Project management tools are currently used heavily by various professional businesses around the world. It is clear that these tools are making a huge change in the business world. They are simply perfect for streamlining a high number of business tasks.
But, as the world is continuously changing, it is necessary to think about whether a particular technology is future proof. Therefore, let’s take a look at what can be expected for the future of project management.
The change on the economic plane
It is important to look at the global economic picture. Why? Well, task management tools are primarily used in western societies, that have adopted the latest trends. When it comes to African and Asian countries, there is still a lot of room for economic growth.
Why is this important for project management? Currently, this type of software is considered as an unnecessary expense. However, as the global economy continues to push forward, more businesses in the east will adopt project management software tools.
All this points to the fact that project management is only going to continue growing globally, and we can expect a bright future for the project management software industry.
Agile project management will rule the business world
In the last two decades, there has been a lot of change in the way companies approach projects. The change has lead to teams of people building project foundations that can later be modified.
This approach was created in IT companies, when teams of people had to make a lot of adjustments after every client revision. Once the changes were requested, the coding teams had a lot of problems restructuring the project and getting it done within the deadline. Over the course of time, agile project management came into existence, creating a much better way to handle complex projects.
Why is this important for the future? Well, like all good approaches, they are first created in particular niches, but over time, as they become significantly better, they expand to other types of businesses.
Agile project management will become more popular in the future. It can be expected that more project management tools are going to be specifically created for this type of process structure.
Smart assistance software
Project management tools are currently very useful because a manager has a clear insight into how well the project is advancing.
However, to determine employee performance, for a majority of project management tools, there is a lot of manual work. It becomes easier with time tracking, but not all of the software tools have it implemented. This manual labor can take a lot of time from the manager’s hands, especially if the team counts hundreds of people.
This is something that can greatly change in the future. We are currently experiencing an AI and big data software explosion. It is only a matter of time before a higher number of project management tools become more versatile, capable of displaying a wide-range of team data and individual performance data. With this feature, a smart assistant can create automated reports that would be very valuable to the project manager.
This way, businesses are going to be able to save a lot more time, and project managers are going to be able to focus more on the future strategy, as they are going to get all the data needed.
Complete switch to the cloud
There are plenty of project management tools that are cloud based. However, not all of them currently are. In the future, we can expect a much higher percentage of project management tools to be cloud based. It is a logical course of action as cloud based software tools bring the following benefits.
- Accessibility – Cloud based software tools can be accessed from any type of device, from any location, as long as there is a functioning internet connection. This makes it easier to get the job done, as project managers can work on the go.
- Centralized information – All of the crucial data is located in a single location. There is no need to send data or carry it on USB drives; all the data is synchronized with computers that are connected to the cloud software.
- Integration with other tools – Cloud software tools support integration with other tools, which can significantly increase and improve their functionality.
- Cost effectiveness – Cloud based software is a practical solution for businesses because they do not face any additional hardware and software maintenance costs. All of that is included in their monthly free, whereas all of the maintenance is performed by the service provider.
- Scalability – Cloud software tools can support thousands of customers, making it a very good option for enterprise businesses.
It is clear that, over time, practically all software tools are going to be cloud based, including project management software tools.
Social media network integration
Social media networks are incredibly popular, and they can be used for business purposes effectively. It can be expected that in the near future, more project management tools are going to support social media integration.
This can help establish better project member communication. Integrations such as this will revolutionize collaboration approaches, helping bring remote work a much more effective level.
It is clear that there is a bright future for project management software. The more time passes, the better the software is going to become, letting the project manager use the collected data to make the best project-related decisions.