Introduction

We are living in the digital era of human civilization. Due to its popularity, effectiveness, and flexibility, we are becoming more dependent on technology. It has become an essential part of our lives. The eruption of technological solutions in the past century and the global spread of multinational corporations had resulted in changes in work structures. In the project management sector,  digital project management has taken the front seat. All of this has become possible within a short time. While the digitalization of the workforce was anticipated and unavoidable, no one predicted that it would sweep the world by storm so early.

The pandemic, the recession, and the great resignation have laid the foundation stones for the future of work. The digitalization of the workforce not only altered and created new job opportunities but also resulted in revolutionary workplace patterns. Digital project management has come a long way since the inception of the internet. As a result, project managers were not surprised or panicked by the sudden shift in project management patterns in the post-pandemic era.

Why was digital project management introduced?

Globalisation after the world wars and decolonisation helped the business world to market their products in unexplored markets in developing countries. The technological breakthroughs in the logistics and automobile industries have played a major role in spreading companies across their borders. Moreover, the popularisation of democracy spearheaded international trade without the prejudices or hatred that hindered it during the times of feudal monarchies. Then, the evolution of the internet took every industry to the next level of communication and trade. To adapt to the times and to facilitate competitive communication, digital project management became mainstream. Even then, only 25% of the teams use project management software (Source: Kissflow).

What is Digital Project Management?

The management of any corporate, government or organisational projects using the internet is called digital project management. Here, everything from planning to organising and delivery is web-enabled through project management software. All aspects of the project, including motivation, leadership, and training, are conducted on these online platforms. Often, the digital agencies, studios, and internal web teams are the ones behind a project. However, after the pandemic, every team and employee on the internet or in the industry has been introduced to these kinds of or similar work patterns.

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Advantages of digital project management

High-quality real-time connectivity is a much-needed factor for smooth functionality for global firms like MNCs or government organisational structures like embassies and foreign services. The span and spread of global organisations and companies must leave no room for error. Traditional modes of communication are outdated and sometimes unreliable. The internet can be a great medium for all these operational and administrative communications.

Digital project management, on the other hand, keeps everyone involved in a project within the knowledge base. There is little to no room for communication errors or misinformation. According to research, 77% of high-performing teams use digital project management (Source: Go Remotely). During the COVID-19 crisis, physical interaction was next to impossible. However, the project managers were already well-versed in digital project management and did not panic. Software development and internet-based industries quickly moved to the digital space and refined their day-to-day operations without many interruptions. Digital project managers also used the power of the internet to keep their projects running. Here are some advantages of digital project management.

1. Speed

According to a survey, only 15% of project managers focus on a single project at a time. On average, they manage to give projects simultaneously. Dine project managers can even manage 10 projects at once! In the digital space, speed matters. Even microseconds and seconds of delay are counted and can make a project management team average to mediocre. Communication delays can pose a serious threat to the deadline for large projects in which several departments are involved. Even within a company, especially when in a hurry to meet deadlines, even minutes will be precious. Project managers no more rely on memos or office clerks to chase down different departments and issues to make their jobs easier; this is where project management software can help.

Consider how it can assist remote teams spread across the globe. It is not uncommon nowadays for companies to hire teams from across the world. Companies are outsourcing their work to countries like China and India to save on labour costs. Digital project management helps in any projects that require speed. Managers can completely rely on the internet and its people for their projects.

2. Collaboration

As mentioned earlier, project management requires different teams from different departments that are spread across different geographic locations to come together and make the project a success. This is next to impossible in traditional project management structures. Only on the digital platform can this become possible and highly productive.

3. Planning and Scheduling

Digital project management keeps everyone in the team up-to-date on the latest changes in schedules and plans. Often, this can be a challenge for project managers to keep their team members updated with the latest shifts and developments in planning and scheduling. Digital project management simplifies the process by having everything available on the internet on the software at the click of a button. This helps managers by making communication easier. Project managers scan the schedules according to expectations and easily manage their teams. The same is true with project teams also. Every member of the project can view the latest updates in their projects instantly and plan their day accordingly. This gives a competitive edge in the industry.

4. Prioritisation and task management

According to Kissflow, 54% of projects fail because of poor KPI tracking. The most common mistake that project management teams make is poor prioritisation. When a team prioritises a less important task as urgent and keeps the most important or foundational tasks for a later date, the projects are at the risk of running into last-minute complications. Although project managers can use offline prioritisation techniques such as the Eisenhower matrix to keep track of important and less important tasks, teams often struggle to make it a habit. Sophisticated digital project management can help teams make educated assumptions about which tasks should be completed first. This can not only maintain the integrity of the project but also keep it on par with the initial estimations of budget, time, and quality standards. According to a Wellingtone survey, only 43% of projects are completed within the budget.

5. Productivity

Digital project management increases the teams' overall productivity rates. As the software keeps everyone connected all the while and is precise on the tasks that need to be completed, it makes accountability a critical element of the system. When a large number of employees are in a system, it can be devastatingly slow in making quick decision-making processes. This can induce stress in managers as well. According to a survey, 1 in 5 project managers is stressed to the point of quitting their jobs.  However, digital platforms allow a quick feedback system with visible KPIs and progress bars, which helps teams become goal and result-oriented and thus boosts productivity.

6. Risk management

Digital project management software with sophisticated inbuilt risk management tools reduces the chances of overlooking appropriate risk analysis due to its complexity. As every project manager knows, risk analysis is a critical procedure to follow, even before the commencement of a project. Due to the easy and ready availability of the risk management modules, managers can conduct thorough research on the risk factors and prepare their countermeasures. In contrast, offline risk analysis can be slow according to the current industry standards.

7. Safety

While the world is busy fighting and figuring out ways to minimise hacking attempts, digital project managers are relatively safer on their side. 46% of the businesses that are targeted by hackers and malicious attacks are small businesses (Source: StrongDM). Some modern cyberattacks like ransomware are a major threat to even digital project managers. However, they are safer if they follow the safety protocols and keep sufficient backups. While storing and sharing the intellectual property of companies on the internet has become a challenge, digital project management has become an alternative to these dangers.

8. Assigning tasks easily

Finally, digital project management is easy on task assignments. As mentioned earlier, for large projects with large teams, spreadsheets or excel files will not cut it. This can only increase chaos if no system of assignment or reporting exists. Digital project managers can easily meet this challenge by using sophisticated software that is designed exclusively for these tasks.

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Disadvantages of digital project management

1. Cost

Digital project management can be quite expensive because the software itself is expensive. Moreover, the installation and maintenance cost more money. And to top it all off, the price tags for digital project management software are diverse and complex. Several modules are sold with different versions of the software, making it harder to pick out the right package, version, or module. These can be expensive though your team will not use all the tools or features in the software. This results in higher costs. As a result, projects with limited budgets are hindered from taking advantage of the massive accessibility. 

2. Dependency

The other risk of digital project management is not the system itself but the team. Teams often get so dependent on the software to the point that they completely ignore anything that is not on the software alerts. They forget everything that exists outside the digital space, like paperwork. For hybrid teams that pass on information through both traditional and digital means, this can be a challenge. As information from traditional means is ignored, project progress can be hindered.

3. Learning curve

Digital project management works only if the whole team has complete digital literacy. It can be quite slow if any one of the employees is not well versed in basic computer functions let alone the complex digital project management system. Even if everyone is completely OK with using the computer, using the software as intended is another headache. It can be hard at first for at least some of the employees to work on an unfamiliar online platform. Familiarising with the tools and the software can be time-consuming for some employees.

Hence, an additional training programme might be needed. At least a few hours of instructions can help many employees. This can be a time investment for the project manager. As the project management software changes, the number of features increases across projects, or the team recruits new talents,  this training time increases. The time to get familiar with software also increases with the complexity of the software and that of the project.

Again, the bulky interface reduces rather than increases productivity. Due to the complexity of the software, first-time users are overwhelmed and would like to get back into their old tools. Due to the learning curve, employees are also often anxious about their decreased performance levels. For example, those who are well-versed in traditional spreadsheets find it hard to transition from their older tools into a new platform where, due to their lack of familiarity, they perform poorly in the starting stages of their software use.

4. Data is sensitive to exploitation

Due to the multi-user interface of the project management software, file sharing over the internet is easy and safe from hacking or cyberattacks. However, the multi-user feature also increases the probability of accessing sensitive files by other team members. Although the software has additional settings for protecting a file with privacy settings, due to a lack of care or forgetfulness, sensitive files are at risk of being handled by other team members. This can also create problems with saving intellectual property from the outside world if one of the team members quits the team and joins a competitor. To top it all, hackers can also exploit unsuspecting team members through social engineering, thus entering into the project.

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Conclusion

Digital project management has revolutionised the project management industry. Now, you can work on a project from anywhere in the world. You can keep track of all aspects of a project and keep your team updated about the happenings in the key decision-making circles. The major advantage of digital project management is undeniably its speed. After that, it increases productivity, helps in risk management, assigning, planning, scheduling, and prioritisation of tasks, and provides a safer platform away from the prying eyes and tools of cyber attackers.

On the downside, it can be hard to master in a short period and costs a lot. Many small project managers are not fortunate to be able to involve such a tool in their projects due to its high-end pricing structure. For teams that have been working in the digital project management industry for a while, it can make them too dependent on the software and lure them away from traditional methods. This can create a gap in hybrid project management models and risk hindering the project. All in all, digital project management is a promising industry as work patterns have shifted in recent years and the future is becoming increasingly digital at an exponential pace.

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