So your project is going smoothly, good vibes all round. Then the client asks for something that rubs you up the wrong way. You get an inkling that what they're asking for isn't right or the solution you propose isn't moral. What do you do? You have ethical grounds on an individual level, but so does the organisation you represent. We unpack a personal case study of a project management ethical dilemma; the path we chose; and how to communicate this to clients without burning bridges or naming-and-shaming.
The snowball effect of decision making
The seas of project management can be turbulent and have you facing some ethical challenges. The larger a project - the more likely AMs, PMs or owners are willing to turn a blind eye to their ethical compass and compromise in an effort to get that moolah, keep a client, deliver on time or under budget.
There's a couple of problems with that. Okay more than a couple but we don't have the time to delve into it all, so here are the highlights. A wavering conscience negatively impacts the project through employee unease. You can become disengaged or ashamed. Sometimes you end up taking the back seat or role of the 'guiltless bystander' allowing clients to hijack the project in an unethical way.
One poor call by an AM/PM trickles down to other aspects of the business too. It disturbs team morale, creates a loss of colleague respect, compromises others involved in the work and shakes organisational values. This ultimately creates an inconsistent (and often negative) brand image internally and externally. You can see it can quickly snowballs into more than just one bad call.
So where is the line between unethical project management and good biz?
Let's delve deeper with a case study on ethical decision making we recently faced as a creative agency. In the whole scheme of things, the ethical issues weren't make or break - but they serve as a good foundation to explore some key themes around ethical decision making in project or account management.
We recently worked with a client on a digital brand + UX project. Elements of the project required expertise that exceeded our skillset, so we brought in some trusty CRM specialists to manage user workflow setups and email automation. It was a no brainer - we'd worked with this external agency before, loved the team and their solutions. Our team serves as the primary project management capacity. We kept the drum beating to the right rhythm between our work, the client and the external CRM specialist. We were completely transparent with the client about bringing in a third party from the get-go.
So the end of the project comes and the client requests additional scope to set up reporting capabilities in the CRM. We work with this external agency to organise a scope & quote and naturally pop in our PM fees over the top. Then it hits us. This feels wrong. We're not adding a great deal of value to this process at all. If anything, we're creating time and communicative inefficiencies planting ourselves inbetween the client and CRM specialist. However we are the central core to this entire project. Our work in design and development brought everything together.
You're here to make money
At the end of the day, we're here for our clients but also for the organisation to make that dough. It's what keeps us employed. That ethical line can be blurry and this situation brought that to light. It came down to that gut feeling (a bit of a wishy-washy thing to say, but true).
We knew that project managing this project didn't sit well with us. We would be helpful but was it really necessary? It felt like we were inserting our services into a space that didn't really need it. So we had a chat internally and made the call to push it back onto the client.
We had an open and honest conversation about our input in this project versus the financial impact on the client. Although the client made the call to deal directly with the specialist, we were able to cement our relationship as a trusted agency partner that genuinely has their best interests at heart. Despite the lack of short term profits, we've built a more valuable relationship with this client that continues to bring back long term engagement.
It also provided the internal team reassurance that we're good people, doing what's best for our client. Something that creative agencies often promise but fail to deliver. We also don't want to compromise on our brand values and basic service offering for the sake of some extra dough $.
Our value lies in other branding and strategic verticals that we'll continue to offer when the project warrants it. But in this scenario, we'll take a step back and not third wheel.
An alternate universe
For a second, let's entertain the thought that I just did it. I sent off that quote and was involved in the project as a totally unnecessary third wheel. What would I be setting myself up with? It's easy (and simple) to think that doing this one little dodgy thing will be the end of it. You'll move on with life and not have any ramifications. But when we actually break it down in this scenario, that snowball effect creeps back in.
We would be responsible for any future questions around reporting within the CRM. That's a time warp itself, with clients referring back to you for the simpliest of questions they could solve themselves. We'd then be stuck frantically researching help guides or referring back to our CRM specialist for answers.
You can bet that after a while they'll want some compensation for this extra support and BAM! You're back at square one. Another quote, another dodgy feeling, another chunk of time you're wasting sitting between the client and the expert.
You're also stuck with a project schedule and budget that you have limited input on. You'll make a promise on deadlines that are completely dependant on an external team. Yet you're still the responsible party when shit hits the fan. You're then faced with the hard truth - your management of the project was totally pointless. A project manager who can't deliver to schedule or budget...no good. Do you fess up or stick to your immortal high ground and ride it out?
The thing is, the client will find out. Any trust you had built up quickly erodes. In our scenario, it would become pretty obvious, pretty quickly that we weren't adding a great deal of value. Just a facade of smoke and mirrors. You then have to carry that burden around as you continue to work with the client in the future and work harder to rebuild that trust. Though more likely than not, you can expect a bit of ghosting as they head off to a new crew that actually deliver on the honesty they preach.
What you can do as a Project Manager to handle ethical dilemmas?
So that ethical predicament got us thinking about our key takeaways. In this scenario the dilemma was fairly minor, but our approach to handling the situation speaks volumes and serves as a learning for similar situations.
Refer back to your strategy or service offering: Go back to basics. What did your initial project strategy say + what value are you offering the client through your services? If this outcome fails to align with your plan of attack then you have a solid backing to turn it down or change course.
Talk it through: Don't bottle up this decision. The weight will crush you! Chat to other team members or industry professionals and get their perspectives on the situation. Sometimes a neutral party helps. We've worked with The Ethics Centre who provide impartial guidance on these tough challenges in a completely confidential format via phone call.
Keep a record: We get it, these sticky situations usually require a face to face conversation or call. It can be hard to record in the moment, but consolidate the key outcomes and decisions post meeting and share this with the team. Getting things on paper covers your ass and may also highlight any inconsistencies in understanding.
Long term approach: This isn't set and forget. This entire experience should be a learning you take away and share with your team. Let it help your organisation reiterate or redefine organisational values and realign any misconceptions to keep your brand purpose on track.