“Be more proactive” is one of the most common pieces of workplace feedback. It’s also one of the least defined. Sometimes one of the least useful.
For managers and business leaders, proactivity is closely tied to productivity. When teams anticipate needs, take ownership, and follow through without being prompted, work moves faster, and leaders spend less time chasing updates or fixing preventable issues.
Team members are also more motivated, happier, and focused when they have the autonomy required to work proactively.
This post is for managers and leaders who want more of that behavior on their teams. We’ll break down what proactive really means at work, why it matters for productivity, and how leaders can hire for it and encourage it in a practical, repeatable way.
Table of contents
- What Does It Mean to Be Proactive?
- Why Proactivity Matters
- Key Characteristics of a Proactive Employee
- How to Encourage Proactivity in Your Team
- How to Show Proactivity as a Leader
- Bring Proactivity Into Your Workplace
What Does It Mean to Be Proactive?
Proactivity meaning: taking initiative, acting before something becomes a problem and preparing for future needs.
A proactive employee notices what’s coming next and takes ownership without waiting to be asked.
Reactive work, on the other hand, starts after something breaks. A deadline is missed. A message goes unanswered. A leader has to step in to unblock progress. A proactive team member doesn’t wait for those moments. They flag risks early, suggest next steps, and move work forward on their own.
For example:
- Instead of waiting for a manager to ask for an update, a proactive assistant sends a brief status note with what’s done, what’s next, and what might cause delays.
- Instead of handling tasks one by one, they notice patterns and suggest a better system to prevent repeat issues.
A proactive approach reduces friction, builds trust, and keeps work moving without constant follow-ups. That’s why it has such a direct impact on productivity.
Why Proactivity Matters
Leaders value proactivity because it changes how much mental energy work requires. When teamscan think ahead and take ownership, managers spend less time checking in, clarifying priorities, or putting out small fires.
Leaders report that administrative and reactive work are still the biggest drains on productivity, even in 2025. Busy work and reactive systems create friction. Places where productivity falls apart, the threads your work is built on start to fail.
Proactive teams create more manageable days because fewer things escalate unexpectedly. Proactive behavior creates momentum instead of friction.
Leaders especially look for proactivity in their staff because it empowers work to keep moving forward even when leaders aren’t in every detail or constantly available. That autonomy is what allows teams to scale without adding layers of oversight.
It’s not just a buzz word. Proactivity has real, day-to-day benefits, like:
- Time savings: Fewer follow-ups and status checks
- Transparency: Earlier visibility into risks, delays, or gaps
- Efficiency: Smoother handoffs and fewer last-minute surprises
- Trust: More trust in the team’s ability to run independently
- Focus: More time for leaders to focus on strategy instead of execution
At its core, proactivity is one of the clearest signals that a team can operate efficiently, consistently, and with confidence, without constant oversight.
Key Characteristics of a Proactive Employee
Proactivity isn’t just a personality trait someone either has or doesn’t. It’s a set of behaviors leaders can hire for, reinforce, and develop over time. Maintaining a proactive team means examining how you hire, organize, build, and train. You can hire employees who want to be proactive, but create a culture or processes that don’t allow them to be. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to build proactivity into everything you do.
Here’s what a proactive team tends to look like in practice.
They’re Looking Forward
Proactive employees think one or two steps ahead. They anticipate upcoming deadlines, handoffs, or decisions and prepare for them before they become urgent. They’re rarely surprised, and they help ensure others aren’t either.
They Take Responsibility
Proactive employees are comfortable with ownership. They own outcomes, not just tasks. When something goes wrong, they focus on fixing it and preventing it next time rather than assigning blame or waiting for direction.
They Problem Solve
Instead of escalating every issue, they come to leaders with options. Even when they need guidance, they’ve already thought through possible solutions and trade-offs. They do their research.
They Use What They Learn
Proactive employees apply past lessons to future work. If something caused friction once, they adjust their approach so it doesn’t happen again. Over time, their work becomes smoother and more reliable. And, the really effective employees help others use what they learned as well—through documentation and collaboration.
They Communicate Without Being Asked
They don’t wait for check-ins to share updates. They proactively flag progress, blockers, and next steps so leaders stay informed without having to chase information.
They Follow Through
Effective proactivity isn’t performative. It doesn’t stop at ideas. Proactive employees close loops, confirm next steps, and make sure work actually gets finished, not just discussed.
They Improve The System, not Just The Task
Beyond completing work, they look for patterns. When they spot inefficiencies or repeat issues, they suggest better processes to make the work easier for everyone.
These are the behaviors that reduce oversight, build trust, and allow leaders to step back without losing visibility. They’re also the behaviors managers should actively hire for and consistently reinforce on their teams: through culture, training, and reinforcement.
How to Encourage Proactivity in Your Team
Proactivity rarely appears by accident. In most teams, it’s shaped by what leaders model, reward, and create a culture to support. When managers create the right conditions, proactive behavior becomes the default instead of the exception.
Basically, in a game of Simon Says, you’re Simon and it’s your goal to set your team on the right path.
Delegate Ownership
If you want proactive behavior, you have to make space for it. That starts by delegating ownership, not just tasks.
When someone owns an outcome, they’re more likely to think ahead, spot issues early, and take initiative. When they’re only executing instructions, they wait for direction.
Clear ownership gives your team permission to act without asking for approval at every step.
Set Long-Term Goals
Proactivity depends on context. Your team can’t think ahead if they don’t know what they’re working toward.
By setting long-term goals, you give people a reference point for decision-making. They can anticipate what matters, prioritize accordingly, and take initiative that aligns with the bigger picture instead of reacting to whatever is most urgent in the moment.
Create a Collaborative Culture
Proactive teams feel safe speaking up. They’re comfortable raising risks, suggesting improvements, and taking action without fear of being shut down or blamed.
A collaborative culture encourages questions, experimentation, and shared problem-solving. That psychological safety is what allows people to step forward early, instead of waiting until something goes wrong.
When leaders model openness and trust, proactivity follows.
Read more: How to Build Trust in a Team: 11 Proven Ways to Strengthen Collaboration
How to Show Proactivity as a Leader
Proactivity isn’t something you can delegate and forget. The way you work sets the tone for how your team operates. When leaders model proactive behavior, teams are far more likely to follow suit.
You Walk the Talk
One of the simplest ways to encourage proactivity is to demonstrate it yourself.
That might look like flagging a potential bottleneck before it causes delays or sharing context early so your team isn’t scrambling later. Instead of waiting for a deadline to slip, you proactively let the team know a priority is shifting and outline what that means for the next few weeks.
Pro tip: Narrate your thinking. When you explain why you’re flagging something early or planning ahead, you teach your team how to do the same.
When leaders think ahead out loud, teams learn to do the same.
You Ask for and Act on Suggestions
Proactive leaders don’t try to anticipate everything alone. They involve their team in spotting risks and improving how work gets done.
For example, you might notice that handoffs between teams are slowing projects down. Rather than fixing it quietly, you ask your team where they see friction and what they’d change. You give them space to surface issues early, before they become blockers.
Pro tip: Ask specific questions, like “What could break here?” or “What would make this easier next time?” It signals that proactive thinking is expected, not optional.
Then you act on those ideas and close the loop by explaining what was implemented. That follow-through shows your team their input matters.
You Celebrate Wins
Proactive work often prevents problems that never fully materialize. If those efforts go unnoticed, people stop making them.
Calling out moments where someone flagged an issue early or improved a process reinforces the behavior you want to see. That might be acknowledging it in a team meeting, sending a quick message of thanks, or pointing out how their proactive action saved time or avoided rework.
Pro tip: Tie the recognition back to impact. Highlight what didn’t happen because someone acted early.
When leaders consistently recognize proactive wins, teams learn that thinking ahead matters, and that it’s worth doing.
Bring Proactivity Into Your Workplace
Proactivity doesn’t come from telling people to “step up.” It comes from clear ownership, shared goals, and leaders who model the behavior they want to see.
When teams work proactively, work moves forward without constant follow-ups. Leaders regain time and focus. Productivity improves because fewer things fall through the cracks.
At Prialto, proactivity is built into how our virtual assistants work from day one.
Assistants are trained to anticipate needs, communicate early, and take ownership of outcomes, not just tasks. They work within clear processes and long-term partnerships that encourage proactive thinking, rather than reactive execution.
Because Prialto assistants are supported by a broader engagement team, proactive behavior is reinforced over time. As priorities evolve, support adapts, helping leaders stay ahead instead of constantly catching up.
If you’re looking to bring more proactive behavior into your workplace, the right support structure can make all the difference.
Ready to see how much your team can achieve with proactive support? Talk to our team today.