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 the organization I work with, some of the values we uphold here are:
i. Integrity(Human and Job): This includes being trustworthy and honest as a person and doing job related dealings.
ii. Working according to Job Standards and Ethics: This includes abiding by rules as a person and on-the-job(Job Integrity); doing every job according to construction standards and ethics.
ii. Always Have a Project Program: This helps to know what to do, at what time and what next to do after completion of a an existing job. It also gives an idea of when a job will be completed and what to be expected ( Programme of works).
In the organization where I work, our core values include:
1. I -Innovation
2. R -Righteousness
3. E -Excellence
4. A – Accountability
5. L- Love
The above listed organizational values has impacted my work such that:
1. I am always seeking for new ways to improve myself especially at work so that I don’t become obsolete with ideas and to also improve my work productivity.
2. Individuals would rather stick with a person who is straightforward thank cunning, this has engendered me to always stick to the truth no matter what happens.
3. I am conscious of the fact that my best must reflect in any task assigned to me, hence the need to cultivate and personalize the excellence value.
4. Accountability is key whether as an individual or an organization; this value has been the sole reason why I always ensure that at the end of the day, there is always a status report of the task assigned to my superior.
5. Love makes the world go round; I have learnt to love in action and in words without bias irrespective of colour, gender, race or ethnic group.
I work with a Commercial Bank and our core values are hinged on:
• Integrity:
• Excellence
• Innovation
• Teamwork
• Customer focus
The Bank’s core values have shaped how we work on projects by:
• helping to avoid costly mistakes and maintain a strong reputation.
• its commitment to excellence has led to the development of innovative products and services that have helped its customers succeed.
• its commitment to innovation has helped it stay ahead of the competition and provide its customers with the best possible experience.
• its commitment to teamwork has helped it to successfully complete complex projects that would have been difficult to achieve on its own.
• its commitment to customer centricity has helped it to build strong relationships with its customers and become a trusted financial partner.
Transparency, accountability, honesty are our core values and this helps us as an organization to build trust and oneness.
Some values are Transparency, Commitment, precision.
Transparent in the way you deal with clients and team members. Precision in terms of highest standard of quality each client receives.
These values helps in guiding how a person behaves and help portray the company in a good way with their clients.
Values are what makes the effort of a group or organization get noticed and it’s also an end result of their performance and diligence
Take away: rules are good but moral principles seem to me as the main thing- where one does something or does not not because of the fear of breaking any rules,but because they know it’s not the right thing to do (or not do).
Transparency, coordination professionalism standards practice punctuality and timely delivery of project with updated materials to meet client need with the funds available
These are the values with imbibe in Pro-earth
I worked in a digital Marking company. One of our core values
Is “Absolute Integrity”
Having absolute integrity comes with a lot of advantages
1. It makes your clients trust you with more project
2. Builds better relationship between you and your stakeholders. The fact that you would give them exactly what they want makes the job/project easier for you and you team.
In the organization I am with, the core values are as follows:
a. Efficiency: We work with a high sense of responsibility and commitment to achieve desired results in the least wasteful manner.
This influences decisions about cost items in the project and keeps expenditures within budgetary limits.
b. Transparency: We carry out our processes with integrity and consistency.
In the project, beneficiaries are selected based on merit and after due process.
c. Excellence: with enterprises development, sustainability and growth as the goal of the agency, the project seeks to further the achievement of this goal.
d. Teamwork: Ordinary people working together to achieve extraordinary things.
In the project, every member pulls their weight and seeks to fill their roles which are dependencies in order that project objectives are met.
e. Partnerships: collaborative engagement with partners and stakeholders to achieve set objectives.
In the project, all stakeholders are engaged and in the know of the status and implementation progress.