How to practise Feminist Project Management?

In our last blog post we explored the six main principles that form the foundation for Feminist Project Management (FPM). In this post we build upon these principles by looking at four practices that are central to managing projects in a feminist way.

Focus on the values

Mainstream project management structures heavily focus on timelines and a linear approach to completing a project from beginning to end. Emphasis is placed on concepts like the "iron triangle"—ensuring the project stays within budget, on schedule, and within scope. Project managers often focus on cost-cutting, strict adherence to timeframes, and relentlessly meeting outcomes in a push for productivity.

However, what if there were a different way to manage projects that allows room to consider meaning, build relationships, share power, and centre well-being in our work? We believe feminist project management is the future of project leadership.

To lead a project in a feminist way is to focus on embedding feminist principles, practices, and values into the very foundations of the project, centring them from the beginning to the end. This approach ensures that the projects we run are more inclusive, impactful, and considerate of long-term sustainability beyond immediate outcomes.

We believe there are four practices central to leading a project in a feminist way. If the six principles in our previous post are our foundational values for leading a feminist project, the practices below bring these principles to life, integrating them into our day-to-day project work. We can use these practices as building blocks at every stage of our project, particularly with our project life cycle guide, to ensure our approach aligns with feminist praxis.

The four practices of Feminist Project Management

Below we highlight four useful practices which can support you in starting to lead and manage projects using a feminist approach:

1. Reflect

Reflection is a key component of FPM because it is an ongoing process of learning and unlearning, both individually and collectively. FPM recognises that operationalising this work is tricky, and without space for reflection, we cannot change the status quo. Reflection helps us challenge oppressive productivity cultures, undo cultures of perfectionism, and examine our power and privilege to run better, safer, and more inclusive projects.

In mainstream project management, reflection is often reserved for the end. However, in FPM, reflection is woven throughout the project to illuminate our practices and processes as we progress. Ideally, reflection is consistent, delving beyond surface levels to interrogate whether and how we may be causing oppression and harm within our projects and teams, and exploring what we can do differently.

💡Tip for practise: Create an inclusive environment that allows for reflection during your project meetings, taking into account safety, diversity, and power dynamics. Don’t assume that all staff members feel safe sharing their feelings or participating in group meditation. Consult your team on how they prefer to reflect and offer alternative methods for reflection. You can also bring in experts to help run reflection sessions, aiding in meaning-making and fostering an inclusive space.

2. Collaborate 

Within project management, there is a lot of focus on how to work together- but this often lacks the lens of diversity and inclusivity. The role of project manager(s) is often around making decisions (e.g. the who, what, how, when and why of projects), communicating how these decisions were made, and organising ongoing accountability for what was agreed. However there can often be power dynamics running through the decisions made- who is around the table, whose voice is heard, how much say the team have over the decisions that affect them, and who gets tasked with which actions.

Within FPM we place great emphasis on practising inclusive collaboration that forges transparent and equitable partnerships, based on respect, solidarity and trust. FPM centres models of shared decision-making, prioritises transparency and builds collaborative, feminist accountability to share power with others, both internally and externally.

💡Tip for practise: come together as a team to discuss models of accountability and ensure you understand how each individual would like to practise accountability and how they would like to be held accountable for their actions. Be mindful of how you hold others accountable, considering wellbeing, being flexible to the needs of your team and your own power/ privilege when following up.

3. Communicate

Mainstream project management often focuses on the nuts and bolts and logistics of communication. However we know that communication is a silent influencer- meaning we can use communication to build power or take it away. We also know that with knowledge comes power- having control over information that others need or want puts you in a powerful position.

Understanding the dynamics of communication and learning to transform them is a key aspect of the FPM approach. How you communicate is of equal importance. Being transparent about the decisions made and intentionally using communication to rebalance power is another essential part of FPM. 

💡Tip for practise: Everyone communicates differently and communication is integral to every aspect of a project. As a project manager, understanding everyone's communication style isn't always necessary, but knowing how to inquire about it is crucial. Rather than assuming the right tone or method of communication, ask team members at the project's outset how they prefer to be communicated with and what knowledge they need, and continue to check in on this throughout the project.

4. Care

Both self and collective care form a central tenet of FPM. The short-term nature of projects can create inequality and instability for those whose roles end when the project ends. Additionally, the fast-paced environment of projects and their focus on productivity can severely affect well-being. Many roles typically do not clarify the distinction between visible and invisible labor, with the latter frequently falling to the most marginalised group members.

To address these issues, FPM integrates care as a central element throughout the project lifecycle. This approach includes creating realistic plans for resources—such as time, personnel, and money—to achieve promised outputs. It also ensures attention to various forms of trauma, emphasising the importance of care from the project's beginning to its end (A feminist perspective on trauma-informed project management).

💡Tip for practise: Considering how we can care for staff at project close is key, so activities like sharing gratitude, writing testimonials and updating CVs together could serve as a closing ritual. This not only shows concern for staff wellbeing and their future journey, but also marks a transition into the next project. It also captures learning and growth for both the organisation and the individuals involved.

Let’s start practising FPM together

Have any thoughts on our practises above? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Curious how you can structurally embed these practices into your day-to-day project management or want to explore more ways of practising these four elements? Join one of our Feminist Project Management Training Course cohorts and learn all about it! More details and sign up here: https://feministprojectmanagement.com/ 

We also work with organisations to help them challenge and transform their project management practises. Get in touch to enquire more: [email protected]