10 Project Management Software Trends & Forecasts for 2024 You Should Know

The heart of project management lies in applying one’s skills, methods, processes, knowledge, and experience to attain project objectives. The broadness of the discipline gives project management a vital role in almost any industry one can think of. With the right project management software, project managers and team members can rise to the many challenges that are bound to happen in this diverse and exciting field.

In this article, learn about emerging project management software trends and best practices for 2022 that will shape the industry. From innovative approaches to in-demand skills and new technologies, one can get an overview of the various forces that are changing the project management landscape today. Armed with the knowledge of what the major trends in project management are, professionals can better equip themselves for what’s to come.

Project managers have a lot on their hands. After all, they oversee the project lifecycle from initiation to planning to execution through closure. Along the way, they have to deal with a variety of issues, such as scope creep, budgeting issues, and other risks to see the project through to success.

Despite the complexities of their job, project managers will be glad to know that there is strong demand for their skills. In fact, project management is the most sought-after tech skill by employers in 2021. Job market analytics firm Emsi Burning Glass analyzed millions of job posts and found that project management skills were mentioned in 869,538 job postings, topping all other tech skills. Skills related to programming languages and software skills followed suit. SQL took the second spot at 723,558 job postings and software development at 640,587 postings.

When it comes to salary, some project managers in certain countries are better paid than their counterparts in other countries. According to the PMI Project Management Salary Survey, project professionals in Switzerland report the highest median salary at $140,983, followed by the United States at $115,000, and Australia at $113,664. The countries with the lowest salaries for project managers are Egypt ($17,858) and Pakistan ($13,803).

However, possessing project management skills is not enough to remain competitive in the industry. It is also crucial to stay abreast of the latest best practices, new project management software trends, and other industry news, which we will be discussing below.

10 Project Management Software Trends

1. Digitized Project Management Processes

In a bid to improve their processes, almost all areas of business have enjoyed some kind of digital transformation in recent years. Project management is no exception. Today there are various online project management tools for handling project management functions. These include collaboration tools, workflow management software, change management tools, and business process management systems.

One misconception about digitizing project management processes is that it ends with selecting new tools. In reality, it is far more complex. Even before initiating digitization, one needs to assess what new or upgraded tools your team needs. Next, there should be training and some practice sessions on the tools at the early stages. User questions should also be answered at this point to avoid confusion.

For your process improvement to gain continuity, it will be best to assign a process owner to it. This can usually be done by a Project Management Office (PMO), which most organizations have. According to a survey, 47% of organizations have multiple PMOs while 35% have one PMO. For the 16% of organizations that don’t have a PMO, they can assign one or a few individuals as process owners (Wellingtone, 2020). PMOs or individual process owners would then act as a central hub that reviews and approves process changes, making sure that they are aligned with organizational goals.

2. More Complex Technology Integration

Years ago, companies tended to stay in the digital factory model. In this model, teams work under a repeatable, scalable digital model where products are delivered in separate digital and IT units. While this can hasten an organization’s speed of innovation in the short term, one of its pitfalls is the lack of a common operating model for digital and IT teams. Thus, it requires collaboration and delivery from various technology groups, which can create confusion and fragmented technology stacks. For instance, statistics show that Jira has a market share of 39.95% of project management technologies in the United Kingdom. This is followed by Microsoft Project (13.3%) and Trello (6.67%) (Datanyze, 2020). Yet this is just one part of the whole technology stack that project managers deal with in their day-to-day work.

Management consulting firm McKinsey recommends pursuing a digitally integrated model. Under such a framework, teams are organized around products, internal capabilities, and a system of records instead of having multiple digital teams with dedicated and pooled resources. It also emphasizes minimizing redundancy and maximizing interoperability within teams.

This said, project management software trends dictate that as teams become more reliant on technology, they also need to be more technologically fluent. Recognizing this, the tenets of project management have been given an additional layer to factor in technology. Dubbed Project Management Technology Quotient or PTMQ, this approach introduces the concept of technology quotient, which means a person’s ability to integrate advances in technology for a project or organization. One of the key components of PTMQ is a future-proof talent pool where employees keep abreast of technological trends and adapt their abilities accordingly. With the help of integrated technology, project managers can better deliver on their tasks and hit goals on time and on budget.

3. Hybrid Project Management Approaches

Traditionally, practitioners approach project management using only a single project management strategy. Popular methodologies include Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and PRINCE2 or the Waterfall model. Traditional methodologies commonly employ a linear approach starting from initiation to planning to execution and then to monitoring and project closure. In these methodologies, objectives are clearly defined. Moreover, control and clear documentation are emphasized. In contrast to this is the agile approach, which focuses more on collaboration and flexibility in developing project specifications and other changes. With an agile approach, there is more emphasis on individuals and interactions rather than processes and tools and having a working product is more important than documenting the process comprehensively.

One of the recent project management trends is veering away from using exclusively one project management style alone. According to a survey, 60% of respondents said that they use either a hybrid of waterfall and agile or other project management styles in one project (ProjectManager, 2021).

Whether you use traditional or agile project management techniques, at the end of the day, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Project managers have to consider the project size, nature, resources, and more before selecting a methodology. One has to closely inspect the project requirements, possible risks and threats, and end product to know which methodology is more appropriate to use.

4. Remote Collaboration Is the New Standard

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed all kinds of employees to work remotely. According to Hubstaff’s 2021 Remote Project Management Report, 40.1% of companies with more than 1,000 employees worked remotely. The latest remote work trends even predict that this work setup will stay post-pandemic.

Working as a virtual project team offers numerous benefits. For one, it offers a way to improve work-life balance for team members. Second, it improves efficiency and cuts down on employee travel time. Third, remote work leads to lower project costs through technologies that provide instant communication with clients, stakeholders, and project team members.

However, remote work also has its pitfalls. When asked what their biggest challenge was, 45.8% said they had to deal with miscommunication or lack of communication when working remotely. Other concerns were staying motivated (41%) and knowing what each person is working on (36.1%) (Hubstaff Tasks, 2021).

One way to deal with miscommunication issues is for project managers to build a team culture where open, informal communication is encouraged. It will also help if teams set up an initial kick-off call followed by bi-weekly video conference meetings. On the other hand, a lack of daily face-to-face communication that one would otherwise get in an office seating will lead to remote workers feeling disengaged, and, thus, unmotivated. To counter this, project managers and teams need to have clear-cut expectations, which can be reinforced with regular communication of what needs to be done.

5. Demand for Soft Skills

The latest project management statistics indicate that the most common degree among project managers in the US is a bachelor’s degree (69%), followed by a master’s degree (18%), and an associate degree (9%). While only 1% of project managers have a doctorate degree, they rake in the highest wages compared to other types of degree holders, earning an annual median income of $121,283 (Zippia, 2021).

However, one of this year’s project management trends shows that the hard skills gained from education and experience alone are not enough to gain an edge on the job market. As AI tools take over the rote aspects of the job, project managers need to cultivate soft skills to make themselves valuable to organizations. This is in line with the fact that organizations are prioritizing the following skills within their talent pool in supporting successful projects: technical skills (68%), leadership skills (65%), business skills (58%), and digital skills (50%) (PMI, 2020).

There is more to a project manager’s job than completing the project scope and the required documentation. Being effective in one’s role requires managing stakeholders and building relationships with team members, all of which are by-products of having leadership skills. Effective leaders can communicate their vision, possess great problem-solving skills for addressing project roadblocks, and can unite team members for a common purpose. Moreover, business skills require project managers to balance project costs with the project time and scope. Meanwhile, project managers need to be conversant in data management, analytics, big data, security and privacy, and data-driven decision-making to build their digital capabilities.

Most Popular Project Management Platform

1. monday.com offers a visual and intuitive project management platform perfect for teams of all sizes. It provides stunning templates and project timelines to help track progress and monitor your resources.
2. Wrike is a cloud-based collaboration and project management solution that gives you greater and real-time project visibility. It enables a more effective collaboration for your team and streamlines your workflows.
3. Smartsheet is a flexible and scalable project management platform that provides you with the right productivity tools that meet your unique business needs. It assists you in task and portfolio management by simplifying processes and eliminating silos.
4. Asana offers a collaboration platform that makes it easier to handle multiple projects and diverse teams. It comes with a neat and user-friendly interface that gives you a complete view of your projects and their progress.
5. Jira is a project and issue tracking software built for agile and software teams. It provides powerful productivity and collaboration features to help you complete projects and tasks faster.

6. Investment in AI for Project Management

Nowadays, artificial intelligence is not just a buzzword but is slowly gaining acceptance within the project management community. Data shows that 26% of traditional enterprises and 21% of gymnastic or outcomes-focused enterprises leverage artificial intelligence in managing their projects. On the other hand, 39% of gymnastic enterprises said AI-driven tools have a high priority in enterprise-wide adoption in their organization while only 30% of traditional enterprises said the same (PMI, 2021).

Through the power of AI, manual work can be offloaded from humans and can be performed by bots. With that, project managers and teams can be more productive throughout different areas of their work, from planning and strategizing to managing the team and handling client expectations.

For example, bots can schedule project team meetings by booking time slots based on participants’ calendars and common free times. This enhances collaboration while avoiding the constant back-and-forth of when to schedule meetings. Bots can also help enhance data collection for your team by sending them alerts to fill out timesheets, work progress updates, and requests for information.

Companies that deploy AI can reap long-term benefits from their investment. AI innovators delivered projects on time compared to 47% for AI laggards. They also reported that 69% of projects by AI innovators realized 95% or more of their business benefits versus only 53% for AI laggards. Lastly, 64% of projects by AI innovators met or exceeded ROI estimates, compared to only 52% for AI laggards (PMI, 2021).

7. Hybrid Project Management Teams

When people think of project management, it is more likely associated with structured processes and dedicated personnel. In fact, in a recent survey, 54% said they have a formal project management office in their organization compared to only 46% who said they do not have a formal PMO. Moreover, 37% of respondents in the same survey said they had a few systems in place while 34% said they have assigned project managers (ProjectManager, 2021).

Still, this has not prevented the rise of informal project management teams. The same survey has found that while 71% of respondents were specifically hired to be project managers, 29% said they were not hired for the said position but they find themselves regularly managing projects. In addition, a third of the survey respondents said that they have not participated in a formal project management certification program (ProjectManager, 2021).

Informal project teams both have pros and cons. One of the advantages of informal teams, which are based on personal interactions, is that they tend to have feelings of solidarity built on the basis of trust and confidence. It also helps them sharpen their ethical and moral values as it provides them an opportunity to interact with people with varying temperaments and attitudes. However, one of the cons is shifting power from the formal project leader to the informal leader. To work around this, experts recommend that the formal leader build relationships with individual team members by conducting team-building exercises or meeting with them one on one. It also helps for the formal leader to be aware of his leadership style and adjust this accordingly according to the needs of the group.

8. Need for Online Security

Data breaches have become a more common occurrence nowadays, making customers worry about the safety of their data. In fact, 85% of breaches involved a human element, while 61% involved credentials (Verizon, 2021).

These hacking events only emphasize the need to safeguard client data. But at the same time, companies must also balance this with giving easy access to approved users. In another survey, 60% of respondents said that data security concerns prevent them from being flexible and from letting them forge better relationships with customers. Moreover, 18% said that balancing security with client visibility is one of the capabilities that will have the biggest positive impact on their team (Wrike, 2019). Thus, it is important that whatever project management software project teams use must have role-based permissions that let them get the complete picture about their client while allowing for seamless client collaboration.

No matter what type of project management software you use, reviewing its key features is crucial to warding off future data breaches. Project teams should evaluate the software’s policies around physical security, network and system security, application security, privacy, and compliance. In the event that a breach takes place, project managers should prepare their own cyber incident response plan, which must be periodically evaluated and benchmarked against the company’s past security performance. Lastly, all employees onboard the project must undergo training so they understand the possible security threats and risks involved.

9. Agile Is More Necessary Than Ever

The COVID-19 pandemic put a huge strain on the healthcare industry. As the pandemic raged on, the industry saw gaps in staffing, inventory, supply chain, processing times, and facility capacity limits, which impacted getting people inoculated with vaccines. This left the healthcare industry scrambling to find disaster response solutions. Other industries followed suit, as the effects of the pandemic-induced uncertainty spread out to businesses and governments around the world.

These circumstances serve as an ideal backdrop for agile methodologies to flourish. This is true not only for those doing project management but also for all industries in general. The agile methodology is designed to address highly uncertain situations where requirements are not well-defined at the outset or are rapidly evolving. In fact, one characteristic of agile companies is that decisions are made rapidly and learning cycles are the norm. The speed in company processes is complemented by strategy, structure, people, and technology to make up the full operating model of an agile organization. As a result, companies that implement highly successful agile transformations enjoy a 30% increase in customer satisfaction, 30% improvement in operational performance, and 30% higher efficiency gains. In contrast, companies with less successful agile transformations only report 5% to 10% in these metrics (McKinsey, 2021).

To drive a highly successful agile transformation, experts recommend following a four-step process. First, ensure the top team knows what agile is all about. Second, they must understand how the organization creates value and pursue such opportunities. Third, agility must be built at the enterprise level by making sure the strategy, structure, process, people, and technology are in place. Fourth, the transformation must be completed in 18 months, otherwise, it is less likely to be successful.

10. Proactive Productivity Tracking

Pandemic-related restrictions have made video conference and collaboration tools the norm rather than face-to-face meetings. In such a scenario, having everyone on the same page can be challenging. Addressing issues at the organizational level helps projects to be completed on time. Data shows that 26.7% of enterprise resource planning initiatives were delayed due to organizational issues. The other top reasons were scope expansion (20%) and data issues (20%) (Panorama Consulting, 2020).

Having a proactive rather than a reactive approach can mitigate these issues and ensure timely project delivery. To effectively measure project progress, have the project team members contribute to setting up project goals. Make sure that these are clear, measurable, and realistic. Next, use Kanban boards or other ways to visualize project phases and the tasks needed for each phase. Then monitor project progress using the various reports available in your project management software. Lastly, don’t forget to check in with your team regularly to make sure that deadlines are on course.

Project management software trends show that it is possible to accomplish all project tracking and management steps using disparate tools. However, collaborating with others and managing project tasks is easier if done from a comprehensive project management application. From one platform, users can get multiple views for visualizing projects, check whether projects are done, in progress, and on hold. Moreover, users can access reports on risks, variance, project health, project status, team availability, and time tracking for them to make data-driven decisions. Indeed, the right project management software can save you time and money.

The Future of Project Management Is Tech-Driven

Project management is a highly dynamic and adaptable discipline, which makes it useful to just about any industry one can think of. In recent years, traditional approaches used in the field have been challenged to come up with new methodologies to solve problems in ways that have never been thought of before. For example, agile methodologies have proved to be instrumental in the success of not only well-known technology companies but also in the healthcare industry as they dealt with the pandemic.

Technology has impacted the industry as well as can be seen from the prevalence of remote working, digitized project management processes, the need for online security, and the use of AI. As far as the people aspect of project management is concerned, more weight is now given to soft skills, which will certainly be helpful in dealing with both formal and informal project management teams. With this, one can say that the future of project management is still full of surprises.

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By Louie Andre

B2B & SaaS market analyst and senior writer for FinancesOnline. He is most interested in project management solutions, believing all businesses are a work in progress. From pitch deck to exit strategy, he is no stranger to project business hiccups and essentials. He has been involved in a few internet startups including a digital route planner for a triple A affiliate. His advice to vendors and users alike? "Think of benefits, not features."