2021 Project Management Trends

When we wrote our 2020 trend predictions in late 2019, the approaching new decade looked very different for the project management industry. While some of our predictions did in fact come to pass – it seems almost humorous now that “remote work” was included – the realization of those trends and their impacts looks quite different a year later.

As the pandemic continues, especially in the United States, we’re still waiting for the “post-COVID-19 era” to arrive. When it does, it won’t look anything like the world we left behind in early 2020, and there are a lot of unknowns at play. In the meantime, however, there are three solid trends in motion that we expect to continue into next year, regardless of how long the pandemic lasts.

Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

Project management has always been a high-stress industry with deadlines, budgets, moving pieces, conflicting personalities and diverse workstyles among team members. A forced shift to remote work for many – and then a subsequent shift to permanent remote work for an ever-increasing number of organizations – required grace and patience from everyone. Project teams have been working to maintain timelines and workload with the added stress of working at home with kids, pets and partners in the mix. Even if your organization eventually goes back to a fully onsite model, bring that patience and understanding into the new era as a leader. Even in a “normal” year, your team has a multitude of personal struggles and challenges happening outside of work. Viewing challenges through that lens can help you guide your team through conflict compassionately and successfully.

Stronger Connection between Project Work and Organizational Strategy

On a surface level, projects are finite. Once work wraps, the team is on to the next one. While projects do tie to business goals, they are often viewed as pieces of a strategy, rather than the active strategy. The strategic thinking usually comes first, and projects bubble down from that. In 2021, experts in the industry see a reversal coming. Ongoing projects and outcomes will drive the forward-looking strategy, bringing these two pieces into closer alignment. In the year ahead, leaders will be focused on realizing strategy in an actionable way.

Hybrid Approaches to Project Management Style

Project management isn’t and never has been a single approach – a number of styles fall under this umbrella. The changes 2020 brought to the workforce necessitated some abrupt revisions to process and management styles. As these fixes became long-term rather than temporary ones, project teams began to see the benefits of different styles. We expect to see widespread use of combo approaches, where teams pull from Agile, waterfall, Scrum and other methodologies to most effectively meet the needs of an individual project. Rather than adopting a single philosophy, teams will adapt as individual projects demand.

If there’s one thing 2020 has taught all of us, it’s that predictions about trends and happenings months out can be a futile exercise. Above all, project managers will need to take the flexibility and adaptability skills they’ve honed this year into 2021 and beyond. We won’t have all the answers, and that’s okay – thinking on our feet, patience and a good dose of understanding for our teams will get us there.