35 project management stats you need to know for 2023

Are you tired of reading project management articles with data sourced from 2016? Us too. At Proteus, we care about data, its relevance, its accuracy, its timeliness, and most importantly, how we can use it to make better business decisions.

Because, whether we like it or not, 2023 is almost upon us. 

It’s time to start reflecting on the performance from 2022, and what needs to be done by the end of the year to improve that performance for 2023. 

To help you get a better idea of the current state of project management, here is a list of the most current project management stats to help you and your business. 

Project Management Software

When it comes to managing projects, it seems the ubiquitous spreadsheet is still heavily used as a central project management tool. This is despite the fact that the data consistently tells us Excel causes Project Managers more problems than it solves.  

Human error, corrupted files, security issues, version numbers, multiple files saved in multiple locations, data accuracy, and lack of control are some of the many, many reasons why Excel was not created to manage projects.  

If you review the hundreds of project management reports and stats, as we’ve done, it’s not hard to make a clear correlation between the number of Project Managers using Excel, and the sheer number of projects failing. 

However, there is some good news in 2022. We are finally starting to see a decrease in popularity for this not-built-for-project-management software solution. Research is suggesting that more and more companies are onboarding project management software solutions, with many others planning theirs. 

1. Currently, only 25% of Project Managers are using project management software, which means that 75% of projects are still being run using pen, pen, Excel, and who knows what else. 
2. Only 55% of the leading global CEOs say they are using technology to effectively measure the impact of projects. 
3. Nearly 50% of all business leaders expect to make ‘considerable investments’ in technology advancements and digitalisation in the next three to five years 
4. Research shows that 66% of project professionals were able to commit to investing in project management software when their decision was supported by their organisation.
5. According to PWC, 40% of organisations say that a lack of digital leadership, digital culture, and insufficient c-suite buy-in, is making it difficult to implement project management technology.
6. However, there is good news. In the last year, the use of spreadsheets to  manage projects has reduced by nearly 10% while the use of project management software has increased.

Project Management & Project Controls 

Lack of control and centralisation appear to be the two biggest issues affecting project management and project control, causing sleepless nights for Project Managers. PMs are struggling to make accurate financial forecasts, assess project value, or even monitor their project baselines.

Not only that, but the lack of project centralisation means that hours are being wasted completing tasks that could be automated in minutes, rather than completed manually in hours or days. 

7. Nearly one in five companies still use spreadsheets as their primary source of truth, and one in ten say theirs can be found ‘scattered across computers, notebooks, etc’.
8. 53% of project leaders say their biggest pain point is that project and portfolio data is not centralised. 
9. One in five Project Managers say they struggle to accurately “score” the value of a project, meaning that 20% of projects have an unknown or incorrect project value. 
10. 50% of project leaders say that effectively forecasting project costs is their biggest financial challenge.
11. Only 50% of Project Managers say they ‘mostly’ or ‘always’ baseline their project schedules.
12. The majority of Project Managers don’t have access to the data they need, and 54% of Project Managers do not have access to real-time KPIs.
13. One in three Project Managers spend one full day or more manually creating project reports.
14. A 2020 report found that companies are largely unhappy with their project management maturity, with 54% saying they were dissatisfied with their current project management.

Project Performance 

It’s not surprising the data consistently shows that high-performing projects are powered by project management software. The data further continues to show an alarming number of project failures as a result of cost, time, and resource management (CTR management). 

Project failure has become so prevalent in project management that there is overall more data available on failed projects and the reasons why than on high-performing projects. When surveyed, Project Managers are increasingly crying out for better project management tools, which give them better control, consistency, visibility, and accuracy. Yet despite the overwhelming data to suggest that PMs need better (or more appropriate) tools and software solutions, change is slow. 

15. 77% of high-performing projects use project management software.
16. Only half of all organisations can confidently say they have a track record of success when it comes to delivering projects. 
17. A paltry 29% of organisations can say that they complete their projects on time.
18. For every $1bn invested in the US, $122m is wasted due to poor project performance. That’s over $1 wasted in every $10.
19. KPMG found that an incredible 70% of organisations have suffered at least one project failure in the prior 12 months.
20. 11.4% of resources are wasted due to poor project management, according to the PMI.
21. Only 43% of projects are completed on budget.
22. Half of the project leaders are not using strategic insights to drive project prioritisation.
23. 16% of Project Managers say that visibility and reporting are their biggest challenges.
24. According to Project Managers, scope creep and unrealistic deadlines are said to be some of the biggest reasons why projects fail 

Project Managers

At the cold face of the project is the Project Manager. A staggering number of Project Managers, managing significant projects, were either not originally hired into a project management role, or have received little to no official training. 

One issue noted is the perception of the Project Manager. Some see the role as little more than an administrative job, simply moving pieces along a timeline. Whereas the role of the Project Manager is invariably complex and needs support from across the organisation.

The organisation’s role in helping to achieve project success is to empower the Project Manager by providing the necessary resources and supporting channels, such as budget, the project team, c-level support, cross-departmental support, and effective project management software. 

25. 30% of people working in project management say they were not initially hired as Project Managers, they were hired for other roles but consistently found themselves managing projects. 
26. A similar percentage of people (33%) say they have no formal project management training. 
27. 83% of Project Managers say they struggle with resource visibility.  
28. A staggering 44% of c-suite leaders in the Middle East describe Project Managers as ‘schedulers’, showing a significant lack of understanding of the role and its value.
29. 25% of Project Managers do not track the time they spend on tasks, and one-third of Project Managers use spreadsheets or email to track time. 
30. 86% of project practitioners do not have enough resources to meet the project’s demands.
31. When it comes to resource management, Project Managers said that capacity planning (43%) and resource allocation (33%) were the most challenging. 

Project Management Teams

The pandemic changed working practices for a wide range of professionals across the world, not least those working in project management. 

The majority of all projects are now managed by individuals working remotely as part of wider online teams. This adds another layer of complexity to project management (and success) as cross-team collaboration is now no longer as simple as walking to the other side of the office. 

The modern project management team must now deal with working across different geographies, and even time zones, and is likely to face increased challenges when it comes to communication, centralisation, data accuracy, visibility, and control

32. Only 14% of project teams are working together, in person, in a central office, with 48% of teams working together in one country, and 38% of teams working in multiple locations across many countries. In addition, 58% of Project Managers say they work remotely. 
33. Poor cross-team collaboration is listed as the number one challenge to successful project management, followed by outdated processes, and then ineffective scheduling.
34. Team meetings are the most popular method of team collaboration, followed by email. Only 11% use project management software, which is likely to be the reason why teams feel processes are ineffective and outdated.
35. Only 50% of companies have a centralised project management approach, those who do not have to develop project processes, tools, and procedures themselves. 

About Proteus

Xergy Group’s Proteus work management solution is designed to work with your existing systems and to scale and evolve as your business evolves. It was created by project professionals with decades of experience and delivers an end-to-end project management software platform compliant with ISO audit requirements and common project management frameworks.

How to get Proteus

Proteus’ project management software is a cloud-based system designed for businesses of all sizes to handle projects of unlimited complexity. Each Proteus feature is aimed at making bottom-line improvements by improving utilisation, streamlining workflows, providing quick and efficient access to resources, and reducing overheads. One of the unique advantages of Proteus is that we offer a free onboarding consultation service to ensure your company account is set up according to your company’s needs.

Proteus operates under a software as a service (SaaS) model costing $35 per user per month. Billing is monthly or annually. For more information on our pricing visit our pricing page or get in touch with one of the team.

We designed Proteus to be simple, and that means you can get up and running on Proteus without an IT team or support from a programmer. You will want to spend a bit of time configuring the admin console so that you have everything set up to suit your company structure, but it’s very intuitive and you don’t need a Ph.D. in IT. However, we want you to get the best out of what is a brilliantly powerful tool, so don’t hesitate to ask for our support. We have a team of product experts who are ready to help you with the configuration process, so get in touch today by filling out the form below: