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3 Classic PM Challenges Addressed by AI

Dave Garrett (PMI Washington, DC Chapter) - September 11, 2023

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Topics: Artificial Intelligence

Being a project manager can be a lonely job. You are accountable for the work, the team, clarity of communication and even
more beyond the stated goals of the project—accomplishing the “intent” of the work being done. It’s a tough job, but one that
we all love.

Artificial intelligence can help you perform at a higher level, not just by handling administrative work, but by helping you meet
the classic PM challenges that have always felt daunting.

When I think of the classic challenges faced by the project manager, I think about:

The sky-high expectations set for their projects and how the pressure only increases as you move through the work.
Gartner’s Future of Work Trend #3 for 2023 says it best: “Squeezed by competing leader and employee expectations,
managers need support.” This is mainly a “ways of working” challenge, getting things done in an efficient and effective
As Senior Advisor to the CEO, Dave focuses on way.
key projects important to PMI’s mission and Being able to effectively communicate with diverse stakeholder groups, each with a unique perspective. This is
community. Prior to that, as Chief Strategy & mostly a “power skills” challenge, understanding people and their WIFM (“What’s in it for me?”)—and it becomes
Growth Officer for PMI, Dave collaboratively
defined and drove the execution of the particularly daunting when managing multiple projects (which 85% of PMs do).
Institute's strategy to create exponential growth Being an effective business partner with your sponsor. Seeing what they don’t. Making recommendations that
in relevance and impact. Working globally,
matter. Requiring “business acumen” that, before now, could only be gained through experience. The folks at Motley
across the organization to define, test, and
deliver "new products that matter," which will Fool say it best: “People recognized for having good business acumen are considered exceptional talents, and even
deliver dramatic increases in value to our revered in their field.”
customers.

At a high level, each of these matches up nicely with one of the points of the PMI Talent Triangle®, but in reality you use
skills across the entire Talent Triangle to overcome every challenge.

1. Ways of Working

Challenge: Executive expectations are higher than ever. How can we do the work in ways that make a difference?

Project managers personify the “A” in their RACI charts, accountable for their own actions, actions taken by the team, and for
project performance; whereas AI will always be consulted (C). AI helps your team
meet high
GenAI can help everyone on your team, and the team as a whole, meet higher expectations—but only if you coordinate and expectations, but the
validate the ways it’s being used. accountability is all
yours.
You are accountable for:

The questions being asked – Project managers, with input from the team, are accountable for how the questions asked of AI are formulated. Skilled
questioning will lead to helpful answers. Consider:
Training your team on prompting. Upskilling them, but also getting everyone speaking the same language in terms of approaches and techniques.
Holding brown bag lunches to share prompting experiences, specific prompts and new training.
The accuracy, safety and utility of the answers – Generative AI can be career accelerating or career ending, depending on the guardrails you put into
place. Consider:
Ensuring policies are in place regarding the use of proprietary data, and that the team is trained in their use.
Sharing approaches for ensuring accuracy, like validating citations and fact checking.
Having frequent discussions with the team about “What is useful for decision-making” versus what is simply more data.
The decisions made as a result – The project manager is accountable for decisions made based on that input—and the resulting performance. Consider:
Gaining an understanding of the data set the AI is drawing from and the models (to the degree possible) so that you come closer to understanding the
basis for the information being offered.
Once you believe you’ve made a decision, ask yourself the questions you know executives will ask of you and role-play these discussions with your
favorite AI chatbot.

2. Power Skills

Challenge: Administrative project managers are known for generating reports and materials that often go unused.

Generative AI excels when it enhances the conciseness and clarity of communications. By aiding project managers in delivering
short, impactful messages, AI addresses the longstanding issue of ineffective information delivery and fosters better interactions Generative AI can
within the project team. make you, and
everyone on the team
It can help transform a performance-challenged PM into a well-respected leader who can deliver a “why” that matters—followed by – a better
a “what” and “how” that is clear and direct. communicator.

1. Define Your “why” considering context, purpose & audience

Stakeholders who buy in to what you are doing are often self-interested. At a group level, they need a “What’s in it for me?” that is easy to
comprehend and believe in. Generative AI gives you a way to quickly define and tailor messaging in a way that wasn’t possible before. When using
 GenAI to build these messages, consider:
Context: Provide a description of your project and how it connects to the strategy and big picture.
Purpose: Inform the generative AI of your intent—your vision of the future state—and it can assist in drafting or suggesting content aligned
with that purpose. Focus on what makes your vision unique and differentiated.
Audience: Describe the audience profile to the AI. Based on this, the AI can adjust the complexity, terminology and tone of the document to
better fit the intended readers.
Scope: This is very important. Ask your AI to keep its response under three to five sentences.
2. Anytime you are working on a deliverable, report, email—anything that is a “what” or a “how”…
Ask the generative AI to structure content based on the Pyramid Principle. Provide raw content or main points, and the AI can help prioritize and
structure them from the main takeaway down to the supporting details.
Revise and edit ruthlessly:
Draft first: Use the generative AI to produce a basic draft based on your inputs. This can serve as a starting point that you can then refine.
Trim the fat: The AI can optimize for brevity, removing repetitive or redundant information, ensuring the document remains concise.
Simplify language: Instruct the AI to rephrase or simplify sentences for better readability, especially if tailored for a specific audience.
Use visuals: Many text-based generative AI can create visuals directly (e.g., ChatGPT-4); however, even those that cannot can still describe
visuals that may be impactful to create.

3. Business Acumen

Challenge: Project managers are often asked to lead efforts where they may lack industry knowledge or functional business skills that may be important
to the project’s success.

On a “just in time” basis, generative AI can help a project manager understand steps they might take when they get stuck:
Business Acumen is
1. Problem identification: When the PM encounters a challenge, they articulate it in clear terms. situational. Generative
2. Data gathering: The AI sources information on the specific industry, function or challenge, drawing from a vast database of AI can play the role of
knowledge and real-world examples. expert coach, in the
3. Solution generation: The AI presents possible solutions, best practices, or steps tailored to the PM's context. It might also moment.
run simulations or predictions if required.
4. Feedback loop: The PM applies the AI's suggestions and gives feedback on outcomes. The AI refines its future responses
based on this iterative learning.

This approach ensures that the project manager has access to expert-level guidance in real time, making them more adaptable and capable of leading projects
across diverse domains.

Let’s take a look at an example.

Financial Product Development in a Rapidly Changing Market

A project manager with a background in traditional banking must lead the development of a new fintech product.

How Generative AI can help: GenAI could provide a quick primer on recent fintech trends, technological innovations, and potential risk factors. It might even
simulate various market scenarios to predict how the new product could perform under different conditions.

These could all be further validated and refined by the team to ensure accuracy and high quality.

Conclusion
No form of AI is a silver bullet, but if it can help you in even one of the ways listed above, it could have a huge impact on the success of your project—and
potentially your career.

We are all walking this AI journey together as one big global PMI community. Please let me know what you think in the comments below!

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Sherry Hayes Great read! Quick add, LinkedIn learning has several short videos and courses taught by SMEs on how to
Lecturer, UCSD make the most of AI tools. Some are specific to project management.
Chula Vista, CA, USA

Network:362
Posted: Sep 13, 2023 5:28 PM

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Atul Kumar Jain Its great read and also very practical viewpoints to embrace GenAI . Thanks for sharing with community.
Pune, Maharashtra, India
Posted: Sep 13, 2023 5:26 PM

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Victor Cristobal Morocho Dear Dave. Interesting the article and the points dealt with, which I agree in much of them in general, and in
Moreno particular on the consideration and use of the IA as a tool to improve and support the work of the PM and
QUITO, PICHINCHA, Ecuador his team. Not precisely the PM has to be an AI specialist, but rather learn to use it and in parallel, continue
Network:125
to improve their soft skills, leadership, critical thinking and others that will allow to achieve the results of the
project.