Dealing with conflict in project management
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==Reasons for conflicts occuring== | ==Reasons for conflicts occuring== | ||
Revision as of 18:06, 21 February 2018
Contents |
Abstract
No projects are executed without conflicts. Proper conflict management can lead to positive change such as improved respect and understanding for each other. Alternatively, ignoring or improperly adressing conflicts can evoke a dramatic decrease in productivity, quality and job-satisfaction. [1]. This article describes the various stages of a conflict and how to identify and deal with looming conflicts in a project-management context.
Conflict Definition
Conflict is a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. Conflict as a concept can help explain many aspects of social life and social death such as social disagreement, conflicts of interests, and fight between individuals, groups, or organizations. A conflict can be internal (within oneself) or external (between two or more individuals). Without proper social arrangement or resolution, conflicts in social settings can result in stress or tension among stakeholders.[2]
Looking from a project management perspective, conflicts can be internal e.g. interpersonal conflicts or between other groups e.g. if two project groups both claim utilization of scarce resources. This article focuses on the former example, as that is a more typical scenario for the project manager. The latter dispute will often move upwards the organizational hierarchy.[3] When dealing with the latter type of conflict, Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict provides a framework for assessing and acting accordingly to the type of conflict.[4]
Why focus on conflicts?
It is of interest for the project manager to deliver a high-quality result on time and on budget. Conflicts are certain in any project-setting and have the potential to derail a project completely if ignored or improperly managed e.g. via loss of profit, time, quality, creativity and morale. The competent project manager should therefore possess knowledge that allows him or her to identify and classify a conflict, resolve a conflict, and design a working environment that minimizes the risk of conflicts occurring. Project members, including the project manager, might shy away from conflict in the fear of dissociation, being wrong, hostility, breaking up interpersonal relationships etc.[5] This is ill-advised for several reasons. For starters, a conflict that is not resolved tends to snowball or escalate, meaning that the sooner the problem is addressed, the better. If not addressed, the project manager might start to notice the following signs of a looming conflict:
- Productivity drops off
- Quality deteriorates
- Sick leave increases
- Employees quit
- There is a bad mood and many people grumble.
- Unease and irritation in the work place.
- Sleep deprivation among the employees.
Finally, by not solving the conflict, it is impossible to reap the benefits of proper conflict management. These benefits might be[1]:
- Intimacy
- Respect and understanding
- Appreciation
- A better working environment
- Positive examples for future reference
- That others realize you are right
- Time and energy
- Better interpersonal relationships
Reasons for conflicts occuring
Even though it is not feasible to articulate the reason for a conflict prior to its occurrence, some areas tend to spew more conflicts than others. By knowing and understanding these areas, the project manager can identify and solve conflicts faster. Studies have shown the following points to lead to the most conflicts: [6]
- Unresolved disagreement that escalated to an emotional level
- Poor organizational structure
- Personality clashes / differences in values and goals
- Poor communication / miscommunication
- Lack of cordial relationships between labor and management.
Dimensions of conflict
Conflicts in a project-setting can be divided into one of four basic dimensions.[7] It is noteworthy that in a real-life setting, a conflict can easily be the sum of different dimensions. Nonetheless, it is valuable to understand the different dimensions, as they have different levels of severity and should be tackled in different manners.
- Instrumental dimensions
- Dimensions of interest
- Dimensions of value
- Personal dimensions
Instrumental dimensions occur when disagreeing about objective and methods i.e. what should be done, and how should it be done? Here, parties might disagree and must come up with a solution. These conflicts often occur and can lead to creative decision making. Due to their normality, they rarely lead to animosity. The approach to this type of conflict is problem solving with the purpose of finding a solution.
Dimensions of interest occur when competing for resources. This can happen between project teams e.g. competing for machinery or internally in a project team e.g. competing for space in the project room. The approach to this conflict should be negotiation to come up with an agreement that settles the dispute.
Dimensions of value occur when values of the parties are at stake, which the parties are willing to stand up for. Examples include religion or political belief. This type of conflict is seldom related to the project and has a high potential for creating emotional response and a negative impact on the project. As we cannot negotiate our beliefs, dialogue with the purpose of mutual understanding is the goal here.
The personal dimension is the type of conflict that hits the involved people the hardest and has the most potential for disrupting the project-work. Again, dialogue and mutual understanding is the end-goal here to create a better and healthier atmosphere.
Conflict stages
As previously stated, conflict can lead to positive change if managed correctly. It is very much a case of identifying and dealing with the conflict in an early stage. In doing so, the conflict escalation model can be applied. The model, developed by Australian conflict expert Friedrich Glasl, states that all conflicts will move through some general steps, each with its own dynamics cf. figure 1.
Conflict resolution
Conflict management styles
Whenever a conflict is looming in a project, the project manager is faced with a choice regarding how to address the conflict. To illustrate this dynamic, the Conflict Mode Instrument developed by Kenneth W. Thomas and Ralph H. Kilmann can be applied. A good project manager must understand in what instances the different styles are applicable.[8]
The cooperative axis speaks addresses to what extent the other party’s goal is achieved, while the assertive axis states whether one’s individual goals are achieved. The table below[8] highlights some scenarios where the different styles of management can be used, and some scenarios where the project manager should steer clear of them.
| Conflict style inventories | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Forcing | When decisive action is needed
When unpopular and determined actions must be taken |
May destroy inter-personal relations when fulfilling own goals on
someone else’s account |
| Collaborating | When important decisions with long-term effects are to be taken | Often time-consuming, thus not suitable for trivial problems |
| Compromising | Good if pressed for time | May lead to two somewhat discontented parties |
| Avoiding | Postpone a conflict until emotions have cooled off.
When dealing with trivial problems and more important issues should have priority |
The conflict is not resolved |
| Accomodating | When collaboration is more important than the reason for conflict.
When the problem is more important for the other part |
Accommodation may deprive respect.
When important issues are at stake |
Minimizing conflict as the project manager
As previously stated, it is impossible to avoid conflicts altogether in any project-setting. However, it is possible for the project manager to minimize the risk of severe conflicts occurring. A common cause of conflict is dissatisfaction with the organizational structure from the workers point of view[6]. Even though it is not something that the project manager may decide, he or she should still identify its potential for issues.
If a company applies a matrix organizational structure, employees become so-called two-boss employees, as they answer both to the functional manager and product team manager.[3] This structure can lead to a dimensions of interest conflict, where different managers compete for claiming resources and attention to their projects. Ideally, this type of conflict is solved in a logical manner via tools such as critical path analysis and multi-project resource scheduling. If a settlement cannot be made, support from higher-level management can be called upon[9]. Chairman portion in text.
//Relate to WBS //Relate to CCM //Relate the 5 styles to the PM book 9.4
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tonnquist, Bo. 1st, 2008. Poject management p. 230 (Bonniers).
- ↑ Definition of ”conflict”, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jones, Gareth. 7th, 2013. Organizational Theory, Design, and Change, p.301 (Pearson).
- ↑ Jones, Gareth. 7th, 2013. Organizational Theory, Design, and Change, p.417 (Pearson)
- ↑ Tonnquist, Bo. 1st, 2008. Poject management p.232 (Bonniers)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ajibolays, Y, 2017. Conflict Management in Projects, [Online], p5. Available at: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxy.findit.dtu.dk/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=8095588&tag=1 [Accessed 8 February 2018].
- ↑ Spiess, Wolfgang. 1st, 2008. Conflict Prevention in Project Management, p.48 (Springer).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Tonnquist, Bo. 1st, 2008. Poject management p. 238 (Bonniers).
- ↑ Lock, Dennis. 9th, 2007. Poject management p. 136 (Gower).
