Technology is changing project management for the better. However, not all project managers or companies are up-to-date with the latest and greatest in technology, which puts their business at a severe disadvantage.
Fahim Moledina, Founder/ Principal Consultant for Opti-Syn Consulting, has spent his life studying and implementing the latest in project management technology. Now, as a lead consultant for the company he founded, Fahim Moledina helps educate others about how technology can make their projects run smoother.
“Implementing project management technology solutions has been a game-changer for project managers. Those who stay on top of the latest technological advancements are able to pivot to more effective management techniques as soon as they become available or feasible,” said Moledina.
There are a lot of technological solutions to consider, but Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is something that all project managers should be knowledgeable about, at the bare minimum.
C-Suite professionals in the finance sector were amongst the first to understand the impact RPA could have on their bottom lines. The sector soon had software to complete a host of tedious tasks, thus allowing employees to focus on higher-priority work. For instance, with RPA accounts payable departments no longer have to toil away at processing invoices – searching for signatures and approvals by a slew of people. Now, software does the heavy lifting and provides several ways to organize and analyze the data from the information processed.
Other uses of RPA include customer onboarding for B2C businesses, financial planning with the Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) system, payroll management, and logistical applications. Moreover, an insurance company reported it adjudicated claims 75% faster using RPA.
Digital Asset Management is another technological solution that has revolutionized project management.
Digital assets include any file you can store digitally. The benefits of utilizing a management system for your project’s files are numerous. First and foremost, it puts all of your important files in a centralized location that can be accessed on the job site or while on vacation. It also provides PMs with the ability to quickly share and receive information that would have previously taken hours to communicate. Now, information can be traded with the push of a button. No more flipping through pages of documents for a single clause are looking through filing cabinets. More importantly, information can be stored securely. Think cloud-based storage.
“Being an early adopter of anything new can be difficult for industries who have ‘always done it way’ or worse are unwilling to evolve. These company’s – the ones fighting the futile fight against technology solutions –will most likely get left behind by their more technologically savvy counterparts,” added Moledina.
There are ways to learn and grow.
Hiring a tech consultant that specializes in project management is always an option for PMs who have a rudimentary knowledge of tech but realize it’s important to their projects. It won’t pay to be a troglodyte project manager any longer.
Technology is here and it is improving how businesses operate. Not taking the steps to learn the tools of your trade is never a good thing. And, technology is certainly a tool of all our trades now.
