Engineering and construction projects are big, complex and risky undertakings. Overtime a number of software applications have been developed to help project teams manage these challenges and these tools have been steadily evolving.
1st Generation Tools
The first generation of tools focused on the triple constraints of projects in terms of scope, schedule and budget. Whether still in a spreadsheet, or being managed by a dedicated application, every project management team today has processes in place to manage these constraints and such tools should be considered a necessity.
2nd Generation Tools
The next generation of tools have focused on coordination. These tools include the many different approaches to digital twin software that helps design teams communicate ideas and coordinate design activities as well as the many team management applications that provide a way for teams to meet, message and share information easily amongst themselves.
Accelerated by Covid and the move to distributed working, most project organisations are today utilising a range of 2nd generation tools to facilitate improved communication across their project teams.
But, if every other project organisation is utilising the same tools as you, where can you gain competitive advantage?
Gaining competitive advantage by becoming smarter
The answer lies in the 3rd generation of project management tools. These 3rd generation tools are focused on helping the project team make better and faster decisions. Unlike previous generation of tools that are typically about trying to control risks within a project, these 3rd generation tools allow project teams to learn and adapt to the complex adaptive nature of projects in order to improve project outcomes and increased productivity.
These 3rd generation tools range from simple data aggregation and visualisation tools to more sophisticated data analytics and intelligent automation platforms. These tools make the project team smarter and build competitive advantage over time through embedded knowledge capture and accelerated learning across the organisation.
What 3rd generation tools is your organisation using or looking to deploy in your projects?