How project managers can harness the power of disruptive technologies
Technology is changing the way companies operate. In the modern business environment, the development of digital-age skills is important to project success
Disruptive technologies are reshaping industries and markets in unprecedented ways and at extraordinary speeds. The organisations that succeed in this environment are those that can adapt rapidly to new opportunities and challenges. Rather than only seeing threats, they recognise that disruptive technologies can, in fact, give them a competitive advantage.
We are clearly in a period of profound change for the workplace – and all strategic change in an organisation is delivered through projects and programmes. Project management, therefore, holds enormous value in helping organisations to leverage emerging technologies.
Artificial intelligence, for example, holds the promise of automating more routine aspects of work, such as tasks related to scheduling. This allows project managers more capacity to play greater strategic roles in their organisations.
Digital-age skills
Recent research clearly indicates that organisations can do more to strengthen their project management capabilities. In fact, according to the Project Management Institute’s (PMI’s) 2018 Pulse of the Profession global survey, organisations waste an average of €99m for every €1bn invested in projects.
Organisations with cultures that embrace change are better positioned to succeed in a fast-paced and disruptive business environment
Too much money is being wasted on poor project performance for a few key reasons. We have found that organisations often don’t bridge the gap between strategy design and delivery. We have also noted that many executives fail to recognise that strategy is delivered through projects. As such, the importance of project management as the driver of an organisation’s strategy is not fully recognised in most cases.
Further, a recent Brightline Initiative study, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, showed that 59 percent of senior executives admitted their organisations struggle to bridge the strategy-implementation gap. As a result, only one in 10 organisations successfully reach all of their strategic goals. So, what can organisations do to more effectively execute their ideas and take advantage of emerging technologies?
Our research points to a few recommendations. PMI recently sought to understand how forward-thinking organisations successfully leverage disruptive technologies and manage their impact. In our most recent report, The Project Manager of the Future: Developing Digital-Age Project Management Skills to Thrive in Disruptive Times, we discovered that the successful management of disruptive technologies requires a ‘digital skill set’.