Responsibilities to Customers and the Public

As project managers, we must know that customer satisfaction is an important ingredient for a successful project. The test questions place an emphasis on this requirement. Handling ourselves as professional and trustworthy individuals is the general theme of this section.

The next section of the code is composed of two areas:

• Conflict-of-interest situations

• Performance, qualifications, and experience of professional services

Many of the exam questions will focus on the test-taker's interpretation of "conflict of interest" and what constitutes inappropriate behavior. When in doubt about one of these types of questions, always take a conservative approach and be overly cautious when interpreting a conflict of interest. The rule of thumb is to overcommunicate and provide 100% disclosure of all related issues so that no one can perceive any type of cover-up.

Dealing with Conflicts of Interest for Your Customer

In preceding sections we discussed the importance of communicating situations that are or may be perceived as conflicts of interest. Again, this is vital because you do not want a breach in the trust relationship of a project right out of the gates. If communicating conflict-of-interest possibilities is still unclear to you, be sure to review the preceding information before moving forward.

Performance, Qualifications, and Experience of Professional Services

The professional services requirement mandates that individuals and organizations utilize truthful advertising, estimating, marketing, and public statements when soliciting projects. Although most people would see this as common sense, keep in mind that it will likely be mentioned somewhere in the test.

Also, to successfully complete the professional services requirement you need to ensure that you are fulfilling the requirements associated with the scope and objectives of a project. The obligation to fulfill the scope and objectives is paramount to the success of a project, unless it is discontinued at the customer's request. This topic lends itself well to story-problem scenario-based questions, so expect one of these types of questions. Remember to use the process-of-elimination method for increasing your chances of choosing the correct answer.

Finally, to provide solid professional services you must ensure that the confidentiality and security of critical and sensitive business and project information are held in high regard. Respect of confidential materials is becoming more of an issue everyday, and the Code of Professional Conduct sets its standards by stating a responsibility to safeguard confidential and sensitive materials.

By now you should notice some duplicate guidelines in the "responsibilities to the profession" and "responsibilities to the customers and public" sections of the code of conduct.