(It isn’t what you think!)
Since I have been in the construction industry for twenty-five plus years, I have had thousands of experiences in Project Management. Working with Project Managers as well as managing projects myself.
Project Management classes, schools, and certifications all emphasize many critical skills for a successful Project Manager. These include: Communication, Organization, Leadership, Negotiation, Time Management, Maintaining Scope, Being Under Budget, Keeping the project on Schedule, Problem Solving, Conflict Management, Utilizing Project Management Software, and so on and so forth.
These are all great skills, but they miss the most important skill of all.
The most important Skill for Successful Project Management is Being Proactive!
You can have the fanciest software and the best team, but if everyone is sitting on their laurels and waiting for the project to come to them, they are going to fail and fail miserably.
What does Proactive Project Management mean?
Being Proactive in Project Management means the following:
- Identifying the critical path items from the very beginning and creating a plan to make sure the critical path is executed.
- Ordering all parts and equipment months in advance so that lead times and equipment delays do not hurt the schedule.
- Looking ahead and identifying problems before they happen.
- Providing ALL of the project information to the Superintendent or Foreman at the beginning of the project rather than spoon feeding it to them one piece at a time.
- Working with the team to create a positive and proactive mindset where everyone is thinking 5 steps ahead.
- Thinking about what are the worst-case scenarios that could play out and heading them off in advance.
- Doing things in advance instead of procrastinating and waiting until the last minute.
- Contacting subcontractors and companies in advance, so they have time to prepare.
- Taking initiative rather than waiting around for someone else to handle something.
- Scoping out all the potential bottlenecks and making sure they are planned for and addressed.
By implementing these Proactive steps and maintaining a Proactive mindset, a Project Manager will find that their project will run smoothly and will be a success!
At Efficient Mechanical Systems Engineering, we can help your Project Mangers create a Proactive Plan for any Project.
Please reach out to us to see how we can help you be successful.