The social network phenomenon has already transformed the consumer Web into so-called “Web 2.0.” Major Web players such as eBay, Yahoo, MySpace, and Amazon have opened their portals to communities, adding social elements that caused great interest and demand. Now organizations that aren’t Web-based imply similar technologies in their working processes. Web 2.0 is affecting business processes by offering incredible communication opportunities for organizations known as “Enterprise 2.0.” So now we are witnessing replacement of traditional corporate applications by these newly developed ones.Enterprise 2.0 technologies rely on collective intelligence. Advantages are incontestable. These technologies are people-oriented: they develop interpersonal relationships and build long-term social networks. In fact, they are apt to change corporate cultures. Enterprise 2.0 introduces simple, flexible and user-friendly ways to support processes inside and outside of a company. The technologies are believed to result in a rapid development of organizations and improvement of the working environment. “Giving employees the tools to create and continuously tweak automated business processes themselves has enormous potential because of what it enables: the emergent reduction of routine, low-value transactional work and an increase in tacit interactions” Dion Hinchcliffe, a veteran of software development and president of Web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0 consultancy Hinchcliffe and Company, pointed out in his blog.
This Enterprise 2.0 movement naturally affected and later captivated project management in organizations. I call this new trend project management 2.0, similar to the “Enterprise 2.0? term.
The problem of innovating project management has become one of the major concerns for management as a whole. Analysts argue whether one has to be talented to be a project manager or whether he just needs to have profound experience and skills. Companies spend great sums on special training for their employees. CEOs complain that certified project managers are extremely expensive. This causes discussions on the question of whether a project is doomed to failure without a project manager or not.
Now new processes brought by project management 2.0 make the topic even hotter. The new technologies modify project management. The transformation takes place not only in instruments that project managers apply. The whole conception of project management is changing with the introduction of collective intelligence into the process. The projects tend to be managed by a group, members of which collaborate and get things done without strong top-down administration. The role of the project manager is changing. My goal in this blog is to analyze the existing changes and speculate on the influence of project management software on enterprises. Your feedback is very welcome. Leave your comments below, please. This post is just a start of an ongoing conversation.
