Prohoc’s Project & Account Lead, Antti Pasanen, is a seasoned project leader. Pasanen’s career with projects began decades ago in the paper industry and has since carried him through various positions worldwide.
Pasanen once started a conversation with a familiar supplier representative on an airplane and soon found himself working on the company’s projects around the world.
“I’m a quick decision-maker. With project work, you cannot dwell on things – you have to move forward.”
According to Pasanen, project work requires a specific type of person. It is crucial to have the ability to adjust: to working alone, to working in a team, to being on-site 24/7 in a foreign country, sometimes in very rudimentary and harsh conditions.
“You must be willing to enjoy the challenge. The hecticness is part of the appeal for me. As a human, I am “The Project Breed”.”
DON’T FEAR LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS
Pasanen’s career has led him to run large-scale projects. They have taught him his most valuable lesson.
“You can’t be afraid of the projects’ scale. At the end of the day, a project is a project. You move it forward according to the same principles, regardless of the size.”
Pasanen’s more hands-on tricks of the trade include the following practices:
- DIVIDE: Split things into smaller pieces. You can be sure that everyone involved understands what is happening. If something goes wrong, it’s easier to find out where the problem started.
- ENSURE: Prepare everything meticulously and double-check at the end. You can rest assured knowing everything is in order.
- BUILD BUFFERS: Leave some space for buffers in the schedule and budget and keep them to yourself.
- START AT THE END: Start building your project from the end. You will be able to visualize the end result and engage everyone involved more effectively.
A HUMAN-ORIENTED LEADER
In his current position at Prohoc, Pasanen offers customers project responsibility. Instead of a single project manager, customers receive entire teams and project execution organizations.
“Today, I operate as a sort of a steering advisor between the customer and the project. My current role allows me to bring out my extensive experience for the customers’ benefit.”
Pasanen’s leadership is human-oriented. As projects involve numerous people and different interfaces, leaders need to see the big picture.
“I recognize that no one can stand on top of the pyramid alone. On the other hand, if you flip the pyramid, the burden becomes too heavy for one person’s shoulders. It’s a team effort.”
PROHOC’S OPERATIONS’ CORE IS THE CUSTOMER PROMISE
Having worked at Prohoc only for a few months, Pasanen is pleased to discover that one of the company’s fundamental principles is valuing the people.
“An employer must not only attract talented employees but also hold onto them. We couldn’t sell a single project without knowing we can execute it. That’s how we keep our customer promise and keeping our customer promise is the core of our operations.”
In the future, customers are looking to outsource more and more project responsibility.
“We must accept the responsibility. It takes courage, but if we can do that, there are no limits to our growth and success.”
