Ten Predictions for Project Management in 2013

Project management offices (PMOs) have emerged as popular designations within organizations to address expensive project failures caused by scope creep, missed deadlines, inflated budget costs and other factors. However, many PMOs struggle due to a lack of training and other resources, and the execs in the C-suite are increasing the pressure to prove measurable, business-impacting results. In revealing the following top 10 trends in project management, ESI International provides insight on these and other critical issues for project management teams. Ultimately, it's not exactly a rosy picture—especially for organizations that create a PMO but fail to adequately support it. "This year's trends bring a murky problem to light," says J. LeRoy Ward, an executive vice president at ESI, a project management training company. "Many of these trends focus on the need to improve project skills, process and the overall management of our initiatives. It is no longer possible to hire project managers and expect results. We need PMs to be experts and take control of projects to get maximum results."