Proactive and reactive project management
From the The Money Files Blog
by Elizabeth Harrin
A blog that looks at all aspects of project and program finances from budgets, estimating and accounting to getting a pay rise and managing contracts.
Written by Elizabeth Harrin from RebelsGuideToPM.com.
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As a project manager, there are two types of self-management I have to do.
Proactive management is looking ahead, making sure I know what is coming up.
Reactive management is addressing the challenges of the day, fire-fighting and being asked to do something on top of my existing workload.
Proactive management
I think proactive management is where most of us should be spending most of our time. We should be looking forward, using risk management, horizon scanning or whatever you want to call it to get a good idea about what’s coming.
For example:
- Future projects that your manager is going to assign to you.
- Upcoming milestones that you need to check in on and make sure are on track.
- Risks that have a close proximity that need active management.
- Engaging stakeholders so they know what is coming (with the goal of reducing ad hoc queries or report requests).
- Big meetings or meetings where you have to prepare documentation or submit proposals/presentations/papers in advance.
These are all things that we should know are happening or about to happen and then we can plan our time appropriately around that.
We find out about these things by staying curious, asking management, putting time aside to review the project schedule alone and with the team, and listening out for things that might be a problem. The more you spot coming, the more you can work around it, or into it so it can be handled at a time that suits you – not at the last minute creating a fire you have to run around and put out.
Reactive management
It’s much harder to manage time when you have to spend it reactively responding to whatever is dumped on your desk that day. It could be a project task that someone else was supposed to do but hasn’t, and just needs to be done, it could be new work to do with your project (like setting up a meeting with 10 attendees that has to be at a particular time but no one has calendar availability at that time… don’t ask me how I know!).
Other examples would be things like:
- A supplier letting you down and not delivering goods on the specified day.
- Someone being off sick and not being available to complete a task that’s on the critical path.
- A senior executive asks for an ad hoc report on project progress for a committee meeting that is tomorrow.
Building resilience in yourself and the team is a good way to manage the short-notice requests and feel more capable of responding in the moment.
In my experience, the better I am at proactively managing upcoming situations on my projects, the less reactive management I have to do – but I know it does not always work that way. Generally, though, the more you can anticipate senior leaders’ needs, complete your risk management actions, identify problems before they become a ‘real’ problem and so on, the less reactive fire-fighting you have to do.
Admittedly, you can’t necessarily foresee that the weather is going to cause problems, or that a supplier might have difficulties fulfilling orders, but if you have identified these are risks, you will at least have (hopefully) spent some time thinking about how they might be mitigated or addressed if they do happen.
Do you spend your time between proactive and reactive management – and is this distinction a helpful way to frame your work? It really works for me, but I don’t know if it’s a common way of thinking for other project managers. Let me know in the comments!
Posted on: November 14, 2024 05:12 PM |
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Comments (8)
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Good read,
I like your stance on Proactive management, I'm a risk management individual and it is good to know the reactive side as well. Striving for the proactive side may be best.
Kwiyuh Michael Wepngong
Community Champion
Financial Management Specialist | US Peace Corps / Cameroon
Yaounde, Centre, Cameroon
Yes, more proactive and less Reactive gives better results
Heba Rezk
Technical Program Manager| .
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
By Spending more time on proactive management, i've gained more knowledge and power in what i do for the team, i don't like to wait to hear from stakeholders that things might get into a challenging state, i jump on ahead and try to analyze and connect on any opportunities or risks i would think of.
Oala Rarua
Manager Geology and Exploration| Ok Tedi Mining Ltd
Papua New Guinea
Loved the post, thank you so much for sharing! As a manager or project manager, forward-looking to anticipate possible risks or senior management requests is less stressful as you get ahead with mitigation or preparations.
Thanks for the comments, everyone! It's good to see that this resonates with people.
Peter Wetzel
Retired and curious Project Management Professional| Family
Freiburg, Germany
Thanks for your insights on reactive vs. proactive Project Management. My experience is, that most people, and even cultures tend towards a preferred way how they tackle projects / problems : Proactive vs. Reactive, root cause analysis vs. Workaround, we germans tend sometimes to overdo the proactive style.
I had to learn, that although Im a strong believer of the benefits of proactive Management, it might be more effective in certain situations to manage reactively: In the end of the day there are costs/resources associated with proactive Management , which should be balanced against the risks to be mitigated.
Sujit Supekar
Project Manager | PMP | Agile | Payment | Product Development| WorldLine
Mh, India
Thanks for sharing,
Effective project management requires a blend of both, with an emphasis on being proactive to minimize disruptions. A balanced approach ensures resilience and adaptability in achieving project objectives.
Zaeem Haider
Project Manager| Emirates NBD Bank
Dubai, Not In Us, United Arab Emirates
The level of Proactive management shows your experience and competence as a PM, having said that reactive management mostly comes from factors which are out of control for PMs. So PMs should be expert of both.
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