Project managers are managing more communication channels than ever before. Email threads, spreadsheets, dashboards, AI-generated meeting notes, chat platforms, and status meetings all compete for attention. The result is fragmented execution, slower decisions, and too much time spent chasing updates instead of solving problems.
During her recent PM Pulse presentation for the PMI Mile Hi Chapter, Jennifer Jones, Founder and CEO of 10xViz, explained why unified visibility has become one of the most important differentiators in modern project management.
Jones understands the challenge personally. Before founding 10xViz, she spent years manually gathering project schedules, financials, and reporting data from disconnected systems to create weekly executive updates.
“I was the person behind the scenes,” Jones recalled. “I was plugging everything in. I was like, ‘Tada! Here’s the PDF. Here’s the PowerPoint presentation that we’re going to go over this week, and I’m going to lovingly handcraft it again next week because that’s my job.’”
Eventually, she realized that project managers create the most value when they are leading teams and solving problems, not manually compiling reports.
Why project communication has become so complex
Modern project management has changed dramatically over the last decade. Stakeholders expect more real-time visibility, faster project updates, and more detailed reporting than ever before. Cross-functional collaboration has also become standard across industries.
At the same time, communication channels continue multiplying. Teams now manage information through email, chats, Zoom calls, dashboards, AI notetakers, spreadsheets, and project management platforms simultaneously.
Jones noted that project managers are spending more time transferring information between systems than actually leading projects.
“Most PMs spend the majority of their time on information transfer and not leadership,” she said.
This fragmentation creates operational drag. Schedules, action logs, budgets, risk registers, and approvals often live in separate systems, forcing project managers to manually reconcile information across multiple locations.
How unified visibility changes execution
Jones believes high-performing organizations separate themselves through unified visibility rather than simply working harder.
“The differentiator isn’t how hard you work,” she emphasized. “Hard work is good, but it’s not really the differentiator. It’s how unified your visibility is.”
When project information is centralized, teams spend less time searching for updates and more time making decisions. Stakeholders gain visibility without relying on constant meetings or manual reporting cycles. Teams also build stronger accountability because everyone sees the same information in real time.
Jones described this as one of the most respectful forms of accountability. Visibility helps teams identify issues earlier, prioritize work more effectively, and address risks before they escalate.
She also discussed the concept of “watermelon projects,” where projects appear healthy on the surface but contain deeper problems underneath. Automated schedule health scoring and standardized project criteria help reduce subjective reporting and create more trustworthy dashboards.
5 foundations of efficient project management
During the presentation, Jones outlined five capabilities that every modern project management system should support. The first is high visibility. Teams need information surfaced where stakeholders are already working, whether that is inside Microsoft Teams, dashboards, or centralized workspaces.
The second is automated rollups. Project schedules should automatically update dashboards and executive reporting without requiring manual rework.
The third is easy accessibility. If updates are difficult to access, users will continue defaulting to disconnected spreadsheets and email threads.
The fourth is contextual collaboration. Conversations and decisions should happen directly within the work itself so teams can maintain visibility into why changes occurred.
The fifth is routines and rhythms. Teams perform better when project updates follow consistent expectations and recurring schedules.
Together, these practices reduce manual coordination and create more scalable project operations.
Why automation comes before AI
Artificial intelligence was another major topic during Jones’ presentation. However, she stressed that organizations need structured systems before AI can provide meaningful project management support.“You have to have some of this structure in place first,” she noted while discussing AI-powered project assistants.
Without standardized workflows and centralized project data, AI simply amplifies fragmented processes. This is why many organizations focus first on workflow automation, update requests, centralized dashboards, and unified reporting structures.
Jones shared examples of how automated update requests can eliminate repetitive follow-ups by sending scheduled reminders to task owners and automatically feeding responses back into project schedules. The result is fewer manual status meetings, better visibility, and more time spent on strategic leadership.
Creating systems that support visibility
One of the key takeaways from Jones’ presentation was that project managers should not spend the majority of their time manually transferring information between systems. Strong project environments create unified visibility that allows projects to “report themselves.”
When organizations centralize information, automate repetitive updates, and simplify collaboration, project managers gain more time to focus on forecasting risks, aligning stakeholders, and guiding execution forward.
Are you ready to create unified visibility across your projects and portfolios? Connect with 10xViz today at 10xviz.com/schedule to learn how smarter systems can reduce reporting friction and improve execution.
