What is a project? A project can simply be defined as tasking that falls outside of day-to-day business and when completed it provides a sought-after benefit, product, and/or service. The manager must keep the project within the triple “iron” constraint triangle known as time, cost, and scope. A project manager (PM) has to identity requirements, establish clear and achievable objectives, balance the constraints, and adapt to specifications and expectations.
How can artificial intelligence (AI) make managing a project go smoother? AI can serve as an assistant and help the day-to-day administration and management go smoother. It has the capability to take care of simple tasks like check-ins, managing updates, and deliverable reminders. AI can save the PM a lot of time by handling the smaller tasks allowing them to focus on the heavy hitters of the project like meeting stakeholder expectations. As AI gets smarter you can teach it understand your project, budget and sprints (if you’re using agile methodology). They can eventually learn project metrics and can notify the PM when any changes happen within the scope, quality, or group effort. Advanced AI can use predictive analytics to find any shifts in project progress.
Can AI can one day replace a PM? While this is a grand idea, I think that AI could be close to replacing a PM but working with AI does not have the same feel as working with a person. Employees like to have an interpersonal connection with their manager. Imagine AI giving a product demo to C-Suite members and other stakeholders. It could save the PM some time, but will AI be able to respond to questions. I use Alexa at home to help make task lists and set reminders, but it is a little challenging for me to think of her assisting me at the office. Another factor with integrating AI into the workplace is getting the team on board. Read this post to learn more about winning over the team when change is brought into play.
References
Manager’s challenges–managing constraints. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/managing-challenges-triple-constraints-6884
Schmelzer, R. (2019). AI In Project Management. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2019/07/30/ai-in-project-management/#5282d1d2b4a0
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