It’s increasingly difficult to go
a day without hearing news of global warming or its impact on our planet and
lifestyles. Each day a larger percent of
newsprint is dedicated to reporting on the ecological impact we are having on
our communities, nations and planet. We
have known for years that our decisions impact our environment, but until now,
the pain associated with those decisions was a future, not an immediate source
of concern. With the impacts of
pollution, global warming, and increasing energy / food costs, perhaps it is
time for us to add “ecological impact” to the list of important considerations
as we make key project leadership decisions.
Typically the three mantras of
all project leaders are “Quality”, “On-Time” and “Within Budget”. However, a growing number of organizations
are leveraging their success by innovating more eco-friendly ways of conducting
their business. As project work is
typically at the cutting edge of innovation, it should be the front line for eco-friendly
ideas and solutions.
Following is a list of some areas
where we should consider the size of our “footprint”:
- Communication – What is the most environmentally efficient way to communicate?
- Vendor Selection Criteria – who can provide the best solution with the smallest negative impacts to the environment?
- Resource Utilization – is there a better / less harmful way to accomplish each task?
- Project Prioritization – how can we more actively integrate “environmental impact” into our decision criteria?
- Quadruple Constraint – in addition to “better”, “cheaper” and “faster”, can we add “cleaner”?
- Travel – Could it be accomplished as effectively in a more environmentally friendly way?
