P ROFESSIONAL AND S OCIAL

R ESPONSIBILITY

September 2015 Hisham Haridy, PMP, PMI-RMP

 PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Professional and social responsibility is broken down into the following

categories in the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct:

1. Responsibility

2. Respect

3. Fairness

4. Honesty

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

1. Responsibility

 Make decision based on the best interests of the company.

 Accept assignments you are qualified for.

 Protect proprietary information.

 Report unethical behavior and violations.

2. Respect

 Maintain an attitude of mutual cooperation.

 Respect cultural differences.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

3. Fairness

 Act impartially without bribery.

 Look for and disclose conflict of interest.

 Do NOT discriminate.

 Do NOT use your position for personal or business gain.

4. Honestly

 Understand the truth.

 Be truthful in all communications.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 Responsibility

Ownership of Decisions and Actions

 Responsibility is our duty to take ownership for the decisions we make or

fail to make, the actions we take or fail to take, and the consequences
that result.

1. Make decisions based on the best interests of the

company, rather than your own best Interest.
2. Only accept assignments you are qualified to complete.
3. Protect proprietary information.
4. Report unethical behavior and violations.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 RESPONSIBILITY
Ensuring Integrity
 As a project manager, one of your professional responsibilities is to ensure integrity
of the project management process, the product, and your own personal conduct.
Accepting Assignments
 You should always honestly report your qualifications, your experience, and your
past performance of services to potential employers, customers, PMI, and others.
 You should not knowingly accept assignments that are beyond your capabilities or
experience.
Laws and Regulations Compliance
 You're required to follow all applicable laws and rules and regulations that apply to
your industry, organization, or project. This includes PMI organizational rules and
policies as well.
 You should also follow any ethical standards and principles that might govern your
industry or the state or country in which you're working.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 RESPONSIBILITY
Confidential Information
 You agree not to disclose sensitive or confidential information or use it in any way
for personal gain.
 Often when you work under contract, you'll be required to sign a nondisclosure
agreement.
Company Data
 It's your responsibility to ensure that the proper nondisclosure agreements are
signed prior to releasing the data. The procurement department often handles this
function.
Intellectual Property
 Intellectual property includes items developed by an organization that have
commercial value but are not tangible and copyrighted material such as books,
software, and artistic works.
 Intellectual property is owned by the business or person who created it.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 Respect

The Appropriate Treatment of People and Resources

 Respect is our duty to show a high regard for ourselves, others, and the resources
entrusted to us.
 Resources entrusted to us may include people, money, reputation, the safety of
others, and natural or environmental resources.
 An environment of respect engenders trust, confidence, and performance
excellence by fostering mutual cooperation — an environment where diverse
perspectives and views are encouraged and valued.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 RESPECT

1. Maintain an attitude of mutual cooperation

2. Respect cultural differences

3. Engage in good faith negotiations.

4. Be direct in dealing with conflict.

5. Do not use your power or position to influence others for your own benefit.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 RESPECT

Professional Demeanor
 Acting in a professional manner is required of most everyone who works in the business world.
 Part of acting professionally involves controlling yourself and your reactions in questionable
situations.
 As a professional, your concern for the project and the organization should take precedence
over your concern for your own feelings.
 As project manager, you have a good deal of influence over your project team members.
 One of the items on the agenda at the project team kickoff meeting should be a discussion of
where the team members can find a copy of organizational policies regarding conflict of
interest, cultural diversity, standards and regulations, and customer service and standards of
performance.
 When you see project team members acting out of turn or with less‐than‐desirable customer
service attitudes, coach and influence those team members to conform to the standards of
conduct expected by you and your organization. Your team members represent you and the
project. As such, they should act professionally.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY March 2015

 RESPECT
Reporting Ethics Violations
 As a PMP, one of the responsibilities that falls into this category is your responsibility to report
violations of the PMP code of conduct.
 To maintain integrity of the profession, PMPs must adhere to the code of conduct that makes all
of us accountable to each other.
Cultural Awareness
 Don't expect others to conform to your way of doing things, especially when you're in their
country.
Culture Shock
 One of the ways you can avoid culture shock is to read about the country you're going to work
in before getting there.
Diversity Training
 The best way to ensure that cultural or ethical differences do not hinder your project is to
provide training for all team members.
 Diversity training makes people aware of differences between cultures and ethnic groups, and it
helps them to gain respect and trust for those on their team.
Note
 Remember that project objectives are why you are all together in the first place. Keeping the
team focused on the objectives cuts across cultural boundaries and will help everyone
concentrate on the project and tasks at hand rather than each other.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 RESPECT
Respecting Your Neighbors
Note
 Spend time building relationships with others. Once an atmosphere of mutual trust and
cooperation is established, all aspects of project planning and management—including
negotiating and problem solving—are much easier to navigate.
Perceiving Experiences
 Keep this in mind when it appears that a misunderstanding has occurred or that someone
you're working with didn't respond as you expected. This is especially true when you're working
with someone from another country. Always give others the benefit of the doubt and ask for
clarification if you think there is a problem. Put your feelings in check temporarily, and
remember that what you think the other person means is not necessarily as it appears.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 Fairness

Being Objective and Making Impartial Decisions

 Fairness is our duty to make decisions and act impartially and objectively.
Our conduct must be free from competing self interest, prejudice, and
favoritism.”

1. Act impartially without bribery.

2. Continuously look for conflicts of interest and disclose them

3. Do not discriminate against others

4. Do not use your position for personal or business gain

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 FAIRNESS
Conflict of Interest
 The PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct discusses your responsibility to report to the
stakeholders, customers, or others any actions or circumstances that could be construed as
a conflict of interest.
Associations and Affiliations
 Conflicts of interest might include your associations or affiliations.
Vendor Gifts
 Some professionals work in situations where they are not allowed to accept gifts in excess of
certain dollar amounts.
 It's your responsibility to know whether a policy exists that forbids you from accepting these
gifts.
 It's also your responsibility to inform the vendor if they've gone over the limit and you are
unable to accept the gift.
 Don't accept gifts that might be construed as a conflict of interest.
Stakeholder Influence
 Make certain you are not putting your own personal interests above the interests of the project
when you're dealing with powerful stakeholders.
PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015
 Honesty

Understanding the Truth and Taking Action Based on Truth

 Honesty is our duty to understand the truth and act in a truthful manner
both in our communications and in our conduct.

1. Try to understand the truth.

2. Be truthful in the communications, and create an environment where others tell

the truth.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 HONESTLY
Personal Gain
 Honesty involves not only information regarding your own background and experience, but
information regarding the project circumstances as well.
 Personal gain should never be a factor in any project decision.
Truthful Reporting
 As a project manager, you are responsible for truthfully reporting all information in your
possession to stakeholders, customers, the project sponsor, and the public when required.
Always be up front regarding the project's progress.
Note
 You probably remember something your mother always told you: Actions speak louder than
words. Always remember that you lead by example. Your team members are watching. If you
are driven by high personal ethics and a strong desire for providing excellent customer service,
those who work for you will likely follow your lead.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 Top Ten Ethical Pitfalls
1. Sacrificing quality to cut costs. This is a very common mistake: The customer or the performing
organization tries to cut costs, but then the deliverables lack their intended quality.
2. Going along with a customer's request when you know it's not best for the project.
3. Not standing up for what you believe is the right decision.
4. Going along with groupthink to avoid making waves.
5. Contracting to a seller that is not the most qualified because you have an ulterior motive.
6. Looking the other way and not speaking up when you see wrongdoing because a higher-up is
the one behaving unethically, and you think you need to go along to keep your job.
7. Asking staff to do extra free work.
8. Pressuring team members to sign petitions, support causes, or donate money to your favorite
charities—and making them feel as if they have no choice.
9. Showing favoritism toward certain team members based on personal friendships or other non-
merit-based reasons.
10. Lying by omission and dealing in bad faith.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 Refreshments
Q1: A major negotiation with a potential subcontractor is scheduled for tomorrow when you
discover there is a good chance the project will be cancelled. What should you do?

A. Do not spend too much time preparing for the negotiations.

B. Cut the negotiations short.

C. Only negotiate major items.

D. Postpone the negotiations.

Q2: You have just discovered an error in the implementation plan that will prevent you from
meeting a milestone date. The BEST thing you can do is:

A. Develop options to meet the milestone date.

B. Change the milestone date.

C. Remove any discussion about due dates in the project status report.

D. Educate the team about the need to meet milestone dates.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015
 Refreshments
Q3: Your employee is three days late with a report. She walks into a meeting where the
report is to be discussed and hands you a copy five minutes before the topic is to be
discussed. You notice some serious errors in the report. How could this have been prevented?

A. Require periodic updates from the employee.

B. Coach and mentor the employee.

C. Make sure the employee was competent to do the work.

D. Cancel the meeting earlier because you did not have a chance to review the report.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 Refreshments
Q4: A certified PMP is contacted by PMI and asked to provide information regarding another
project manager who has been reported to be involved in unethical activities. The PMP-
certified project manager knows his information would support the accusations and the other
project manager in question is a friend. He decides that the best thing to do would be to not
respond, and therefore neither confirm nor deny the accusations. Would this be the right thing
to do?
A. Yes. It would be a safe thing to do to just ignore the request and stay out of it.
B. No. If he knows something, he is required by the Code of Ethics and Professional
Conduct to cooperate.
C. No. It would be better to deny the charges against his friend to maintain the
relationship.
D. Yes. It is expected that project managers will support each other in the field against
outsiders.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 Refreshments
Q5: You are finalizing the monthly project status report due now to your manager when you
discover that several project team members are not reporting actual hours spent on project
activities. This results in skewed project statistics. What is the MOST appropriate action to be
taken?

A. Discuss the impacts of these actions with team members.

B. Report the team members' actions to their functional managers.

C. Continue reporting information as presented to you.

D. Provide accurate and truthful representations in all project reports.

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 REFERENCES
1. A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) Fifth Edition.

2. Project Management Journal. The peer-refereed academic and research publication of PMI.

3. Formal web site for Project Management Institute www.PMI.org (eReaders and reference) An
exclusive PMI member benefit, eReads & Reference provides online access to 250 complete and unabridged
books from PMI and other leading publishers. Topics include project management, leadership, teams, cross-
cultural business, knowledge management and more.

4. Project Management A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. Eighth

edition, Harold kerzner, Ph. D.

5. PMP Exam Preparation, RITA’s Course in abook for passing the PMP Exam, Sixth Edition. Rita Mulcahy,
PMP.

6. Project Management Professional Study Guide, Fifth Edition, Kim Heldman.

7. The Project Management Answer Book, Jeff Furman

8. PMP Exam Prep: Questions, Answers, & Explanations, Christopher Scordo.

9. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia web site (www.wikipedia.org).

10. Planning Planet web site (www.planningplanet.com).

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015

 THANK YOU

PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY September 2015