It is Project Manager's responsibility to guide and educate the management about code of conducts and ethical behavior and consequences of unethical approaches. PMP certified PMs are bound to follow the code of ethics and professional conducts. Saving Changes...
arlene trimbleAssistant IT Director| Local GovernmentAlamo, Ca, United States
Very interesting topic and oh, so realistic! PM s can mitigate this type of behavior upfront by discussing the working agreements and values and principles of the team during project initiation. Working agreements and values and principles can then be included in the chartering process/document so that everyone can see and be reminded of what was agreed upon earlier. Ongoing retrospectives can be an avenue to discuss the team's situation as well. Saving Changes...
Bruce Wilkinson MBA, PMPExpert Project Manager / Trustworthy Executive Assistant / Business Coach| goBRUCE Business ServicesCuenca, Azuay, Ecuador
One think I appreciate about PMI is their Code of Ethics.
I agree with Arlene, that the PM sets the standard for the team. I would even go one step further; it is not only the PM, but what comes from the very top of the organization on down that makes a difference. When the C-Level executives are known for upholding ethical behaviors (not just “words”), and being vigilant about it, then this attitude filters down through the entire organization. It becomes part of the company culture that unethical behavior will not be permitted. For example, in some of the medical environments that I have worked in, violations of the HIPPA privacy laws were not taken lightly—grounds for immediate firing. In this type of environment, the PM’s job of keeping the team on the “ethical path” becomes much easier.
I have also been in organizations where ethics was taken rather lightly, and this filters down as well. In this environment, the PM has a much more difficult task, as the pressure to “fudge the numbers” may be coming from above, and if the PM resists, there may be personal adverse consequences. In these cases, it might be a good time to find another organization to work for (it was for me)! Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Ethic is not a matter of adhere to a code of ethics. If you are talking about culture as the set of behaviors then you have to take care about to analyze what is ethic or not in that culture. It is not an easy topic to talking about. That is because most of the organizations defines their own code of ethic. Like the PMI has done. Saving Changes...
