The Rise of the Project Manager in 2023

by Kathy Seaton

Inflation, supply chain issues, the Great Resignation, and quiet quitting impacted the market in significant ways this past year. Project managers are in the center of righting the ship, creating change, and making things happen.

As the business environment continues to expand globally and gets more digitalized, companies need to quickly adapt and bring services and products to market. The expertise of a project manager is now considered mission critical because projects are more complex and complicated.

The role of the project manager shifted away from someone who can tick off tasks into a leadership position for effective change.

Here’s what project managers want to consider in terms of upskilling and planning for the year ahead.

Hybrid Project Management is the Next Step for Agile

The acceptance of hybrid approaches is on the rise. Ongoing iterations with leadership, stakeholders, and customers involved is the way forward to improve deliverables at all stages.

The rise of hybrid project management is important because:

The complexity of projects is increasing
More collaboration is necessary to develop the right product or service, at the right time
Many corporations aren’t set up to run the entire organization in an agile way

Flexibility is How Business Gets Done

The way projects get done has evolved primarily because of the necessity to have more sophisticated resources in place and more stakeholder involvement.

Project managers should adjust their leadership and planning in consideration of the following:

Stakeholders have shorter attention spans and more time constraints
There are unknown technical situations and new complexities in markets economically, culturally, and socially
Higher staff turnover is a reality and people move at the drop of a dime for better pay
There are greater demands being put on management teams everyday due to attrition
Collaboration with partners and suppliers is deeper and more routine
Regulation and compliance are more critical throughout the entire process

The Use of Software and Technology is an Imperative

Technology is developing at a rapid rate when it comes to project management. The integration of big data, automation, and machine learning are making possible the better use of large data sets. What is important in the process is:

Blockchain
Artificial intelligence
Human/machine collaboration
Mobile
Remote access
Digital upskilling

The Project Manager’s Role is being Reimagined

The opportunity for a C-Suite project management officer is among us. If leaders are committed to improving project development and delivery, then it must be strategically aligned with organizational goals so that people are focusing on the right projects. Conversations and collaboration need to be elevated beyond senior management.

Game changing organizations follow a strategic plan, set priorities, and communicate those priorities so that teamwork is encouraged, and mandatory. There must be a universal understanding of what’s important to move the bottom line.