Ethics, compliance and sustainability

0:00Sara: Welcome to Project Management Exam Prep.

0:03This episode is about ethics, compliance and sustainability: doing the right thing,

0:08keeping within the rules, and thinking beyond the deadline.

0:12Every project management exam tests it.

0:14Leo: You will learn how the three bodies frame it, what their codes of conduct share,

0:19how to work through a dilemma, and how to keep a project compliant.

0:24We finish with a drill, so keep a pen ready.

0:26Sara: Let us start with the three lenses. What does IPMA® say?

0:32Leo: IPMA®, the International Project Management Association, sets out its standard in

0:37the Individual Competence Baseline, the ICB4.

0:41Two elements cover this topic. Compliance, standards and regulations asks you to

0:46find the rules that apply, keep the project inside them, and make its results sustainable.

0:52Personal integrity and reliability asks you to act on your values and keep your

0:58word.

0:59Sara: And PMI®?

1:00Leo: PMI®, the Project Management Institute, publishes the PMBOK® Guide,

1:06its guide to the project management body of knowledge.

1:09In the eighth edition, compliance with laws is part of the governance performance

1:14domain. Two principles apply: be an accountable leader, and build sustainability

1:19into every part of the project. The outline of PMI®'s Project Management Professional

1:25exam, the PMP®, has a task to plan and manage project compliance.

1:30Sara: And APM?

1:32Leo: APM, the Association for Project Management, publishes the APM Body of Knowledge.

1:38It has a section on ethics, compliance and professionalism, and one on sustainability.

1:44The syllabus of APM's Project Management Qualification, the PMQ,

1:49has objectives with the same names.

1:51Sara: Where do the words differ?

1:53Leo: In three places. First, how the topic is cut.

1:56The ICB4 splits it: compliance belongs to the context, integrity to the person.

2:02PMI® spreads it across governance and two principles.

2:07APM joins ethics, compliance and professionalism in one section.

2:11Sara: Second?

2:12Leo: The sides of sustainability. The ICB4 and PMI® name three: social,

2:19environmental and economic. The ICB4 says people, planet and profit.

2:25The PMQ syllabus adds a fourth, administrative.

2:29Sara: And third?

2:30Leo: Learning after you certify. IPMA® and APM call it continuing professional development,

2:36or CPD. PMI® counts it in professional development units.

2:40Sara: What is the core, whichever exam you take?

2:43Leo: Three ideas. One: a code of conduct sets the floor.

2:48IPMA®, PMI® and APM each publish one. In our own summary, the three codes share a

2:54core. Report truthfully. Declare any conflict of interest.

2:59Refuse bribes. Obey the law, and keep people safe.

3:03Take responsibility for your decisions, and keep your competence up to date.

3:07Sara: Two?

3:08Leo: Compliance is planned work. Rules come from laws, contracts, standards and the organisation's

3:15policies. Find the ones that apply, ask experts where you cannot judge,

3:20and treat each rule as a possible threat or opportunity.

3:24Sara: Does that change in agile work?

3:27Leo: The rhythm does. In a linear project, compliance is checked at the gates.

3:31In iterative work, each rule joins the definition of done, the checklist every piece

3:37of work must pass.

3:38Sara: And three?

3:40Leo: Sustainability looks beyond the deadline.

3:42A project ends, but its results last for years.

3:46So weigh their effects on people, the environment and money.

3:50Set targets, and report them like any other measure.

3:53The PMBOK® Guide's principle asks you to meet today's needs without leaving the next

3:57generations worse off.

3:59Sara: But a code cannot cover every case. What then?

4:03Leo: Use five steps, our own design. One: spot it.

4:08Name the dilemma, and everyone it touches.

4:11Two: get the facts, not assumptions. Three: check the rules: the law,

4:17the contract, the organisation's policies and your code.

4:21If a rule settles it, follow it.

4:23Sara: And if no rule settles it?

4:25Leo: Four: weigh the options through four lenses.

4:29Jónasson and Ingason, in their book Project: Leadership, use four classic ethical

4:34theories, and advise using all of them.

4:37Virtue: which choice fits the person you want to be?

4:41Utility: which gives the best result for everyone affected?

4:45Duty: which rule should hold for everyone?

4:48Rights: whose rights could it harm?

4:52Sara: And five?

4:53Leo: Decide, act and explain. Tell those affected what you decided and why,

4:57and record it. Where the lenses disagree, you have found the real dilemma.

5:03Say so openly, and take it to whoever may decide.

5:06Sara: And the second model?

5:08Leo: A compliance map, also our own. It sorts every rule by how binding it is,

5:13in four bands. Must: laws and regulations, such as data protection.

5:19Agreed: contracts, and any standard a contract makes binding.

5:24Expected: codes of conduct and the organisation's own promises,

5:28such as climate targets. Chosen: voluntary standards, which APM calls discretionary.

5:36Sara: How do I use it?

5:37Leo: Three moves. Identify: scan the sources, keep what applies here,

5:42and ask experts. Plan: give each rule an owner, and turn it into a requirement,

5:48a task, a contract clause or a test. Check: keep the evidence,

5:54and watch for rules that change, as the APM Body of Knowledge stresses.

5:58Sara: And the regulator?

6:00Leo: A regulator is a stakeholder. Inform it and engage it, usually through your own

6:05expert, such as the data protection officer, who oversees how the organisation handles

6:10personal data. Never escalate to it.

6:13Sara: How does this change between Mid-level and Senior?

6:16Leo: First, the two levels. They are this series' own labels.

6:21Mid-level means leading moderately complex projects, the level of IPMA® Level C and

6:27PMI®'s PMP® exam. Senior means leading complex projects and people,

6:33the level of IPMA® Level B and of APM's chartered status, Chartered Project Professional.

6:40At Mid-level, you keep one project within the rules.

6:44Take Parking Permits Online, a city project that moves resident parking permits

6:48online in eight months. The project manager, Anna, fills in the compliance map in

6:54month one with the data protection officer.

6:57Addresses and licence plates are personal data, and the payment gateway must be

7:01certified before go-live. Each rule gets an owner and a test.

7:06Sara: And at Senior level?

7:08Leo: You build it into the system for others.

7:11Take One City Account, a thirty-month city project that brings fourteen online services

7:16under one login, led by Anna some years later.

7:20Anna sets one compliance map that every service owner fills in.

7:24Shared security and accessibility standards go into every supplier contract.

7:28The steering board reviews sustainability targets at each gate.

7:32Sara: Now the drill. A city is moving resident parking permits online,

7:37and go-live is near. The team has moved twenty-six thousand permits from the old

7:42database. A final test shows that three in every hundred carry the wrong licence

7:48plate or zone. Fixing and retesting takes two weeks.

7:52The sponsor asks you to report the project as green, on track,

7:56at tomorrow's steering group, and to fix the data quietly after go-live.

8:01What do you do?

8:03Leo: Pause and write your answer. You have forty-five seconds.

8:51Sara: First, the size of it.

8:53Leo: Twenty-six thousand divided by a hundred is two hundred and sixty.

8:57Times three, that is seven hundred and eighty permits.

9:01Each one could get a resident fined wrongly.

9:05Sara: And then?

9:06Leo: Walk the five steps. The dilemma: loyalty to the sponsor against a truthful report.

9:12The facts: which records are wrong, and why.

9:16The rules: all three codes ask for truthful reports, and data protection rules usually

9:21require accurate personal data, so involve the data protection officer.

9:26Reporting green fails the rights and duty lenses.

9:30So speak to the sponsor today, in private.

9:33Report amber, at risk, with options: delay two weeks, or go live with the clean

9:38records and move the rest later. The steering group decides, and you record it.

9:44Sara: What lifts that to Senior?

9:46Leo: Read the pressure as a signal about governance.

9:49If amber is punished, people stop reporting it.

9:52So agree status rules that everyone uses, and make bad news safe to bring.

9:58Agree who may accept known data errors at go-live, and up to what rate.

10:03Ask what the sponsor fears, and meet that need honestly.

10:07Sara: How do the exams ask this?

10:10Leo: IPMA®'s written exam asks for open answers; at Level B it may be oral.

10:16IPMA®'s certification also includes an interview, where assessors ask about your

10:20own projects, so note one decision that tested your values.

10:25The PMP® exam uses scenarios, and PMI®'s outline adds questions built on a case study

10:30or a chart. APM's PMQ asks for short written answers, for example why continuing

10:37professional development matters.

10:39Sara: Let us recap.

10:41Leo: One. A code of conduct sets the floor: truthful reports, declared interests,

10:47no bribes, and current competence.

10:49Sara: Two. For a dilemma: spot it, get the facts, check the rules, weigh four lenses,

10:56then decide, act and explain.

10:59Leo: Three. Compliance is planned work: identify, plan and check.

11:05In iterative work, check every increment.

11:08Sara: Four. Sustainability looks beyond the deadline, with targets you report.

11:13Leo: And five. At Senior level, build it into the system, and make it safe to speak up.

11:18Sara: The two model sheets and the study handout are linked in the description.

11:23Next time: leadership and vision.