Project Management in 2030

She had wanted to get an early start for the monthly construction status meeting.  The day would be long and cold and a cup of coffee would help out.  The diner was across from the project site in New York City.  She could see her truck from the booth and Charlie was in the back.  Charlie was her assistant.  Charlie didn’t drink coffee. 

In fact, Charlie didn’t drink or eat.  Charlie was her latest robotic project manager assistant marketed by Google under the brand name PMBot 6.0.  The Google marketing department called it the most advanced project management assistant in the world (". . . decentralized, flexible and mobile for rugged project environments . . . connected, responsive, and informed for project management at mid-century . . .").  She sipped her coffee and checked her watch.  She understood that Charlie was one of the key technological inflection points that engineers face in their careers.  She didn’t take a gloomy view of robotic artificial intelligence.  She fully understood that Charlie gave her enhanced capabilities and capacities on her projects.

Charlie was scheduled to launch the Boeing CRGSIS (Construction Real-time Ground Surveillance Imaging System) quad-rotor drone in five minutes.  The drone would provide video for the monthly construction status meeting.  She had spoken with Charlie the previous day and Charlie had updated the drone request in the Intelli-Master Schedule.  As the drone departed, she knew the video feed would be broadcast at her company’s board of directors meeting this morning.   The staff of Governor Ivanka Trump had also requested a link to the video feed.  As she started out the door of the diner she eyed another drone landing to collect and transport a sample of the nanobiocrete back to the laboratory for seven days of observation.

She called Charlie over and they walked across the road to the field trailer for the progress meeting.  Charlie handled two important tasks in these meetings.  The first was the mundane.  Charlie’s voice recognition module and MinutesMaker software allowed for a real-time transcript of the meeting.  The second was more complex and valuable. Charlie was an expert at modeling the outcomes of proposed project decisions.   Compared to Charlie, she knew she was operating at a self-imposed information disadvantage.  Technology was outpacing her ability to use it.  Without Charlie, she was constantly challenged to turn data into decisions and decisions into data.

The project had over 45,000 separate tasks in the schedule.  Charlie’s new goal-seeking algorithm provided her with the opportunity to think and reflect on critical decisions.  With Charlie supporting the link between sensing and knowing, it provided her the opportunity to focus more on the key project management questions.  Charlie allowed her to integrate the tasks of scope, time, cost, quality, risk, and procurement management into a more complete and accurate package for an increasingly complex project environment.  Working with Charlie, she was able to generate more ideas to solve problems and could implement them more swiftly.  Charlie gave her the ability to quickly discard the ideas that did not work for a particular problem or issue.

She was concerned about two issues.   The first was the weather forecast over the next week.  Her firm had a horizontal network of partners collaborating in real-time on this project.  One of the partners was a private weather forecasting firm that had loaded their most recent forecast with Charlie last night.   The Intelli-Master Schedule scenario algorithm had provided her with a range of outcomes and probabilities based on the new weather forecast.  Charlie and the other new project management tools were professionally disposed against the workings of chance.

The other issue was the availability of a critical project component from a Canadian manufacturer.  Her firm was one of the first organizations to utilize STAs (Supplier Transparency Agreements) to monitor the entire project supply chain.  The STAs allowed Charlie to reach deep into production activities and logistics of critical suppliers for key information and status updates.  Charlie was part of the “Coalition of the Connected” where groups of project management assistants worked on common problems and issues.  The key was the development of seamless forms of engagement that allowed her to collect and use data in the field and in real-time.

The digitization of the project management process even extended to the conference room table.  The Microsoft Smart Surface Table was a critical tool for absorbing and processing information.  For example, she had been concerned about the installation of a critical pump at the project site.  The discussion of this particular pump by the project team had alerted Charlie’s MindReader software.  Charlie could think ahead and anticipate future needs and requirements based on voice recognition and the project decision support software.  MindReader gave Charlie the ability to search for key information relating to the pump issue and potential problems.  This allowed the project team to consider alternatives more completely and timely.  Decisions that normally took days or weeks to research and review could be orchestrated via Charles during the monthly project meeting.

The Microsoft Smart Surface Table interfaced directly with Charlie and the complete network of project RFID devices and project sensors.  These tracked everything from the location of construction material, the status of equipment, health and safety monitoring, environmental indicators, and field personnel.  The project table combined with Charlie allowed the team a more complex, accurate, and timely picture of the project.   Data become information which became knowledge (in the context of individual, team, and institutional knowledge) on the spot at project team meetings. 

As a project manager, the tool associated with the smart table she found the most valuable was the augmented reality (AR) feature.  Historically, project management was a two dimensional endeavor in a world of three dimensional projects.  The quantification of a project status with the physical world had always been a challenge for project managers.  The combination of droning technology and Charlie allowed for a higher level of understanding on project progress while viewing the smart table.  The 3-D AR temporal based graphic display of what should be completed was integrated into a 3-D graphic model of what actually was complete allowing for a powerful project status representation to the team.  She had come to the understanding that project information needs to be physical and the new AR tools allowed for this goal.

Her company had a long history of establishing project and program management as a discipline.  She was well trained in the five project management groups that her firm deemed critical.  These were: (1.) Initiating Process Group – defines or authorizes the project, program, or phase, (2.) Planning Process Group -– defines and redefines the objectives and plans and the course of action required to attain the objectives and scope that the project was undertaken to address, (3.) Executing Process Group – integrates people and other resources to carry out the project/program management plan for the project or program, (4.) Monitoring and Controlling Group – Regularly measures and monitors progress to identify variance from the project management plan so the corrective action can be taken when necessary to meet the project objectives, and (5.) Closing Process Group – formalizes acceptance of project, services or result and brings the project, program or project phase to an orderly end.   Charlie helped in all five areas.

Charlie and the other tools permitted the project manager of 2030 the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of his or her project and operating environments.  Enhanced tools and robotics allow project managers and organizations to focus on a simple fact - one of the problems with management in the Age of Hyper-connectivity and Big Data is not about what; it's about which.  Project management  in 2030 is driven by somehow finding what's significant in a world of thick and expansive information networks.  Projects in 2030 will be based on the flow of information in interconnected systems.  Charlie will be a unique tool for project managers in holding systems and processes together while having a role in determining how they operate. 

Welcome to 2030.