Project management needs people

Project management is a profession that will never be done by an app or machines. It needs people and here’s why:

Work gets done through people

On the most basic level, project management software and tools can tell you where you are and what needs to get done, but only with the input from a human. For example, Asana is an amazing app for task management, but in no way can it run a team without a human. Businesses need real, live project leaders to assess and manage risk, manage conflict and motivate the team.

Team loyalty and relationships matter

When a project leader fosters a relationship with the project team the team becomes loyal to the project leader. That loyalty leads to the team feeling invested in the success of the project and in helping the project leader succeed. For example, at the end of a project when all the balls a project leader has been juggling begin to fall, a loyal team will be there to help the project leader manage catch the balls rather than watching the project leader struggle. The relationship a project leader builds with the project team is priceless; a project team will never feel loyalty toward a machine.

Stakeholder relationships matter

The power of stakeholders is often underestimated. Project leaders confer with the stakeholders at the beginning and end of a project, and ignore them during the project – but this is a missed opportunity. Project leaders can and should foster relationships with the stakeholders in addition the project team because stakeholders tend to be well-connected people – and well-connected people are an invaluable resource to project leaders when something goes wrong or experts need to be brought into a project.

Rest easy project leaders. While it seems as though machines, software and apps are replacing people in the workplace, your ability to think critically and form relationships makes you irreplaceable.