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Become a Proactive Project Manager

3/8/2011

17 Comments

 
Proactive project managers are people who focus their efforts and attention on the long-term as opposed to being reactive in the present moment. They believe that their actions matter and that they can positively influence a situation by doing something about it. 

One of the best ways in which you can be proactive as a project manager is to work with your team and stakeholders to actively identify, analyze and mitigate project risks before they turn into issues. You can also make a concerted effort to build strong and lasting relationships with your stakeholders so that you are able to draw on their knowledge and support the day you need it. When you keep your stakeholders abreast of developments and have an excellent rapport with them, they are very unlikely to ever turn against you. They respect you and they know that you are actively working to improve all aspects of the project on their behalf. 

Another way to be proactive is to carry out project reviews and to liaise with your team members on a one-to-one basis. Ask for feedback and investigate if there is anything at all you can do to optimize the way the team works. In addition, be proactive and explore if your QA activities are as good as they can be. Poor product quality is one of the biggest reasons for project failure.

Reactive is the opposite of proactive. Reactive people often hold a belief that they have no control over a situation. This could relate to the behavior of an unreasonable stakeholder or the issues that arise during a project. They surrender and wait until a potential problem has become a burning issue before they take action. 

One of the reasons why some project managers give in and become reactive, is that their workload is so big that they feel they have no option but to fire fight in the present moment. But in reality we always have an option even if it is not an easy one. If you feel overloaded and overworked, look at how you can delegate more, how you can get better at saying ‘no’ to new requests and how you can optimizing the way you manage your time. 
 
To become more proactive, make it a habit to regularly engage in the following;  

- Spend time on your own and with team members identifying anything which could go wrong on the project. Thoroughly analyze the risks and identify an owner and mitigating actions. Do this as often as possible.

- Ask team members as often as you can what is preventing them from moving forward or what could make them work more effectively.

- Build strong relationships with all key players on the project. See things from their point of view, understand their interests and address their issues and concerns.

- Carry out project reviews and encourage a culture of learning and contribution. Discuss how past issues can be avoided and take action to make improvements.

- Demonstrate and prototype the solution to the customer and end users as often as possible. Ask for feedback and verify that what you are building matches their requirements and expectations.

- Identify and review your project controls on a regular basis. Assess if they are working as expected and keeping cost, quality and time under control.

- Actively manage your stakeholders’ expectations through face-to-face meetings and regular project reporting. Make them appreciate which risks, issues and constraints you are facing. Make sure there are no negative surprises. 
 
- Organize knowledge sharing and fun team building activities to improve morale and motivation. 

- Assess your own working practices and determine how you can optimize the way you spend your time. Could you for instance start delegating more?


If you liked this post, you may also like:
My Story - Working Smarter; Not Harder! 
Be a Project Champion
Delegate Effectively and Thoughtfully
Risk management is how adults manage projects 

17 Comments
Kristina
4/8/2011 08:22:24

Sorry if I'm starting some blasphemy here, but in my opinion all these things should be natural to a project manager / good project manager full stop. A character trait of a good project manager should be that s/he is pro-active while this article makes it sound like it would earn anyone brownie points just because of .... starting to do his/her job.

Reply
Eric Krock link
4/8/2011 12:27:02

Nice article! I agree that product and project managers should be proactive. I used the metaphor of building inspectors vs. firefighters in a past blog post of my own about the importance of product and project managers being proactive: http://www.voximate.com/blog/article/398/product-management-firefighting/

Reply
Susanne link
4/8/2011 12:40:25

You are right Kristina - every good project manager 'should' be proactive, but unfortunately I have seen many examples where it is not the case. Instead some project managers are reactive and firefight in the present moment. I am pleased if you belong to the pro-active type :-)

Reply
Vin D'Amico link
4/8/2011 18:48:17

Good points. I'd like to see companies invest more time and money in training project managers in the art of managing people. It seems like training is focused on managing the numbers, artifacts and risks. But, in the end, people get stuff done, not gantt charts.

Reply
Pranjal R Nigam
29/8/2011 21:24:19

Explained beautifully.

Reply
Stan Yanakiev, PMP link
12/9/2011 01:33:51

Susanne,
This is a very good post and it addresses a fundamental principle: project management is about being proactive. I believe that the starting point for that is to have clear project goals and objectives and keep one's focus on these. This helps veering off into a reactive mode of work.

Reply
Management certificate link
23/4/2012 07:54:30

Nice blog about the management firm.The description is really useful for the new customers and people who really want to be a part of this group.Thanks.

Reply
aboutus.org link
4/9/2013 08:34:01

This posting is marvelous and what a fantastic research that you have done. It has helped me a lot. thank you very much

Reply
Time tracker link
5/4/2013 02:04:19

thank you for the nice management tips. its please to visit this post.

Reply
essay link
17/5/2013 03:02:08

The good manager knows the feeling of their employees, They can lead while serving and they are good judge of charcater.

Reply
essays link
23/5/2013 03:15:52

I agree that a good manager knows what his or her people feels, They know how to handle critical situation with a relax emotions, they do not panic if there are new changes in their work environment.

Reply
Susanne Madsen link
23/5/2013 03:58:47

Thank you everyone for your comments. I really appreciate it!

Susanne

Reply
click here for details link
14/6/2013 00:21:56

Nice post! This blog post is one of the important information that excites a reader and since it provides many info related to work, this can be a great experience for the visitor. I really appreciate the writer's effort in bringing up such a beautiful article. Thanks.

Reply
STRAIGHTENING MACHINE link
22/7/2013 06:28:32

A character trait of a good project manager should be that s/he is pro-active while this article makes it sound like it would earn anyone brownie points just because of .... starting to do his/her job.

Reply
Christian Bisson, PMP link
5/8/2013 10:10:55

I totally agree with Kristina, if you are not pro-active, I barely understand what you are doing. Project management is seeing the future and leading towards it, if you can't see it, then you are leading your team blindly into trouble.

Nice article!

Reply
obat memperlancar haid link
19/7/2014 06:46:22

Thank you for another essential article. Where else could anyone get that kind of information in such a complete way of writing? I have a presentation incoming week, and I am on the lookout for such information.

Reply
Jamil link
6/5/2021 21:56:30

In order to be the best in the field, you should be equipped with sufficient knowledge and understanding about your job. There are a lot of aspects that are included in the scope of the profession, such as quality management, cost management, safety management, contract administration, and more.

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