When to use it
A useful fit
Use it when a permitted action could still harm someone, when interests conflict, or when team members disagree about a defensible course of action.
Know the limits
Do not use a workshop to delay urgent protective action or replace professional advice on binding obligations.
How to use it
- Separate established facts, assumptions and affected parties.
- Compare options through duties, rights, consequences and the kind of conduct you want to defend.
- Document the unresolved tension, involve the authorised decision maker and provide a way to raise concerns.
Worked example
A release team discovers that a feature excludes users who rely on assistive technology. It compares delaying the release, reducing scope and providing a workable alternative. The decision record makes the effect on those users explicit and assigns a person to verify the remedy.
Illustrative scenario by fannarmaximus; not an official exam question.
Common pitfalls
A majority vote does not automatically protect the rights of the people most affected.
Attribution & sources
The sequence is the series’ own teaching design. Ethical lenses are established traditions; the series credits Jónasson and Ingason’s discussion of using them together.
The citations below identify authoritative references for this topic. They do not imply endorsement or reproduce the bodies’ competence lists.
- Jónasson, H. I. & Ingason, H. Þ. (2018). Project: Leadership. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780429441547.
- Project Management Institute (2025). PMI® Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Newtown Square, PA: PMI®. https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/ethics/pmi-code-of-ethics.pdf, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Association for Project Management (2024). APM Code of Professional Conduct. Approved by the APM Board, 18 November 2024. https://www.apm.org.uk/media/ivjcpn0f/apm-code-of-professional-conduct.pdf, accessed 26 September 2026.