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Values Scan

A value is that which we believe is good. Our values are our enduring beliefs that some ways of acting, some ways of being or some things are personally or socially preferable to other modes of conduct, actions or things. Our values guide our actions towards the things we believe are good in some way or other. A statement of values by an organisation or project declares that the organisation or project accepts that some goals are legitimate and correct and others are not. It also tells us that some ways of reaching these goals are correct or incorrect. A values statement provides the individual and the organisation with norms to guide their work.

The values of an organisation tell us what is important to the organisation. If social issues are more important in the organisation than other issues then the value system of the organisation will be built around them. If the highest values of the organisation are financial, that tells us that money is likely to be considered more important than social responsibility, health or the environment.

The fundamental values of an organisation guide the actions of its members. Decisions made and followed up in the organisation are based on the organisational values. Of course statements of value made by organisations do not always exactly describe the values that operate to guide actions. Declared values and operational values may or may not be congruent. Still, an explicit declaration of values is useful in planning and in evaluating the performance of an organisation or program.

Operational values are derived or inferred from an objective study of the actions of an organisation and its members. Declared values are the explicit statements found in annual reports, strategic plans and other documents. For critical evaluation, develop an awareness of the congruence or fit between declared values and operational values. Do the actions of an organisation and its staff fit with the organisation’s explicit value statements, or are the operational values different from the declared values?

Look to determine the congruence between the declared values, operational values and strategic planning documents. A strategic plan based on values that are significantly different from the operational values is likely to run into difficulty in implementation, and may be sabotaged.

The exercise of looking at the personal values of the members of the planning team will have an impact on the team and its members, and as the result the process and outcomes of planning. The process of scanning the personal values of the planning team should allow for value differences to emerge, become explicit, and be valued by the team. This can provide a basis for the recognition of diversity in the planning, and avoid some the pitfalls of false consensus. One way to do this is by a short questionnaire administered and collated by someone who is not a member of the planning team. Once they are identified, it may be useful to use specific techniques to manage differences in personal values in the planing team.

Differences in personal values can be resolved by:

• Defining areas of agreement and areas of disagreement
• Agreeing to disagree
• Developing mutual respect for differences
• By considering how disagreements can be used to improve organisational decisions
• Achieving substantive agreement.

Surfacing differences in personal values is often useful in revealing differences between declared and operational values in the organisation.

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