As a Project Manager, I find PMI’s (Project Management Institute) megatrends analysis, a tool that provides actionable insights on the upcoming major changes that could impact projects. The 2021 report particularly dives deeper to understand the disruptive nature of the pandemic and how it has impacted education, work, and our day-to-day lives as program managers.
I highly suggest that you read the entire report (≈ 20 pages), however, below, you can find a quick synopsis of the key megatrends, as identified by PMI:
- COVID-19
- Climate Crisis
- Civil, Civic, and Equality Movements
- Shifting Globalization Dynamics
- Mainstream Artificial Intelligence
The report outlines three (3) ways that organizations can target/embrace the aforementioned megatrends and adjust accordingly:
- Making Social Impact Projects a Strategic Priority
- Fostering Open and Innovative Partnership Ecosystems
- Rethinking Relationships with Customers and Wider Stakeholders
This report also explains what we – as individuals – can do, to alleviate the unpredictability of future events and thrive in the ecosystem of Changemakers:
- New ways of working, including agile, waterfall, and hybrid methodologies, and digital project management approaches such as problem-solving tools, AI-driven tools, and microlearning apps
- Power skills, such as collaborative leadership, innovative mindset, empathy for the voice of the customer, empathy for the voice of the employee, and the ability to build trusting relationships
- Business acumen
- Continuous Learning (not part of the original list)
PS: this post is probably not directly related to the educator audience, but in my humble opinion it provides useful future-planning guidance for anyone who manages any sort of project, program, portfolio, operation, policy, etc.…
Link to the PMI report:
This report is valuable as it connects planning with actual world events. Too often these are considered separate entities.
Although, as mentioned, this is not directly aimed at educators, the megatrends are certainly so unavoidable that curriculums are now related to all of these trends, so the usefulness could be considered universal. This is a worthwhile starting point for any project, educational or otherwise, because it reminds the planner of big-picture items before getting lost in the details of a project.
At just 20 pages, full of statistics, bold statements and images, this would be a worthwhile report to access every year, and is a great starting point for answering the question “but what can I do?”
Hi Hayley,
Thank you for adding to the discussion. You hit the nail on the head; PMI’s megatrends are a worthwhile starting point for any Project, before the details and deliverables of a Project start kicking in. In fact, one of the ongoing issues of agile project management is that Agile breaks the larger requirements into smaller pieces, so they can be digested. However, it also means that the focus is shifted merely on the details, to a point where quite often, project managers lose sight of the big picture.