As we talked about before in this module, it’s important for project managers to work ethically. This means doing the right thing, not just following rules. There are written rules and laws, but there are also moral rules and values.
What are these moral rules and values? Let’s break it down with some explanations and examples.
Moral rules are like a list of dos and don’ts for how a person should behave. For instance, one moral rule is “don’t steal.”
Values are strong beliefs that guide how we act in different situations. They show what we think is good behavior. Values can be personal, but they can also be shared in groups like companies. When a bunch of people in the same group share these values, they shape how everyone acts in that group.
In companies, these shared values are super important. They make up the core of what the company’s culture is all about. These values are a small set of important beliefs that don’t change much, and they really influence how people act at work.
For example, The Open University (2019) has some values they believe in:
In our work, we stick to The Open University values of being inclusive, innovative, and responsive.
The value of being inclusive and innovative is a big part of what people do at The Open University. They use this value to make sure everyone can access knowledge through new and creative solutions.
Values and moral rules help everyone know how to behave in a group or at work. It’s good to think about them to understand how they affect the decisions we make when working on projects.
Think about the values your workplace or a group you’re in follows. Can you name some of these values? How do these values affect how you work on projects? Share your thoughts with other learners in the discussion below.
In my field the most important work values are
Empathy
Confidentiality
Integrity
Growth and Innovation
These values guide our day to day work ethics and how we relate to each other as a team and most importantly to our clients.
Cohort 17 team 7
At my workplace, our values are:
1. Communication : We foster good communication, it builds trust and a happy work place.
2. People :We trust and respect our people.
3. Innovation:We are solution oriented and work with an entrepreneurial spirit.
4. Fun: Smile, laugh and love what you do.
Oguche Emmanuel
Cohort 17, Team 7
As a banker, work values for me are the following character traits, honesty, integrity, trustworthiness and reliable. These values, forms a well trained banker, as every other values are embedded in them.
Cohort 17 team 5
As a graphic designer, I’ll consider the organizational values of a creative agency I’m part of. Our agency’s values include:
1. _Creativity_: Embracing innovation, originality, and artistic expression.
2. _Collaboration_: Fostering teamwork, open communication, and mutual respect.
3. _Attention to detail_: Striving for precision, quality, and excellence in design.
4. _Customer-centricity_: Prioritizing client needs, satisfaction, and loyalty.
5. _Continuous learning_: Encouraging professional growth, skill development, and industry awareness.
These values influence my work in projects as follows:
1. _Innovative design solutions_: Encouraging creative experimentation and innovative approaches.
2. _Effective teamwork_: Collaborating with copywriters, art directors, and developers to achieve shared goals.
3. _High-quality designs_: Ensuring attention to detail, precision, and excellence in every design element.
4. _Client-focused approach_: Prioritizing client needs, preferences, and feedback in design decisions.
5. _Staying up-to-date with industry trends_: Continuously learning and developing skills to deliver cutting-edge designs.
By embracing these values, I strive to deliver high-quality, innovative designs that meet client needs and exceed expectations.
My workplace values are guiding principles that shape the organization’s culture and practices. Common values include integrity, teamwork, innovation, respect, excellence, diversity, customer focus, accountability, sustainability, and transparency.
These values impact my project work by influencing:
Decision-making processes
Collaboration styles
Work quality standards
Communication methods
Time and resource management
Conflict resolution
Customer relations
Employee motivation and engagement
The specific impact depends on which values are prioritized and how they’re implemented in the organization’s day-to-day operations
Some of the organizational values of my group includes: Trust, transparency, inclusiveness, fairness and fun.
These values helps foster a positive and effective work and learning environment. Enhancing productivity and trust, helps maintain a cohesive teamwork environment, even encourages personal connections outside work to strengthen relationships.
Sticking to these values will help me to become more effective and confident in carrying out my duties within the organization. I also need to maintain balance if there are differences between moral principles, cultural beliefs and the rest.
As a healthcare provider, working ethically can be challenging especially when the do’s and don’ts affects your cultural beliefs and etc..
But considering these ethics by working with them are an essential component of providing healthcare as they help promote trust and confidence in our health care system. And not only that, they also help to ensure practitioners treat their patients or attend to their patients with dignity and respect as well as making sure that the decisions made by the healthcare providers are fair and just.
Therefore, as a healthcare provider working ethically helps to promote trust and confidence in the healthcare system.
as an etiquette and poise expert which in layman sense as to do with morals, integrity is of utmost important when dealing with client, which in the same way birth transparency, we send trainers to schools and organizations to train them with little or no supervision, it is core value of integrity and transparency that won’t make your send in a report when you have not taking up your training as scheduled. as a project manager it is important to have integrity and let your team know you for it,so they also would give back as received.
As an operation manager, Our commitment to accountability ensures reliability and trust, integrity upholds transparency and ethical standards, and innovation drives creative problem-solving and continuous improvement in all our projects.
As a Floor Manager in a retail outlet we had diverse norms and customs guiding the organization, knowing that lawlessness initiates anarchy,
One of which was stealing,
Stealing in is great offence and as such the staff were prohibited from eating any products that is sold within the outlet to prevent stealing
Absentizeem from work without due permission was another serious offense and any defaulters is liable to a punishment.
Insubordination was another serious offense being rude to your superior,all of these was initiated to bring law and order.
Customer Relationship must be strictly maintained at all times as we drive towards excellence in satisfying our customers.
You must not be found engaged in a conversation outside your section,if found ,it is a punishable offense among many others .