Are You Practicing Sustainable Project Management?

 

By Lynda Bourne

PMI members and credential holders have an obligation to act sustainably. PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct asks us “to make decisions and take actions based on the best interests of society, public safety, and the environment.”  

The problem we all face is working out how to achieve this aspiration! 

The concept of sustainability (or the “triple bottom line”) is fairly well understood in business. It involves balancing economic interests with the needs of external stakeholders (society) and the environment:

The “economic” aspect of project management directly aligns with effective project management—delivering the project on time, on budget and with the required quality. This basic objective cannot be achieved without engaging effectively with at least part of your overall stakeholder community. So far, so good! 

The challenge project managers and their teams face is understanding how they can move beyond the traditional bottom line to take into consideration the needs of society and the environment. What do these terms mean and how can a project manager or team member make a difference?

Fortunately, there is a growing range of resources available to help us focus on the things that matter so we can make a difference.

Sustainable Goals

The starting point: the sustainable development goals that all members of the United Nations (U.N.) have signed up to achieve. On 25 September 2015, the U.N. General Assembly formally adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It comprises 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 169 associated targets.

Here are the goals:

Obviously, no project manager can tackle all 17 goals, let alone the 169 specific targets. But every project team can look through the goals and targets and find three or four that they can strive to achieve.

A couple of examples:

• Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Target 5: substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. Focus on this and you not only help the environment, you can also improve profitability!
• Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Target 8: Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to empower women. Here’s a question: How can your team support working mothers, given that child care is still primarily undertaken by women?

Get ready: As governments and corporations move to achieve SDGs, trillions of dollars will be invested in projects to implement changes. 

Win-Win-Win Situations

The world’s governments and a growing number of corporations are increasingly focused on sustainability. Organizations are beginning to recognize they cannot survive if the society or environment they operate within fails.

Many aim to balance the three elements of sustainability to create win-win-win outcomes—meaning that positive social and environmental outcomes drive positive economic outcomes.

So what are the opportunities for project practitioners?

First, position yourself to take advantage of the demand for project managers that the pursuit of SDGs will create over the next few years. 

Second, practicing sustainable project management allows us to fulfill our ethical responsibilities to “make decisions and take actions based on the best interests of society, public safety, and the environment.”

How can your team help achieve the U.N. goals one project at a time?