conflict maagement for project managers

1. Giana Rosetti

2.  Conflict Management Vision
 How to manage conflicts
 Conflicts exists in all organizations
 Conflict is GOOD
 Project Managers and Conflicts
 Approaches to Manage a Conflict
 Compromise
 How to Collaborate
 Bottom Line
 Conflict Techniques Pros & Cons
 9 conditions predispose organizations to conflict
 The top 3 principles source of conflict
 Conflict Causes

3. Traditional Contemporary
•Caused by troublemakers •Inevitable between humans
•Negative •Often beneficial
•Should be avoided at all costs •Natural results of changes
•Must be suppressed •Can and should be managed

4.  Make sure everyone is focused in the same common
goal of the project.
 Use team-based brainstorm tools to everyone’s idea
are heard and recorded.
 Use team base analysis tools such as:
 Root Cause Analysis
 SWOT
 Impact Probability Grid

5. Especially in projectized organizations due to:
 High stress
 Ambiguous roles
 Multiple bosses
The key is to manage the conflict
- Not avoid it -

6. Conflicts produces constructive results and offers
many advantages:
 Identifies important issues and can cause resolution
to occur
 Sparks new ideas for improvements
 Generate enthusiasm for particular endeavor
 Stimulation of a search of new facts or resolutions
 Diffusion of a more serious conflict
 Increase in group cohesion and performance

7. Effective Project Managers learn how to use the right
approach at the right time:
 Above all don’t rush through conflicts, embrace
them.
 Research reflects that most innovative and creative
solutions from a team are the results of some kind of
conflict.

9.  The most effective technique to use when conflicts
exists between a project manager and superiors as it
promote a free exchange of ideas and improved
communications.

10. 1. Engage in goal statements, not in position
statements.
2. Look beyond the other party’s position statements
to their goals.
3. Develop a set of objective criteria on the basis of
your goal statements and the other party’s
statements.
4. Generate multiple options for multiple gains.
5. Assess each option against the objective criteria.
6. Select the option that best satisfy the criteria.

11. Both Parties:
 Make their demand and objectives known
 Work toward an agreement or plan that will satisfy
these objectives
 Put aside their “us vs. them” attitude and focus
instead how agreement will benefit everyone
involved

17.  Schedule: Frequently result from technical or manpower issues. Item urgent/important to
the project manager will be considered low priority by the functional manager.
 Priorities: Differences between the project team and support functional areas as well as
within the project team themselves.
 Manpower: Most of conflicts is with groups that either assign the resources to the
project and/or support the project internally.
 Technical: Groups supporting the technical aspect of the project focus on the
performance and technical issues – not on the broad picture of triple constraint.
 Admin: For the most part conflict surrounds the issue pertaining to the R & R of the PM
and how it relates to the organizations top management. Also how to plan, execute –
basically in the PM methodologies.
 Cost: Who should pay for what
 Personality: Although the lowest in the intensity – the most difficult to handle or manage.
Particularly when dealing with ego –centered vs. technical personalities.

19.  50% of project conflict is caused by
 Schedule
 Priorities
 Resources

23. Questions??