The Importance of Being Professional - Whatever That Means

 

Being professional. At first, it seems to mean something obvious and important. Given further thought, however, the precise meaning isn't so clear. Include interpretations by different generations and the obvious definition is lost entirely. But the importance of professionalism for project success should not be lost.

The 2013 Professionalism in the Workplace Study (pdf), which you have probably not already read, describes the problem of the professionalism of millennials - our newest generation in the workforce .  Today's workplace managers and existing employees are clear on what constitutes professionalism in their world. Evidently, however, millennials are not.

Some millennials are reported to say that they have not been trained or educated on being professional. Is this true? Let me know what your experience is. If you are a millennial, were you educated on how to be "professional" in some way?

It is important for you as a project manager to consider workforce professionalism because managers and existing workers in your project are making judgments on other workers all the time. The lack of professionalism can make success in your project more difficult to achieve. Existing workers can get the idea that a new worker is a slacker, or worse, that all new hires will be slackers.

To prepare yourself for taking effective action in your workplace, ask yourself a few questions.
What are measures of professionalism in your organization?
a. Dress
b. Interaction skills
c. Hours worked
d. Taking responsibility for your own work
e. Getting results first, every thing else second
f. Other measures

Do different workers display different levels of professionalism in your organization?
a. No, everyone is basically professional
b. Yes, but it is the newer, younger workers who seem to be ill-prepared
c. Yes, there are a few who are unprofessional, although they cannot be lumped into one generation

Do you agree with the measures of professionalism in your workplace?
a. Yes, the measures work to create a positive atmosphere
b. No, the measures are sometimes barriers to getting work done
c. No, they interfere with work-life balance and may even create a toxic environment

Now that you have an idea of the current circumstances in your organization, what should you do?
Check out the study to obtain good ideas on how to define professionalism.

Define the professionalism expected in your project if not in your workplace. Get guidance from leaders and/or HR.
Address the following criteria (which at least some workforce subgroups think are part of professionalism):

• Dress . . . at least describe what is in bad taste, then describe a range of dress that is acceptable in your environment.
• Work hours . . . hours that are critical to be available and the reason why
• Working from home . . . number of days per week someone can work from home and not appear
• Getting desired results . . . and what flexibility is acceptable to achieve the results
• Sanctity of vacations . . . how much workers are "protected" in their vacations from work interruptions
• Interaction skills . . . politeness and positive/constructive problem-solving
• Time off for family or other reasons . . . To minimize (1) friction from the problem of "kids vs. working extra because you do not have kids," and (2) a host of work-life balance problems

Allow project workers to comment on the definition of professionalism, revise it and approve it before using it as an expectation in your projects.
Try to get this definition approved by leaders of your organization.