10 Must-Know Project Management Statistics

It’s a great time to obsess over stats with the opening day of baseball season just around the corner.
The difference between a Hall of Famer (a.250 hitter) or a journeyman is about one hit per week over the course of a career.
Stats aren’t just for sports.
Stats can make the difference between a successful and a failure project, with multiple jobs and millions in the balance.
You need to understand the numbers, such as budgets, timelines, and KPIs, to determine if things are moving in the right direction or if there are any changes. When is it time for paid project management software?
Are you looking for free project management software Capterra has more than 300 options. Here are ten stats that will help you plan your project.
10 Project Management Statistics
1. According to executives, the leading cause of project failure is a lack of clear goals (37%). (Source: PMI Pulse of the Profession 2017). The takeaway: Have a project kickoff meeting before you do anything else to avoid project failure.
2. Only 37% of U.K. teams reported that they completed projects on time. (Source: Wellingtone). The takeaway: While delays are inevitable, it doesn’t mean that you should accept that every project will fall behind schedule. Gantt charts can be used to keep your project on track.
3. 73% of U.S. workers believe technology cannot replace the human mind. (Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers)The takeaway: Artificial intelligence is already changing project management, but that doesn’t mean that PM jobs will be replaced by robots. Soft skills like communication and leadership will be more important in the 21st Century than hard skills like spreadsheets and presentation software.
4. The national average salary for project managers is $80.854. (Source: Glassdoor)Glassdoor
The bottom line: Project management can be a very lucrative career. Here are some ways you can make more money as a project manager.
5. The percentage of companies using a spreadsheet for managing their Agile projects declined from 74% to 67% between 2015 and 2016. (Source: VersionOne). The takeaway: While spreadsheets can be useful for managing personal finances and playing Tetris games, they are not meant to manage Agile projects. There are apps that can do this.
6. Up 5% from 2014, 85% of firms now have a project management office (PMO). Nearly half (45%), of PMO staff have earned their PMP certification (Project Management Professional). Source: The State of the Project Management Office 2016 A PMP certificate is nice but not necessary.
7. 90% of companies surveyed said open source software improved efficiency, interoperability and innovation. In 2016, 65% of companies used open source software. Source: Black Duck Software. The bottom line: You don’t have to pay extra for project management software. However, you should be aware of the potential risks. Open source software can have fewer features than paid software. It is also more difficult to use open source solutions without an IT team.
8. In 2017, the biggest challenge faced by manufacturing project managers was managing project costs (49.5%) Meeting deadlines (45.8%), and sharing information between teams (43.9%) were also problems faced by manufacturing project managers in 2017. Source: Liquid Planner. The bottom line: Good project management is built on time management, budget management, communication, and budget management. If you do these things correctly, success will follow.
9. More than half (56.6%) of manufacturers use a combination project management methodology. Source: Liquid Planner. The takeaway: ThereR