The Future-Ready Project Manager: Navigating Tomorrow's Challenges with Next-Generation Skills

Unveiling the Future: The Evolution of Project Management Roles

The landscape of project management is undergoing a shift, driven by emerging trends and technological advancements that are reshaping organizational dynamics. As businesses embrace agile methodologies, product-centric models, and cutting-edge technologies like generative AI, the role of the project manager is evolving in tandem.

In this article, we delve into the future of project management, exploring often overlooked perspectives and underdeveloped theories that illuminate the path forward. While traditional project management activities are being decentralized and automated, project managers remain indispensable in navigating the complexities of modern-day projects.

Embracing Agile and Product Models

Gartner research has found that businesses are increasingly adopting agile development and product management models, with 44% of work now delivered through agile methods and 39% through product models. This shift has decentralized traditional project management activities, such as validating requirements and maintaining scope, placing them in the hands of autonomous delivery teams like scrum and fusion teams.

Moreover, recent technological advancements — most notably, in generative AI — mean many project manager tasks, such as resource utilization tracking and business case creation, can be successfully automated. An interesting and noteworthy industy change is two popular agile reference manuals — the Scrum Guide and SAFe Reference Guide — omit the project manager role altogether.

The Rise of Next-Generation Skills

Despite these changes, a recent global Gartner survey suggests that the project manager role is expected to be one of the fastest-growing project management office (PMO) roles across the next two to three years. This begs the question: If project managers aren’t going anywhere, how can they continue to provide value in a changing context?

The answer to this question is the development of the “next-generation” skills that have a disproportionate impact on team and personal performance. These skills include organizational awareness, data acumen, cross-functional collaboration, decision making, willingness to explore and adopt new technology, financial acumen, process and framework expertise, customer centricity, growth mindset, and the ability to coach and motivate teams. A bit more on each of these skills follows:

Organizational Awareness:

• Understanding the company's mission, vision, and values

• Recognizing the interconnectedness of different departments and functions

• Identifying opportunities for collaboration and improvement

Data Acumen:

• Ability to interpret and analyze data from various sources

• Using data to make informed decisions and solve problems

• Identifying trends and patterns that drive business outcomes

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Effectively working with individuals from different backgrounds and expertise

• Building strong relationships and fostering a collaborative environment

• Breaking down silos and promoting knowledge sharing

Decision Making:

• Gathering and evaluating relevant information

• Analyzing options and considering potential consequences

• Making timely and effective decisions under pressure

Willingness to Explore and Adopt New Technology:

• Embracing new technologies and their potential benefits

• Learning and adapting to emerging trends

• Identifying opportunities to improve processes and enhance productivity

Financial Acumen:

• Understanding basic financial concepts and principles

• Analyzing financial statements and making informed financial decisions

• Managing budgets and resources effectively

Process and Framework Expertise:

• Familiarity with industry-standard processes and frameworks

• Ability to apply these frameworks to improve efficiency and effectiveness

• Continuously seeking ways to optimize and streamline processes

Customer Centricity:

• Putting the customer at the heart of all decisions

• Understanding customer needs and expectations

• Delivering exceptional customer experiences

Growth Mindset:

• Embracing challenges and setbacks as opportunities for learning

• Continuously seeking feedback and development opportunities

• Believing in the potential for personal and professional growth

Ability to Coach and Motivate Teams:

• Providing guidance and support to team members

• Setting clear expectations and providing constructive feedback

• Fostering a positive and motivating work environment

The “trick” to remaining relevant will be the development and utilization of these skills in the appropriate “role”.

The Future-Focused Project Manager “Roles”

Gartner has identified three critical roles project managers can play to meet organizations’ future needs: teacher, fixer, and orchestrator. The Teacher role helps bolster the competencies of distributed delivery teams, particularly in organizations early in their digital journey. The Fixer role supports organizations seeking to boost their delivery efficiency, while the Orchestrator role focuses on improved cross-functional coordination in enterprise digital transformation initiatives. Some role highlights are:

eacher

• Key Responsibilities:

  • Identifying and addressing skill gaps within distributed delivery teams

  • Providing training and development opportunities to enhance team capabilities

  • Fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement

  • Mentoring and coaching team members to develop their skills and knowledge

• Benefits to Organizations:

  • Improved team performance and productivity

  • Reduced risk of project failures due to lack of expertise

  • Increased employee engagement and satisfaction

  • Enhanced organizational agility and adaptability

Fixer

• Key Responsibilities:

  • Identifying and resolving bottlenecks and inefficiencies in project delivery processes

  • Implementing process improvements and streamlining workflows

  • Automating tasks and leveraging technology to enhance efficiency

  • Monitoring project progress and taking corrective actions as needed

• Benefits to Organizations:

  • Reduced project delivery time and costs

  • Improved project quality and outcomes

  • Increased resource utilization and productivity

  • Enhanced stakeholder satisfaction

Orchestrator

• Key Responsibilities:

  • Coordinating and aligning cross-functional teams involved in enterprise digital transformation initiatives

  • Facilitating communication and collaboration among different stakeholders

  • Ensuring that project goals and objectives are aligned with the overall business strategy

  • Managing dependencies and resolving conflicts between teams

• Benefits to Organizations:

  • Improved project success rates and reduced risk of failure

  • Enhanced cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing

  • Increased organizational agility and responsiveness to change

  • Improved alignment between IT and business objectives

Overall, these three roles represent a shift in the traditional project management paradigm towards a more strategic and value-driven approach. By embracing these roles, project managers can play a critical role in driving organizational success in the digital age.

Embracing the Future

Developing project managers to exhibit a different set of skills and play new roles won’t happen overnight. To set project managers up for success in today’s environment, organizations need to invest in training and development initiatives that focus on the 10 next-generation skills.

What’s notable about the next-generation skills is not that they’re new in and of themselves; rather, it’s that they collectively highlight the uniquely human aspects of project management that go beyond performing discrete, repetitive project management tasks.

Yes, project managers still need to know how to create business cases and generate reports. However, it’s their sound judgment in decision making — whether that involves people, data, or technology — and their ability to make an impact beyond themselves through their coaching and relationship building that truly differentiates the next-generation project manager.