Managing Conflicts in Project Environment

A

 serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one.” This is how Oxford

dictionary defines the ‘Conflict’.

Conflicts are natural and happen everywhere in the real life in the situations involving more than one person. Workplace and Project Teams are not exceptions to this.

We need to understand that Conflict Management and Conflict Resolution are not the same thing. In fact Conflict Resolution is the part of overall Conflict Management. There are both positive and negative outcomes of conflicts. As a leader you try to resolve conflict in case of negative outcomes by using various approaches of Conflict Resolution. However, on other hand for positive outcomes you fuel or promote the conflict which might help to encourage innovation, out of box thinking, learning, finding the core issues, challenging the status quo in the project and getting the better results.

Here are few important points to consider in order to effectively manage the conflicts in project environment:

Project Manager’s education in this subject is important:

As per a study on an average 20% of Project Managers time goes into Conflict Management and most of the time the effort spent on this is not effective due to lack of education on how to manage these situations. So, this becomes very crucial for project manager to learn the various approaches for conflict resolution and also develop the wisdom to decide on when to try to stop the conflict and when to fuel or promote the same.

Let us quickly look at the most common approaches of conflict resolution:

Avoidance

Conflict is avoided pretending that nothing has happened and this can be address later if happens again. This is in the situation where as a leader you feel that conflict is not worth your time resolving at this point of time.

Compromise

When time is short, this is the best way to deal with the situation. Here both parties bargain to achieve mutually agreed solution. Here larger points are negotiated and smaller issues are ignored with mutual agreement.

Smoothing

Here one person (or team) sacrifice his concerns in order to satisfy the concerns of other person (or team). This requires thinking creatively to resolve the problem without concessions.

Confronting

This is best approach when time is sufficient and both parties need to win.  This involves open and direct communication (mostly face to face) which leads to resolution.

Forcing

This is used when stakes are high and ‘do or die’ situation is present and quick decision must be made. Here one party wins and concerns and needs of other party is ignored.

Set up expectations with team members:

There are various phases of team building and also different phases or sub phases of project. Few situations are normal and obvious in certain phase.

For examples:

1. During Execution phase of the project, in SDLC, when a project move from Development to Testing, there is high probably of conflicts between team members of development and testing teams or later phases of project could create lot of stress to the team members especially if any last minutes changes or defects introduced.

2. During Storming phase of team building conflicts are going to happen for sure.

These are just 2 examples, however, there are many phases and situations in the project where this is normal that conflicts will surface. So setting expectations with the team members will help a lot to manage these situations.

Analyze the situation of the conflict and take action:

As a Project Manager when these situations arise, you need to analyze to understand what is normal in the current phase of the project or for the people in question and you should decide if you want to promote the conflict or stop it using approaches of conflict resolution.

Please hit the comments to provide your valuable opinion on this topic or to ask any question you might have.

You got these personality traits? You are a natural leader

P

eople buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. - John C. Maxwell

Leadership is a skill which can be learnt and developed over a period of time. However, if certain traits come natural in your personality you are blessed and a natural born leader (and you should be proud and happy about that 😊). Let’s have a look at those: 

 

You adopt to the changes quickly 
You are open to the change, whether it’s just a new idea at workplace or outside, or big organizational strategic transformations. Also, you plan effectively to manage the complexities involved in the changes and you also help other people do the same.

You build trust with your behavior 
Your behavior build trust at work place and outside. For example few of them are: 

• Being Honest
• Delivering results
• Improving yourself continuously
• Full filling your promises
• Leading by examples
• Listen to others first

You focus on bigger picture 
You know the core objective of a project or business and you think broadly and strategically rather than focusing too much on details. You know you can leverage other people’s strengths and specialties in different areas of project effectively to achieve the bigger objective. You do not try to multitask yourself and are able to delegate effectively other works to the team, while you focus on strategy.  

You are self-aware 
You know your strengths and weaknesses. While you take leverage of your strengths you also work on certain areas where you are weak. You are open to feedback and take advantage of it to improve.

You have a fair idea of how your behavior impacts other people around you. 

You have control on your emotions 
You have ability to control your emotions even during difficult and stressful situations. You stay calm and confident during disappointing situations. You know there are ups and downs in every project or business or performance and behavior of the people. Rather than overreacting to a situation you focus on resolution and lesson learnt.

You have good people skills 
You are able to communicate effectively both verbal and non-verbal.

You are empathetic to other people's thoughts, experiences and emotions.
You are good at resolving the conflicts. You listen to non-judgmental way to perspective of both parties involved and offer a suggestion of compromise which is win-win.
You have tolerance and patience and sensitive to others needs.

You take responsibility of your actions / behaviors

You do not avoid responsibility. You do not blame others for your actions and take stand even during unpopular issues or decisions.
As Arnold Glasgow has said “A good leader takes a little more than his share of blame, a little less than his share of credit “

Did you like this post? You have more to add to this list on what other qualities a natural leader possess? You have questions or suggestions? Please hit the comments and share your thoughts.