We have often seen that project team members resort to unethical behavior in spite of presence of ground rules around ethics. At times there is a critical dependency on these team members and its difficult to get them out of the team.
Other than walking the talk by the project manager, how does one drive ethical behavior within the team? Saving Changes...
In one of my earlier assignments/projects, tied the " Values" to the Performance Management System. This has been informed upfront to the team and also developed a simple score card mechanism ( using excel) to quantify what we are talking/preaching about. It helped a lot in changing the behaviour.
It lead team members to think from Values perspective as well but not only on performance itself.
Hope it helps.
Its the responsibility of project manager to set an environment where transparency and trust prevails and team does not resort to unethical behavior. If some members are behaving outside those rules, they should be reported and may be removed to keep the team's environment on track for success.
In one of my earlier assignments/projects, tied the " Values" to the Performance Management System. This has been informed upfront to the team and also developed a simple score card mechanism ( using excel) to quantify what we are talking/preaching about. It helped a lot in changing the behaviour.
It lead team members to think from Values perspective as well but not only on performance itself.
Hope it helps.
Thanks Bala! Saving Changes...
Valerie Denney Associate Professor| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University- WorldwideCleveland, Sc, United States
Good discussion topic. Having only ethical standard such as a code of conduct is only one of the elements of an effective culture.Walking the talk is important, but I have found that having outlets for discussion is probably more important (and I've seen some research to support that). Having an ethics hotline, discussion forum, or ombudsman can make a word of difference. Fortunately, I have not team members "often" resulting to unethical behavior. In fact, I don't ever think that I have witnessed blatant unethical behavior... generally they are shades of gray. Saving Changes...
Valerie Denney Associate Professor| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University- WorldwideCleveland, Sc, United States
WANT TO DISCUSS ETHICS EVEN MORE? For anyone interested in more information about ethics, PMI has many resources.
Have a question? Reach of to one the PMI Ethics Member Advisory Group (EMAG) on ProjectManagement.com (including myself).
Also, as shown on PMI.org, you can also send questions, concerns or ideas to [email protected]. Saving Changes...
Valerie Denney Associate Professor| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University- WorldwideCleveland, Sc, United States
Here is another thought.... the PMI ethics team has a number of tools to support you as practitioners regarding ethics. One tool is the Ethical Decision Making Framework (EDMF). If you were in the situation that you were facing an ethical dilemma like the one posted in Deepa's question, this framework can guide you through some simple questions.
Thanks a lot Deepa and Valerie! What a great start to 2019 with this question and answers including all the references included in Valerie's!
I agree with the previous answers - encouraging ethical behaviour has a multitude of approaches that start with an ethical code, guidelines and policies that are NOT only preached, but also practiced by all levels of the leadership creating an environment of trust and openness. Difficult situations are discussed and the ethical compass prevails.
Saving Changes...
Logan BergerPresident| Berger Consulting LLCSeattle, Wa, United States
Most importantly lead by example. Some other tips are to organize workshops and have clear communication lines. Saving Changes...
Amit SharmaProject Manager| IT MajorDelhi, Delhi, India
Your query Deepa gives me a sense of a "Chalta Hai" attitude.
If that's the case, I would not want to be the customer of this team. "Zero Tolerance" to any such behaviour please! Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Jan 19, 2019 6:39 AM
Replying to Dr. Deepa Bhide
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What will be important is to have the courage to challenge the leadership even at the cost of our own comfort and be able to act ethically regardless
100%! If unethical behavior is a matter of culture then it becomes very difficult to change just because if this - People lack the courage to speak up, and those who do, face the consequences. Almost any decision made is a result of groupthink. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Jan 19, 2019 6:14 AM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
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How do you evaluate that is an unethical behavior? That is the key point. Are project managers that are managing projects to create chemical arms making an ethical behavior? Were project managers that worked in one of the biggest project in the history and one of the best project to learn project management making an ethical behavior when created the nuclear bomb in the second world war?. That is because, between other things, each organization created the code of ethics which has sense when in chase of unethical behavior somebody can act judicially against the person who performed the unethical behavior. If not the code is wasted. Beyond that, all related to ethic is an ancient topic to debate in the field of philosophy. I worked on that from years.
While your comment does raise some interesting questions I'm sure we all understand that she is referring to business ethics i.e. your moral compass in the business environment. You can still behave in an ethical way despite the objections some might have against what you are doing. What and how are different and are covered by different fields in ethics. But that is a separate and HUGE debate. Saving Changes...
