HOW AI IS TRANSFORMING PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN CANADA

As the use of AI in project management software grows, so do the roles of project managers and the skills they need. Hussain Bandukwala and Peter Taylor, project management specialists, talk about how Canadian businesses should prepare their PMs for AI work. One in three project managers (33%) anticipate increasing their investments in AI by at least 30% by the end of the year, according to a new Capterra study of 2,500 project managers worldwide and 200 in Canada.

Let’s start with the steps below:

AI features aren't used enough or need to be added in project managment

Businesses must prepare themselves and their project managers in order to fully take advantage of the opportunities provided by AI-enabled software and technology. They will need to take a look at the project management software they currently use and learn how their project managers are using the tools. 

Businesses can audit their software stack in a few easy steps:

• All project management tools and their AI capabilities should be listed in detail.
• Examine the purpose, frequency of use, and user satisfaction of each tool. Collect comments from project managers. You will have a better understanding of which tools and features are crucial and which may be underutilized or redundant as a result of this. 
• Examine each tool's security and compliance. You can guarantee that they meet your company's standards this way. 
• Find out how much support and training each tool has. This will assist you in determining training gaps and scheduling additional resources or training sessions.

Create training project management's programs that emphasize essential soft and hard skills

Most project managers think that artificial intelligence has a significant impact on the team’s ability to achieve its goals.

In a survey made by Capterra, project managers are asked what soft skills they struggle with. Conflict resolution (37%) and self-regulation (30%) are the most frequently mentioned skills. Here are some effective methods business leaders can use to train their project managers:

• Simulations and role-playing games that give project managers a chance to practice in real-world situations and try out different ways to deal with conflicts, negotiate, and build positive relationships.
• Workshops that teach strategies for active listening, understanding different personality types, managing difficult conversations, and creating a collaborative team environment include activities like group discussions, case studies, and interactive exercises.
• Programs for mentoring and coaching that pair experienced mentors within the company with project managers to provide ongoing support and individualized guidance, helping them to address specific challenges, set goals for improvement, and monitor progress.

The increasing use of AI also requires entirely new hard skills, such as data analyses, data management and how to get the most out of the AI-enabled project management tools. 

Create safeguards to prevent AI applications from misusing data

The first step is to understand the advantages and the limitations of AI-enabled tools; companies should select the tools based on the goals they want to achieve.

The second step is to create the right data management process. To maintain consistent data quality, it is preferable for business leaders to implement a number of best practices, such as:

• Establishing the appropriate frame of mind, which includes accepting the fact that change management is necessary to preserve an acceptable level of data quality.
• Don't just delegate responsibility for data quality to the IT department; instead, spread it across multiple roles.
• Utilize technology to integrate data sources and measure and report operational source data quality.
• Map the relationship between business outcomes, performance, and financial effects and data quality consistently.

Risk management software, which can be integrated into project management software, can be utilized by larger businesses that wish to operationalize data risk management. The set of abilities and skills required to work with AI tools are constantly evolving. Businesses will need to invest in their project manager's knowledge and skill set to make sure they can keep up with new technological developments. The next thing you should do is work with your company's leaders to decide which insights you will use when. By anticipating your project managers' knowledge gaps and the steps you can take to fill them, you can set yourself up for success.

Project management will benefit even more from advancements in AI

The level of AI capabilities offered by project management software vendors varies. However, vendors are rapidly adding AI to their products as a standard part of their offerings.

Tools will be able to provide increasingly precise summary reports of who said what as AI gets better at distinguishing voices during project meetings. Additionally, he anticipates that vendors will make such records searchable at increasingly granular levels by utilizing AI. Montgomery anticipates that large language models will make it simpler for members of the project team to use project management software to carry out intricate tasks. Using LLMs, those staffers can engage with the software using everyday language rather than writing code.

Cousins anticipates advancements in AI's capacity planning capability, which is still in its infancy. Other areas in which AI is just beginning to make inroads, such as demand management, resource assignment, and prioritization, may also increasingly benefit from technological advancements. Cousins said that in the future, project teams will also be able to use AI to create artificial data to help with predictive and prescriptive analyses. This, in turn, will help project management professionals increase their overall management accuracy, including their ability to audit their entire project portfolios.

By bringing data-driven insights to a task that currently tends to be more subjective than objective, Cousins also anticipates that AI will assist teams in determining when to cancel struggling projects. Additionally, he asserted, AI may have advanced sufficiently to handle numerous responsibilities associated with project portfolio manager and change manager positions. "There will still be a human who has responsibility for [those jobs], but they'll be massively assisted by AI," he said.