IT Project Management Trends with the FixUp Fairies

Thursday 15 January 2026 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Productivity Isn’t About Speed Anymore

SEO: Why sustainable productivity is replacing delivery-at-all-costs.

For much of the last decade, productivity was equated with speed. In 2026, this mindset is shifting. Organisations are increasingly focused on sustainable productivity that balances output with wellbeing and long-term performance. Burnout, attrition, and quality failures have highlighted the cost of constant acceleration. Leading organisations now measure productivity through value delivered over time rather than short-term throughput.

Takeaway: Project leaders are expected to create environments where teams can perform consistently without sacrificing resilience.

Tags: productivity, burnout, sustainable delivery, leadership

Wednesday 14 January 2026 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

The Quiet Return of Governance (And Why It’s Different This Time)

SEO: Why modern governance is returning as an enabler, not a blocker.

After years of lightweight controls, governance is quietly re-emerging as a priority. However, this is not a return to heavy bureaucracy. Modern governance in 2026 is adaptive, data-driven, and proportionate to risk. Boards and executives want confidence, not paperwork. This has led to governance frameworks that emphasise transparency, early warning indicators, and rapid escalation paths. PMI research shows organisations with adaptive governance outperform those with either rigid or absent controls.

Takeaway: Project managers play a critical role in translating governance expectations into practical delivery behaviours.

Tags: governance, PMO, risk management, agility

Tuesday 13 January 2026 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

AI as a Co-Pilot, Not a Replacement, for Project Leaders

SEO: How AI will reshape decision-making without replacing human leadership.

Artificial intelligence is becoming deeply embedded in project delivery tools, but 2026 marks a turning point in how it is used. Rather than automating leadership away, AI is increasingly positioned as a decision-support partner. Forecasting risks, identifying dependencies, and analysing delivery patterns are now routine capabilities. Gartner research suggests organisations that treat AI as a co-pilot see better outcomes than those that attempt full automation. This balance allows PMs to focus on leadership, communication, and sensemaking while AI handles data-heavy analysis.

Takeaway: The most effective project leaders use AI to enhance judgment, not replace it. Human skills such as ethical reasoning, stakeholder empathy, and contextual understanding remain irreplaceable.

Tags: AI, leadership, PM technology, decision-making

Monday 12 January 2026 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Why 2026 Will Be the Year of Outcome-Centric Project Management

SEO: Why project success in 2026 will be measured by outcomes, not outputs.

In 2026, organisations are increasingly recognising that delivering on time and on budget is no longer enough. Stakeholders now expect projects to create measurable business outcomes, whether that is improved customer experience, increased operational resilience, or faster strategic execution. This shift represents a fundamental evolution in how success is defined. Outcome-centric project management requires PMs to engage deeply with business strategy. Instead of focusing solely on task completion, project leaders must understand why the work matters, who it benefits, and how success will be measured long after delivery. This often means redefining scope, success criteria, and reporting mechanisms.

Takeaway: PMOs are responding by redesigning governance models to focus on benefits realisation rather than milestone tracking. This trend, highlighted in recent PMI and Gartner discussions, positions project management as a strategic capability rather than a delivery function.

Tags: outcomes, value delivery, PMO evolution, strategy execution

Friday, 9 January 2026 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

From Roadmaps to Value Streams: The 2026 Planning Reset

SEO: In 2026, organisations are moving from static roadmaps to continuous value stream planning.

Traditional roadmaps once provided clarity, but in fast-moving environments they often become obsolete quickly. In response, many organisations are adopting value stream-based planning. This approach focuses on continuous prioritisation based on outcomes rather than fixed timelines. Funding and capacity decisions are revisited regularly, allowing strategy to adapt to real-world feedback. Project managers play a critical role in this shift by providing delivery insight, highlighting constraints, and supporting evidence-based decisions.

Takeaway: Planning in 2026 is less about prediction and more about responsiveness.

Tags: value streams, planning evolution, PMO strategy, adaptive delivery

Thursday, 8 January 2026 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Why Delivery Confidence Is Replacing Delivery Certainty

SEO: Organisations are shifting from rigid certainty to delivery confidence as complexity makes precise prediction unrealistic.

For decades, project governance rewarded certainty: fixed plans, firm commitments, and detailed forecasts. In 2026, this mindset is increasingly misaligned with reality. Complex systems, market volatility, and interdependent initiatives make precise prediction unreliable. As a result, leading organisations are prioritising delivery confidence instead. Delivery confidence means being able to explain progress, risks, and options clearly at any point in time. It relies on transparency, continuous learning, and honest communication.

Takeaway: Confidence is built through visibility and trust, not rigid control.

Tags: delivery confidence, governance, complexity, leadership trust

Wednesday, 7 January 2026 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

AI-Augmented Decision Making Enters the PMO

SEO: In 2026, AI-driven analytics are becoming core to PMO decision-making, reshaping governance and portfolio leadership.

Artificial intelligence is no longer experimental within PMOs. By early 2026, AI-powered analytics are embedded in portfolio tools, offering scenario modelling, predictive risk analysis, and prioritisation recommendations. However, AI does not remove the need for human judgement. Algorithms can highlight patterns and probabilities, but they lack organisational context, political awareness, and ethical consideration. High-performing PMOs are evolving into decision hubs where AI insights are combined with human experience. This enables faster, more informed decisions while maintaining accountability.

Takeaway: The future PMO blends data science with leadership, ensuring technology enhances — rather than replaces — judgement.

Tags: AI in PMO, decision-making, portfolio governance, analytics

Tuesday, 6 January 2026 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

The Leadership Skill PMs Need Most in 2026: Sensemaking

SEO: Sensemaking is emerging as a critical leadership skill for project managers navigating AI, data overload, and organisational complexity.

Project managers entering 2026 face an unprecedented volume of information. Dashboards, AI-generated forecasts, stakeholder inputs, and real-time metrics all compete for attention. In this environment, sensemaking has become a defining leadership capability. Sensemaking is the ability to interpret signals, identify what truly matters, and explain complex situations in a way that enables action. It bridges the gap between raw data and meaningful decisions. PMs who excel at sensemaking help executives understand not just what is happening, but why it matters and what choices are available. This skill is particularly valuable in ambiguous or fast-changing contexts where traditional plans offer limited guidance.

Takeaway: As automation increases, the PM’s value lies in interpretation, context, and clarity — not information volume.

Tags: leadership skills, sensemaking, PM capability, decision support

Monday, 5 January 2026 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

2026 Opens with a New Expectation for Project Leaders

SEO: In 2026, project leaders are expected to operate as strategic partners, blending delivery expertise with commercial and organisational insight.

The start of 2026 marks a decisive shift in how project leadership is perceived across organisations. Project managers are no longer valued solely for their ability to track milestones, manage risks, or report status. Instead, they are increasingly expected to contribute directly to strategic decision-making. Executive teams now look to PMs for insight into feasibility, sequencing, and trade-offs. This requires a deeper understanding of business objectives, financial drivers, and organisational constraints. PMs who can translate delivery reality into strategic options are becoming indispensable. This evolution also changes how PMs engage with stakeholders. Influence, negotiation, and narrative-building are now as important as planning discipline. Authority is less about hierarchy and more about credibility built through insight and judgement.

Takeaway: In 2026, the most successful project leaders will be those who combine delivery mastery with strategic awareness and the confidence to challenge assumptions.

Tags: Tags: project leadership, strategy execution, PM role evolution, 2026 trends

Friday, 2 January 2026 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

From Projects to Products: A Defining Shift for 2026

SEO: Product-based delivery models are set to dominate project management in 2026.

As organisations enter 2026, many are accelerating a shift away from temporary project structures toward long-lived product and value-stream teams. This change reflects a recognition that customer value rarely fits neatly into start-and-end initiatives. Instead, continuous ownership, learning, and iteration are required. For project managers, this means developing product literacy, outcome-based thinking, and deeper collaboration with business and technology leaders.

Takeaway: PMs who embrace product thinking will find broader influence and longer-term impact.

Tags: product operating model, value streams, 2026 trends

Wednesday, 31 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

2025 in Review: The Year Project Leadership Went Human

SEO: Project leadership trends in 2025 shifted toward empathy, sustainability, and trust.

One of the most defining trends of 2025 was the rebalancing of leadership priorities. Burnout, delivery fatigue, and continuous transformation pressure forced organisations to reconsider how work was managed. High-performing leaders focused on psychological safety, realistic commitments, and sustainable pace. Rather than driving teams harder, they removed friction, clarified priorities, and created space for recovery. This human-centred approach did not slow delivery. In many cases, it improved outcomes by reducing rework, attrition, and disengagement.

Takeaway: Empathy proved to be a delivery accelerator, not a soft optional extra.

Tags: leadership, wellbeing, sustainable delivery, project culture

Tuesday, 30 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Why AI Did Not Replace Project Managers in 2025

SEO: AI reshaped project delivery in 2025 without removing the need for human leadership.

Throughout 2025, AI-driven tools transformed how projects were planned, tracked, and forecast. Automated schedules, predictive risk alerts, and real-time reporting became standard features in modern PM platforms.Yet despite these advances, project managers were not replaced. Instead, their role evolved. AI excelled at processing data and identifying patterns, but it struggled with nuance: organisational politics, cultural context, and competing stakeholder incentives.Successful PMs became interpreters of AI insight rather than passive recipients. They validated recommendations, challenged optimistic forecasts, and translated data into decisions executives could trust.

Takeaway: AI amplified delivery capability, but leadership, judgement, and accountability remained firmly human responsibilities.

Tags: AI, automation, human judgement, project leadership

Monday, 29 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Year-End Reflection: What Delivery Teams Learned in 2025

SEO: Project delivery lessons from 2025 focused on adaptability, prioritisation, and sustained value.

As 2025 draws to a close, delivery teams across industries are reflecting on a year shaped by volatility, rapid technology adoption, regulatory pressure, and heightened stakeholder expectations. What emerged most clearly was that traditional notions of certainty no longer hold. Detailed plans created months in advance struggled to survive contact with reality. The most effective teams succeeded not by predicting the future, but by building systems that allowed them to respond quickly when assumptions broke. Clear prioritisation frameworks, frequent re-planning, and honest capacity conversations replaced rigid commitment models. Another major lesson was the growing maturity around stopping work. Organisations that were willing to pause or cancel initiatives that no longer delivered value protected both morale and investment.

Takeaway: In 2025, adaptability consistently outperformed predictability — and that lesson will carry directly into 2026.

Tags: year-end review, delivery lessons, adaptive planning, project management

Wednesday, 24 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Quarterly Funding Models Are Replacing Annual Budgets

SEO: Rolling funding models are enabling organisations to adapt faster, prioritise value, and respond to market volatility.

Across 2025, industry research and PMI-aligned guidance have consistently highlighted the growing limitations of traditional annual budgeting. Fixed funding cycles struggle to keep pace with regulatory changes, economic uncertainty, and rapidly evolving technology landscapes.

Quarterly funding models allow leadership teams to reassess priorities more frequently, redirect investment toward higher-value initiatives, and pause or stop work that no longer aligns with strategic objectives. This approach also reduces sunk-cost bias, enabling more rational decision-making.

For project managers, this shift means closer collaboration with finance and portfolio teams. PMs are increasingly expected to provide timely delivery data, scenario options, and risk insight to inform funding decisions.

Takeaway: Funding flexibility is now a delivery accelerator — and PMs play a critical role in making it work.

Tags: funding models, portfolio agility, PMI trends, financial governance

Tuesday, 23 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

AI Forecasting vs Human Judgement in Project Delivery

SEO: AI-powered forecasting improves accuracy and speed, but human judgement remains essential for context and decision-making.

Gartner trend summaries from late 2025 show that AI-driven forecasting tools now outperform traditional planning techniques when it comes to analysing historical data, identifying patterns, and predicting likely delivery outcomes.

However, these tools remain limited by the quality of their inputs and their inability to fully understand organisational nuance. Political dynamics, regulatory sensitivities, stakeholder behaviour, and cultural context are often invisible to algorithms.

High-performing teams use AI as an augmentation tool rather than a replacement. Project managers interpret forecasts, challenge assumptions, and decide when human judgement should override automated recommendations.

Takeaway: The strongest delivery outcomes come from balancing data-driven insight with professional experience.

Tags: AI forecasting, decision-making, Gartner insights, delivery leadership

Monday, 22 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Why Productivity Metrics Are Being Rewritten for Knowledge Work

SEO: Productivity metrics in project management are shifting from raw output to flow efficiency, sustainability, and team health.

Traditional productivity measures such as utilisation rates, hours logged, or task counts often create misleading signals in knowledge-based work. Teams may appear productive while delivery slows due to bottlenecks, rework, or burnout.

Modern organisations are increasingly adopting flow-based metrics that focus on throughput, cycle time, work-in-progress limits, and predictability. These measures provide a more accurate picture of how value moves through a system.

Leadership patterns are also changing. Sustainable pace, psychological safety, and long-term capability are now recognised as productivity multipliers rather than soft concerns.

Takeaway: Sustainable pace beats short-term throughput — and smarter metrics make this visible.

Tags: productivity, flow efficiency, leadership trends, knowledge work

Friday, 19 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Gartner: Why Execution Speed Beats Perfect Strategy

SEO: Gartner insights show that fast execution increasingly outperforms perfectly optimised strategy.

Gartner research highlights that organisations able to execute quickly, learn, and adjust outperform those chasing perfect upfront strategies. Speed enables feedback, validation, and market relevance.

Project managers enable this by shortening decision loops, simplifying governance, and focusing teams on incremental value delivery.

Takeaway: In 2025, execution capability is a strategic asset.

Tags: Gartner trends, execution, strategy delivery

Thursday, 18 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

PMI’s Quiet Shift from Process to Principles

SEO: PMI trend summaries reveal a subtle but important move away from rigid process toward principle-based delivery.

Recent PMI publications increasingly emphasise value delivery, adaptability, and outcomes over strict methodology adherence. This reflects how projects are actually delivered in modern organisations.

Project managers are expected to apply judgement, select fit-for-purpose practices, and tailor governance. Certification is no longer about memorising processes but about demonstrating contextual intelligence.

Takeaway: This shift legitimises hybrid and adaptive delivery as the norm rather than the exception.

Tags: PMI, project principles, modern PM

Wednesday, 17 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Why Annual Planning Is Failing in a Volatile Market

SEO: Market volatility is forcing organisations to abandon rigid annual plans in favour of adaptive delivery models.

Industry reports throughout 2025 consistently highlight a gap between long-term plans and short-term reality. Economic uncertainty, regulatory shifts, and rapid technology change mean fixed annual plans quickly become obsolete.

Leading organisations are adopting rolling planning horizons, quarterly funding decisions, and continuous reprioritisation. Project managers are central to this shift, providing real-time delivery insight that informs strategic choices.

Takeaway:The ability to stop, pivot, or re-scope work has become a competitive advantage rather than a sign of failure.

Tags: market volatility, adaptive planning, portfolio management

Tuesday, 16 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

AI Is Now Managing the Plan — The PM Manages the Context

SEO: How AI-driven planning tools are reshaping the project manager’s role from task control to contextual leadership.

By late 2025, AI tools are no longer assisting project planning — they are actively generating schedules, forecasting risks, and optimising delivery paths. Modern project managers are shifting away from manual plan maintenance and toward interpreting, validating, and contextualising AI outputs.

This change elevates the PM role. Instead of chasing updates, PMs now focus on stakeholder alignment, trade-off decisions, and ethical oversight of automated recommendations. AI excels at pattern recognition, but it lacks organisational nuance, political awareness, and cultural sensitivity.

Takeaway: Successful PMs in this environment understand when to trust automation and when to override it. The future belongs to those who can combine machine intelligence with human judgement.

Tags: AI project management, automation, leadership evolution

Monday, 15 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Data-Driven Portfolio Management: The Strategic Edge for PMOs

SEO Description: Portfolio-level data insights are transforming PMO decision-making. Learn how data-driven governance helps prioritise value and reduce risk.

As organisations scale, project complexity increases. That’s where data-driven portfolio management becomes invaluable.

PMOs are now integrating live dashboards, predictive analytics, and scenario modelling into their planning. These tools help leaders prioritise based on value, ROI, risk, and resource load.

Takeaway: Shift from siloed project reporting to integrated portfolio dashboards. The visibility gained can transform decision-making.

Tags: portfolio management, PMO, data analytics, dashboards, resource planning

Friday, 12 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Remote & Hybrid Collaboration: The Project Success Imperative

SEO Description: Hybrid work has changed project collaboration forever. Explore how PMs can strengthen communication, visibility, and alignment in distributed teams.

Remote and hybrid work models continue to dominate in 2025. This shift requires project managers to rethink communication strategies, governance, and workflow design.

Effective hybrid collaboration includes:

• Clear asynchronous communication norms
• Transparent project dashboards
• Regular alignment rituals
• Tools that support visibility across time zones

Takeaway: If your team works hybrid, audit your communication cadence. Are updates clear? Is visibility consistent? Small tweaks can eliminate major friction.

Tags: remote work, hybrid teams, collaboration tools, team alignment

Thursday, 11 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Soft Skills & Emotional Intelligence: The Human Advantage in a Tech-Heavy PM World

SEO Description: Soft skills and emotional intelligence are becoming essential in project management as teams navigate hybrid work, rapid change, and diverse collaboration.

As technology accelerates routine work, human skills are becoming the competitive edge of modern project managers. Emotional intelligence, empathy, communication, and conflict resolution are now seen as core drivers of team success.

Why They Matter:

• Cross-functional teams need alignment and trust
• Hybrid environments rely on clarity of communication
• Psychological safety impacts velocity and quality
• PMs must manage change with compassion and transparency

Takeaway: Integrate soft-skill development into retrospectives, performance conversations, and coaching moments.

Tags: leadership, soft skills, emotional intelligence, team management, hybrid work

Wednesday, 10 December 2025 — 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

AI & Automation: Transitioning from Buzzwords to Backbone of Project Delivery

SEO Description: AI and automation are redefining project management in 2025. Learn how teams are using intelligent tools for forecasting, scheduling, and risk prediction.

Artificial Intelligence and automation have moved far beyond hype. In 2025, modern PM tools integrate AI-driven planning, risk-flagging, and automated task orchestration.

Tools now make it possible to:

• Automatically generate schedule forecasts
• Identify bottlenecks from past project data
• Allocate resources dynamically
• Produce automated status updates and dashboards

Takeaway: Audit your current PM tools. Do they offer automation or AI-enabled features? If not, consider piloting one — especially on projects with high complexity or resource variability.

Tags: AI, automation, digital transformation, predictive analytics, PM tools

Tuesday, 9 December 2025 11:00 AM (London)

Chief Fairy

Why Hybrid Project Management Is the New Normal in 2025

SEO Description: Hybrid project management is becoming the dominant approach in 2025. Here’s why organisations are blending Agile, Waterfall, and adaptive methods for better outcomes.

Hybrid project management is rapidly becoming the standard in 2025. Instead of rigidly following a single methodology like Waterfall or Scrum, organisations are increasingly choosing context-driven combinations.

This shift allows teams to use the structure of predictive planning where needed, while still benefiting from the adaptability of iterative delivery. Hybrid models work especially well in environments where regulatory oversight, innovation, and cross-functional dependencies coexist.

Key Benefits:

• Flexibility in how teams plan and deliver
• Better risk management across complex value streams
• Improved stakeholder alignment for hybrid or evolving requirements

Takeaway: If your organisation hasn’t already adopted a hybrid model, 2025 is the time to explore it. Start by mapping project types to tailored delivery strategies.

Tags: project management, hybrid methodology, trends 2025, PMO strategies