What is Feminist Project Management?

In our previous post (Why Feminist Project Management?) we explored why feminist project management (FPM) is important. Now lets unpick how to practise it.

What is Feminist Project Management? 

FPM is a process that uses feminist principles, values and practises to help you individually or collectively lead a project to achieve set outcomes. FPM aims to transform traditional project management approaches, ultimately leading to more sustainable and impactful projects. It is an approach that offers “different ways of being leaders by providing space to organise, facilitate, and govern in ways that challenge and subvert the mainstream leadership models” (FPM learning brief).  

There is no one set-in-stone approach to feminist project management, rather there are certain foundational principles we apply to working on projects. 

Six foundational principles

Below we briefly explore the six foundational principles of FPM:

1. No one size fits all
   We believe that every project is different, and each requires a unique approach.
   

2. Project leadership can be diverse 
   Anyone can practise FPM, whether their project is a small personal endeavour or an ambitious (inter)national programme of transformation. Projects can be run as collectives as well as by individuals.
   

3. Process is as important as progress 
   We challenge what success looks like within projects. Most project management approaches focus on measuring progress and completing outcomes. We believe there should be equal emphasis on the process.
   

4. Sharing power 
   We put an explicit focus on power within leadership - from how it shows up within projects and individuals, to how power is defined. This allows feminist project managers to focus on its redistribution, with the goal of building power together.
   

5. Intersectional by design 
   FPM is about inclusivity and equity- unless you build projects around the most marginalised, they will never be inclusive.
   

6. Courage
   Swimming upstream to work in a different way can be difficult. FPM is about being courageous to throw off old ways of working and embrace transformative project management practises. 

How to use the principles to change your ways of working

These six principles are interwoven through our entire approach to project management and are the foundation of everything we do. In practise, instead of viewing power and its operation as a separate building block or a stand-alone element, we see power, along with the other principles, as an integral part within project management.

One of our main questions in the FPM approach is “What does success look like?” and we can use these principles to help us decide this.

For example, one important element of FPM is that progress (how we do things) is as important as progress (what we do). Often in projects pace can be our worst enemy. Funder requirements, tight deadlines and a packed to-do list can mean that projects may be run in ways that surrender to the “tyranny of urgency”. In her article, ‘Time, toxic productivity and urgency cultures in non-profits’, Leila Billing writes about exactly this.

As may resonate with many of us, the consequences of working in a way that values productivity over wellbeing can be dire. If we consider success in our projects to be reaching the outcomes at the expense of our staff wellbeing, relationships and joy in work, would we really want to define this as success?

Therefore, using the principles “progress and process” may help you unpick how you want to get there- as well as what getting there means. The other principles work in a similar way to help you shine a different light on the foundational principles underlying your project work. Using these principles as a starting point and as a measure along the way can be transformative to practise because they give us new lenses through which to view and challenge the current way we work.

What other ideas do you have about how these principles can be used in your projects? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.

Interested in learning more?

Our training course explores many more practical and tangible ways to apply this to your working practise. Visit our website to find out more about our offer and the upcoming course dates: https://feministprojectmanagement.com/