Project Management and Workplace Respect

Excited to be presenting in Orlando on the topic of "Bullying in Project Management - Are you a Victim?".

Encourage anyone who has been impacted by workplace bullying to attend. Hope to see you there!

Excited to see the date for our presentation on Preventing Disruptive Chapter Behavior at the LIM in Orlando. Hope to see you there!

I am happy to announce that a recent article I wrote about bullying in project management was picked up by About.com

Your About.com article is now live:http://projectmanagement.about.com/od/ProjectTeam/fl/What-Can-Project-Managers-Do-About-Bullying.htm

Who Gets Targeted in a Project?

Unlike schoolyard bullying, people in the workplace are not targeted because they are loners or weaklings without friends. Most likely, they are targeted because of their abilities or likeability and other positive characteristics which may have posed a threat to the bully’s desire for prominence. The perception of threat is entirely in his/her mind, but it’s what he/she feels and believes.

In the writer’s opinion, project managers are often perceived as threats because, by definition, they are bringing about change or because they are drawing resources toward their project – likely away from the bully or other projects. Also, most projects occur in organizations where project team members report, not only to the project manager, but to a line manager as well. This dual reporting promotes conditions where multiple people, who often have competing agendas, task project team members. This environment presents added opportunities for bullying behavior.

The Workplace Bullying Institute's research findings from the 2000 WBI Study and conversations with thousands of targets confirms that targets are usually veterans and highly skilled persons in the workgroup. Common attributes of targets often include the following:

• Targets are independent.
• They refuse to be subservient.
• Targets are more technically skilled than their bullies.
• They are the "go-to" veteran workers to whom new employees turn for guidance.
• Targets are better liked.
• They have more social skills and, quite likely, possess greater emotional intelligence.
• Colleagues, customers, and management appreciate the warmth that the targets bring to the workplace.
• Targets are ethical and honest (this is particularly true for PMI members – all of whom have committed to follow the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct).
• Targets are people with personalities founded on a nurturing and social orientation – a desire to help, heal, teach, develop, and nurture others.

This is a question that I often get asked and, like many legal questions, the critical factor to reply to this question is “it depends”. It depends most on where you live and whether there is anti-workplace bullying legislation in place.

In many countries, increased public awareness and research have paved the way for efforts to recognize workplace bullying as a workplace hazard for employees. In effect, the impacts of bullying are considered a risk to worker safety. Once legislators began to appreciate the mental and physical health impacts of bullying, they began to take action to create laws that make it illegal.

If you live in the European Union, Australia, New Zealand and some parts of Canada workplace bullying is likely illegal and both organizations that permit bullying and the bullies themselves face direct consequences if they are proven to have broken these laws. To date, 29 of the states in America have also passed the Healthy Workplace Bill that will have a dramatic impact on workplace bullying once each bill becomes law.

In order to determine if your country, province or state has made workplace bullying illegal, consult with a local human resources, legal or government expert. I'm also available to help at 

https://www.paulpelletierconsulting.com