Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
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While so many of us still use the humble spreadsheet for project management and tracking, there are lots of cool technologies out there that will (eventually) be game-changing for project managers. And I’m not talking about AI, although of course that is huge in our industry at the moment.
Project management tools are often seen as task-based, schedule-based, scenario-based products, but will that change when we bring more elements of gaming into the way that teams and results are managed?
Gamification
Gamified project management systems could incentivise teams to make progress. We could introduce a bit of healthy competition. I know not all teams are going to love the idea of gamified work, but in some teams it could provide a bit of engagement and interest. If your project management software has the option to award stars (for example) for contribution, then take a look at what features you could switch on.
I’m part of a community where likes on posts are rewarded – not for the person doing the liking but for the person being liked. The aim is to encourage thoughtful, helpful comments that the community finds valuable. I think it’s a balance between spending all your time crafting the perfect, likeable comment and doing your work, but I do think we’ll see more gamification coming into project management, and I’ve talked about that at conferences before.
Role-playing
I know, I cringe too when role-playing gets mentioned. However, when I’ve been on training courses and we’ve done some role-playing (for example, having a difficult conversation with a colleague) it has been very helpful in addressing the situation in real life.
If you think about it, you’ve probably used role-playing already in your projects. If you have ever demonstrated a solution to a group of customers, you’ve probably had someone playing the role of a customer placing an order or interacting with your product. Just do more of that! It really helps bring the product to life.
You could also look to incorporate role-playing scenarios in training and change management activities. Work with stakeholders and users to give them first-hand experience of the change in a safe environment, helping them see it from different roles in the journey, for example, what it will be like to interact with the product as a customer.
Virtual reality
Personally, I can’t say I’ve used VR for project delivery (yet) but it is a feature of science-based learning at my children’s school. They use VR headsets for educational purposes to explore science topics. Which is cool.
We could see the same for project deliverables, perhaps a virtual simulation of a building that users could walk around to see what it’s like before the construction is complete, or something like that. Perhaps it will get used for virtual project kick off meetings or simulation-based training. This community has probably seen examples of that in use. If you have, can you drop me a comment below and let us all know how that worked out for you?
How do you feel project management is going to adopt new tech (that may or may not be aligned to AI)? If you’ve seen any of it in practice I’d love to hear how you are using it! Thanks!
Posted on: March 04, 2025 09:00 AM |
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