It doesn’t get covered in project management training, in PMOs or project teams – but how you work is the most important consideration for project managers working on climate, nature and sustainability.
In my view it’s even more important than any milestone or project outcome. Because how we work decides if we get to keep doing great work not just tomorrow, but next month and year too.
It’s not a nice-to-have or negotiable thing, but an essential part of doing and sustaining your job, productivity and impact.
What do I mean by how over what?
Two project managers have the same to-do list, milestones, myriad meetings, tricky project partners and lovely but stretched project team. The same stressors, worries, risks and issues.
One gets in at work at 7am in preparation for a day of back-to-back meetings, eats lunch at their desk, starts their never-ending to-do list at 5pm, and works till 7pm-ish. Skips a planned meet-up with friends. Gets home and eats beans on toast. Heads to bed but can’t get to sleep.
The other starts at 9am, works through to 12 with two 10min breaks. Heads outside at lunchtime, comes back ready to prep for the afternoon’s meetings. Finishes up at 5.30pm to head to a yoga class. Then home to make a favourite stir fry dinner and a very welcome early night.
They have the same job. They achieve the same things. And have a completely different experience of doing so. They feel very different during and after each day. One feels frayed, fraught and frazzled – things feel too much. The other feels that things are very challenging but doable.
How we work is the way we do things to achieve a result or outcome – we can achieve the same outcome in very different ways.
Why it matters
Working as a project manager on climate nature is both uniquely and persistently challenging. This means we have to match this challenge with a response that supports us to reduce the challenge and influence its impacts.
Being a project manager on its own is hard enough – the pressure, responsibility and juggling makes it a high burnout risk role. This layers up with the rollercoaster that is working on climate and nature – your work being increasingly in demand and demanding. Then we have your organisation – which is lovely but under-resourced.
This is a high-stress, high-importance, low-support role that can take its toll on your health. The degree to which this is the case can be influenced considerably by how you work each day.
What drives unsustainable working?
As you know well, shifting how you work – to be good for you and your job – can be hard to do. How we work is shaped by both our past experience and current context; powerful forces that decide what is and feels possible.
The most common reasons healthy work can be hard are:
- Self-sacrificing cultures prevailing in purpose-led organisations
- Work norms, hours and routines no supporting human brains and bodies to thrive
- Projects and organisations being under-resourced – stretching teams and PMs thin
- Your role being inherently challenging and this not being sufficiently acknowledged or supported
- Individual beliefs about work and worth shaping what feels right and possible for us
This is a significant list of things – so we shouldn’t be hard on ourselves if we’re finding it tricky to work healthily and feel well.
The alternative way
So we’ve established that how we work is important and that healthy working can be hard. What does forging a new path look like?
Doing things differently looks different for each of us, but I often say it combines realism (an understanding that healthy working is a non-negotiable as a project manager) and being radical (standing up for yourself and your health as important).
This clarity and conviction can help you develop new ways of doing things that are good for you and your work.
It’s worth the effort
People I work with are understandably concerned about prioritising themselves and their needs, but time and time again I see their lives and their work flourish when they do so. Work doesn’t lose out when you put yourself first – in fact the opposite happens.
Hard work gets us so far, particularly in early career days, and healthy work helps us sustain our work and impact for the duration of our career.
The benefits of working in healthy sustainable ways are far-reaching. Energy, enthusiasm and confidence often return, allowing us to be more focussed and productive in the work day. And alongside this, we may have energy left to do something we love in the evening, giving our brains and bodies a much-needed boost and break. Then the knock-on effect of one healthy human day is felt the next day, creating a positive feedback loop.
Where to start?
Changing things can feel impossible when all your energy is going into work and life; small shifts can feel like moving mountains. So, I always advocate for starting small. Make a list of all the things that would help you feel like a healthier human on your work day and week – every idea you can think of. Then choose one thing to have a go at, a thing that feels easy, impactful and appealing to do.
And if you’d like some extra support to shift a work habit, sign up here for a month of free support to help you make a change successfully.
