The COVID-19 pandemic may have brought the office into our homes, but that doesn’t mean work has become a solitary endeavor. The novelty of working remotely wore off quickly, and many organizations barely missed a beat. That’s because many organizations were already preparing for the future of work – a future that’s project-based, collaborative, and relies on teams of changemakers who come together to tackle problems and deliver success.
The pandemic has taught us that we have to be prepared for similar disruptions in the future. Just as it’s taken resilience to navigate all COVID-driven changes, the organizations that will have a competitive advantage ahead will embrace what Project Management Institute (PMI) has termed “The Project Economy.” By providing individual employees the skills and capabilities they need and coming together on project teams, these individuals can turn ideas into reality to prepare for shocks before they happen.
While many organizations were forced to put projects on hold in the past year, those that forged ahead did so with gusto and achieved better project outcomes, according to PMI’s recent report, Pulse of the Profession ® 2021. Organizations surveyed reported a three-year high for the following outcomes: The percentage of projects completed in the past 12 months that met original goals or business intent (73 percent), the percentage of projects that were completed within the original budget (62 percent) and the percentage of projects completed on time (55 percent).
More often than not, what comes between an idea and reality is a project in most organizations. That project may be what builds that bridge or what designs that new software. The organizations that understand this will have an edge in making their workforce most efficient and impactful.
Joe Cahill, Chief Customer Officer at PMI