by Morley Selver, P.Eng., IPMA-B
As I mentioned in a previous article, you have to treat every project as if it will end up in court. If you are unfortunate enough to be there, then you want to be on the winning side. You need a reputation that cannot be called into question. In your project management career you will come across all kinds of issues and it is important that you be honest, fair, and ethical in all your dealings with your team members, vendors, contractors and any other people with whom you come into contact.
To be a leader, you have to be honest with everyone and in everything you do. You have to lead by example. In all projects, mistakes happen, things change, in fact change is inevitable. If the mistake is your fault then say so and get on with the work. Do not blame other team members. You should stand up for your team members. If you do not stand up for your team members, motivation will be affected, decisions will be harder to make, and they will not want to work with you again. You have to be able to respond positively to acceptable criticism and personal attacks. At all times you have to be reliable, trustworthy and discrete. If you say you will do something, then do it, as deeds speak louder than words. We all know someone who is all talk and no action. These people we don’t like to work with.
The same goes for contractors and vendors. They are part of your team and you have to stay on good terms with them as well. If you made the mistake, do not try to blame the contractors / vendors as it will only cause you greater problems. Contractors / vendors have reputations and costs to control and they will not stand to be blamed for something that is not their fault especially if it will cost them money. They will bypass you and go to your management if necessary. They will also refuse to deal with you which causes its’ own problems. You do not want to put yourself in these positions, so be above board in all your dealings.
An issue that comes up or will come up, is requesting a quote from a contractor / vendor when you have no intention of using them and are only looking for a check price. If the contractor / vendor finds out this what you are up to, you will have trouble getting a price out of them in the future. Keep in mind it costs the contractor / vendor money to put together an estimate and if there is no return for the effort they will not do it. This happened recently when a Canadian city was looking for quotes on streetcars. They didn’t get bids they liked so they tried to get a quote from another vendor who was not in the original bidding effort. He was not interested in giving a price as he figured out they were only looking for a check price. This put the city into the position of not knowing if the price they have is good or bad. The way around this is to pay a contractor / vendor to put an estimate together for you. It may not be cheap, but at least you get an estimate that is somewhat accurate. This way you are upfront and honest about what you are doing.
When you are the project leader, your company, or the owner, has given you their money and are asking you to manage it wisely for them. Someone has faith in you, that you can do the job. In order for them to continue having faith in you, you have to be above board in everything you do, i.e you have to behave in an ethical manner. Ethics is the morally accepted professional conduct for every individual and is a basic trait in every social system. At all times you have to be aware of ethical issues and address them. You have to be open about your own personal and professional ethics. In times of conflict or crisis you have to maintain your ethical standards. You have to live up to agreements, be transparent, fair, and categorical in ethical standards.
When you are the project leader, others will always try to influence your behaviour towards them. The best example of this is gifts from a contractor / vendor. Most organizations have policies and procedures to follow such as not accepting gifts greater than $25.00 in value. Myself, I will let someone buy me a cup of coffee but that’s it. If your company does not have a policy, then make your own personal policy to maintain your ethical behaviour. Any gifts you receive could be raffled off, or given to charity, (get and keep receipts if donating to charity). Remember, your job is to protect your companies interest, not to be the most popular person on the project. With all projects there will come a time when you will have to make tough decisions that a contractor / vendor is not going to like. No matter how uncomfortable the decision is for you, you will have to make it. The only way you can do this is if you have a clear conscience. You can not be influenced by anyone.
In summary, as the leader, you have to look after your companies investment and you always have to be prepared to make the hard, uncomfortable decisions. You can only do this comfortably if you are reliable, honest, and follow ethical standards.