The outlook for Project Management in 2021

Jon Wilton

The forecast for 2021

61% of CEOs say their business model will be more digital in the future.

Amid all this doom and gloom, there is an equal abundance of opportunities ahead—and a healthy dose of survival instinct has kicked in. But this is a case of adapt and get ahead or be left behind. There is no choice but to follow rapid changes in consumer behaviours. There is an emphasis on digital and providing new ways to interact with services.

The projects you carry out and your associated business strategies in 2021 are of make-or-break importance. At the same time, runaway costs must be avoided, and projects must deliver ROI. In this article we will talk about our own challenges and how we are preparing for an unprecedented year. Then we talk about specific challenges and changes to expect in Project Management across 2021.

Finally, we suggest some of the benefits of outsourcing your Project Management in the current climate: what should influence your decision to use a Project Management consultancy?

What we've done and will do this year

We have and still are planning expansion in 2021 because we know that we have to set up the pieces and put them into play to create a sustainable model for growth projects. We started the year with the launch of edenseven, a sustainability transformation consultancy for the energy and utilities markets. While this was part of our growth model it also expresses our company values and the ethics of our team.

Last week, we announced the acquisition of Straxia, a network-centric IT consultancy. This gives us additional scope for larger projects and expands our capability to deliver both infrastructure change and expert project management. Both of these business developments are part of a wider plan to be more agile in the marketplace.

Why Project Management must be Agile

Agility is the project team’s ability to quickly change the plan as a response to customer or stakeholder needs, market or technology demands in order to achieve better project performance. It is a set of tools, methods and also a philosophy. The agility of teams must be measured, rather than assuming that it is just an approach which can be applied and the achieved.

An adaptive and responsive project management system is the only choice for complex projects carried out against uncertainty and rapid change. Projects in 2021 will operate in an unprecedented environment: they must continually evolve and have the means for constant feedback and the ability to pivot. Agile teams are a necessity as we emerge from lockdowns and attempt to invigorate our economies with digital transformation and sustainability projects aligned with a model of long-term growth.

The specific challenges ahead

Project Management will be a key area for companies struggling to emerge stronger from the pandemic and react to market changes. Here are some of our predictions and the skills needed for a successful Project Management Office (PMO) during the pandemic:

It is critical to ensure projects deliver long-term growth.
Project managers must provide clarity for all roles and responsibilities. The project must have a detailed plan of communications.
The risks of runaway project costs must be met with an agile strategy and detailed KPIsfor each project stage and each department. Feedback must lead to the necessary communications, and then high-level meetings to pivot quickly.
Aim for high-impact and high-visibility projects. For example, your sustainability strategy is an opportunity to showcase your values and generate news, as well as aligning business goals with long-term growth.
A greater focus on relevant data to increase agility and gain an evolving ‘version of the truth’.

The decision to outsource your Project Management can have huge benefits, addressing all of the above. It doesn’t suit every project or every business, so your decision should be led by the following considerations.

The major factors to consider when you outsource Project Management

Project Management as a Service (PMaaS) and a Project Management Office as a Service (PMOaaS)

The most important factors affecting your business and the decision to outsource Project Management skills, leaders and team members are:

Size of your business: this will have an impact on the number of staff you have available to assign to projects and move around to address issues and keep projects on target.
Skills and knowledge: perhaps the biggest barrier to doing large-scale project management. Do you have the knowledge and skills and experience to see a complex project through end-to-end?
Hiring: related to the above. With 78% of the workforce switching to remote work, it can make hiring strategic and experienced project managers far more complex. If you build a team across the organisation, and with new hires, it can be expensive and risky.
Data: have you identified the types of data you need to successfully run your project and check progress? If you can’t gather the right business intelligence you might want to hire in experience and get this fixed from the beginning.

Advantages of outsourcing your Project Management

Done right, outsourcing Project Management allows you to access a fully structured servicethat is transparent and aligned with your business strategy and values.

You are also buying in the exact skills required for your project. In this scenario, the advantages are clearly definable:

Higher level of experience and knowledge: project management is a highly specialised area that requires attention to detail, confidence, organisation and deft communication skills. Talented project managers are in high demand and short supply.
Objectivity: hiring in external experts comes with the advantage of an objective view of the landscape. The bias and blind spots of internal teams and entrenched ‘ways of doing’ can often be avoided as your business expands to include new approaches and ideas.
The runaway costs associated with many project management failures are replaced by predictable monthly billing and flexible cost structures.
A flexible service: your project management is more agile and it can be increased or decreased at vital stages in the project evolution. Extra staff and expertise can be brought in when required, for a short duration if necessary.
KPIs and SLAs relevant to each department: in order to remain agile, departments must be trained to use relevant metrics to assess their progress towards project KPIs and adjust their strategy and workload as required.

PMaaS can offer your organisation access to a scalable project management at a flexible and predictable cost via a structured Managed Service, underpinned by KPIs and SLAs.

Our services

If you would like to discuss our Project Management capability, please contact our team.

We offer both Project Management as a Service (PMaaS) and a Project Management Office as a Service (PMOaaS). Our global team combines a huge amount of industry experience: we don’t use consultants, we only hire experts with a track record of leading teams, transforming businesses and undertaking large and complex projects.

Our Project Management team is led by Jason Jennings, an industry expert and Director of Project Pros. Jason has delivered complex technology solutions for large international organisations across multiple territories. He is known for delivering significant cost saving and improved technology-to-business alignment. He specialises in transformation, programme and project management, contract negotiation, outsourcing and interim management.

Read Jason’s bio or go to www.linkedin.com/in/jason-jennings-3268222/

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by Mauro Mortali • 9 May 2026

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