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August 30, 2010 By Chrissy Scivicque 61 Comments

How to Be Proactive at Work: My 5 Step System

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Learn more about how to be proactive at work in my book available on Amazon.

Let’s take a few minutes to look critically at your actions in the workplace.

  • Do you react to the events happening around you or do you take initiative to prepare for, participate in and/or control the events?
  • Do you take an active or passive role? Do you think in terms of the present or do you look to the future, anticipating outcomes and preparing for the consequences?
  • Do you make a decision only when you have to, when you’re backed into a corner or when you’ve put it off for as long as you can? Or do you make conscious decisions as part of a larger, long-term plan?

In my experience, the most valuable employees are the ones who are proactive. By definition, this means they control situations by causing things to happen rather than waiting to respond after things happen. People who are proactive don’t sit around waiting for answers to appear; they stand up, put one foot in front of the other, and find the answers. They don’t wait for someone to hand them an instruction manual and a box of tools; they’re resourceful.

Proactive people are constantly moving forward, looking to the future, and making things happen. They’re actively engaged, not passively observing. Being proactive is a way of thinking and acting.

Now, this concept can be a little abstract for some. An article written by motivational speaker, Craig Harper in 2007 explains it like this:

Reactive is, ‘I’ve got massive chest pain and pins and needles down my arm. Maybe I’ll go to the doctor.’ Proactive is, ‘Even though I have no symptoms, I want to live a long, healthy life so I have embraced the life-long habits of healthy eating and regular exercise.’

So, are you being proactive or reactive in the workplace?

Certainly, there are times when it’s appropriate to be reactive. We have plenty of decisions to make in-the-moment. There are times when we need to be flexible and adapt to a rapidly changing environment. There are times when long-term plans must be abandoned in order to meet immediate needs. And there will always be those unavoidable roadblocks that even the most proactive person in the world would not have been able to foresee or avoid.

However, the ability to be proactive provides a clear advantage in the workplace and most managers expect staff members to demonstrate a proactive mentality.

I have identified five key behaviors (The 5 P’s) involved in being proactive. Below, I’ve outlined my system and exactly how you can develop your abilities in each area.

Note: I’ve recently expanded my work on this topic and published the book, “The Proactive Professional: How to Stop Playing Catch Up & Start Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life). It’s available on Amazon here.

1. Predict

In order to be proactive, you must first develop foresight.

Proactive people are rarely caught by surprise. Learn to anticipate problems and events. Understand how things work; look for patterns; recognize the regular routines, daily practices and natural cycles that exist in your business. At the same time, don’t allow yourself to become complacent. Use your imagination when anticipating future outcomes. Don’t simply expect the past to always be an accurate predictor for the future; use your creativity and logic. Come up with multiple scenarios for how events could unfold. Proactive people are always on their toes.

2. Prevent

Proactive people foresee potential obstacles and exert their power to find ways to overcome them before those obstacles turn into concrete roadblocks.

They prevent problems that others would simply look back on in hindsight and claim unavoidable. Don’t allow yourself to get swept up in a feeling of powerlessness. When challenges approach, take control and confront them head on before they grow into overwhelming problems.

3. Plan

Proactive people plan for the future.

Avoid one-step, “here and now” thinking and instead, look ahead and anticipate long-term consequences. Bring the future into the present; what can you do today to ensure success tomorrow? Don’t make decisions in a vacuum; every decision is a link in a chain of events leading to one final conclusion. In order to make the best decision, you have to know where you came from, where you are, and where you want to end up.

4. Participate

Proactive people are not idle observers, they are active participants.

In order to be proactive, you must get involved. You have to take initiative and be a part of the solution. Recognize that you are only a piece of the whole and that you influence—and are influenced by—the actions of others. Don’t simply react to them. Engage with them. Exert your influence and make a contribution.

5. Perform

Being proactive means taking timely, effective action.

You must be decisive and willing to do the work NOW. Procrastination is not an option. Take ownership of your performance and hold yourself accountable. Stand behind your decisions. Being proactive means you have taken careful, thoughtful steps to choose the appropriate path; you’re not just reacting impulsively to your environment.

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: Proactive

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Karen F. says

    September 2, 2010 at 10:25 AM

    Love this post, Chrissy. 🙂 I always enjoy how-to’s related to productivity, seeing as I work for myself. lol It just gives me a great sense of accomplishment getting things done within the time they’re supposed to — the first time. Your steps here are very simple (which I love even more), and very doable. Hope everyone out there imbibes the concept!

    Karen, The Resume Chick (on Google or Twitter for questions, comments or violent reactions)

    Reply
  2. Annoi7 says

    August 25, 2012 at 1:52 PM

    Really enjoyed and learned a lot through your post. Though your P’s are simple but most of us don’t follow it due to our procrastination and complacent behaviour. My personal opinion is that being proactive or reactive actually lies in one’s nature. If you are born a proactive person, you can’t be reactive only all the time though can happen few times and vice versa.

    Reply
  3. ADITYA SINGHANIA says

    September 15, 2012 at 12:59 PM

    i am being reactive nowadays but today i am proactive

    Reply
  4. silverspiral.org says

    February 26, 2015 at 2:13 PM

    Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to mention that I have truly loved surfing around your blog posts.
    After all I will be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again soon!

    Reply
  5. Danish says

    December 14, 2016 at 1:29 AM

    Very nice article infact it’s very near to our lives sometimes we are reactive and some times we are proactive.

    The last P that is perform I have some little bit issue with how can we perform proactive if the management is in reactive state or not want to accept the proactive approach

    Reply
  6. Chris Schleich says

    February 1, 2017 at 3:17 PM

    Very concise and well done. In my experience this trait is all the difference between a good employee and an organization changing all-star.

    Reply
  7. Gugulethu says

    February 23, 2017 at 7:28 AM

    How do you become proactive when a superior always finds a way to shut down whatever you bring to the table…

    Reply
  8. Evelyn Wiredu says

    March 4, 2017 at 11:04 AM

    I like this site

    Reply
    • Evelyn Wiredu says

      March 4, 2017 at 11:10 AM

      really , is worthy reading

      Reply
  9. Priscilla says

    September 12, 2017 at 9:54 AM

    I really love this post

    Reply
  10. Sandeep Deshmukh says

    March 1, 2018 at 1:25 AM

    Really the best post and good learning from this post

    Reply
  11. Rupesh singhal says

    April 3, 2018 at 9:46 AM

    The post is helpful and there is good learning in the post, especially the 5Ps

    Reply
  12. T K Rao says

    April 6, 2018 at 9:05 PM

    Very nice post. Need to be more focussed to implement in a very disciplined way in every aspect of our daily life.

    These 5Ps are simply superb to know.

    Reply
  13. Jayanta Kumar Pattjoshi says

    April 8, 2018 at 6:57 AM

    Good Learning from this Post

    Reply
  14. Kennedy Charity says

    June 18, 2018 at 2:25 AM

    just stumbled on this post and it really blessed me. I have learnt a lot from it as a teacher and mother. thanks so very much.

    Reply
  15. Aryan says

    February 26, 2019 at 1:17 PM

    Worth it! This post is amazing. It keeps me motivated towards my positive outlook in my career. I believe in sayings that “prevention is better than cure”. I guess I can call my self a proactive person.

    Reply
  16. Martha says

    July 24, 2019 at 2:36 PM

    The post is very profound, simple and easy to incorporate into your own life and routine as long as you are willing to do the work in order to get or see the results intended by the author.

    Reply
  17. Oluchi Racheal says

    January 15, 2020 at 5:57 PM

    Nice. Love it. Great learning it was.

    Reply
  18. Sandy Cesolini says

    May 1, 2020 at 10:48 PM

    Chrissy, I have been listening to you a lot lately while preparing for the PACE certification and I am so glad you mentioned your web page today. During this time of social distancing and working from home I have embraced the time to devote to learning new things and getting motivated. As an Administrative Assistant to the Special Education Director of a private school for children with special needs I found myself in a rather odd position lately. I kind of felt like I started a new job that I never applied for and I didn’t like it. However, now that I am done feeling sorry for myself I am trying to embrace the unknown by being more prepared.
    Thank you for your honest inspiration.
    Sandy

    Reply
  19. Hilly says

    May 15, 2020 at 10:48 AM

    This article is very informative thank you

    Reply
  20. Sruthi says

    October 12, 2020 at 1:41 PM

    Being proactive methods assuming liability for your life and activities as opposed to simply observing how things occur. Being proactive requires significant investment, since you need to think about your choices, gauge choices and settle on your own choices so as to accomplish your objectives.

    Reply
  21. Lara says

    October 20, 2020 at 1:56 PM

    Hello,

    Thank you very much for the article. It is sometimes hard to understand how to be proactive without being hated by your colleagues 🙂 But well, honestly I try to be organized as much as I only can. I would like to start also using kanbantool.com, heard that this is a perfect online tool for proactive people who would like to build their own career.
    Cheers to all hard- working people 🙂

    Reply
  22. Jestine says

    November 13, 2020 at 3:59 AM

    It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this superb blog!
    I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
    I look forward to fresh updates and will talk about this website with my Facebook group.
    Chat soon!

    Reply

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