PMcrunch

As Project Managers, it is our charge to maintain high ethical standards.  Strong ethical standards are a key ingredient of great leadership.  The responsibility of ethics leads me to think about 2 immediate ethical dilemmas or challenges:

1. Do we ask ourselves whether or not we are doing the right thing? 
2. Do our team members and stakeholders ask themselves that same eithical question?

These 2 questions cover the basics of ethics, but there is a broader organization challenge we must consider to ensure these ethical questions are being handled.

Yes, it is clear that we cannot ignore the ethical question that goes unasked, particularly during the daily tumult of deadlines, meetings, decisions, and exchanges.  And, yes, it is good to make it a practice to ask ourselves and our people the often-forgotten question: "Is this the right thing to do?"  The answer is what you know in your gut to be true.  Standing by our ethics may mean taking an unpopular position, but by doing so, and we can inspire our people and others we serve to be part of something great.

But now, with that precept as a foundation, how do we ensure that it is being done all around us, regarding anything and everything on our project?  How do we ensure that the "gray areas" of ethical dilemmas are being addressed?  Because of the potential sensitivity of ethical issues, people must be able to feel free and comfortable in addressing these ethical dilemmas.

A common example of an ethical dilemma is "moonlighting".  The question is whether the moonlighting activity is at odds with the project or organization from an ethical standpoint.  Simply asking the question "Is this the right thing to do?" could potentially compromise the position of many professionals, so there is a need for an alternative way to address such an issue.

One way to provide a safe channel for communicating about ethical dilemmas is to provide some formal means for people to address ethical issues.  One way of doing this is to use mentoring relationships.  Another way might involve the HR department, or even a sort of external ethics help line.  The important thing is to provide an avenue where people will feel free, unencumbered, and safe to voice their ethical dilemmas to an uninvolved party.  This means dealing with the ethical issues outside the context of deadlines, meetings, decisions, and exchanges that are part of the day to day frenzy of projects. 

The key thing is to not only ask yourself is you or your team members and stakeholders are doing the right thing, but also to ask if everyone has access to a safe place to resolve ethical dilemmas in their minds, and clearly determine the answer to "Am I doing the right thing?"
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John Reiling, PMP
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