IPMA Perspective Competence Element — Culture and Values
In my last article on IPMA, I wrote about the fourth competence element in the Perspective Area, Power & Interest. In this article, I am writing on the fifth competence element: Culture & Values.
This competence element aims to enable the individual to recognise and integrate the influence of internal and external cultural aspects on the project approach, objectives, processes, sustainability of the outcomes and agreed outcomes.
Whether one is managing an internal project or a programme that consists of multiple projects in different countries, culture & values are essential elements that we need to note. When we are working within our organisation, we must be aware of the company’s culture. Within the project group or organisation, it consists of different individuals with different values and motivations. Culture & values become more apparent when dealing with other countries’ stakeholders, having different cultural backgrounds and value systems.
When I conduct a technical briefing for project implementation in a country, the project team acknowledges everything I mentioned. While this is something that I desired, it caught me by surprise that the team can absorb everything within the session. So, I decided to probe assumptions by asking them questions, and they can’t answer many of my questions. After talking to another local team member, I realised that culturally, they would acknowledge everything regardless if they understood them or not. Thus, it is important to check back with them to determine if their understanding.
I have also encountered another project team from another country that tends to challenge me on many things. Things start to get uncomfortable and frustrating, affecting the progress and status of the meeting. After the session is over, they get back to being very friendly and polite. Then I realised that it’s their culture that they need to clear their doubts, and they will probe to remove them if there are any. While it seems intimidating, it helps to ensure that everyone on the team is on the same understanding, and it helps a lot during the project execution.
While one needs to respect and understand the other party’s culture and values, there are certain lines that we need to hold. For example, I once met my business partner from a country that believes in getting drunk to conduct business. As I know that alcohol does not react well to my body, I refuse to drink any of that. It’s not an easy decision to make, for I was mocked and teased for the whole evening. There isn’t any business deal be realised from that meeting, unfortunately. However, I have also made business deals without drinking and getting myself drunk, it’s the business etiquette of that individual, and we need to know when to hold our line.
Execution of this CE depends on the other CEs and cannot happen in a silo. The other CEs include Personal Integrity and Reliability, Personal Communication, Relationships & Engagement, and many others, supporting each other.
Thank you for reading, and I hope it gives you a glimpse into this Culture & Values CE. This is the last CE in the Perspective Competence Area. The next Competence Area is People. I will write on the competence element of “Self-Reflection & Self-Management” in my subsequent sharing.
If you are keen to know more about PMAS, you can check this link out https://pma.sg/ and follow my hashtag to learn more about the CE in IPMA Individual Competence Baseline (ICB) Version 4.0
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