Informed Leadership in a Data-Driven World – Paving the Way for Next-Gen Project Management

In the era of big data and a sheer endless amount of information, the use of data analytics and Artificial Intelligence is the logical consequence to ensure that information is appropriately processed towards rational and informed decision-making in organizations. Especially the project management practice is expected to significantly benefit from an analytical and data-driven approach to project delivery, towards more accurate project forecasts and predictions and ultimately truly informed and timely decision-making.

But to obtain true value and benefits from such approach, providing the tools and technology will not be sufficient. What often is forgotten is the need for a fundamental change in project culture and people’s behavior, to adopt a new evidence-based mindset. It requires new and adjusted perspectives in terms of authenticity, transparency, and accountability, to ensure genuine and accurate insights get produced, providing real value and impact in projects.

Consequently, despite the major impact from technology and data, the key driver and factor for a successful implementation of data-driven practices is a supporting project culture which needs to be formed through the necessary behaviors of project leaders, stakeholders, and decision makers. As a result, project leaders need to adopt new leadership skills to engage people, orchestrate knowledge and information derived both from data and human experience and intuition, and ensure behaviors from people that effectively drive full transparency through an evidence-driven approach.

This session will provide an overview of how a data-driven project management approach will impact project planning and delivery practices, how project management professionals need to adjust their behaviors and mindset to support the effectiveness of evidence-based practices, and what actions project leaders need to take to initiate such change.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to

• Identify potential cultural constraints to the implementation of evidence-based project management practices
• Describe required leadership approach to support an effective transition to evidence-based practices

Takeaways:

• Today’s information age and the speed of change requires project management activities to be supported by a data-driven approach for improved planning accuracy
• The key enabler for a data-driven project management practice is not data and technology, it is the culture and people’s behavior that need to be established through appropriate leadership