7 Project Management Trends of 2025: What to Prepare For?

As we’re stepping into 2025, it’s high time to discover what trends in project management are expected to shape the domain in the near future. In the era of constant transformation, project managers and business leaders should stay informed of the tendencies that determine the way they work on projects. So, let’s take a closer look at how project management trends are expected to evolve in the coming year.

Diverse Applications of Artificial Intelligence

The application of artificial intelligence (we also include here machine learning, automation, predictive analytics, and generative AI) is gaining momentum among the current trends in project management landscape, which revolutionizes the ways projects are planned and managed. In a nutshell, AI automates repetitive tasks and makes predictions thereby increasing efficiency, streamlining workflows, and improving decision-making. Project managers can utilize the power of AI by leveraging project/resource management tools where the technology is incorporated.

Let’s now review the most common applications of artificial intelligence in project management.

Forecasting and decision-making

Thanks to predictive analytics, PM tools analyze historical data along with current project metrics to predict how the project environment will change. You can forecast project delays, resource bottlenecks, budget overruns, project performance, etc. But most importantly, predictive analytics helps perform scenario analysis that allows you to find an optimum way to prevent future bottlenecks and risks. As a result, project managers can make informed decisions, identify and mitigate risks, and contribute to better project outcomes.

Managing resources

AI makes resource management much more effective, especially for large organizations where hundreds/thousands of employees are involved in projects. First, it assists in resource allocation: it analyzes the data on each employee’s skills, capacity, previous experience, location, or other essential parameters to find the right person to assign to a task quickly. Second, AI helps plan resources’ capacity, which is critically important for smooth workflows in multi-project environments with a shared resource pool. Third, as we noted earlier, predictive analytics makes it possible to detect improper workload which becomes the source of resource bottlenecks.

Automating routine tasks

AI can automate a number of project manager’s tasks, especially those that require work with large amounts of data, e.g., creating schedules and generating reports. In addition, AI-powered virtual assistants can send reminders and notifications to team members. How does this help? Project managers have more time for strategic tasks and initiatives, and the possibility of human errors decreases.

Virtual assistants

Virtual assistants are software applications that leverage AI technologies like natural language processing, machine learning, and sometimes voice recognition to provide users with interactive support. In project management, they can be used to improve communication between a project manager and the team, assist the team members in their tasks, help quickly obtain necessary information (status updates, project metrics, etc.), notify a project manager of potential risks or upcoming bottlenecks, and more.

AI remains one of the leading future trends in project management in 2025 and beyond. It’s also important to note that the technology isn’t going to replace project managers—AI is only an assistant that must be combined with human intelligence to achieve desired outcomes.

Watch the webinar to gain more insights into AI applications in project management: Utilizing AI on Different Levels of Multi-Project and Resource Management

Leveraging Data Analytics

Along with the adoption of AI, project managers are increasingly relying on data in their work—when making decisions, forecasts, analyzing performance, etc. Though data analytics is primarily associated with data-driven decision-making, here are some more reasons why it is a must in project management:

It increases decision accuracy and objectivity;
It enables the monitoring of project progress and resource performance;
It reduces uncertainty;
It allows for forecasting risks and bottlenecks;
It eliminates the effect of office politics;
It facilitates more effective resource utilization thanks to identifying inefficiencies.

Therefore, all these factors create opportunities for detecting problems, making corresponding adjustments, and improving project outcomes. So, we anticipate the focus on data analytics and data-driven decision-making to rank high among future project management trends.

New Competencies: Soft and Digital Skills

The latest trends in project management require PM professionals to develop specific competencies to be able to implement these innovations effectively in their work. Additionally, they need to adapt to new ways of working: e.g., be increasingly flexible, manage distributed teams, etc. Here are some of the most essential skills.

Soft skills

In the era of increased automation of “technical” tasks, leveraging PM software and AI, a project manager’s soft skills gain particular importance. Last year’s PMI Pulse of the Profession report emphasizes the importance of developing soft skills (or how they call them “power skills”) in the coming years; and this set of skills remains relevant for 2025:

Communication and relationship building,
Problem-solving,
Collaborative leadership,
Strategic thinking,
Commercial awareness.

Project Management Institute emphasizes the need for prioritizing these skills in organizations in the years ahead—they’ve found that companies that give particular importance to soft skills achieve better project outcomes and have higher levels of project management maturity and organizational agility.

Let’s take a look at some more essential soft skills.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence involves the ability to understand and interpret one’s own emotions, express and control them as well as understand other people’s emotions and behavioral motives. Emotional intelligence allows for much more effective interaction of a project manager with the team members, customers, and a company’s management—resolving conflicts, establishing relationships and communication, promoting more effective collaboration, creating a supportive atmosphere within a team, etc.

Adaptability

Being able to quickly adapt to changes is becoming rather a necessity in the present-day dynamic world, and the project management domain, which is also transforming, is no exception. Projects are often subject to changes and market volatility, affected by external factors or implementation of new technologies; and a project manager’s adaptability implies that they will be able to quickly adjust their approach or make non-standard decisions which will help them keep the projects on track and navigate volatile business environments.

Digital skills

In response to the active implementation of technologies and data analytics, project managers also require developed digital skills that should be regularly updated. The idea isn’t new but is expected to remain relevant in 2025 and beyond. The need for developing digital skills is also emphasized by the PMI; they distinguish the following ones:

Data science skills (data management, analytics, big data);
Innovative mindset;
The ability to make data-driven decisions;
Collaborative leadership;
Legal and regulatory compliance knowledge;
Security and privacy knowledge.

Therefore, 2025 will still be marked by embracing the above-mentioned skills by project managers who strive to succeed in their careers and address the complexities of the modern project management landscape.

The Growing Popularity of Value Management Office

The concept of a Value Management Office (VMO) has evolved from a Project Management Office (PMO). Its main purpose is to help companies change the focus from project outcomes to maximizing business value. Here are some more essential characteristics of a VMO.

It prioritizes value over process.
It enhances strategic alignment between projects and a company’s strategic goals.
The work of a VMO involves determining and tracking metrics and analytics indicating value from project delivery.
VMO helps manage risks that may impact value delivery.
It helps ensure the right resource allocation so that critical resources are assigned to projects that deliver maximum business value.
VMO facilitates agility and effective change management.

We expect that VMOs will gain popularity as facilitators of value-driven project management and maximizing business effectiveness.

The Evolvement of Hybrid Project Management Approaches

More and more organizations recognize the importance of applying flexible PM methodology rather than sticking to solely Agile, Waterfall, or any other single method. Projects are becoming more and more complex, and it becomes difficult and ineffective to address their complex needs with the only PM methodology. So, the list of recent trends in project management cannot but include the application of hybrid PM approaches. As a rule, they combine the traditional structured framework of predictive methodologies (like Waterfall) with the flexibility and customization of Agile principles. In a great number of cases, project managers have already used hybrid approaches intuitively, as they helped work on projects more effectively.

Even though the trend for applying hybrid methodologies is expected to persist in 2025, they will be used somewhat differently. The research conducted by the Project Management Institute has shown that the choice of a certain project management methodology doesn’t make a decisive difference in increasing project performance. What is more, there’s no common standard for hybrid approaches except that they combine the principles of predictive and agile approaches. The combination of these principles will depend on a number of factors: the type of a project, the business environment, the project team, the expected outcomes, the industry, current PM framework used in the company, etc. This means that project management approaches will be selected for every particular project’s needs, and a hybrid PM approach will evolve into a customized or fit-for-purpose approach.

Sustainability and ESG Practices

Sustainability has been one of the leading trends in all industries, so it cannot but affect project management. Businesses are implementing sustainable practices in their work, e.g., reducing emissions and waste, optimizing supply chains, reasonable resource utilization, etc. But how can project management contribute to sustainability? The answer is implementing ESG (environmental, social, and governance) practices and ensuring a positive impact on society, the environment, and corporate governance practices. Here are some examples:

Facilitating local employment or buying from local businesses;
Promoting environmental protection;
Reducing consumption of energy and materials;
Minimizing waste and environmental pollution;
Enhancing physical and mental well-being;
Facilitating equality, diversity, and inclusion.

These are how project management can deliver value to the people involved in it, society, and the environment. But how can businesses ensure these principles’ implementation in their projects? For example, they can integrate ESG goals in project portfolios and prioritize projects accordingly. Also, companies can establish specific metrics to track ESG performance and provide training for project managers and team members to better understand sustainable and ethical project management. Finally, organizations can prioritize long-term value creaton instead of focusing on gaining immediate profits.

In 2025, PM professionals along with companies’ management are expected to continue their efforts to incorporate ESG practices in their work to be in line with emerging trends in project management.

Increased Use of Project Management Software

Leveraging PM software remains among the latest project management trends in 2025. Project management software serves as an all-in-one solution that addresses various PM needs. The variety of these solutions on the market is huge—from simple task management tools to comprehensive solutions embracing resource and project portfolio management functionality. As the complexity of projects is increasing, leveraging PM software becomes more and more common in the project management practice, especially when dealing with multi-project environments.

Let’s take a quick look at the example of Epicflow, a comprehensive solution for managing multiple projects, resources, and project portfolios. Based on CCPM principles, its distinctive approach helps optimize shared resources, prevents people from overwork, and allows for consistent workflow and the successful completion of each project running in a company.

Epicflow offers a robust set of features, including but not limited to the following ones:

Automatic prioritization of tasks throughout the entire project environment;
Resource allocation based on employees’ skills, availability, capacity, and essential attributes like experience and location;
Forecasting resources’ capacity and workload;
Conducting simulations with What-if Analysis;
Presenting real-time data on project progress;
The capability to analyze resource performance;
Virtual assistant Epica interacts with project managers and the team and keeps them updated regarding the state of a multi-project environment.

Organizations employing Epicflow utilize their available resources efficiently, maintain balanced workloads, make data-driven decisions, and have a comprehensive view of the whole project environment. Contact our experts to learn more about our solution and how it can address your business needs.

Conclusion

2025 will be marked by the further evolvement of recent years’ trends. The project management domain will continue embracing and employing new technologies—AI, automation, data analytics, predictive analytics, virtual assistants, generative AI, etc. Along with industries’ trend for sustainability, the PM sector will be looking for ways to deliver value to society, the environment, and corporate governance (e.g., reducing energy consumption, supporting local communities, enhancing physical and mental well-being, etc.). Hybrid project management methodologies will also remain relevant but are expected to evolve into fit-for-purpose approaches customized for every particular project. The role of a Value Management Office will remain relevant, as companies become increasingly focused on maximizing business performance instead of just successful delivery of their projects. Finally, project managers are expected to require highly developed soft and digital skills to help them navigate the dynamic PM landscape and be ready to embrace new trends in project management in the years ahead.

References

The Future of Project Work: Moving Past Office-Centric Models. (2024). Pulse of the Profession. PMI.
Power Skills: Redefining the Project Success. (2023). Pulse of the Profession. PMI.
The Project Manager of the Future. Developing Digital-Age Project Management Skills to Thrive in the Disruptive Times. (2018). Pulse of the Profession: In-Depth Report. PMI.