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.
I work in a machinery parts production company as the inventory manager and there are some values that guides us as we work.
1. Innovation: we constantly work on improving the products and making it suitable for customers demand.
Integrity:the company also makes sure that we produce high standard quality goods and ensure to satisfy customers.
For now,these are the two values I believe we possess that makes us ethically sound.
I work in a construction company and our core values are quality, economics and punctuality. We make sure at all times we deliver equality work to our clients in good time and economically friendly.
As a clerk, the basic value(s) is RECEPTION. Receiving and welcoming guests in a respectable manner can serve as means of advertisement for an organization.
In my company, we have six (6) core value which guides our ethics and values, they include: Integrity, Proactiveness, Boldness, Openness, Excellence and Innovation. These values are distilled in our work processes and practices hence becomes lifestyle of the staff within a short period of joining our organization.
As a call center executive, the basic values is service: maintaining high level of service to yield to customer satisfaction. Showing empathy and keeping to in-house rules aids to achieve good listening skills to understand the customer’s problem. This will build a great winning Team, integrity and excellence.
In line with the ethical values of a project manager, maintaining ethical practices will add values and build the culture that will help to build a great team, time management and excellence.
Chinasa Anikeze
Cohort17 , Team 3
Professionalism is a value at the university I am studying with. This value speaks to expert work, committed staff and students as well as being staff members being dedicated to duty.
The university also values teamwork which means there is collective effort of staff members and students. They give each other mutual support such that the successes collectively celebrated as team effort
The NPF is the leading security agency saddled with the responsibility of maintaining internal peace in Nigeria. The NPF, as a foremost security agency, ensure that members of the force discharge their duties in tandem with the agency’s values which are encapsulated by the following:
– Accessibility : the delivery of protective service to members of the public
– Inclusivity : the policy of providing equal access to protective services irrespective of religious, political, social or economic affiliations.
– regular improvements in Policing
– Equal opportunity to members of the agency: This refers to merit-based opportunities to every member of staff without prejudice
– Local and global cooperation
As a Project manager, my work and activities with respect to project implementation should be able to reflect the values of the organization I work for. Or in the event of undertaking/managing a project for any organization, my interactions or engagements must reflect the value of inclusivity, non bias, impartiality, mutual respect and quality service as a means for Providing equal opportunities for stakeholders to contribute to the process.
Enmanuel Olusegun Omotere
Project Managemet Team 4
PM Boot camp Cohort 17
As a pharmacist, Some of the core values in my place of work include;
1. Continuous learning: New ways of treatment or an updated version of a previous way is invented every year,hence we are encouraged to always keep abreast of new educational articles.
2. Accountability: You are held accountable for everything you do whether good or bad which encourages the employees to give their best when performing tasks and activities.
3. Ethical decision making: Every decision made should be in line with the code of practice.
Aishat Aiteseme Abdulrazaaq
Cohort 17
Team 1
Some of the core values in our organization is
1. Excellence: This value influence everything we do, because to the organization it’s not an action but a way of life because excellence to the organization excellence is the maximum optimization of resources per time, we strive to be top notch in all their services, we don’t settle for anything less than the best.
2. Knowledge: Our organization so much believes in knowledge by continuous learning, we don’t get comfortable with the past achievements and what we already know, we strive higher to always expose ourselves to trainings, seminar and personal development and these are some of the few.
One of the core views of an organisation I admire is Integrity and with time it has beecome one of my core values and I believe it can be applied to business as well ,the ability to not compromise no matter who or what the situation is ,will leave both the client ,the project and the project manager in a good place to ensure seamless running of the project and transcations consequently.