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Ethic, Values, and Project Managers By Frank P. Saladis, PMP

Published on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 03:57 PM

Those of you who have either taken and successfully passed the Project Management Professional (PMP®) exam or are in the process of studying for the exam are aware that a portion of the exam is associated with a specific topic referred to as Professional and Social Responsibility. The questions related to this “domain” of project management refer to values, ethics, legal issues, and cultural sensitivity. The Project Management Institute includes this paragraph in the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct: “As practitioners of project management, we are committed to doing what is right and honorable. We set high standards for ourselves and we aspire to meet these standards in all aspects of our lives—at work, at home, and in service to our profession.”
The values associated with the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct include; responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty. The challenge for many is that what is considered ethical behavior in one group may be considered very unethical in another.

What may be perceived as appropriate and absolute values in one culture (the differences between good and evil for example) can be completely different and, in some cases, alarming, in another culture. Generally, our individual values are learned over time. Family, community, and other social influences construct a value system within us that will influence our decisions throughout our lifetime. According to Pete Hammet, author of Unbalanced Influence – Recognizing and Resolving The Impact of Myths and Paradox in Executive Performance, Davies / Black, there are three types of values:

Absolute values of perceived good and evil that affect the character and will of a person. These values send us signals when we should feel guilty and drive our conscious.
Societal values that impact how a group behaves. These values are associated with what our particular communities, groups, and other associations believe to be “right” or acceptable.
Pragmatic values that are associated with how things are done. These values drive how we work and how we follow rules and what we believe to be acceptable outcomes.

Generally, our values have been developed over time and with interactions within our age group, our families, and our geographic location. These factors have a significant influence on the development of our values. Many years ago Morris Massey wrote a book entitled “What You Are Is Where You Were When”. This book addresses how “gut level” values are instilled in us at an early age and stay with us for the rest of our lives. We are influenced by periods in time such as the Great Depression, World War II, the 1960’s and so on. It is also true that we live in a world that is constantly changing and challenging the values that we have become accustomed to. Today’s project managers must remain cognizant of these changes, how their own values may be affected by the changes, and find ways to adapt without negatively affecting their personal integrity and the outcomes of their projects.

From a project manager’s perspective the topics generally associated with professional and social responsibility include:

Maintaining individual integrity
Contributing to the project management knowledge base
Personal professional competence
Managing and balancing the interaction among stakeholders
Protection of intellectual property
Communicating in a professional capacity
Understanding and observing standards and regulations
Using professional judgment
Abiding by a professional code of conduct
Developing and enhancing individual competence

These items can become quite a challenge for the project manager. There is a need to maintain a consciousness of these factors while managing a project team or, in many cases, multiple teams. The people project managers work with provide an environment filled with different value systems and many interpretations of what is right and wrong, good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable. Basically, it can be a full time job, just trying to understand behaviors and develop strategies for managing people.

In addition to the day-to-day people issues, project managers are often faced with very challenging situations and are often placed in the uncomfortable position of having to do whatever it takes to resolve a conflict or meet an objective while struggling with their own values and personal ethics. We have all heard the remark “the end justifies the means” and many feel that as long as the outcome is acceptable and well-received, the methods used to accomplish the outcome are not important. This is certainly a situation that many project managers have been involved in. This is also where the true values and ethics of a project manager are tested.

Professional and Social Responsibility is an extremely important element in the career of the successful project manager. Personal integrity is perhaps the most significant factor within this domain and once lost or damaged cannot easily be reclaimed. Here are a few simple items to remember that will help to guide you through your career, protect your integrity and enhance your awareness of the various value systems that comprise the project environment.

Read the PMI Code of Professional Ethics and Professional Conduct
Avoid conflicts of interest
Comply with organizational rules and regulations
Protect intellectual property
Become aware of and respect cultural differences
Remain truthful in advertising
Negotiate in good faith
Establish a reputation of fairness, honesty and respectfulness.

Frank P. Saladis, PMP is Senior Consultant with International Institute for Learning, Inc. He has been involved in the development of standardized Project Management Guidelines (PMGs) for the AT&T Corporate Information Technology Services (Corporate ITS) organization and is the author of the Project Evaluation Review Process (PERP). He is the recipient of the 2006 PMI Linn Stuckenbruck person of the year award.

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