Industry Trends

The industrial world is undergoing major transformations partly due to the arrival of new technologies that will once again open the doors to new challenges and achievements, while keeping the need to adapt to the economic demands (to keep and open new markets, and attract new consumers), society (to ensure a better quality of life, transform the work environment and create new types of jobs) and ecology (to adopt greener practices). As a result, project management will follow these transformations and evolve accordingly.

 

Here are, in a few lines, the trends that will affect the project management in the upcoming years:

 

USE OF AGILE METHODOLOGIES

 

With the integration of the Agile Practice Guide into the sixth version of the PMBOK® Guide and PMI-ACP® certification, the PMI corroborates the growth in the use of Agile methodologies around the world.

 

Essential for the field of information technology (IT) in Québec, these methods are currently being used more and more for projects in other industries, whether in a "pure" way or merged with other types (hybrids, see next section).

 

Here is the opinion of an expert on the subject:

 

VIDEO 2018_8

"Agile"

Frédéric Moreau

 

For more information, please visit the Agile Montréal website: http://agilemontreal.ca.

 

USE OF MULTIPLE PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES (HYBRID)

 

With recent technological advances (artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, internet of things, fog computing, big data, mobile technology) and the new generation of materials, the entire industry will be equipped with digital tools and more dynamic and flexible systems that will facilitate the exchange and exploitation of information with the aim of making the production and delivery areas evolve even more rapidly.

 

Similarly, for project management, project managers will now use several methodologies instead of just one methodology as they used to in the past. These methodologies are called hybrid (or mixed), because they can be applied simultaneously to a particular project so that some tasks will be managed according to a method A, and others according to a method B: for example, in the case of computing projects, the project managers jointly use the Scrum and Kanban method. The combination of these methodologies allows each project to benefit from the advantages offered by each methodology, for the effective progress and delivery of each project. With this new constraint, project managers are required to know both project management methodologies.

 

USE OF VIRTUAL TEAMS

 

With globalization, a project manager has to work with virtual teams scattered around the world. Gone are the days when the team consisted only of local resources. This type of team requires additional efforts from managers to share tasks, to coordinate and get members to work together.

 

USE OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION AND REMOTE MEETINGS

 

With the development of new technology, communication between the project manager and team members is done through video and meeting software like Skype. These new ways to facilitate communication, save a lot of time and improve productivity. Nevertheless, the use of traditional meetings in the same meeting room will continue to exist, but will increasingly be kept for truly exceptional tasks.

 

USE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

 

One of the success factors of a project manager is to possess the ability to make the best use of his emotions and intuition in addition to his technical expertise in project management, to manage his team and collaborate with members with different personalities. This key factor is called emotional intelligence and is increasingly recognized by professionals (as human and relational) as an essential soft skill for effective project management.

 

QUALITY ASSURANCE, COMPLIANCE AND REFERENCE DATA MANAGEMENT

 

Manufacturers will increasingly have to ensure that production processes are standardized and comply with the regulations put in place by the authorities. In addition, they will need to have audit protocols to ensure the products’ quality. Project managers and their teams will have to do the same and will have more pressure to deliver quality and compliance in projects.

 

RECYCLING AND SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

 

Industrialists pushed by social, economic and environmental constraints are increasingly advocating for sustainable development. Today, manufacturers like H&M have set up eco-responsible production initiatives. The company Procter & Gamble has also publicly announced that it will eliminate 100% of manufacturing waste by 2020. As such, project managers will have to show that they are respecting and paying attention to these environmental standards and sustainable development in the delivery of new projects.