AI in Project Management: Its True Role for Project Success
Artificial intelligence is a breakthrough in project management, which significantly simplifies and improves almost all the processes – from planning to completion. Informed decision making, bottleneck-free delivery, boosted resource efficiency – the list can go on – these are just some examples of the benefits of using AI in project management. Let’s explore the types of AI and its true role in project management as well as figure out what is worth your attention when searching for AI-powered project management software for your company.
Types of AI in project management
Though AI is a rather new branch in project management, some of its types have already been implemented in many project management tools and have proven themselves to be effective.
Predictive analytics
With the power of predictive analytics, project managers can forecast resource demand and prevent bottlenecks by optimizing workload as well as predict and mitigate risks to ensure smooth and timely delivery.
Machine learning
By analyzing huge amounts of data, which a human brain can’t process, ML identifies patterns and trends from the past and helps project managers make informed decisions and improve project management strategy based on the insights from the past.
AI bots and virtual assistants
Virtual assistants help with resource allocation, warn about risks and errors, and can answer any project- or resource-related questions within seconds, which is why they’re the faithful helpers for everyone in the organization.
Automation
Last but not least is using AI to automate repetitive tasks like scheduling and report creation, freeing project managers from routine job and letting them pay more attention to strategic activities.
Benefits of using AI in project management
Improved resource allocation
AI detects patterns and best matches within seconds which significantly simplifies resource allocation and lets have the right people work on the right tasks.
Optimized workflows
In a multi-project environment with a shared resource pool, even one overloaded resource can ruin the workflow of the whole portfolio because of dependencies between projects and increased waiting times as a result. One overloaded resource or a group provoke idleness of other resources and further overloading them. AI detects and predicts resource overload, so a project or a resource manager can timely prevent it and optimize the workflow.
Enhanced decision making
AI features of project management software can process huge amounts of data and provide real-time insights into the state of projects, resource performance and other essential project metrics as well as predict resource demand and workload, helping project managers make informed decisions.
Risk-free project environment
With AI-powered project management tools, project managers are armed with valuable knowledge about risks and can mitigate them easily before they pose a threat to the project success. Predictive analytics foresee bottlenecks and suggest prompts to avoid them, and project managers can test any decision with scenario planning features and choose the best option possible with absolute confidence in its correctness.
AI-powered project management software: Why adopt one
It does repetitive work
With AI project management software, project managers are more efficient and stressless because they don’t have to spend much time on routine tasks like collating project reports, manual prioritization and planning and things like this: AI tools do everything for them.
It saves cost
AI in project management prevents last-minute hiring thanks to predictive analytics which helps bridge demand and available supply at the planning stage. Besides, it contributes to timely delivery of projects and helps avoid delays by smoothing the workflows and enhancing employee productivity.
It helps everyone be on the same page
AI enhances collaboration as it collects and organizes all project- and resource-related data and provides everyone in the company with valuable insights in various handy formats: tables, boards, graphs, notifications, etc.
It can help you deliver more without extra hiring
AI project management tools can automatically calculate the feasibility of a new project and adjust the current schedule in such a way as to deliver the chosen projects on time and within budget by staggering some of the projects in the portfolio. Therefore, project managers have a clear view of projects’ feasibility and can make informed decisions of whether to start the project right now or better postpone it for some time to avoid overloading available resources.
How to choose an AI-driven project management tool
The first thing you should keep in mind is that AI is a buzzword in project management today, and almost all vendors claim they have AI functionality but it may be far from reality. Before adopting a software solution, carefully analyze its features, watch a demo, and ask all AI-related question during a meeting with the software’s representatives.
Here are the most popular and helpful AI features an AI-driven project management software solution should have:
- Prediction of resource demand and bridging it with the available capacity (usually in the form of graphs).
- What-if scenarios or scenario planning feature allows you test project management decisions such as changing milestones or reallocating resources and check their consequences before implementing them into the real project environment.
- Semi-automatic or automatic resource allocation based on resource experience, skills, attributes, and historical data (such as experience of working with a certain client or in a certain location).
- Prediction and mitigation of risks (as a rule, resource-related risks – avoiding and resolving bottlenecks).
- AI assistant that answers questions, gives prompts and notifications.
Epicflow is a great example of AI-powered project management software that has all the features described above reinforced with a unique multi-project resource management framework that helps enterprises deliver more projects with limited resources, so if you’re looking for an AI solution, check out Epicflow’s features to know what to focus your search on.
AI: A must or redundancy?
Along with all the stated above, you should understand and keep in mind that AI on its own won’t resolve your project and resource management challenges. It can become a great assistant as it simplifies the job, helps improve resource efficiency and avoid bottlenecks, but at the same time, it won’t bring any positive results if a company doesn’t adjust its project management framework, if employees aren’t a close-knit team with everyone involved and motivated, and if project team members don’t handle their duties diligently.
Conclusion
AI in project management is a great means to not only automate repetitive tasks but also improve decision making, enhance employee productivity, and enhance the efficiency of your project management activities and strategy. Predictive analytics, machine learning, automation, and virtual assistant are the types of AI that are actively used in project management software to help companies deliver better results.
