Proactive project management is possible, as the (anonymized) Bredemarket example later in this post illustrates. But first I am compelled to talk about an uncomfortable topic, due dates.
What is a due date?
Some people in a company don’t know what a “due date” is. If the work isn’t done by this Friday, it will get done by next Friday. Or whenever.
But there’s one part of your company that lives and breathes due dates. I talked about this in March 2025 as it relates to Bredemarket’s clients.
“I still enjoy the satisfaction when my client submits a persuasive, compliant proposal. A day before the due date, even.”
Which is better than submitting a proposal AFTER the due date.
Why does Proposals care about due dates?
Why does Proposals tend to care more about due dates than, say, Product Marketing?
Because the latter due dates are set internally. And the “agile curse” is that you can, and often do, change anything on a whim.
Contrast with proposal due dates that are set externally by an outside entity such as a government agency that receives funding for a particular fiscal year. Funds that you use or lose.
How can others implement due dates?
For your organization’s product marketing initiatives, do you adopt a “we’ll do it when we get to it” approach?
You don’t have to.
Last week my client and I were getting proactive about an end customer’s anticipated requests. I was recording these in Excel.
Then I added an “anticipated due date” column.
Which allowed me to ask a question.
To preserve client and end customer confidentiality, I have obfuscated and fictionalized the question that I asked.
“Hey, Fernando, the widget manufacturer says that they will want a user guide, whatever that is.
“I doubt they’ll want it when they deliver their green widget pitch in Brooklyn next Tuesday, but is there a chance they’ll need it when they meet with Jay Leno’s folks the following week?”
Proactive project management involves transparency between the outside project manager (me), the client, and the end customer. Since we knew that the end customer was meeting with the organization of Jay Leno, we could ask the right questions and schedule a deliverable before the end customer even asked.
And we had a due date.
So what?
But what does this mean for you?
It means that Bredemarket can proactively manage your projects, whether they involve content, proposals, or analysis.
I provide product management consulting for identity, biometric, and technology products. In fact, I am a leading biometric product marketing consultant. (Among others.)
If you need an outside consultant to manage your product marketing projects, let’s talk.
Let me help you…forge your future
.
Bredemarket 