in the past decade. People have learned how to work remotely from any location in the world. This trend is here to stay and project managers are welcoming it with open arms 

Planning and coordinating remotely surely has its cons, but the pros are worth the risk. Higher productivity, less distractions and a healthier work-life balance are only a few of the benefits of this practice. Remote working also minimises costs by decreasing which raises the opportunity to invest those costs and effort into a new tool or equipment that might make the team's life easier.

Overall, this is just what the mind of a project manager thinks in the year 2022. Next year might involve a new interactive way to plan a team and projects like a new VR headset set in the Metaverse or something like that. Who knows! What's for sure is that it's good to know how a project can be managed productively and effortlessly!

Kashyap, Vartika. “Project Management Trends That Are Here to Stay (2022).” ProofHub, https://www.proofhub.com/articles/project-management-trends.