Amber Hickman |
Project managers are a vital part of organisations across every industry. They are responsible for driving a project’s success from conception to completion, but how do they achieve this? According to Pierre Le Manh, president and CEO of Project Management Institute (PMI), it is becoming increasingly sophisticated because the concept of project management has evolved greatly over the past 30 years.
“Originally, and to simplify, project management was mostly about creating the most detailed plan you could, predicting all the possible scenarios, and then executing it,” he explains. “However nowadays people are finding this may not be the most effective. Whether due to competitors or changing requirements and regulations, project managers must constantly adapt and adjust.”
To overcome this issue, they have added agile methods to their best practices. And project managers are increasingly using artificial intelligence technology.
“AI has been embedded in some of the software that project managers have used in the past,” says Le Manh. “But now, especially with the rise of generative AI, we’re seeing a completely new world emerge for the profession.
“There is a lot of growing interest from our global community. AI is currently the number one topic at all our live conferences, and we have already surpassed our 2024 target for the number of views on our on-demand AI sessions. Furthermore, over 230,000 professionals have now taken our AI courses applied to project management, the first of which was launched in September 2023. This is by far the fastest adoption of any course we have launched to date.”
There are many different potential use cases for AI and for project managers, there are three key areas of application: automation, assistance and augmentation.
“First, automation allows users to remove the manual labour from tasks such as writing meeting notes or filling out spreadsheets with data,” says Le Manh. “Secondly, using AI for assistance can help users to fine-tune their work or generate ideas and drafts.
“Finally, augmentation allows users to finish tasks quicker. For example, project managers spend a lot of time recruiting the right team, but they can use AI to help write the job descriptions or scan CVs to identify candidates who best fit the role.”
Whilst AI-powered tools bring many benefits, some project managers and their organisations are still apprehensive about potential risks.
“Many are concerned about confidentiality and ensuring the information they provide to AI tools is not used to train the public model and given back to users from other organisations,” says Le Manh. “There is also a lot of concern surrounding reliability, as we have seen examples of some models providing false information. However, it is important to approach this the same way you would human error and challenge or double-check the recommendations or facts it provides.”
Organisations like PMI have implemented strict measures to ensure project managers feel comfortable using their AI solutions. “All of the information used by PMI: Infinity, PMI’s AI-based platform that is helping project professionals execute projects, is proprietary, vetted and verified, so that it limits the chance that the tool makes wrong inferences or produces inaccuracies,” explains Le Manh.
PMI also provides a range of tools and advice to project managers beginning their AI journey and encourages them to experiment with the technology.
“I encourage people to play with AI tools to help them generate new ideas and find ways to use it effectively,” explains Le Manh. “PMI also provides a range of services to help people learn the basics, while our events and virtual communities provide a space for them to share ideas and discuss the challenges they are facing.”
Le Manh believes people need to develop three key skills to successfully leverage AI for project management.
“You need to improve your ability to work with data, learn how to develop your business acumen as you move away from purely executional tasks and learn prompt engineering,” he says. “This is a new discipline, and it involves a lot of practice, but we are beginning to see more best practices that can be shared.
“We have calculated that we need 25 million more competent and trained project professionals in this decade to meet the demand of the global economy. PMI plays a crucial role in this as we are the brokers of trust in a community where professionals and employers can meet, acquire skills, provide career-long development opportunities and establish standards.”
This article was originally published in the Summer 2024 issue of Technology Record. To get future issues delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for a free subscription.