Those organisations that want to succeed and evolve in this digital age are those that are prepared to adapt, and quickly, to new challenges and opportunities. These are forward-thinking organisations that are looking to build better products and improve their customer relationships at speeds never seen before thanks to the available technology.
These are organisations that will rely on a workforce that has the necessary experience and skills to utilise these digital tools that are becoming increasingly important in the workplace. They will also empower their employees to look at different ways in which they can organise work and provide training programs that are both robust and offer opportunities to broaden skill sets and qualifications through a range of different routes, including courses for PMs.
The evolution of education and training in the digital age
With time constraints tighter than ever in many workplaces, the opportunities to complete training and education via online platforms rather than in person have never been more important. If there is one thing to thank Covid for, it is the realisation that for many people online learning can be just as effective as in-person classroom courses – although this is, of course, not true for everyone. A hybrid approach with soon education and training taking place in person with the rest online can be a great compromise that allows for a better work/life balance for many individuals.
Project managers need to also ensure that in addition to any education that their project teams undertake, for example, sitting qualifications such as APM PFQ, they also undertake any appropriate training to assist them with the range of new technologies that are now available to assist within the workplace. These can be everything from the latest project management software to AI that can help them with the more monotonous tasks that may be required on a project.
How can professionals prepare for the challenges ahead?
If professionals within the field of project management want to ensure that they are adequately prepared for the challenges that lie ahead of them in the continually evolving digital age, then they need to ensure that they keep abreast of all the latest developments in the sector. Having a great project management team in place with all the necessary skills and qualifications is a great place to start, and it is important to ensure that at every stage, the right training has been undertaken. Once you have created the right team for you, it is important to ensure that you invest in them. This will make your team feel valued, and when this happens, you will have a higher rate of employee retention which has been shown to improve the outcome of projects.
The key thing that professionals need to be doing is continually checking that they and their team are using the latest technologies that are available and that they fully understand how to get the most from them. This can only be done via continuous improvement strategies that involve time spent on research and training.
