Professional Demeanor

Professional Demeanor
Acting in a professional manner is required of most everyone who works in the business world. Vhilc you arc not responsible for the actions of others, you arc responsible for your own actions and reactions. Part of acting professionally involves controlling yourself and your reactions in questionable situations. For example, a stakeholder or customer may lash out at you but have no basis for their outburst. You can't control what they said or did, but you can control how|
•ou respond. As a professional, your concern tor the project and the organization should take >rcccdcncc over your concern for your own feelings. Therefore, lashing out in return would be unprofessional. Maintain your professional demeanor and don't succumb to shouting matches
or ego competitions with others
jAs project manager, you have a good deal of influence over your project team members. One of the items on the agenda at the project team kickoff meeting should be a discussion of where
the team members can find a copy of organizational policies regarding conflict of interest, cultural diversity, standards and regulations, and customer service and standards of performance.| Better yet, have copies with you that you can hand out at the meeting or have available the!
addresses of website where they can find these documents. |\Vhcn you sec project team members acting out of turn or with lcss-than-dcsirablc customer! service attitudes, coach and influence those team members to conform to the standards of conduct expected by you and your organization. Your team members represent you and the project.] As such, they should act professionally. It's your job as the project leader to ensure that they do.