The discipline of project management is constantly evolving and adapting to the needs of its practitioners. While PM standards and practices are fairly standardized, other allied disciplines such as operations research, artificial intelligence, behavior modeling and optimization, risk management, business analytics, supply chain management, and several others have their own unique sets of standards, practices, software programs, techniques, and research. These sub-disciplines tend to be more specialized than the umbrella discipline of project management. They are also often tied to certain industries or niches so that there may be some crossover with other allied fields like industrial engineering or operations research. However, with so many different PM practices all coming together under one name (project management), it can sometimes be challenging for those new to this field as to which type of methods they should adopt in their current role or prospective roles moving forward.
Project Management Research Trends of Allied Disciplines
The discipline of project management is constantly evolving and adapting to the needs of its practitioners. While PM standards and practices are fairly standardized, other allied disciplines such as operations research, artificial intelligence, behavior modeling and optimization, risk management, business analytics, supply chain management, and several others have their own unique sets of standards, practices, software programs, techniques, and research. These sub-disciplines tend to be more specialized than the umbrella discipline of project management. They are also often tied to certain industries or niches so that there may be some crossover with other allied fields like industrial engineering or operations research. However, with so many different PM practices all coming together under one name (project management), it can sometimes be challenging for those new to this field as to which type of methods they should adopt in their current role or prospective roles moving forward.
Linking multitasking and project management.
Multitasking is a project management skill. Some experts even use the term “multitasking” to refer to what others call task-switching—the process of moving from one task to another without pausing in between. Multitasking is essential when managing projects because you need to be able to handle multiple tasks at once. That’s why we’ve included it as one of our top research trends for 2019: It’s an essential skill that all project managers should understand and be able to apply to their projects.
Cyberspace and information and communications technologies (ICT) in project management.
Project management has been around for a long time, but ICT usage in the field is relatively new. The use of cyberspace as a tool for project planning and management has been around since the 1990s, when e-mail became widely used. There are still many opportunities for research on this topic because ICT is evolving rapidly, with new advancements being made every day. One example of an ICT tool used in project management is the “Agile Scrum” method, where teams work together to complete projects quickly via e-mail, phone calls, and social media platforms like Slack or Basecamp, where they can post updates about their progress as well as receive feedback from other team members on what needs improvement before moving onto another phase of development/construction, etc. While using tools like Trello, which allows multiple people access from anywhere at any time, whether its offsite location or home office etc. So, everyone knows exactly what needs to be done next throughout all stages, even if something happens unexpectedly during production, causing delays.
Research methods in project management research.
Project management research often uses the case study method to understand a problem better. A case study helps gain insights into a specific phenomenon, and it is also helpful when you want to extrapolate data from a sample to a whole population. To conduct your own project management research, you can use one or more of the following methods:
- Surveys
- Interviews
Knowledge management in project management.
Knowledge management is a set of processes, technologies, and techniques that help people and organizations capture, codify, structure, and share information. The process of knowledge management is the same whether you are managing a large corporation or an individual project. The best way to explain knowledge management is with an example: your project manager assigns you some work. You execute it using your experience, but sometimes you need more information about how to complete the task, so you reach out for guidance on how best to proceed. Your boss gives this advice in person or over email or phone call; he may also send written documents explaining how something should be done.
This is what we call tacit knowledge – it’s immeasurable because there isn’t any scientific way of measuring it accurately since there aren’t any numbers involved in its transfer from one person to another. For tacit knowledge transfer between two people to happen quickly and effectively take place between them repeatedly over time so they can build strong relationships based upon trust, they need an environment conducive to sharing ideas openly without fear.
Project-based organization (PBO) and knowledge creation.
Project-based organization (PBO) and knowledge creation. According to the literature, knowledge creation is directly impacted by organizational structure. PBOs are project-oriented and have project-based structures that provide an environment conducive to learning and the development of skills, supporting innovation.
Project-based organizational change (PBOC).
Project-based organizational change (PBOC) is the process of identifying and implementing projects as a way to improve an organization’s performance. Organizations can use PBOC as another opportunity to improve their project management processes.
In this section, you will learn:
- How organizations can use PBOC as a way to improve their existing project management processes
- How organizational change can impact the success of your projects
Potential future research approaches in project management.
Use of artificial intelligence in project management
As an example, AI can be used to create a virtual environment with virtual people. These virtual people can then be trained to behave as humans would in a particular situation, such as when asked for their opinion on something. This would allow researchers to observe how humans react to certain situations and learn from them.
Project management career paths
One aspect that has not been explored much is the career path of project managers themselves; there is little information available about what they do after they finish their studies. An interesting paper by Sujatha Kannan titled “Project Management Careers: What Students Need To Know” looks at this topic and provides tips around choosing a specialization while studying project management at the university level or later on. The article also examines which fields would best suit people interested in becoming PMs but who do not want/need any formal training before applying for jobs explicitly related to this area.
There are many different approaches to researching project management.
In brief, PM research is an ever-evolving field of study. There are many different approaches to researching project management, and the seven listed in this article might not be the only ones. However, it is still helpful for you to know about them to make informed decisions about what types of research would be most beneficial for your own practice or organization.
Conclusion
It’s important to remember that project management research is still a young field. It’s made up of scholars from different disciplines with different perspectives and needs. And while some trends are more popular than others, there’s no one right way to study projects. There are many paths worth exploring as we learn about how people work together in teams.