Top 5 Project Management Trends in 2018

New advances in technologies somehow affect all areas of human activity, and project management does not stand aside. In recent years, the role of managers has changed significantly due to the automation of part of their duties and changing the very process of development and teamwork. What is the future of project management and what should today's project managers expect and prepare for if they want to take full advantage of all the new achievements?

Tech trends

1. Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning

Speaking about the achievements of recent years, we can not fail to mention the contribution of AI. Attempts to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the project management process have been made before, and they are still ongoing, Riter AI is just one of many ways to implement it. Artificial intelligence is quickly making its way into project management tools. It could allow us not only to eliminate and automate some manual work, but also to analyze the accumulated experience to optimize current tasks and predict possible results of our decisions. Automatically gathering information about teams, tasks and timing, AI can improve the accuracy of estimates and deadlines, independently commit time spent on tasks, draw up reports on the current state of the project, redistribute tasks in order to increase productivity and so on.

2. Internet of Things in Project Management

The internet of things and artificial intelligence form a powerful combination together. The possibilities that the IoT offers are immense – and not just for the project managers, but for IT industry as a whole. IoT let remote teams collaborate across countries with more efficiency, as data is shared automatically between team members regardless of their location. The IoT, wearable technologies will also change project management tools. They must become more interconnected, collecting more data and make it available much quicker.

3. More Remote Team Management

The next expected change in the near future is an increase in the number of remote employees. Popularity of remote project management and remote working is rapidly increasing. What about employers, they are also recognizing the various benefits of hiring remote workers, such as a higher degree of employee satisfaction, a reduction in sick time and other overheads. However, these changes require a specific approach to online management, team collaboration and communication. The future of project management is in project management software as way to increase efficiency across remote teams.

4. The Growing Influence of Project Management Tools

The implementation of AI, automation and remote work requires a change in the workflow. Not all managers are willing to do this, but those who take the risk and take advantage of the new technologies as early as possible will find themselves in a better position as the costs will quickly pay off. Modern project management tools already use these achievements, you just need to be able to choose the best of them. According to the researches, more startups will adopt formal project management and tools in 2018. Thanks to today's market proposals, even the smallest companies can afford comprehensive and integrated solutions to meet their project needs as they grow. There is also a tendency to complicate and integrate project management tools, combining management, content and communication into a single environment. Everything should be kept all together to free teams from wasting time in endless meetings.

5. Agile Future in Project Management

Every day we are faced with the results of rapid technological evolution and continuous innovations, and software development and project management are not an exception. Customer and market requirements are constantly changing so IT companies need to keep an eye out and respond quickly to any of them to stay successful. Under such circumstances, no wonder that Agile principles attract more attention and are firmly established in the software industry (and not only there). There is an increasing number of teams working on Scrum, Kanban or some hybrid methodology. For the same reason, Agile-oriented project management tools are becoming more in demand.

Despite all the progress in task management and new ways to improve productivity, they can hardly replace a manager in full. The traditional role will give way to new working conditions and responsibilities, new smart tools will reduce risks and increase the accuracy of planning and estimation, neutralize the amount of manual work, but, nevertheless, some of the actions will still require human control and the ability to make decisions.

Riter development team