Understanding Responsibilities to Customers and the Public

This is the second and final section of the PMI PMP Code of Professional Conduct. The first section of the Code addresses your responsibilities to the profession. Many of the themes from the previous section are repeated now with an emphasis on customer service and your responsibilities to customers and the public at large.

Professionalism, personal integrity, and a more in-depth discussion of what constitutes a conflict of interest are the focus. This section is comprised as follows:

• Qualifications, experience, and performance of professional services

• Conflict of interest situations and other prohibited professional conduct

Qualifications, Experience, and Performance of Professional Services

In the previous section, you were instructed to be accurate and truthful in your representations to PMI as well in your professional undertakings. These same responsibilities are reiterated now with specific attention on the transmittal of this information to customers and the public.

You have a duty to properly represent your qualifications, experience, and performance of professional services when soliciting work and advertising. Estimates of costs, services, and expected results should be justly presented. You are accountable for providing accurate, trustworthy information to customers and the public.

You are responsible for accurate and truthful representations in the information you present to PMI and to the public. The concept appears throughout the PMI PMP Code of Professional Conduct. Expect questions on the exam regarding this responsibility.

In performing professional project management services for customers, it is imperative you meet your customer's expectations and complete all work in accordance with the agreed-upon scope and objectives. Your customer should approve any deviations or changes to the work plan.

Confidentiality should be maintained at all times. This applies in the case of intellectual property, noted in the previous section, but also in the context of all professional activities performed.

Conflict of Interest Situations and Other Prohibited Professional Conduct

The importance of identifying conflicts of interest and communicating this information to all impacted parties was stressed previously. The emphasis was placed on conflicts of interest and your consequent responsibility to your profession. This area concentrates on your responsibility to customers and the public when a conflict of interest is known. The focus here is on prohibited conduct.

You have an obligation to acknowledge a conflict of interest but you must also ensure a conflict of interest does not compromise the legitimate business interests of your customer. You cannot allow a conflict of interest to influence nor interfere with your judgment or the fulfillment of your professional project management responsibilities.

This is particularly important when you are accountable for decision-making as the project manager. You have a responsibility to your client to be forthright. If you engage in behavior that is questionable, yet alone improper, you are compromising your credibility as a project manager professional. Your decisions regarding the specific incident can be tainted, as well as your behavior and judgment regarding all facets of the project. Every decision becomes suspect.

Inappropriate payments, gifts, or other forms of compensation for personal gain must be declined. Examples of inappropriate compensation can vary from the seemingly innocuous, such as theatre tickets or lunch paid for by a vendor, to the more extreme, namely cash payments or vacation packages.

Similarly, you should refrain from offering inappropriate payments, gifts, or other forms of compensation to another party for personal gain. You might be familiar with the term kickback, which has been used to describe this activity in various industries. The PMI PMP Code of Professional Conduct is explicit in condemning this activity.

An exception is made by PMI in cases where offering or accepting payments, gifts, or other forms of compensation for personal gain conforms with applicable laws or customs of the country where project management services are being performed. In instances where you believe this exception might be valid, consult a legal professional. This practice is not acceptable for companies incorporated within the United States regardless of where they are doing business.

Your obligation to be trustworthy and exemplify a high standard of integrity is implicit within the PMI PMP Code of Professional Conduct. Inflating the number of project hours worked by team members to appear ahead of schedule or even on schedule is inappropriate. Overstating your hourly rates to make the project appear to be operating within budget when you are funneling those funds to other project costs, tinkering with progress/status reports, and manipulating project milestones to appear on-time and on-budget are simply wrong. It is an insult to the profession of project management and it's not ethical.

More often than not you will know if your actions are creating a conflict of interest or if you are engaging in questionable behavior. If you cannot be completely honest with all parties regarding your actions, they are suspect. If you catch yourself thinking, "What the client doesn't know want hurt them," or not fully disclosing information to your own project team, your actions are improper. You might have the greater good of the project at heart when you claim Phase I of the project completed on schedule because you plan to use more resources in Phase II to make up the gap but this is false reporting. You must be honest with your client regarding the true status of the project and then work with the impacted parties to develop strategies for mitigating the problem.

You must also be honest with your project team. Your responsibility in this regard is two-fold: You have an obligation to communicate openly with your fellow team workers; furthermore, as the project manager , you are the team lead for the project and must lead by example.

Communicating honestly, openly, and effectively with your client and your project team can be difficult. It is hard to tell a paying client that a project is facing severe setbacks and obstacles, particularly when the client might (rightly or wrongly) hold you accountable for the problems. A client might continue to make change requests late into development or place unrealistic demands on you and your team in terms of the project budget, scope, and timeline.

Similarly it can be tough to deal with a project team during a stressful implementation. You might have team members you do not personally like and whom you did not select for your team. There might be interpersonal conflicts. All of these situations can lead to a breakdown in communication and are normal scenarios you might be faced with during a project. These problems are compounded when a conflict of interest, real or perceived, is present.

You do not want to compound your workload as the project manager by ignoring or discounting potential conflicts of interest regardless of when they arise during the project. Address as many issues as possible at the beginning of the project during the planning process. You set the tone for the entire project by how you broach issues up front. If your client and project team see you minimizing or negating issues, the die is cast for other team members to do the same. Furthermore, your integrity is compromised.

You must also be vigilant throughout the project, actively identifying and mitigating issues regarding conflict of interest. Sometimes a potential conflict of interest does not arise until midway though the project. Always recognize conflicts of interest at their earliest point of origin. This assures your client and project team that you are above board. If situations arise which were unknown and through circumstances are not immediately addressed and rectified, again make the conflict of interest transparent to all parties as soon as possible. This is essential to maintaining your credibility as a project manager professional to your client, your project team, and the public.

In summary, avoid conflicts of interest. If this is not a viable option, identify and acknowledge conflicts of interest, both real and potential, as soon as possible. Avoid all situations where your honesty and integrity as a project manager can be questioned or condemned. If you question the ethical consequences of an action or feel a decision should be hidden from your project team, you should not engage in the behavior.

Conflict of interest appears in both sections of the PMI PMP Code of Professional Conduct. This is an important topic that will be covered thoroughly in your examination.

Expect scenario-based questions on the exam related to conflict of interest. These questions ask you to determine what you would do in a given situation. Be careful to select the best response in accordance with the PMI PMP Code of Professional Conduct. There may be multiple answers that appear right. In these instances, narrow your choices by determining the clearly incorrect answers and then select the best response from the remaining choices.