How innovator companies are using disruption to 'enable dexterity'

Dive Brief:

Organizations considered innovative hold data science as the most important digital era skill for prospective project leaders, according to Project Management Institute's (PMI) Project Manager of the Future report of nearly 1,000 HR professionals and project leaders internationally. Skills coveted behind data science include security and privacy, legal and regulatory compliance, the ability to make decisions backed by data and collaboration skills.
The majority of innovator organizations, 80%, are highly effective at hiring candidates with the desired skill sets and knowledge to propel the organization further along in a digital environment, according to the report. The same organizations view disruptive practices as a means to "enable dexterity."
Innovator companies are more effective in skill development trainings by implementing formal processes. For example, 43% of innovators have "fostered" skills in security and privacy compared to 16% of laggards. More than 40% of innovators have fostered skills in data science while no laggards have done the same.

Dive Insight:

In a large pool of workers, it is difficult for companies to find and hire the talent that suits their needs. Project managers are then tasked with bettering and training the current workforce.

As for what methods are most effective, there is no "one size fits all approach to project delivery," according to Mark Langley, president and CEO of Project Managers Institute, in an email to CIO Dive. They rely on a variety of methods and tend to "see disciplined agile delivery and design thinking as the growing approaches."

Organizations should be cognizant of which internal practices will give them headway in the digital age and training should be a priority. PMI is expecting companies to embrace new technologies and methods like lean agile, Scrum, waterfall and Kanban, according to Langley.

Training, especially in security, has become more manageable, said Langley. A majority of employees believe employers should be responsible for upskilling and have a desire for more tech-related skills. Some of this begins with creating a more transparent way of communicating between tech and nontech workers.