Perspectives · Management System

7 ways for projects managers to make your projects sustainable

Last week I was asked to deliver a keynote presentation on sustainable project management to an audience of project managers in Australia at an Australian Institute of Project Management event. I started the presentation with a discussion about the future: our individual future, the future of our children, as well as the future of the project management discipline. I also suggested that we need to start a dialog on the type of future we would like to have, particularly given the challenges that are facing the world at the moment. We live in challenging times and increasingly complex world. We have record high housing prices, which results in a huge issue of housing affordability. We are seeing an aging population which puts greater demand on healthcare whilst also reducing the number of people in the workforce that generate taxes to pay for it. And most recently the Great Barrier Reef has suffered the largest ever coral bleaching event due to higher than normal ocean temperatures. It is easy to bury our head in the sand and pretend these things are not happening, or better yet, tell ourselves its someone else’s problem to solve. Project managers have a critical role to play in helping organisations and society deal with these challenges. As the world becomes more ‘projectified’ and the shift from ‘business as usual’ to project-based approaches accelerates, project managers as the deliverers of change play a critical role in influencing and shaping how these changes occur. But to lead this change and to solve these problems we need to alter our project management approach such that expand beyond triple constraints of time, budget, and scope to a situation where we also consider the impacts on and benefits to the environment, society and the economy. In other words, project managers become the drivers of sustainability.

So what is sustainability?

Many people initially think that sustainability and solely about the environment or being ‘green,’ however there is much more to the term. Sustainability involves each of us doing our part to build the kind of world – economically, environmentally and socially – that we want to live in, and one that we want our children and grandchildren to inherit. At a practical level, this involves each of us being aware of how our day-to-day choices affect the intricate balance of social, economic and ecological systems. In a project context, sustainability is the new ‘triple-constraint’ context that projects need to operate within.

Figure 1: Elements of sustainability

It probably comes as no surprise then that the number 1 world-wide trend in project management is ‘Green Project Management’: the incorporation of sustainability into projects and the and management of them. Most project managers I meet are ethical, professional and socially and environmentally aware, and they are quick to agree with the need to be more sustainable. But practically, what does this actually mean? How does a project manager be ‘sustainable’ and how can they incorporate sustainable practices into their projects? To help understand practically what sustainable project management is all about and to provide some specific guidance for project managers, I have pulled together the top seven sustainability improvements project managers can make.

1. Subscribe to the Principles for Sustainable Project Management

Sustainability is not solely focussed on being green or racing off and hugging the nearest tree. Sustainable project management starts with understanding the company’s value system and taking an ethical and principled approach to managing portfolios, programs, and projects. This means operating in ways that, at a minimum, meet fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Responsible businesses enact these values and principles across their organisation, regardless of location and actively ensure that good practices in one area do not offset harm in another.

Figure 2: Principles for Sustainable Project Management

But why a focus on principles? Principles release all stakeholders from the bureaucratic labyrinth. Individuals not only have room to make sense of daily choices, but the responsibility to do so. Principles are: universal, self-validating, proven in practice over many years and empowering. They invoke confidence and ability to influence and shape how the initiative will be managed and provide a framework of good practice for those involved. GPM has derived these Principles based on UN Global Compact's Ten Principals, Earth Charter, and ISO:26000, Guidance on Corporate Social Responsibility. You can learn more about these principles and sign the Projects for Prosperity Call to Action at: http://www.greenprojectmanagement.org/principles

2. Apply the P5™ Standard for Sustainability in Project Management

The P5 Standard for Sustainability in Project Management is the world’s first standard that brings together projects, their products as well as the sustainability elements of people, planet and profit. P5 is the glue that binds project and product lifecycles, reporting frameworks, such as the UN Global Compact and GRI G4, and social, environment and economic factors. P5 identifies a series of indicators and provides guidance on what to measure and how to integrate P5 into project activities and can also be used by CSR professionals to support their sustainability reporting to include projects. In doing so, the elements of P5 can be used as part of the project risk assessment to identify specific sustainability risks as well as any material business risks to revenue, investments and or reputation. A project consists of a unique set of processes consisting of coordinated and controlled activities with start and end dates, performed to achieve project objectives. P5 measures project objectives and deliverables, their intended life spans, servicing, and project process for maturity and efficiency perspective against elements based on the triple bottom line. P5 considers the product’s life cycle from a social, environmental, and economic perspective. During each project phase sustainability should be accounted for to ensure the product’s project from the time the idea for the product is conceived until it is handed off in its final form. This includes planning product realization, designing and developing, (that should consider quantity and types of materials, chemicals used, energy efficiency and recyclability) production and servicing. Each product has social, economic and environmental impacts which may be recognized by a series of related projects during its product life cycle. Projects can include physical design, software design, marketing, testing, and packaging, for example. In applying the P5 Standard, the project manager can assess their project management processes, delivery processes and support processes as well as the products and deliverables produced by the project to determine what, if any, social, environmental or economic impacts, both positive and negative, the project may create.

Figure 3: P5 Standard

P5 has had over 20,000 downloads from over 145 countries around the world and can be downloaded at: http://greenprojectmanagement.org/p5

3. Use the PRiSM methodology

GPM developed the Projects Integrating Sustainable Methods (PRiSM) methodology to provide specific guidance to project managers and project teams on how to incorporate sustainability into the project lifecycle. PRiSM was updated in 2015 and restructured as flexible framework, to take a total lifecycle approach, whilst allowing the integration with existing frameworks and methodologies such as PRINCE2, the DSDM’s Agile Framework and other bespoke approaches.

Figure 4: PRiSM methodology

At the core of PRiSM is the development of Sustainability Management Plan and the completion of a sustainability impact assessment for the project. The key purpose of the SMP is to serve as a useful starting point for project managers to enhance the communication of business value and to link sustainability principles in a project context. PRiSM also mitigating environmental and social risks and also risk to brand and business reputation. Find out more about the PRiSM here: http://greenprojectmanagement.org/index.php/prism-methodolog

4. Consider how sustainability applies to all project components

Last year I attended the IPMA Research Conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa. At the conference, Associate Professor Carl Marnewick delivered a fantastic presentation on sustainable projects. Professor Marnewick provided some practical suggestions as to how sustainability can be considered in sixteen different components of the project (Figure x), from the project business case trough to final project acceptance. When you examine the details in Figure 6, it is not too difficult to see how we can take a sustainable approach to the project, not only in terms of the product produced, but also the management of the project itself.

Source: Carl Marnewick (2015): IPMA Research Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Figure 6: Application of sustainability to project components

Whilst at first glance there seems like a lot of different things to consider. But like all things, big improvements can be achieved by making only a few small changes. Considering social or ecological risks in the risk management plan is a great first step

5. Conduct a Sustainability Assessment on your project

A great first step is to conduct a sustainability assessment on your project. This will allow you as the project manager to get a better understanding of how both the project and the product produced by the project creates either a positively or negatively impacts any specific social, ecological or economic circumstance. [Spoiler Alert!] GPM will be releasing software soon to allow for project level assessments that all members will have access to so stay tuned! In essence, a sustainability assessment helps you as the project manager to do the right things in the right way for the right reasons. This assessment also helps to gain a better understanding of key project risks, can assist with the understanding of stakeholder impacts and in turn the development of a more complete stakeholder analysis or engagement strategy, or may simply provide new insights on where the problem areas may exist in the project.

Figure 7: Sustainability assessment matrix

Our experience has shown that using the categories in the P5 Standard and then scoring using simplified Analytic Heirarchy Process (AHP) allows for a simple and easy measurement of both positive, neutral and negative impacts. A simplified AHP uses a scale from -3 to +3 to rank the impact. These impacts could be incorporated into a Sustainability Plan, or may be simply logged and managed in a similar manner to project risks.

6. Practice sustainable procurement

The area of procurement provides substantial opportunities to be more sustainable and to make some positive impacts both for your project and your organisation more broadly. Not only can we save money and eliminate waste through more sustainable procurement, but we can also drive improved practices in suppliers by requiring adherence to particular standards to compliance with specific sustainability policies. Suppliers and the supply chain more broadly is a source of many significant risks, not only to the project itself but also to the reputation of the organisation. We have recently seen the massive damage a breech of consumer trust has made to Volkswagen Group and in time we will see how the company deals with the law suits, regulator imposed penalties and consumer backlash that could easily reach $1 Trillion US. This is not a new thing. Over the past two decades’ reputational risk for organizations has become more complex as consumers, stakeholders, and investors changing expectations have resulted in an increased demand for eco-friendly and socially conscious products and services. So as a project manager, regardless of the industry sector you work in, think about how you can achieve a better outcome, often without spending any more money, by practicing sustainable procurement. Find out more about sustainable procurement here: https://www.cips.org/knowledge/procurement-topics-and-skills/sustainability/sustainable-and-ethical-procurement/

7. Think circular not linear

I find it intriguing that project managers always talk about the project life ‘cycle’, but what they actually mean is the project life ‘time’. By definition a project has a start and an end, meaning the project exists for a discrete period of time. A life ‘cycle’ in nature is a true cycle, with there being no start or end, but instead there is a continuous and ever evolving set of actions. So why is this important? Conventional project management thinking is linear in nature. We acquire resources, then use those resources, then discard them once we have no further use for them. But what happens to those resources after we discard them? If we are talking about project team members, where do they go and what do they work on once they finish on our project? If we are talking about materials, what happens with the left over materials? What happens with the waste that is produced? The answer lies in the concept known as Cradle to Cradle (C2C) design. C2C design is a biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems. It models human industry on nature's processes viewing materials as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms. Put simply, C2C it is a holistic economic, industrial and social framework that seeks to create systems that are not only efficient but also essentially waste free. C2C thinking can be applied to many aspects of human civilization such as urban environments, buildings, economics and social systems, such as projects. So applying C2C thinking on your projects you can:

• Identify potential waste that you could use as resources in your project, boosting the available pool of resources and saving money in the process
• Eliminate waste from your project by looking at downstream uses of that waste or identify additional revenue or new product opportunities
• Identify potentially new revenue streams through the sale of by products or waste.

So why should we do this?

Project managers have a unique opportunity to deliver economic and environmental results for society. Approximately $90 Bn is spent on projects each year around the world. Without considering sustainability, project managers miss an opportunity and we shirk our ethical obligations by not minimizing the impacts our projects have on society or the environment. Also, many Codes of Ethics and Codes of Practice require the project manager to incorporate sustainable practices into their projects and examine the impacts on the planet, society or the economy. If we want to be considered a profession, then it’s time we stand up and take responsibility for what we do and the impacts we create. To find out more and to take action, become a GPM member: http://greenprojectmanagement.org/membership

Perspectives · Climate Change

2016 UN Global Compact Leaders Summit Update

This past week the UN Global Compact Leaders’ Summit took place in New York and for the fourth straight year, we took an active role. The compact is a voluntary initiative based on CEO commitments to implement universal sustainability principles and to take steps to support Sustainable Development goals. What is great about the compact is that it is 100% business driven. As an organization we are vocal about our advocacy of the UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is my personal belief that organizations that have influence on practitioners of any kind, whether it be construction, healthcare, legal, or baristas. that they take a stand (or at the least state their position) on environmental, social and economic issues. It is simply not enough to develop standards of business practice while ignoring the challenges that humanity at-large is facing. Wait. Sorry, that is being too soft.  To ignore issues such as climate change, poverty, hunger, rule of law, and inequality is completely irresponsible.

A key focus of the Summit was turning risk into opportunity:

The global goals give the world a shared vision and ambition.  During the General Assembly Address UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon stated that “there is no plan b and there is no planet b.” It is critical that we find opportunities to work the SDGs into every industry, sector, and profession.

An appropriate poem to illustrate these issues are "the ambulance down in the valley" by Joseph Malins (1895)

As you read of it, think of the cliffs that we as humans are facing and also bout the fences and ambulances, and how we might tear down the cliffs rather than simply building more fences or throwing CSR dollars at them to drive ambulances. ‘ Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed, Though to walk near its crest was so pleasant, But over its terrible edge there had slipped, A duke and full many a peasant. So the people said something would have to be done, But their projects did not at all tally. Some said, "Put a fence around the edge of the cliff," Some, "An ambulance down in the valley." But the cry for the ambulance carried the day, For it spread through the neighboring city, A fence may be useful or not, it is true, But each heart became moved with pity, For those who slipped over that dangerous cliff; And the dwellers on highway and alley Gave pounds and gave pence not to put up a fence, But an ambulance down in the valley. Then an old sage remarked, "it’s a marvel to me That people give far more attention To repairing the results than to stopping the cause, When they’d much better aim at prevention. "Let us stop at its source all this hurt," cried he. "Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally. If the cliff we will fence, we might almost dispense With the ambulance down in the valley. To succeed, we have to view the 17 SD Goals and 169 targets as a unifying platform that can be integrated into project management standards as measures of success.  To build a sustainable world by 2030, by tackling issues that seem insurmountable will take everyone doing their part. At the Summit, Accenture presented their 2016 CEO survey which had an interesting point. 1000 CEOs were surveyed from 100 countries and 25 industries. The majority of CEOs surveyed (87%) believe the SDGs provide an opportunity to rethink approaches to sustainable value creation—and 78% already see opportunities to contribute through core business. These CEOs are not the outliers.  Their perception is based on the reality of their business and what it will take to avoid disruption and succeed using a long term f why is this not a bigger topic among project managers? Do we not drive business initiatives?  Is it because the project lifecycle is linear (and outdated)? It is time to rethink what project success is and what value is.  I believe it is. From the survey, 73% of CEOs believe that business should develop common indicators to measure and communicate impact on the SDGs, our P5 is free! We will continue our series on the SDGs with #4 Quality Education next week.

Perspectives · Global Goals

Project Management and Sustainable Development Goal #3 - Ensuring Healthy Lives

Sustainable Development Goal #3 (of 17) and Project Management, ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Installment #3 of our series in which we cover each sustainable development goal (SDG) and how projects and project management can contribute to them. This post focuses on SDG number 3, Good Health and Well-being. This goal has 13 specific targets which include reducing maternal mortality and preventable deaths of newborns; ending epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases; strengthening the prevention and treatment of substance abuse; ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health services, and achieving universal health coverage. It also has a focus on  Some of the underlying issues behind these goals are not what one might think. For example, a large factor for maternal mortality in extremely poor countries isn’t the inability to access services but the fact that a pregnant woman doesn’t have clothes that fit when she gets to term and doesn’t want to go to the hospital naked. Let that sink in for a moment as when I first heard about this; it shocked me. We have made tremendous progress, but there is a long way to go.  SDG #3 is based on the premise that we as humans can’t leave humans behind, any humans. It might be hard to relate to someone half-way around the world. This post isn’t a “think of the children” per se, but it is. If your project team, resources, suppliers, and contractors do not have adequate access to healthcare and or have poor health and safety conditions, do their families?   Q. Does SDG #3 relate to projects and project management? A. Absolutely! Q. How? A. Ask yourself Do you know what the health and safety considerations are that relate to the project team, the project environment during the project life cycle, and the environment that the product will inhabit when it is put into production and after (Total Asset Lifecycle). Some of the business themes associated with this goal are:

• Occupational health and safety
• Access to medicines
• Access to quality essential health care services
• Air quality
• Water quality

Once you have identified how these themes relate to your project, look at them from a risk perspective, not just to the project but to the business, and society at large. Also look at what organization’s approach, policies, and procedures are to see if there are systems in place to leverage from. What to look for as a PM:

1. Do you have documented Health & Safety policies and standards for your project team and resources? What about suppliers and contractors? 
2. If they don't have adequate health and safety, how does that impact their families?
3. If there are policies, are they acknowledged and adhered to?
4. Is consumer health and safety a success criterion for the project’s product?
   1. Can this be Measured and demonstrated?

For the first posts in this series, I have used good examples, here is a not so good one.

The FIFA and the Khalifa International Stadium:

Migrant workers building Khalifa International Stadium in Doha for the 2022 World Cup have suffered systematic abuses, in some cases forced labor.  Amnesty International revealed in March of this year.The report, The ugly side of the beautiful game: Exploitation on a Qatar 2022 World Cup site, blasts FIFA’s shocking indifference to appalling treatment of migrant workers. The number of people working on World Cup sites is set to surge almost ten-fold to around 36,000 in the next two years.

“In the next seven years we will be working closely with contractors and housing providers to ensure that each worker involved in our projects has access to proper facilities... we will work with our partners to create a healthy living environment in workers’ accommodation.”57 – Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy website

When Amnesty International first encountered the men involved in the Khalifa Stadium refurbishment and the Aspire Zone landscaping projects in 2015, they were living in squalid labour camps, with overcrowded rooms and few facilities. In one case the main entrance road to the camp was flooded due to inadequate drainage, and smelled of raw sewage. All of the accommodation sites were clearly in breach of both Qatari law and the Supreme Committee’s Workers’ Welfare Standards.

The bottom line here is that it is the Project Manager's ethical responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all who are either contributing to the project, indirectly impacted by it, or benefitting from it. There is no gray area. If it is not a consideration due to lack of authority, assume the responsibility, and ask for help.  There are dozens of organizations that will back you up! To download the full report click here

Perspectives · CSR

The Sustainable Development Goal to End Hunger. The Role of Projects and Project Management.

Installment #2 (of 17) in our series where we cover each sustainable development goal (SDG) and how projects and project management can contribute to them.

Ending Hunger

Q. What is the goal? A. Specifically, the goal is to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. In the past 20 years, hunger has dropped by almost half. Many countries that used to suffer from famine and hunger can now meet the nutritional needs of their most vulnerable people. It’s an incredible accomplishment. Now we can go further and end hunger and malnutrition once and for all. That means doing things such as promoting sustainable agriculture and supporting small farmers. It’s a tall order. But for the sake of the nearly 1 out of every nine people on earth who go to bed hungry every night, we as a professional community, who by nature deliver change need to figure out how to make this part of our remit. Q. Is it something that should be taken into consideration by projects and project management?  A. Absolutely. Please note that not every project will be able to impact every SDG. As laid out in our P5 Standard mapping; there is always an opportunity to support at least one. Some of the facts.

• Hunger is an urgent global issue. The reasons behind the global hunger issue are numerous, complex and multifaceted.
• Today, our world produces more food, per person than ever before while hunger and undernutrition remain a widespread problem.
• Over 900 Million People go to bed hungry every night while one of the main problems is a lack of access to food. With the global  increase in population over the next 35 years, that number can increase by 2 Billion.

A key problem is food insecurity which is a lack of access to a sufficient amount of food because of limited funds.People who live in poverty spend a majority of their income on food and local prices have the greatest impact on their access to food. These prices are affected by international prices.   In order to combat hunger, we need to emphasize a focus on eliminating poverty and providing resources to small farmers and local suppliers in the form of farmable land and natural resources, financial services and micro financing, education and skills development, technology to support food protection so that the cost to produce food doesn’t drive up the cost to purchase it. It is also important to eliminate food deserts.  No, I don’t mean cake and ice cream...  A food desert is a neighborhood where there is little or limited access to healthy and affordable food such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk and other foods.

The solution is not to simply provide food, but make it possible for people to afford and have access to healthy food. So how do projects and project management play a role in eliminating hunger?  

When decisions on portfolios, projects, and programs are made in terms of human resources, procurement, and project selection, the following questions can help.

1. Does your project impact the local environment such that it creates problems for agriculture?
2. Does your project impact the local community in ways that make it more affordable to to provide access to healthy and nutritious food?
3. Does your project contribute to non-nutritious food and or waste?
4. Does your project take into account local resources and give stronger weighting to purchasing from small / local suppliers in order to stimulate growth?
5. Does your project impact the local economy and reduce the number of jobs that provide livable wages?
6. Does your project have the ability to provide jobs in order to boost an economy where a food desert exists?

A good example:

In 2012, DuPont set sizeable goals to help end world hunger and ensure food security that are achievable by the end of 2020. DuPont has committed $10 billion to R&D, and the introduction of 4,000 new products by the end of 2020. Through 2013, DuPont invested more than $2.49 billion in R&D and introduced more than 1,700 new products. The work centers on developing innovations that will produce more food, enhance nutritional value, improve agriculture sustainability, boost food safety, extend food freshness and reduce waste. To learn more visit http://www.globalgoals.org/global-goals/no-hunger/

Perspectives · Project Management

The Importance of Localizing Project Management Literature

By. Dr. Abdelsalam Jaroshi GPM Partner - Turkey and North Africa CEO – Diwan International (formerly Libyan Diwan LLC.) Business Development Director – PMRi Ltd. https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdeljar As project management is an organization wide practice, the importance of having project management related literature understood and realized all over the organization is an essential factor of achieving project management performance contributed by the organization's personnel effecting the project delivery success in all related stages. As most practice and standardization literature is written initially in English, being the most used language in the world, the need for it being available in various local languages has been growing recently, here I will try to tackle the need for such literature in Arabic depending on my own expertise. Being part of multilingual/multicultural project teams, I was blessed with the opportunity to explore and understand how literature is put into practice, and from this opportunity I was able to realize the importance of having such literature written in local language. The issues were considerable, as most of implementation obstacles originated from personnel comprehension of literature, especially those who didn't have proper English proficiency. Taking tangible steps to solve these issues was considered, but the steps were only efforts on a personal level, for instance: I remember my office board (supervising a $1 billion infrastructure/utilities construction project) being crowded with snaps, post-its, little journals, and other explanatory aids that I issued out regularly to the construction site personnel who knew little or no English, just to help them read and understand plans, layouts, designs, schedules, and invoices that were issued by our German contractor, and only a few of our 45 supervision team members managed to read and understand those, simply because it was in English, and in many occasions this was a trigger for a large amount of communication problems. Bridging the communication gap is one of the most important benefits of having project management literature available in a local language, but again comes the issue, as having literature just translated to another language is not the case here, where any organization can do that, but the idea is having literature that relates to the essence of the original English publication through agreed terminology available to personnel with little to none English. Some professionals might argue that personnel should have sufficient English knowledge to work in projects, but that is not true, e.g. there is a great chance that a Concrete Workers Supervisor in Yemen doesn't know English, but the Civil Engineer designing or overseeing them might do. Another case was brought up to my attention is that some workers were recruited outside their country, and they didn't know how to write nor to read, and they signed their contracts with a mere (X), not knowing what the content of these contracts was (but that's another story).

Relating to the essence (case):

Most project management publications translated to Arabic by their issuing organizations were translated 100%, using terminology that in most cases is strange to the Arab personnel working in organizations that have the potential to implement the contents of such literature, in addition, those publications neglect connecting terms embedded in definitions and concepts, creating more confusion. Tackling this issue, I came by some examples from literature, where literal term translations from English to Arabic were only understood with an elaborating definition, but if you run the English term by a person who was able to realize the term in Arabic, they won't be able recognize it. As one of the main pillars of a successful translation work is knowledge transfer and the ability of connecting it to the original script, this way fulfilling the balance of the teach/learn objective, making a text just available in another language won't achieve that.

Where and what should we translate?

If the text is related to implementation, the text should be available in different languages, but that means definitions and explanations should be translated, with a proper tool of connecting it to the original publication when and wherever possible. One of the most widely used tools in connecting translated texts to their original publications is having a glossary of terms, as this is used by many professionals, it has been a practice to include a list of terms in the publications original language, and their meaning (opposites widely used) in the language of translation. Another practice is mentioning opposites in titles and subtitles, and terms embedded within paragraph text, this will provide a direct connection in proper locations of the used terminology.

Translate vs. Localize

Although the media of practice are not only dependent on subject professionals, as organization personnel are beyond them, and most implementation activities depend on field personnel, and those make up at least 70% of an organization's working force, and in a lot of places more than 50% of those have little to none English knowledge, making the need of having literature (especially project management related) available in local languages grow by the minute. That being said, it is important to have guidelines that govern the way literature is translated, focusing on points of utilization, practicality, and correlation, and this is not just a normal translation process, it is transferring knowledge from one language to another, taking into consideration terminology in use, culture, education, and human factors. Achieving that will create local content based on the original literature.

The Final Layout

If you are a professional working on localizing a standard, guideline, practice, or any type of literature in your industry, you should consider the following:

• Have a structure that corresponds with the original text, but integrates with the local language community.
• Refer to terms in the second language's common terminology, and not literal translation.
• Connect the original text with the localized publication.
• Practice and professional reviews are very important to make sure that the new publication will be accepted well amongst practitioners.

Perspectives · Global Goals

The Sustainable Development Goal to End Poverty and Project Management's role

If you recently watched the webinar I did recently for IPMA on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), you will know that I briefly covered two.  By request, I have started a series on our blog to break down each SDG from a PM perspective.  To watch the Webinar, Click here 

For the series, I will start at the top with SDG #1 “No Poverty”.

Q. What is it this goal? A. To end poverty in all its forms everywhere (by 2030).  Q. Is it lofty? A. Yes. Q. Is it doable? A. The short answer is Yes.  >BUT< not unless it becomes a goal of enough people who have the ability to create change.  >However< the focus should be on ensuring a livable wage by all, not simply playing a numbers game to get people to $1.40 an hour and declaring victory... Q. Is it something that should be taken into consideration by projects and project management? A. Yes.

That final question is all that needed to be posted.  Should we care and is it our remit?  Yes. But how?

Ending poverty is one of the greatest challenges there is. I will note that through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) tremendous progress was made, and the number of people living in extreme poverty has decreased from roughly 1.9 billion people to 836 million people.  Extreme poverty is, in this case, defined by individuals who live on less that $1.25 USD per day.   Eradicating poverty must be based on how many people can be lifted out of poverty through the opportunity to earn a livable wage. To eradicate extreme poverty, an integrated approach is critical, and a focus needs to be placed on the areas of the world that are most afflicted, namely sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.  These are parts of the world that we at GPM have spent the past several years focusing efforts on.

What does it mean to me as a project manager?

This answer is simple. We can't focus solely on project outcomes. What matters, is how we define success, which isn't simply completing the project within the constraints of time, cost scope, quality, resources, and risks.  We must consider the impacts.  Looking at SDG #1 for example, here some questions that should be posed when a PM and Sponsor review a project business case.

• Is there an opportunity to reduce poverty as a result of or through this project i.e. create employment and decent work opportunities?
• Are individuals who are working on this project paid a livable wage?
• Does governance for procurement ensure that all purchases are made from organizations that pay fair wages and require it from their suppliers? Are suppliers held accountable?
• Are men and women paid equally for the same work?
• Would undertaking this project in a location that could support economic growth and lift people out of poverty? What about the opposite?  Is it a success factor?
• What are the long-term economic impacts?
• Does decision making/prioritization take poverty and economic growth into consideration?

I know, I know.  This sounds all well and good but I don't have total control of the project from this perspective. I can't make these kinds of decisions.

Project Managers do have control over your ability to engage your stakeholders, especially your sponsor.  You do have the ability to raise awareness and support benefits planning and realization.  If these aspects (supporting SDGs) are explained from a benefits perspective, it is easier for executives to digest, assess, and to make decisions on.  It is important to remember that today's executive will be measured against these SDGs and how well they performed with them as a back drop.  Being able to explain how a project can support an SDG is something that every project manager should be able to do.

A Good Example

H&M, who just a year was under fire for poor supply chain management and child labor issues has developed standards and goals to ensure all workers in textile factories earn livable wages. They state "We use our influence on various levels to enable a fair living wage for workers in the textile industry. For example we work with supplier factories to support the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining." and  "It has always been our vision that all textile workers should be able to live on their wage. We are focusing on our strategic suppliers to start with. Our goal is that all of them should have improved pay structures for fair living wages in place by 2018." SRC Time will tell if their goals, policies, procedures, and practices all align to support SDG#1.  It is a step in the right direction.  For project managers, it is important to look at who is doing the work on the project, who is doing the work to supply materials to your project and if they are able to earn a sufficient wage for doing so. Ensuring that people are paid fairly is how Project Management can contribute to SDG#1 and eradicate poverty.