Trends in Project Management

This course will explore emerging trends in project management into the mid-21st century, tracking a timeline of steady improvement. Project management’s early adopters (1940s–1970s) came from sectors, such as military, financial services, and automotive, that required highly structured plans, specialized skills, and strategy to overcome complex risks. At the time, these industries were under scrutiny and subject to regulatory oversight in order to manage economic, housing, workplace, and public safety risks. As a result, in the past 50 years, the quest for best practices and continuous improvements has forged project management into an indispensable profession. In this course, learn the value that industries have contributed to and gained from project management in this symbiotic relationship. Since 2010, rapid developments and innovations in emerging subsectors—such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and sustainability—have drawn upon modernized planning and more accurate analytics. With the advent of remote working, the gig economy, and hybrid predictive-adaptive project deployments, productivity has increased. We can expect these trends to continue to unlock greater value in the future. Through select case studies, we will follow the trends in project management—the innovations, approaches, and outcomes of projects in public works, urbanization, satellite exploration, financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, etc. We also will analyze why project management is a game-changer in the way work is done.