I read this quote recently, and I think it's true. I've seen that with GenIA tools, they focus on operational tasks, leaving free time to create, grow, explore other problems, etc. But of course, it all depends on the PM.
I'd like to hear about your experience. Saving Changes...
Let me start by saying that I am a GenAI user and skeptical evangelist. This will be helpful context for my response.
GenAI won't inherently change whether leadership allows PMs to do more at the strategic level. It is most likely that others, not PMs, are already functioning at the organizational strategy level. Using AI doesn't mean PMs will be selected to operate in this space. So, where does that leave us?
At the project level, skilled PMs who are already...
- managing their time effectively - engaging stakeholders proactively - ensuring risks are identified and mitigated early - doing what they can to ensure their projects align with business goals (which is not always in their control)
...could be considered to already be operating strategically.
A PM who understands the nature of work and the various approaches to organize and manage the work will be better prepared to help a team improve delivery speed and quality by encouraging them to challenge assumptions and explore better ways to execute. AKA innovating. Assuming the organization is open to exploration and experimentation.
Now, with all this in mind, GenAI can help a PM who doesn't have these skills or the requisite knowledge to learn more about them and develop them. However, if the PM does not have good time management skills, it will be difficult to do these things effectively even if GenAI is telling the PM what to do, how to do it, and lightening the administrative burden we all know and love. It's also important to keep in mind that you usually have to both know what to ask GenAI and how to filter the results. An inexperienced PM can ask broad questions and get details they didn't specifically ask for, but may lack the experience to know what they're missing or what GenAI got wrong. GenAI is getting better, but is still getting easy facts wrong, in my experience.
In short, GenAI can help PMs focus on strategy and innovation, but whether or not they are allowed to will be strongly influenced by leadership and company culture. As PMs, we should explore GenAI to understand how it can help us and our teams to deliver quality more efficiently. I find it more helpful in supporting my stakeholders in identifying requirements, use cases, user stories, risks/mitigations, etc. - anything content-based, really. To be fair, I've spent the last 20+ years building and maintaining effective templates, streamlining my PM processes, and managing my time. If I were starting my PM journey today, there are things it would make easier, but there might also be valuable lessons I wouldn't learn as quickly, like tenacity in research and learning to compare sources and content to determine which is more credible. I don't want to over-value struggling (struggling is not the goal), but some struggling can build character. Make things too easy and not only are they valued less, but we're less capable of dealing with challenges when they arrive. As much as I feel GenAI is a valuable tool, this is probably my greatest concern with it. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Gusto en saludarte Christian y poder escribir en nuestro idioma. IA es un termino muy amplio. Estamos usando IA en project management desde hace mas de 40 años atras en algunos casos sin saberlo. Ahora bien, el quiebre se produce cuando se publica el nuevo modelo de IA generativa en 2017 que, entre otras cosas, popularizo ChatGPT. Usando IA generativa los roles relacionados a project management y otros estan "muertos" desde el punto de vista de su definicion original. Hay que reinventarse para no desaparecer. Los cursos que el PMI publico, que son gratuitos, sobre genAI son muy buenos para contestar tu pregunta. Saving Changes...
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