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Proactivity in Project Management

February 25, 2009 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management Best Practices

Proactivity in Project Management
By Patrick Seaton

Have you ever thought about the difference between Firefighters and Pyrotechnicians?

Firefighters: They wait in the firehouse until the alarm goes off. Then they race to the scene of the fire, put it out, and then go back and wait for the next fire. Despite the fact that they do occasional fire safety education, they are reactive in their work.

Pyrotechnicians: They select the fireworks that will go off, the sequence, the music, and the timing. They are totally proactive in their jobs.

So what are you? What about your staff? What did you hire? What is supported and recognized in your company culture? What do you need to drive your company forward?

What I offer to you is to consider if you have trained and conditioned your employees to be the consummate firefighter, while urging them to become better pyrotechnicians.

The problem is this. Proactive skills are exactly that – skills. They need to be learned, practiced, and fine-tuned if we are to be good at them. When we are constantly fighting fires, we may only have a few short minutes to put on our “proactive” hat. Just when we think we’ll have time to do something proactive – DING! DING! DING! The fire alarm goes off again and we rush off to put out the next fire.

Another thing that really perplexes me is the following: Why is it that we very often rush through, or skip the planning stage of a project? Instead we get so excited to jump right in and begin “doing something” and/or we say that there isn’t enough time to plan it all out.

And when a project is assigned to us, why we are urged to get quick answers and results? We feel pressured to start “working.”

What I don’t understand is that while we don’t/can’t/won’t take the time to plan up front for 2 or 3 hours, we almost always hit the point in the project when we need to “regroup.” “Regroup” has become a common phrase in companies today. We “regroup” because things aren’t going the way we anticipated. How is it that we can always find the 15 hours (or 10, or 20) needed to undo the work that was done, fix the problem, redo the work, and get back to where we were before we “regrouped,” but we rarely find the time for a couple hours of planning up front?

Taking the time to plan and prepare for upcoming changes, projects, and strategic initiatives does not have to be complicated. Remember that people accept change better when there is a focus on processes, when they are included in the process, when they are allowed and encouraged to ask questions or voice concerns, and when they feel that there is a plan in place so that they don’t have to “regroup” later.

So if you really want people to be proactive and help drive your company forward toward a great future, create opportunities for them to build and hone their proactive skills. The first step to becoming proactive is to learn to plan.

Benefits of proactivity in Project Management

  1. Lower costs by eliminating rework and “regrouping”
  2. Increase productivity by making sure there is a plan and people know their priorities that will bring them closer to the goals
  3. Improve morale by opening communication lines, minimizing stress and frustration for those who typically don’t have a role in the planning process, and validating employees’ contributions to the organization’s strategic goals
  4. Develop management by giving them a vehicle for learning how to be proactive

Best practices

  1. Conduct a planning session every major project or initiative
  2. Make sure that the goal is clear and attainable (stretch is OK)
  3. Make sure the project or initiative champion participates in the session
  4. Use a facilitator from outside the area (or organization) to bring fresh perspectives and unbiased suggestions to the group

This article was published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

Patrick Seaton - pdseaton@innovmgmt.com
Innovative Management Tools LLC - www.innovmgmt.com
715-340-9606

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 and is filed under Project Management Best Practices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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