Project management consultant Joe was in for a pleasant surprise.  Although they’d recently been making major investments in AI and automation, one of his long-standing clients wanted him to head their latest project. Once the excitement cleared, Joe couldn’t help but ask, “Why me when you’ve got all the AI?”

While the role of project management is changing due to AI, technology, and other shifts, strong project managers are still highly valued by their clients. Here are a few of the top reasons Joe and his peers are feeling the love.

Reason 1: “AI isn’t an alternative to your well-honed acumen.”

AI is awesome, but it’s even better when aligned with expertise. Here’s what Joe’s clients might say:

• As a project manager, you are quick to identify what bottlenecks or threats merit our intervention; this saves us from evaluating potential risks that AI scans for us almost daily.
• You don’t just understand the project at hand but also our business… the people and mindsets that define our clients… and the industry.
• The distilled clarity you bring to the table is really special; it gives us the confidence that a business-focused partner is looking out for our project’s success.
• Having said that, we expect you to leverage our investments in AI and automation to strengthen your radar.

Reason 2: “Your ability to propel project impact is unparalleled”

While automation is valuable, human insights optimize projects. A few examples of what satisfied clients appreciate:

• Each time we work together, you’ve come to us with recommendations on minor scope expansions (in many cases at no extra cost) to drive significant impact. For instance, the digital transformation project saw you suggesting that we expand the scope to include our distributor ecosystem.
• Your insights have had a major impact the reasons why we’ve outdone our competition.
• Sometimes recommendations impact project timelines, but proactive communication helps us to deal with the ramifications.
• Now that we have better project planning and workflow tools at your disposal, we think you will be equipped to dodge such scenarios.

Reason 3: “We trust your understanding of our culture”

AI isn’t the future; it is the present and the only way to ace project management given the pace of organizational change. But it cannot exemplify organizational culture. Joe’s clients might share:

• We’ve worked together for over 10 years and you’ve come to know who we are.
• You understand that in our culture, how we do things is just as important as what we do.
• We trust you to spot any red flags that may come up during project implementation that are in contrast to our vision and values as a company.
• Your understanding of our legal and compliance ecosystem… your ability to recognize any bias that may get past AI… and your empathy for people and professionals at large give us immense confidence.
• While we want to optimize project management, it’s not at the cost of compromising on value creation.

Reason 4: “AI has nothing on your people skills”

Project success doesn’t happen in isolation – it demands high team engagement and user adoption. It’s no surprise that clients have feedback on project managers’ people skills!

• While AI can deliver a project in the most seamless and optimized manner, your people skills are critical to earning our team’s collective trust.
• The authenticity and employee-centricity you bring to key project discussions are one-of-a-kind.
• While your people skills outpace AI, even a majority of your peers in the industry don’t possess the skills that you do.
• As we rely more on gig workers and vendors for project implementation, effective leadership is paramount, and we rely on your capabilities to drive projects.
• We want to go beyond having a transactional relationship. We want to let you know that we deeply value our partnership and collaboration.

Takeaways for project managers

Clearly, Joe was fortunate to have a client who confided in him completely. It helped him get precise insights into what his clients thought of his work and what they expected of him going forward. Based on the conversation, he was able to draw out a set of client-centric KPIs for himself.

While effective project managers set both client-centric and personal goals, encounters like the example above help will help them to arrive at KPIs that will be relevant in the new, AI-integrated project management ecosystem.

Not all project managers can expect to chance upon such authentic client encounters, but this scenario highlights the value of strong client relationships, personal skills, and a deep understanding of your clients’ needs.

As the project management industry undergoes a metamorphosis, it’s important to balance both people skills and technology solutions, An end-to-end CX management platform can be helpful for project managers who want to understand customer expectations, intervene in good time, and measure the efficacy of the approach.

For instance, with SogoCX you can:

• Collect client feedback across channels using automation
• Know customer sentiment beyond traditional metrics such as NPS
• Maximize customer engagement opportunities through the project lifecycle
• Identify and resolve customer experience gaps before you lose leverage
• Predict variables that can impact future customer experience and take the right action

Today’s project managers need to be on top of fast-changing client expectations, AI skills, as well as complementing soft skills. This goes a long way toward giving you an edge as a project partner of choice and ensuring that you are able to maximize client lifecycle value in a mutually rewarding manner.

Ready to make real-time discoveries to drive success? Learn how SogoCX is helping project managers manage and enhance client experience to drive career growth. Connect with our team to understand how you can implement end-to-end CX management and become a preferred project partner for leading clients.