The 2020 KPMG Australia and Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) Survey has found that 67 percent of Australian businesses believe that projects are becoming more complex, but more than half (53 percent) do not believe their organisations are investing in the skills needed to manage this complexity effectively.
The survey findings give an insight into current trends, practices and challenges in project management in Australia, and sheds light on what is working, and what is not, in the delivery of projects and programs. These insights are even more pertinent in 2020 as we all seek to adjust to a new reality operating environment.
This year, we looked beyond just the on time, on budget, on scope measures and considered elements of organisational project delivery to develop this performance report on project management in Australia. In doing so, we identified what we are doing well and what areas of improvement and investment are needed to continue to improve the effectiveness of project delivery.
The challenges of 2020 underlined the importance of being able to deliver projects through times of uncertainty. While there has been upheaval in the way we work and how project teams are able to interact while working remotely, there has also been an on-going, and at times heightened, need to deliver critical projects.
Even within projects that have been impacted in terms of decreased priority, we have witnessed the importance of being able to change course smoothly. Throughout these times, the project manager has remained in high demand.
Overall, we saw:
We have seen delivery metrics have improved with 25 percent of projects delivered successfully, at least most of the time (up 6 percent from the last report) and:
Overall, the picture is positive, and we have observed areas of improvement over the three years in which this survey has been undertaken.
There is still more to do. This year’s report highlights the need for continued investment in developing capabilities to support technologies and arming the next generation of project managers with skills to not only adapt to delivering increasingly complex projects and business demands, but to develop EQ skills alongside this.
If you have any questions please contact Peter Sexton, Partner, Management Consulting.