The Wild Wild World of Projects in 2022

The world of projects keeps on turning, but is our Project World maturing?

In 2022, the wide wide world of projects kept on turning, because, well, just as the show must go on, so must the project.

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

A Maturing Project World?

Those of us who live in the seemingly ever-expanding world of projects — also known as Life on Project Earth, as we wrote about in BlueProject as 2021 came to a close — have to ask ourselves: did we make any progress as a whole? Yes, the Project Management Institute (PMI) continues to mint new “Project Management Professionals (PMPs),” many of whom at least know how to study Project Management material and take tests. And, Yes, more and more people have continued to embrace Agile methodologies that seem to make certain software projects more effective (see the BlueProject 2022 post: Where is Agile Headed?). And also, there are things we’ve learned from Agile practices that can help us in a wide variety of projects (see the BlueProject 2022 Posts: The WoW Factor and No Code Project Management). And of course we can’t forget that thinking about team structure is mission critical (see the BlueProject 2022 Post: Peopleware Revisited). Finally: have we gotten to a place where we can admit that User Stories are far superior to Business Requirements (see the BlueProject 2022 Post: Do I Have a Story for You?)?

So, yes, perspectives have changed, and we are all thankful for that, I suppose, but have we made progress? Has the Project World matured? With 2022 just about history, I must say, I am not completely sure. I think there is still a lot of work to be done.

Projects in 2023: A Wish-List

So if we were going to wish for progress in the world of how projects transpire, what would we wish for? Here is my rather incomplete list, I am hoping others can add to this:

1. Can someone please recommend a way to expand the use of Ways of Working (WoW) to all projects? So many Project Management Office (PMO) organizations continue to apply a rigid waterfall structure to all projects with specific phases that seem to promote an early 1980s approach to any and all projects. In these PMOs, there is no living concept of varying techniques for varying types of projects.
2. Can we please stop abusing the term Agile? Just because you dance lightly on your tippy toes, this has nothing to do with the Agile Manifesto. To do truly great work using Agile methodologies requires a certain level of adherence to the principles of these methodologies. Otherwise, what is the point? We could just say we are taking the WhirlingAbout approach.
3. Can we please please please rethink the tired and bloodless PMP Certification approach. There needs to be more of an emphasis on validating Project Management experience, which many other professional certifications require. It seems to be a complete oxymoron to have 22 year-old PMPs out there in the wild.
4. Should we also re-think PMOs? Many of them are dying very untimely deaths, partly because they have become concerned only with audit-like controls. Very few of these organizations have an interest in supporting and guiding the Project Managers (PMs) that either directly or indirectly report to them.
5. Let’s find a way to encourage the leadership side of PMs! Great PMs are usually great and inspiring leaders! How many of us living in the world of projects spend time talking about this? Great and inspiring leaders, who also happen to be great PMs, have more fun and are more fun to work with!

See you in 2023!