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.
As a Virtual Assistant, Core values expected from me by my clients or employers include;
Attitude: The willingness to put in the time and effort to do a good job.
Effective Communication: being proficient in both written and verbal communication to ensure clear and concise interactions with clients, colleagues, and other stakeholders
Attention to Details: Completing tasks thoroughly without missing anything.
Willingness to Learn: Being open to learning new technologies and skills as it relates to the tasks being assigned to me.
Below are the top 4 core values of the orgazniation where I work presently;
1 Integrity
2 Teamwork
3 Quality
4 Customer satisfaction.
Integrity: This core value ensures that project activities are conducted with right fairness, accuracy, and trustworthiness, fostering strong relationships with stakeholders.
Teamwork: This value; teamwork encourages effective communication, knowledge sharing, and synergy, leading to improved problem-solving, innovation, and overall project success within the organization.
Quality: Prioritizing quality in projects involves attention to detail, adherence to standards and keeping to best safety practices, and adherence to continuous improvement processes and efforts to enhance deliverables and customer satisfaction.
Customer Satisfaction: This value drives a customer-centric approach to project planning and execution, ensuring alignment with customer requirements, preferences, and feedback to deliver value-added solutions.
Working with a security providing company, we are passionate about providing efficient and affordable security solutions to clients, hence, our value is efficiency which has become a watchword for me in my role.
in Organisation where I work, some of the core values are Ethical, Professionalism and integrity, amongst others.
My organization’s core values are excellence, timeliness and professionalism.
Excellence: what is worth doing is worth doing well. If a project is not going to be done well it would be worthless. It it not enough to finish a project but making it excellent is what differentiates it from other projects.
Timeliness: being that time management is one of the most important qualities of project management, timeliness in delivering projects and the general mechanism of the organization is very important.
Professionalism: it is important to be professional at all times when carrying out projects. This will shape how a project manager relates with all stakeholders.
the core value of our organization, is integrity, a very key component of our ethics, team spirit, inclusivity, irrespective of status and we run an open door policy. I believe these are the main reasons why we have a very low level of personnel turnover, most staff have a feelin of belonging and are comfortable within and outside of work environment, which drives them to be at their optimum at all times
Code of conduct is a great deals in my organization, followed by work ethic, rules and regualtion which must be adhere to always.
The Value of my organization are Teamwork, Speed, Quality and Customer Satisfaction.
These values have shaped how we work thereby creating a family bonding among us. At the end of everything our aim is to ensure that the customer is very satisfied.
working ethically is part of the skillset required of a project manager.
These are the top 3 core values of my organization
1. Excellence
2. Professionalism
3. Honesty
We believe these 4 keys are the strong pillars on which our organization thrives. When in business dishonesty can destroy years of collaboration, in the same way, that unprofessional actions can.
We are committed to delivering excellence in every one of our processes and we sustainably do all our services and manage our company’s resources.
The below are the top 4 core values of the orgazniation where I work currently;
Integrity: This core value ensures that project activities are conducted with right fairness, accuracy, and trustworthiness, fostering strong relationships with stakeholders.
Teamwork: This value; teamwork encourages effective communication, knowledge sharing, and synergy, leading to improved problem-solving, innovation, and overall project success within the organization.
Quality: Prioritizing quality in projects involves attention to detail, adherence to standards and keeping to best safety practices, and adherence to continuous improvement processes and efforts to enhance deliverables and customer satisfaction.
Customer Satisfaction: This value drives a customer-centric approach to project planning and execution, ensuring alignment with customer requirements, preferences, and feedback to deliver value-added solutions.