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HOW TO BECOME AN INVALUABLE PROJECT MANAGER


The demand for skilled Project Managers is ever-increasing with no decline on the horizon. If anything, we see the demand curve continuing to rise, which may not be all that surprising since skilled project managers are vital resources to have access to as the business environments become increasingly more globally integrated and significantly more complex from an operational, technological and digital point of view.

Any given business today run multiple and often complex business development initiatives, product launches, digitalition and IoT projects, cost-cutting initiatives, transformation projects, product development initiatives etc. The list goes on. Therefore, the need for more skilled Project Managers to manage and navigate these to ensure successful deliveries at the end is hardly surprising.

Making a simplstic google trend analysis on the demand for trying finding project project managers I think its fair to say the trend speaks for itself.

Google Trends extract Sep 2024

Does this mean that Project Manager is a future-proof profession?

Yes of course (!) you may think.. After such a deep and well founded analysis how could there possibly be any doubt? But then again no... In fact I tend to move in the opposite direction. I believe the need for Project Managers as a proffession the way it's defined today will decrease over time and leave room for a new upgraded version of Project Managers that are atuned with the requirements of tomorrows needs.

'Hey, this makes no sense what so ever..' you may think. Fair enough. Let me explain..

I believe this trend can be a bit misleading as I don’t believe there will be an increased demand for the Project Manager role as we define it today. The Project Manager of tomorrow will require a different setup and skillset.

The one key driver behind this is the introduction of Artifical Intelligence.. Mr AI. The introduction of AI into the Project Management space.

Until now Project Managers have been quite "relieved" from any significant AI implications to our proffession and it is still very early days in terms of how and in what shape and form AI can support the Project Manager role as such.

Sure there are studies made about potential areas of benefit and utilization and there are PM tools using AI to support their functionality. But having tried a couple I find them extremely unuseful and annoying actually. For instance when creating a project plan and chosing "yes, use AI to support" the AI acts like a substitution player that's been on the bench too long and now got the one chance to prove himself in action so he runs out like a madman chasing the ball only to shoot an own goal. Maybe not the best metaphor but basically I was drowning in AI created deliverables and had to spend much more time deleting all the nonsense then it would have taken me to just create the plan from scratch. And then the AI support in keeping the plan up to date doesn't get any less annoying. Constant reminders, ideas, proposals why it felt I couldn't find the "AI off" switch fast enough.

Having said that I do believe this is about to change. Quickly. The function "AI support" today will quickly be improved and soon a very useful tool for sure. Then this will evolve into something more prominent feature like "replace by AI". Especially if we consider the primary hard skills of a Project Manager where regardless of which discipline you operate in, these consist of some kind of planning, resource management, budget handling, risk management, contract management, etc. These are all hard-skill deliverables that can be significantly simplified, semi-automated and at some point "outsourced" entirely to an Mr/Mrs PM-AI who so happens to be one annoyingly smart, effective and never-resting workaholic. And by now is no longer a fumbling bech-warmer but rather an All-Star Professional.

Needless to say I dislike him already.. but he will be hired at some point, it's inevitable. Today many would probably disagree with my outlook, but I see this a quite reasonable evolution and one that will become our reality in a not too distant future.

So will the Human Project Manager be made redundant?

Far from it. However, the mindset and skillset would need to shift, or rather pivot, into mastering skills that are already vital to the success of any given project, but are yet so often deprioritized and overlooked..

I am referring to the Soft-Skills

I have noticed this especially after coaching fellow Project Managers over the last 2.5 years. I very seldom need to provide any "hard skills" support. Instead most questions tend to focus on issues with people, managers, decision-processes, communication, expectations or requirements and so on.

And the lack of focus or fully understanding the importance and impact the soft skills play in a project can have quite devastating results. Most derailed project that I have had to come in and bring back on track have been exclusively due to lack of performance in the soft skills areas.

And now they become even more important since this is where we as "human" project managers have a competitive advantage over AI. Our future PM-AI partner will be strong in the hard-skills areas but weak or insufficient in the soft-skills areas as the are not easily systematized or measurable and things like keeping people motivated and ensure the wellbeing of project resources is much more a human task to be good at.

In Project Management, I tend to categorize soft skills into five main areas:

• Project Leadership

• Stakeholder Management

• Communication

• Problem Solving

• Adaptability

By excelling in these areas until you master them, so you can maneuver any project through the political landscape of diverse stakeholders and hysterical line managers into safe and successful delivery, will be a high-value skillset to have.

Combine that with excellent Project leadership, the ability to deliver clear and motivational communication, effective problem-solving, and the ability to readily adapt to unforeseen or changed circumstances. Then, you will be a Project Manager of immense value to any business. With your PM-AI partner handling the fundamental hard skills deliverables like updated plans, meeting minutes, documentation, risk impact analysis etc you will be a Project Manager Rockstar in efficiency and effectiveness.

Having the emotional intelligence (EQ) and being able to sense the right move at any given time, based on the political climate within the organization, is something that is very difficult for an AI-PM partner to determine. Yet, it can be evident to a "human" Project Manager who knows how to read the signs and is sensitive to their interpretation.

This is why I truly believe that focusing on mastering the soft skills is essential as a Project Manager. Not just to deliver successful projects here and now, but as a means of becoming a long-term invaluable resource in a future where the role of a Project Manager will require excellence in these skills to a much higher degree then today.

Now it wouldn't be fair too leave you hanging with this problematic realization and then just say bye and good luck, would it? Instead I can offer you something much better.. A solution to this predicament. I will launch a training that focuses specifically on the soft skills I believe are the essential ones to master now and in the future. This training or course rather will consist of several modules where each provides theoretical know-how, the practical exercises for you to learn it, and finally the means of implementing it so that it goes from theory - to undestanding - to actually using in you daily role. There if you are a project manager with some experience under your belt I recommend you to sign-up on the Waiting List to the Next Level Project Manager course linked below. Signing on the waitning list means you will be first out to get information about the course once it's ready and there will be some exclusive bonuses offered only to the early movers as well.

And since there are no strings attached to being on the waitning list you should just sign up, you got nothing to loose and all to win.

To all PM's out there - stay strong!

Andreas Gordji Masuch

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