Dealing with conflict in project management

Revision as of 19:44, 15 February 2018

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.“ - source

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. 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

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. 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:

• 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:

• 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. 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.

1. Instrumental dimensions
2. Dimensions of interest
3. Dimensions of value
4. 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.

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 highlights some scenarios where the different styles of management can be used, and some scenarios where the project manager should steer clear of them.