Did you know that when artificial intelligence (AI) and humans work together, they can achieve incredible results? Collaboration between AI and humans can help risk mitigation and project outcomes. It also can boost team productivity.
Nowadays, project managers must use the power of artificial intelligence to deliver projects more efficiently than ever before.
AI has the potential to emulate human intelligence, learn from experience, and perform tasks that were once done only by humans.
One study from McKinsey showed a small group of responders from a wide range of industries say AI accounts for 20% or more of their companies' earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT). In reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and its acceleration of all things digital, big companies intend to increase their investment in AI.
So, how does AI impact project management? Let’s take a look at how AI and human expertise in project management below.
The Impact of AI on Project Management
Adopted from Project Practical, here are some of the impacts of AI on project management and how AI help project managers:
1. Automating Administrative Tasks
Artificial intelligence (AI) can change project management implementation across sectors.
AI's capacity to automate repetitive responsibilities is one of its key advantages in project management. This frees up a considerable amount of valuable time and energy project managers would otherwise have spent on these tasks. These tasks may include data entry, report generation, and scheduling.
AI-powered tools can handle these activities, helping managers to focus on more valuable responsibilities like risk management, stakeholder collaboration, and team building.
By managing routine tasks and allowing project managers to focus on more valuable responsibilities, AI can increase the efficiency and efficacy of project management.
2. Improve Decision Making
Artificial intelligence may offer suggestions and new perspectives by examining the data. The data collected throughout a project can unearth previously unknown patterns, trends, and potential issues that human project managers could overlook.
The ability to recognise these characteristics is possessed by artificial intelligence.
Consequently, project managers may have a greater predisposition to make prudent judgments and participate in proactive measures to lessen the risks connected with their projects.
3. Team Collaboration and Productivity
AI will likely increase the standard for how much team members collaborate and engage with one another. Teams can collaborate with real-time support and assistance by integrating chatbots, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence.
The assistant includes responding to questions and finding solutions to problems. It can boost the team's production while also reducing the likelihood of misunderstandings or delays.
4. Tracking project progress
AI can help project managers in tracking and monitoring their projects' progress. Machine learning-based AI has the capability of predicting project outcomes as well as recognising areas that could benefit from improvements.
Leveraging past knowledge and experience can enable project managers to maximise project success by making informed, data-driven decisions.
By utilising this accumulated knowledge, project managers can access valuable insights and best practices that can inform their decision-making processes. This guarantees project decisions based on facts rather than presumptions.
The Challenges of AI in Project Management
As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly grows in various industries, it's no surprise that project management has also turned to this technology to improve team productivity. However, several challenges need to be addressed to successfully integrate AI into project management processes.
1. Lack of data quality
AI algorithms require vast amounts of high-quality data to function correctly. Unfortunately, project management data is often incomplete or inaccurate, which can lead to faulty predictions and recommendations.
2. Need for skilled human
AI still needs human intervention to ensure its accuracy and effectiveness. However, there is currently a significant skills gap in this area, with many organisations struggling to find qualified personnel.
3. Concerns over AI replacing human project managers
Project management involves soft skills such as leadership, communication, and decision-making, which are difficult for AI to replicate. While AI can automate many tasks, it may not be able to replace human project managers entirely.
4. Cost
Implementing AI technology can be expensive, especially for smaller organisations. The cost of AI adoption can range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars, depending on the size of the organisation and the complexity of the AI system.
5. Future outlook
While there are challenges to overcome, the majority of executives believe that AI will become a standard project management tool in the future. However, it is essential to balance the use of AI with human skills and carefully consider the cost of adoption.
Conclusion
Project managers are experiencing transformations in their operations through AI in many distinct ways, such as automating repetitive duties, gaining insights and making recommendations through data analysis, enhancing communication and collaboration, anticipating project outcomes, and identifying potential risks and obstacles.
Companies have the potential to improve the outcomes of projects, raise the productivity of teams, and lower the risks connected with projects when artificial intelligence is paired with human experience in project management.
The use of AI in project management is increasingly growing in some industries. But, it also comes with some challenges that we need to be aware of.
