Introduction
It is hard to disagree that, while being a task beneficial for professional development, project management is actually a serious and challenging process that requires specific consideration of various aspects. While it may not be evident, ethical standards and professional conduct are critical throughout each step of any project. Otherwise, if the project manager does not follow ethical rules, decision-making may be failed, and the success of the project itself may be questioned.
Moral Principles in Project Management
To begin with, there is a number of certain factors that prove the necessity of following moral principles when managing a project. For example, it may happen that a conflict or dilemma occurs, and in order to satisfy all stakeholders, the project manager needs to refer to ethical standards, which are ‘the best rules.’ Further, as noticed by Alexander (2017), adherence to professional conduct increases the level of employees’ trust and respect, reducing stress and anxiety rates. As for decision-making, ethical principles allow for making this process more informed, which increases the chances of the project’s success. Consequently, professional conduct covers all areas of project management, such as conflict-solving, decision-making, advancement of the working environment, and strengthening of employee relations.
The additional significance of ethical principles arises from the possibility of risks and errors. If the manager makes a mistake, they need to admit their fault and ask the team to help address the issue. This is what moral norms state – a leader has to be brave and self-confident enough not to blame their mistakes on others but consider and correct them with dignity and professionalism (Alexander, 2017). Since ethical standards form a strong and responsible leader, project management that refers to professional conduct is more likely to succeed.
Specific examples from the Lucky Me Animal Rescue project should prove the points outlined above. First, it is mentioned in the Risk Register Plan that various communication issues may occur and lead to a loss of data or confusion. Consequently, if this happens, the project manager will need to refer to ethical principles, ensuring the following:
- avoid ignoring the problem;
- do not blame those who are the easiest to punish;
- find those responsible for the mistake and allow them to fix it;
- recognize whether the cause of the error is the human factor, technical problems, the inexperience of workers, or simple coincidence;
- implement fair measures (Alexander, 2017).
Another example from the project is a conflict between the team members. In the Project Management part of the task, it was mentioned that the team would be comprised of individuals who have already worked together before in order to increase cooperation. However, according to Alexander (2017), a dilemma may arise if someone from the team makes a mistake and tries to either blame another person or hide the error. In that case, the project manager will have to again refer to ethical principles and implement the punishment in accordance with the severity of the problem.
It is significant for all project managers to advance their skills, upgrade their knowledge, and refer to helpful resources that can allow them to grow in the area of ethics and professional conduct. For instance, I believe that the PMI’s Ethics in Project Management Toolkit can be rather insightful and provide me with useful and relevant information about the topic (Project Management Institute, n.d.). Second, various webinars prepared by the PMI, such as “Coping Strategies for Bullying in Project Management,” are a great way to become more informed (Project Management Institute, n.d.). Since these resources are prepared by professionals, they are credible and valuable.
Conclusion
To draw a conclusion, one may say that project management contains a number of significant components, and consideration of ethics is one of them. Without following moral principles during conflict management or decision-making, the leader is at great risk of making mistakes and spoiling the project’s path to success. Since ethical standards indicate the best way to address any situation, the deviation from these guidelines is automatically considered a poor choice.
References
Alexander, M. (2017). The importance of being ethical in project management. TechRepublic. Web.
Project Management Institute. (n.d.). Ethical decision making is a critical quality of leaders who foster high performance. Web.