A survey from the Ireland Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) shows that more than half (56%) of project managers believe remote or hybrid working has a positive impact on project success rates.

The research involving over 100 project management professionals also found that the average cost of failed projects during the last 12 months was approximately €653K - down 11% from last year's estimated cost of failed projects at €710K.

Conducted by the Ireland Chapter of PMI, the survey was carried out to tie in with its annual national conference, Navigating The Next Wave, in association with EY. The event explored the next wave of project management innovation and impact and featured Dr Lolly Mancey, Anthropologist, Futurist, and Innovation Advocate as keynote speaker.

The latest survey from the Ireland Chapter of PMI also revealed that remote or hybrid working was among the leading sustainability practices within the sector. The others were choosing sustainable suppliers and partners (20%), waste management practices (18%), sustainability KPIs (12%), and measurement of carbon emissions during projects (11%).

On the topic of sustainability, 55% of project management professionals say it is a key factor when outlining project delivery models. Furthermore, 76% revealed that companies are more interested in sustainability compared to a year ago and over a third (35%) view it as very important in terms of managing projects.

However, despite the perceived positive impact of remote or hybrid working on project success rates and sustainability efforts, some 47% of project managers said that they are expected to be in the office more now compared to a year ago.

Furthermore, the research found that the biggest challenge when it comes to managing remote or hybrid teams concerns communication issues - cited by almost half (48%) of respondents. Lack of collaboration, scheduling conflicts, lack of team culture, and lack of visibility were the other leading challenges in this regard.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, power skills (including communication, problem-solving, collaborative leadership and strategic thinking) were deemed to be the most crucial for project managers in the future.

Peter Glynne, President of the Ireland Chapter of PMI, said: "Project management across Ireland is fast evolving with the ambition, scale and complexity of projects ever increasing. Project management professionals need to be able to navigate this next wave of innovation - something which we discussed at our annual conference. That means adopting workstyles and deploying technologies that enable the sector to drive success, manage costs, and support sustainability. It also means addressing any barriers and upskilling for the future, otherwise the potential to drive real impact for Ireland through ambitious projects will be lost."

Jennifer Ryan, EY Ireland Transformation Delivery Business Consulting Partner, said: "EY were delighted to once again be title sponsors for the PMI National Conference. At EY, we understand that project management is on the cusp of transformational change with the introduction of technological change and new work practices. As such, we're delighted that this year's conference highlighted the transformative potential of AI, the importance of sustainability, and the future of work. At EY, we recognise that organisations and Transformation Management Offices (TMOs) are already adapting in response to these three themes, particularly as they realign the capabilities that they require to maximise the efficiency of the delivery of transformation."

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