Project Management

8. Managing Project Conflict

Q
Why is learning about conflict management relevant?
A
To help develop and facilitate leadership, team building, performance
management, and conflict management skills in an IT environment
Nature of Conflict
Responding to Conflict
Handling Grievances
Emotional Stress
4
Nature of Conflict
Responding to Conflict
Handling Grievances
Emotional Stress
4
Conflict is a form of relating or
interacting where we find ourselves
(either as individuals or groups) under
some sort of perceived threat to our
personal or collective goals.
These goals are usually to do with our
interpersonal wants. These perceived
threats may be either real or imagined
(Condliffe, 1991, p3).
Conflict
Sources of Conflict
(Bisno)
Project Sources of Conflict
(Thamhain & Wilemon)
Sources of Conflict
(Bisno)
Biosocial
Personality and interactional
Structural
Cultural and ideological
Convergence
Bisnos Sources of Conflict
(Condliffe, 1991, p6)
Sources of Conflict
(Bisno)
Biosocial
Personality and interactional
Structural
Cultural and ideological
Convergence
Sources of Conflict
(Bisno)
Biosocial
Personality and interactional
Structural
Cultural and ideological
Convergence
Project Sources of Conflict
(Thamhain & Wilemon)
Project schedules
Project priorities
Workforce
(Nicholas, 2001, p519)
(Nicholas, 2001, p519)
Components of
Conflict
Values: ideas and feelings about right and wrong (difficult to resolve)
Components of Conflict
Interests: things that motivate eg. managers and workers have different
interests
Components of Conflict
Emotional: feelings that accompany human interactions eg. anger, fear,
reject, and loss
Components of Conflict
Emotional: feelings that accompany human interactions eg. anger, fear, reject, and loss
Interests: things that motivate eg. managers and workers have different interests
Values: ideas and feelings about right and wrong (difficult to resolve)
Components of Conflict
When you have to deal with conflict
tackle the emotional issues first
then address values and interests
Consequences of conflict
Good Consequences
of Conflict
increased creativity
It forces people to clarify their views
It can produce
constructive social change
It gives people the
opportunity to test
their capacities
development of group and
organization cohesion
Bad Consequences of
Conflict
Violence
breakdown of relationships
polarization of views into static positions
A breakdown of
collaborative ventures
destruction of
communication
Groupthink
Groupthink is a tendency for strong conformity pressures within
groups to lead to the breakdown of critical thinking and encourage
premature acceptance of questionable decisions
Groupthink
Lack of conflict is a sign of over conformity.
It is unhealthy when there is no conflict
You need
diversity of
opinion
Consequences of conflict
3
3
Nature of Conflict
Responding to Conflict
Handling Grievances
Emotional Stress
Conflict Handling Styles
Avoiding
Compromise
Competition
Accommodation
Collaboration
Which conflict handling
style will you use?
Which conflict handling
style will you use?
Project Managers may have a preferred
style for managing conflict
Which conflict handling
style will you use?
Project Managers may have a preferred
style for managing conflict
You should use different styles depending
on the problem and get there by using
your ability to read situation
avoiding
accommodation
competition
compromise
collaboration
Characteristics
ignoring conflicts and hoping
theyll go away
putting problems under
consideration or on hold
use of secrecy to avoid
confrontation
appeal to bureaucratic rules
Avoiding
When to use
Trivial, small/unimportant issue
no perceived chance of
resolution
To allow a cool down period
To allow others to resolve the
situation
Characteristics
negotiation
looking for deals and
trade-offs
finding satisfactory or
acceptable solutions
When to use
goals are important, but not worth effort
opponents with equal power are committed
to mutually exclusive goals
achieve temporary settlements to issues
arrive at solutions under time pressure
back-up to collaboration or competition
Compromise
Characteristics
create win-lose
situations
use of power plays
forcing submission
When to use
quick, decisive action is vital, very
important
unpopular actions eg. cost cutting
issues are vital to company welfare
against people who take advantage of non-
competitive behavior
Competition
Characteristics
giving way
submission and
fulfillment
When to use
find you are wrong
issues more important to others than yourself
maintain cooperation
build social credits for later on
minimize loss
harmony and stability are important
allow team members to learn from their mistakes
Accommodation
Characteristics
problem-solving carriage
tackle differences
sharing ideas and information
seeing problems and conflicts as
challenges
When to use
find an integrative solution when
both sets of concerns are
important
objective is to learn
Collaboration
2 Methods for Resolving Conflict in a team
Role Clarification Technique (RAT)
Intergroup Conflict Resolution
Role Clarification Technique (RAT)
This is a systematic procedure which involves all team members
understanding the requirements of their of own and everyone
else's position, duties and expectations
Youll need to clarify roles for team and individuals; for example
via questionnaires (or for project teams - RAM matrices!)
Intergroup Conflict Resolution
Each group should prepare list of what they would like the other
groups to start doing, stop doing, and continue to do.
This list narrows he scope of the dispute and makes it easier to work
on the core problems.
2
2
Nature of Conflict
Responding to Conflict
Handling Grievances
Emotional Stress
What is a Grievance?
A grievance is any behaviour or action of another member or
members of a team, which has or is likely to have an unreasonable
negative impact on the ability of a team member to undertake their
duties
Most grievances are never raised with management
Why?
Lack of trust
Our complaints
are trivialized
No action
gets taken!
They only take
defensive
action
What you should do?
Listen
Discuss
Plan
1
1
Nature of Conflict
Responding to Conflict
Handling Grievances
Emotional Stress
Stress
What is Stress?
A pattern of emotional states and physiological reactions occurring in
situations where individuals perceive threats to their important goals
that they feel unable to meet
(Greenberg & Baron, 1993, p257).
Effects of Stress
Physical illness
Lack of sleep
Reduction in task performance
Poor quality decision making
Causes of Stress in Projects
Long hours
Tight schedules
Transient work force
High risks
Work overload
Role uncertainty
Social relations
A Stress Survey
How many of these for you
in the last year?
(Greenberg & Baron, 1993, p238)
Stress Management
1. Organizational Level
2. Individual Level
Stress Management at
the Organizational
Level
setting reasonable work plans
and schedules
delegating responsibility and
increasing independence
clarifying responsibilities,
authority, and performance
criteria
clarifying goals, procedures, and
decision criteria
giving consideration and
support in leadership
Stress Management
for the Individual
stress management program
relaxation training
diversions from work-related
problems
Review
1. Conflict is the opposition of people or forces that develops into an
aggressive state or action.
2. Sources of IT project conflict includes; schedules, priorities and
workforce issues.
3. Conflict can be good and bad.
4. Conflict handling styles include; avoiding, compromise,
competition, accommodation, and collaboration.
5. Grievance handling strategies include; listen, discuss, and plan.
Not dealing with grievances can be harmful to projects.
6. Work environment improvements and reducing stress is essential
to a teams health and the success of the project.
References
Condliffe, P. (1991). Conflict management A practical guide. Collingwood,
Vic.: RMIT.
Greenberg, J. & Baron, R. (1993). Behavior in organizations (4
th
ed.). Syd.,
NSW: Allyn and Bacon.
Nicholas, J. (2001). Project management for business technology Principles
and practice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Photo credits
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Gordon
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