Project Management Foundations: Ethics

with Bob McGannon

Evaluate the Fairness of Your Actions

This checklist can be used to help evaluate the fairness of your actions, expanding on the items discussed in
the “Operate with fairness” video in the Project Management Foundations: Ethics course.

1. You should consider abstaining from an activity requiring your impartial judgment (like a
procurement or tender evaluation process) if any of the following items are true:
a. You know any of the principle parties involved.
b. You or your family have any relationships with members of a vendor
c. You had a relationship with a vendor or principal who would benefit from selection to work on
your project.
d. You would benefit personally or commercially, if a vendor or contractor was selected to work on
your project.
2. You should consider the appropriate balance of workload if you encounter any of the following:
a. You require shift work to be done to meet a deadline.
b. Team members argue that other people can accommodate a greater or off-shift workload
because they are single, or don’t have children. Everyone is entitled to their free time, regardless
of their personal or family situation. Distribute work in a balanced way. If team members want to
help each other out, that is allowable, as long as no coercion is involved.
c. You must shift work from a team member to others, due to illness, or other factors rendering
them unable to contribute. Senior people might bear the brunt of this but should be supported by
junior team members to assist them.
d. Sometimes, schedule slippage events cannot be corrected with increasing workload. Consider the
reasonable amount of workload you can expect from your team in the long haul and treat your
team with compassion. Disgruntled or burned-out team members due to overwork do not
produce appropriate outcomes for your project.
3. Are you demonstrating fairness to yourself in the decisions or actions you are taking?
a. Are you taking on tasks you are not qualified to produce?
b. Are any work tasks you are completing being done in conjunction with the activities of your team,
with their concurrence and support?
c. Are you delegating appropriately, to relieve your workload and provide training opportunities for
gifted team members?
d. Are you accommodating your own family support needs, in the same way you support your team
members to do so for their families?

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 4. Are you evaluating your team members by their performance versus their popularity?
a. Have your feelings or care for someone clouded your judgment, or caused you to “water down” a
criticism of their performance?
b. Are you giving your team members equal opportunities to meet with you, and discuss their
performance, ask questions, or receive coaching?
c. Will your spending time with staff members after hours or on weekends give anyone the
impression that you might favor them for an assignment, or alter your performance evaluation
of their work?
Note: It is OK to have friends who are your team members – but you need to proceed
cautiously when it comes to judging between your team members for opportunities or
performance assessments. Those decisions need to be made on concrete, justifiable, and
consistent observations, rather than your desire to boost opportunities for people you
care for personally. Frankly, you should care for everyone on your team equally and with
an attentive manner.

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