Ethics and Professional Responsibility

00:01 Hello and welcome.

00:03 This module will focus on ethics and professional conduct. Pay particular attention to this module because it will feature throughout the exam in several different ways.

00:17 The difficulty is rated as high.

00:21 I remember when candidates in the exam used to be marked on this area.

00:26 It was usually an area they failed.

00:29 So do pay particular attention to this area.

00:32 You no longer given marks in this area, but the whole concept of acting ethically and professionally will be throughout the entire exam.

00:42 Memorization is low.

00:45 There's nothing new here that you haven't heard before.

00:47 It's the application of what we're about to mention.

00:50 That will be the interesting thing, and exam importance is medium.

00:54 As I've already said, there are no specific questions about this captured in the domain tasks or exam specification outline for the exam.

01:05 But it will feature in the exam in many different ways, with scenarios presented to you that you may think are around risk management or cost estimating.

01:16 But they are, in fact, questions about ethics and professional conduct. So do pay careful attention to this module.

01:26 Many of the things that we're about to cover may be in direct contradiction to what you actually do or encourage to do by your current workplace. So when it comes to ethics and professional conduct, it is based on the Project Management Institute, Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

01:49 Now you should know what this is because when you go to register for the exam or certainly when you become a member of the Project Management Institute, there's a little tick box that you check to say that you've read this code and you agree to abide by it.

02:05 We're going to look at it and the values that are contained within it, and these values are responsibility, respect, fairness and honesty. And remember, you are the project manager.

02:19 The buck stops with you.

02:21 You do take ultimate responsibility and accountability for not only acting ethically and professionally at all times.

02:31 But leading others to do the same and, if necessary, enforcing it.

02:40 A couple of overarching points before we get into the specifics.

02:45 First up, always follow the laws of the country and which you are working.

02:52 In fact, that's a key part of this code.

02:55 Always follow the rules.

02:57 First and foremost, follow the rules of the organization in which you work. Then beyond that, follow the rules of the industry in which you work.

03:09 But then above all of that, follow the rules or laws of the country in which you are working in.

03:16 You must always follow rules.

03:19 Now it's OK to disagree with rules, and you can seek to change them.

03:24 But until they are changed, you must follow them.

03:29 So when it comes to the laws of the country, remember this you must always follow the laws of the country in which you are working.

03:36 So take time to distinguish between something that is unethical or illegal and something that's just different to what you're used to in many places around the world.

03:47 There are different customs which you may need to get used to that aren't illegal or unethical, but they're just different.

03:57 As I've already said, once you follow the laws of the country, make sure that you always follow the policies and rules of your company.

04:05 And as I've mentioned, you can seek to change them if you think they're wrong.

04:09 That's fine. But until they changed, you follow those rules, policies and regulations.

04:18 Always act truthfully at all times, no exceptions and, if necessary, be what we call a whistleblower.

04:29 This means that according to this code, if you spot anybody breaking the code, you are obligated.

04:39 To tell on them now, this may be different from your current experience, but for the purpose of the exam, this is the approach you're going to take now. The general rule of thumb is if somebody breaks a rule of your project, you report it to the project manager or project sponsor.

04:58 If somebody breaks an organization rule, you report them to the organization. If somebody breaks the rules of a professional body to which they belong, you report them to the professional body.

05:11 If somebody breaks a law, you report them to the appropriate legal authorities. So remember that you must be a whistleblower.

05:22 That's for the purposes of the exam.

05:26 So other key components of the Code of Ethics and professional conduct are you must act professionally at all times.

05:35 No exceptions.

05:37 You can't let your emotions get in the way.

05:40 You must act professionally at all times.

05:44 You also have a responsibility to provide mentoring to your team members and also to obtain the training that they require in order to do their jobs properly.

05:56 If you did tick that box saying you agree to abide by the code, you also agreed to commit to your own ongoing professional development. So for example, the exam that you're about to sit is not the end of your professional development, but just a point in your ongoing professional development. You also agreed to promote and contribute to the profession of project management by giving back.

06:24 And another key component of ethics and professional conduct is always avoid real or perceived conflict of interest.

06:33 And the easiest way to do this is to declare it whether it's real or perceived, whether you have any doubt, always declare it to your project sponsor or the client and ask them for their opinions.

06:48 They may choose to do nothing and decide that there is no consequence of it, but always declare real or perceived conflict of interest.

06:55 And if the conflict of interest is in fact real and it has a high degree of impact on your project, you may have to excuse yourself from those considerations or the project entirely.

07:08 So let's take a closer look at the code and the foundational concepts in it.

07:14 The code applies to all members of the Project Management Institute. The code also applies to individuals who are not members of the Project Management Institute, but meet one or more of the following criteria.

07:33 They may be non-members who hold a certification from the Project Management Institute. They may be non-members who apply to commence a certification from the Project Management Institute, and they may be non-members who serve the Project Management Institute in a volunteer capacity. This code applies to all of these people.

07:58 The code itself is built up on aspirational and mandatory standards. The aspirational standards describe the conduct that we strive to uphold as practitioners whenever we can.

08:14 The mandatory standards, establish firm requirements and in some cases limit or prohibit practitioner behavior.

08:23 The mandatory standards we must always meet.

08:28 And remember, if you are subject to these standards contained in the code and you don't conduct yourself in accordance with them, you may be subject to disciplinary action or procedures from the Project Management Institute Ethics Review Committee.

08:48 So we'll go through each of these responsibility, respect, fairness and honesty, and take a closer look at them.

08:56 The first one responsibility responsibility says it 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.

09:15 Responsibilities about taking ownership.

09:20 And that comes with accountability and authority as well.

09:24 So make sure you understand this.

09:26 You take responsibility for all of your actions, all of your decisions that you take or fail to take.

09:34 You will always stand up and accept the consequences.

09:40 As part of this, we must always inform ourselves of and uphold the policies, rules, regulations and laws that govern our work and professional and volunteer activities.

09:55 So these will be.

09:57 The rules of our organization, the rules of our professional bodies or association, and the rules of the countries and which we're working in.

10:07 And with responsibility comes the requirement to report unethical or illegal conduct to the appropriate management or authorities and, if necessary, to those affected by the conduct.

10:22 So you can see there's a huge demand on you here to not only act responsible yourself, but to also report those that don't. The next foundational concept is respect.

10:39 And respect is our duty to show a high regard for ourselves, others and the resources entrusted to us.

10:49 And what we're trying to do.

10:52 And upholding this foundational concept is generate an environment of respect within our project team, within our organization and between all of our stakeholders, because that will engender trust, confidence and performance excellence by fostering mutual cooperation. Respect is a mutual relationship.

11:19 And also in relation to respect.

11:22 We make sure that as practitioners in the global project management community, we do not exercise the power of our expertise or position to influence the decisions or actions of others in order to benefit personally at their expense.

11:41 We also do not act ever in an abusive manner towards others, and we respect the property rights of others.

11:50 We don't steal.

11:51 We don't take things unlawfully.

11:54 These are the key components of the respect foundational pillar of the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

12:04 The third one is fairness.

12:06 Now, fairness is that it is our duty to make decisions and act impartially and objectively and at all times.

12:16 Our conduct must be free from competing self-interest, prejudice and favoritism.

12:25 So we proactively and fully disclose any real or potential conflicts of interest to the appropriate stakeholders and ask them to decide. And in my experience, one of the great things you can have on any project is a conflict of interest.

12:42 Register where you put down yours and any other project team members or stakeholders conflicts of interest.

12:49 And the decisions made about those.

12:54 In relation to fairness, we do not hire or fire reward or punish or reward or deny contracts based on personal considerations, including, but not limited to, favoritism, nepotism or bribery.

13:13 Now. In some countries in the world, these things are taken as normal.

13:20 But be careful.

13:21 Just because they're taken as normal doesn't mean that they are legal.

13:26 So the first point I made in this module was always respect the norms of the country that you're working in, especially the laws.

13:35 But I don't know of any country in the world that actually allows any of these behaviors legally, although they may be captured in custom.

13:44 So you cannot.

13:47 Award contracts based on favoritism, nepotism or bribery.

13:53 Also, we do not ever discriminate against others based on, but not limited to gender, race, age, religion, disability, nationality or sexual orientation. These are all key components of acting fairly.

14:14 The fourth pillar is honesty and honesty says it is our duty to understand the truth and act in a truthful manner, both in our communications and in our conduct.

14:31 So we do not ever engage in or condone behavior that is designed to deceive others, including but not limited to.

14:43 Making misleading or false statements, stating half truths, providing information out of context or withholding information that, if known, would render our statements as misleading or incomplete.

15:02 That's quite a burden.

15:04 But you must at all times, act honestly and demand honesty from everyone around you.

15:12 So in summary.

15:15 Be aware how to act ethically, professionally and legally at all times and be prepared to live those values and display those values at all times of responsibility, respect, fairness and honesty. Now these.

15:34 Foundational pillars will be in the exam.

15:38 You're not given a mark in any of these areas.

15:41 You remember your marks will be in the initiating Planning, executing, monitoring, controlling and closing performance domains.

15:51 But the issues around ethics and professional conduct will feature in several questions. So look out for them in the exam.

16:00 And remember, always act with responsibility, respect, fairness and honesty when it comes to answering those questions in the exam.

16:12 So thank you very much.

16:13 This has been an introduction and an overview to the ethics and professional conduct.