At a time when new technologies are disrupting markets and forcing companies to relook at the way they have done business so far, proven project management practices are becoming critical for survival.

The latest edition of PMI’s Pulse of the Profession® report, Next Practices – Maximizing the Benefits of Disruptive Technologies on Projects, shows that organizations need a new set of approaches and technologies to be successful in this disruptive market.

The report is based on in-depth research conducted online in February 2018 among 1,730 project management professionals globally, including seven PMO directors and seven C-suite executives from major national and multinational corporations.

"Innovator organizations realize that disruptive technologies can give them a competitive advantage by improving customer experience, enhancing employee ef?ciency, and shortening project timelines," says Mark A. Langley, PMI President and CEO. PMI research demonstrates how organizations that commit to proven project management practices experience better project outcomes.

India is seeing the emergence of innovative business models that are leveraging disruptive technologies. The Government of India wants to make India a US$ 1 trillion digital economy in the next five years through largescale adoption of these technologies across industries.

Says Raj Kalady, managing director, PMI India, "In India, organizations across sectors – IT, banking and financial services, e-commerce, healthcare, manufacturing – are embracing disruptive technologies and creating new, innovative products and services. Project management is a necessary ingredient for success both for traditional businesses as they transform themselves into a digital-first business and for new companies that want to establish themselves in a market that is fast changing."

DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACT
In the survey, project and business leaders shared examples of their experiences with the impact of disruptive technologies on projects and project management activities within their organizations.

Among the technologies that have impacted projects the most, survey respondents ranked cloud solutions, Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI) as the top three. The other disruptors, ranked in the order of their total impact, are 5G mobile internet, voicedriven software, building information modeling (BIM), advanced robotics, 3D printing, blockchain, autonomous (self-driving) vehicles, large-scale energy storage, gene sequencing, and genomics.

As many as 91 percent of the organizations surveyed reported being impacted by these 13 disruptive technologies. A disruptive technology may be either a tool or resource employed in production (e.g., AI or 3D printing), or it may be the finished product or service itself (e.g., self-driving vehicle).

These disruptors are outperforming established players by addressing gaps in the market, forcing organizations to re-evaluate strategy and value. These game-changing technologies are transforming how we sell, market, communicate, collaborate, educate, train, innovate, and much more.

SOME KEY HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE RESEARCH

• 71 percent of the projects of innovators meet the original goals or business intent as compared to 60 percent in the case of laggards. Innovators are organizations with a mature digital transformation strategy, are risk tolerant, and have adopted and made disruptive technologies a priority, as opposed to laggards;
• 84 percent of innovators say the cloud is giving their organization a competitive advantage, compared to just 57 percent of laggards;
• 62 percent of innovators say IoT is giving their organization a competitive advantage, compared to just 26 percent of laggards;
• 60 percent of innovators say AI is giving their organization a competitive advantage, compared to just 22 percent of laggards;
• 9.9 percent of every dollar is wasted due to poor project performance, which is more due to poor implementation rather than flawed strategy;
• 67 percent of the projects of innovators are completed within the budget as compared to 55 percent in the case of laggards; and
• 61 percent of the projects of innovators are completed on time as compared to 48 percent in the case of laggards.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT COMPETENCY BUILDING
Innovators are in the forefront in making changes in the value delivery landscape by acquiring new competencies that will allow them to complete their projects and programs successfully. They are bringing in new approaches to project delivery — predictive, iterative, incremental, agile, hybrid, and next practices (future approaches). Innovators are requiring more expertise in approaches such as agile and hybrid — 83 percent as compared to 66 percent for laggards.

The significance of the PMI Talent Triangle® has increased in these circumstances.

Innovators feel the need for their project managers to have more subject matterexpertise and knowledge and delivery standards that are beyond major certifications. As a whole, innovators are involving their project managers more in the value delivery process — 76% — as managers of change.

For innovators, the role of the project manager now includes these three key aspects: advocacy for technology, supervision of course correction, and an authority on disruptive technology.

The findings of the Pulse of the Profession® suggest that organizations need to develop new practices to deepen their delivery capabilities. They need to evolve and experiment with their traditional project management approaches; they need to develop virtual teams that bring together ideas, talents, resources, and opportunities into the organization; and they need to design workspaces for increased collaboration.

Organizations that follow the example of innovators will see success. Some important lessons to adopt are: view disruptive technologies as an opportunity to become more competitive; focus on the value delivery landscape to help navigate disruption; and enable the project manager to play a more strategic role in managing disruption.

You can download the report here.