A survey from the Ireland Chapter of Project Management Institute (PMI) has found that nearly half (46%) of project managers feel that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will help to reduce stress in the workplace, but 72% feel that advancements in technology have led to unrealistic expectations from stakeholders who do not understand its capabilities.
Conducted by PMI, the survey of 122 project managers was carried out ahead of its annual conference, the Work Smart Summit 2024, in association with EY. The event, which takes place in Dublin’s Convention Centre on April 23rd, will discuss the future of project management and will feature David Rowan, founding UK Editor-In-Chief of WIRED magazine and author of the bestselling book Non-Bullshit Innovation as keynote speaker.
Feedback was positive on the potential impact of AI on project management as a whole. In fact, some 70% say it would have a permanent transformative effect on the industry, and 74% say it is driving innovation.
Three-quarters (75%) agree that AI has already had a significant positive impact on the profession, with 41% saying that the technology is improving project completion rates and delivery times.
In terms of project completion, the survey found that the average cost of failed projects in the last 12 months was €710,896.23*, and only 11% of project managers’ ten most recent projects met all project success metrics of schedule, cost, project benefits and resources.
On the topic of resources, constraints in this area were cited as the top cause of stress by 52% of project managers. The other leading causes of stress were competing priorities (50%), and frequent scope changes (45%).
However, the survey did find that nearly two thirds (63%) of respondents feel their workplace has open channels of communication to discuss mental health issues such as stress, burnout, and fatigue.
Commenting on the findings, Peter Glynne, Ireland Chapter of PMI President, said: “Project management can of course be a high-pressure profession, but it is clear that – as well as adequate training and effective ways of working – emerging technologies like AI can streamline projects and boost success.
“In turn, this enables project managers to work smarter – the theme of our annual conference in April – as opposed to longer or harder. AI can also play a pivotal role in driving automation and innovation, something which we will be discussing at the Convention Centre next month and which makes the future of the industry very exciting.”
Jennifer Ryan, EY Ireland Business Transformation Partner added: ““EY Ireland is proud to once again sponsor the PMI’s national conference, the Work Smart Summit. Project managers are at the heart of transformational change, and harnessing systems, technologies and strategies that simplify complex endeavours and enable people and organisations work smarter, comes naturally to them.
“Artificial Intelligence, in particular Generative AI, offers project managers the opportunity to further embed innovation and efficiency into their projects, automating routine or process driven tasks and enabling people to focus on higher value tasks and most crucially, enabling more human interactions.”