I would see a person who is fiduciary responsible being guided more by there own set of ethics and moral rather than any legal or mandatory responsibility being placed on them. Such people would not being doing it for money, attention or career progression and as such I do not see it as an add on for every project manager.
The reason for this is like nearly everybody else in the workplace project managers are being motivated by deadlines, responsibilities, bonuses, reputation and career progression to name just a few and as such are not in a natural culture that lends itself to being truly fiduciary responsible.
Most examples of truly fiduciary responsible people would be found in the legal sector, were senior judges and seasoned legal council would be assigned to act in the best interest of a person or group of people who maybe incapacitated or too young to act in their own interest.
For projects managers, it would be case of being guided by their own set of ethics and morals and how they work best within their present work envionment and organisation.
Also it would be acting in the best interest of their clients to ensure that the objectives that they have layout for the project are realised.
Daire
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1 reply by Luis Branco
Feb 20, 2020 9:25 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Daire
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Does a project manager have fiduciary responsibilities in relation to the project he manages?
What about the company or organization promoting the project?
Stewardship of the direct and indirect financial resources over which we have been given influence or responsibility.
A PM is responsible for influencing and making decisions which will result in appropriate usage of an organization's financial resources. This could mean recommending their project to be terminated if it will no longer deliver expected business results, or making senior leadership aware if there is a downstream effect from their project on other projects or operating areas which would unnecessarily consume financial resources.
Like all other areas of focus, a good PM will balance fiduciary responsibilities with others, otherwise they might be better served being a "bean counter".
Kiron
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1 reply by Luis Branco
Feb 20, 2020 9:26 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Kiron Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Does a project manager have fiduciary responsibilities in relation to the project he manages? What about the company or organization promoting the project? Do these fall only in the financial domain?
Saving Changes...
Scott TheusSenior Project Manager and Agilist| BWX TechnologiesEuclid, Oh, United States
An interesting question, Luis, thank you for the brain exercise on this sleepy Thursday morning.
I agree with Kiron that as project managers we have a responsibility to manage any of the organizations other financial resources applied to a project in an ethical and appropriate manner for the benefit of the organization as a whole.
However, in the United States at least, that responsibility does not reach the level of fiduciary responsibility as it pertains to legal liability for losses on financial assets. In other words, (and baring any criminal act by the PM) if a project goes completely sideways due to poor management and results in severe financial losses for the organization, the PM can be fired for not responsibly managing the organization's resources, but they cannot be sued for for the recovery of damages as a fiduciary.
-Scott
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1 reply by Luis Branco
Feb 20, 2020 9:28 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Scott
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Does a project manager have fiduciary responsibilities in relation to the project he manages?
What about the company or organization promoting the project?
Do these fall only in the financial domain?
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Feb 20, 2020 7:04 AM
Replying to Daire Guiney
...
Dear Luis,
I would see a person who is fiduciary responsible being guided more by there own set of ethics and moral rather than any legal or mandatory responsibility being placed on them. Such people would not being doing it for money, attention or career progression and as such I do not see it as an add on for every project manager.
The reason for this is like nearly everybody else in the workplace project managers are being motivated by deadlines, responsibilities, bonuses, reputation and career progression to name just a few and as such are not in a natural culture that lends itself to being truly fiduciary responsible.
Most examples of truly fiduciary responsible people would be found in the legal sector, were senior judges and seasoned legal council would be assigned to act in the best interest of a person or group of people who maybe incapacitated or too young to act in their own interest.
For projects managers, it would be case of being guided by their own set of ethics and morals and how they work best within their present work envionment and organisation.
Also it would be acting in the best interest of their clients to ensure that the objectives that they have layout for the project are realised.
Daire
Dear Daire
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Does a project manager have fiduciary responsibilities in relation to the project he manages?
What about the company or organization promoting the project?
...
1 reply by Daire Guiney
Feb 20, 2020 10:31 AM
Daire Guiney
...
Dear Luis,
I would say no. To call it Fiduciary responsibilities would be misleading especially in a legal context.
What a project manager has in relation to responsibilities is both matched by law, by the organizations own standards, any professional body that the project manager is a member of and guidelines that the project manager has signed up to and of course the project manager own set of ethics and morals which will ultimately self govern how a project manager conducts themselves.
This extends to treating team members equally and fairly, financial conduct, transparency in decision making process and abiding by the laws of the jurisdiction that the project manager resides in.
How a project manager approach ethics and morals in a professional setting is getting a lot of traction in recent questions being asked in the forums. The reasons for this could be that it is seen as an additional strength of a project manager if they can be shown to be ethical and morally strong.
A good approach would be if PMI could award accreditation to projects manager who could demonstrate (either through an audit of projects, references from clients or some other mechanism) that they uphold the highest standard expected from them as a project manager. I believe this would set a lot of project managers apart from their peers.
Daire
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Feb 20, 2020 7:57 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
...
Stewardship of the direct and indirect financial resources over which we have been given influence or responsibility.
A PM is responsible for influencing and making decisions which will result in appropriate usage of an organization's financial resources. This could mean recommending their project to be terminated if it will no longer deliver expected business results, or making senior leadership aware if there is a downstream effect from their project on other projects or operating areas which would unnecessarily consume financial resources.
Like all other areas of focus, a good PM will balance fiduciary responsibilities with others, otherwise they might be better served being a "bean counter".
Kiron
Dear Kiron Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Does a project manager have fiduciary responsibilities in relation to the project he manages? What about the company or organization promoting the project? Do these fall only in the financial domain?
...
1 reply by Kiron Bondale
Feb 20, 2020 11:34 AM
Kiron Bondale
...
Yes, Yes & No - as I indicated in my initial response, the responsibilities of a PM extend well beyond just fiduciary responsibilities towards the company they work for.
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Feb 20, 2020 8:56 AM
Replying to Scott Theus
...
An interesting question, Luis, thank you for the brain exercise on this sleepy Thursday morning.
I agree with Kiron that as project managers we have a responsibility to manage any of the organizations other financial resources applied to a project in an ethical and appropriate manner for the benefit of the organization as a whole.
However, in the United States at least, that responsibility does not reach the level of fiduciary responsibility as it pertains to legal liability for losses on financial assets. In other words, (and baring any criminal act by the PM) if a project goes completely sideways due to poor management and results in severe financial losses for the organization, the PM can be fired for not responsibly managing the organization's resources, but they cannot be sued for for the recovery of damages as a fiduciary.
-Scott
Dear Scott
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Does a project manager have fiduciary responsibilities in relation to the project he manages?
What about the company or organization promoting the project?
Do these fall only in the financial domain?
...
1 reply by Scott Theus
Feb 20, 2020 10:54 AM
Scott Theus
...
The role of a fiduciary (again, in the United States; it may be different elsewhere) is financial in nature; it entails acting on behalf of a person or organization to safeguard their financial interests. (See the definition at https://definitions.uslegal.com/f/fiduciary)
A project manager has a moral and ethical responsibility to manage the project's resources in a way that benefits the project, its stakeholders, and the organization as a whole, but this generally does not rise to the level of a fiduciary.
An exception to this would be if the organization gave the project manager funds to hold in a separate bank account under their control. In this case the PM would have a fiduciary responsibility to manage those funds to the organization's best interest.
The difference is a matter of control; in most cases a PM is given a budget against which they submit and approve expenditures, but the funds are held in a company account that the PM does not control. When the funds are held in an account owned or controlled by the PM then they become a fiduciary.
Dear Daire
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Does a project manager have fiduciary responsibilities in relation to the project he manages?
What about the company or organization promoting the project?
Dear Luis,
I would say no. To call it Fiduciary responsibilities would be misleading especially in a legal context.
What a project manager has in relation to responsibilities is both matched by law, by the organizations own standards, any professional body that the project manager is a member of and guidelines that the project manager has signed up to and of course the project manager own set of ethics and morals which will ultimately self govern how a project manager conducts themselves.
This extends to treating team members equally and fairly, financial conduct, transparency in decision making process and abiding by the laws of the jurisdiction that the project manager resides in.
How a project manager approach ethics and morals in a professional setting is getting a lot of traction in recent questions being asked in the forums. The reasons for this could be that it is seen as an additional strength of a project manager if they can be shown to be ethical and morally strong.
A good approach would be if PMI could award accreditation to projects manager who could demonstrate (either through an audit of projects, references from clients or some other mechanism) that they uphold the highest standard expected from them as a project manager. I believe this would set a lot of project managers apart from their peers.
Daire
...
1 reply by Luis Branco
Feb 21, 2020 5:58 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Daire.
Thank you for sharing your opinion with us
Do you consider it feasible:
"A good approach would be if PMI could award accreditation to projects manager who could demonstrate (either through an audit of projects, references from clients or some other mechanism) that they uphold the highest standard expected from them as a project manager"
Saving Changes...
Scott TheusSenior Project Manager and Agilist| BWX TechnologiesEuclid, Oh, United States
Feb 20, 2020 9:28 AM
Replying to Luis Branco
...
Dear Scott
Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Does a project manager have fiduciary responsibilities in relation to the project he manages?
What about the company or organization promoting the project?
Do these fall only in the financial domain?
The role of a fiduciary (again, in the United States; it may be different elsewhere) is financial in nature; it entails acting on behalf of a person or organization to safeguard their financial interests. (See the definition at https://definitions.uslegal.com/f/fiduciary)
A project manager has a moral and ethical responsibility to manage the project's resources in a way that benefits the project, its stakeholders, and the organization as a whole, but this generally does not rise to the level of a fiduciary.
An exception to this would be if the organization gave the project manager funds to hold in a separate bank account under their control. In this case the PM would have a fiduciary responsibility to manage those funds to the organization's best interest.
The difference is a matter of control; in most cases a PM is given a budget against which they submit and approve expenditures, but the funds are held in a company account that the PM does not control. When the funds are held in an account owned or controlled by the PM then they become a fiduciary.
...
2 replies by Daire Guiney and Luis Branco
Feb 20, 2020 3:01 PM
Daire Guiney
...
Dear Scott,
It also crops up in the matter of third parties holding funds between two parties engaged in a business transaction and holding and releasing the funds in good faith once the terms of the agreement have been reached.
However they normally charge substantial commission for these kind of services. Also service provider who provide escrow account clearance facility could be seen to be acting fiduciary.
This happens in Europe but it maybe different in North America.
Daire
Feb 21, 2020 6:01 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Scott
Thank you for sharing your opinion with us
Dear Kiron Thank you for participating in this reflection and for your opinion
Does a project manager have fiduciary responsibilities in relation to the project he manages? What about the company or organization promoting the project? Do these fall only in the financial domain?
Yes, Yes & No - as I indicated in my initial response, the responsibilities of a PM extend well beyond just fiduciary responsibilities towards the company they work for.
...
1 reply by Luis Branco
Feb 21, 2020 6:03 AM
Luis Branco
...
Dear Kiron
Thank you for sharing your opinion with us
Interesting what you wrote: "The responsibilities of a PM extend well beyond just fiduciary responsibilities towards the company they work for"
The role of a fiduciary (again, in the United States; it may be different elsewhere) is financial in nature; it entails acting on behalf of a person or organization to safeguard their financial interests. (See the definition at https://definitions.uslegal.com/f/fiduciary)
A project manager has a moral and ethical responsibility to manage the project's resources in a way that benefits the project, its stakeholders, and the organization as a whole, but this generally does not rise to the level of a fiduciary.
An exception to this would be if the organization gave the project manager funds to hold in a separate bank account under their control. In this case the PM would have a fiduciary responsibility to manage those funds to the organization's best interest.
The difference is a matter of control; in most cases a PM is given a budget against which they submit and approve expenditures, but the funds are held in a company account that the PM does not control. When the funds are held in an account owned or controlled by the PM then they become a fiduciary.
Dear Scott,
It also crops up in the matter of third parties holding funds between two parties engaged in a business transaction and holding and releasing the funds in good faith once the terms of the agreement have been reached.
However they normally charge substantial commission for these kind of services. Also service provider who provide escrow account clearance facility could be seen to be acting fiduciary.
This happens in Europe but it maybe different in North America.
