Conflict Management in Project Management

Posted by Vijay Prashanth on August 29th, 2022

Conflict Management is the practice of recognizing and dealing with disputes in a rational, balanced and effective way. Conflict management implemented within a business environment usually involves effective communication, problem-resolving abilities, and good negotiating skills to restore the focus to the company’s overall goals.

There are five general techniques for resolving conflict. Each technique has its place and use:

1)Withdraw/avoid. Retreating from an actual or potential conflict situation; postponing the issue to be better prepared or to be resolved by others.

2)Smooth/accommodate. Emphasizing areas of agreement rather than areas of difference; conceding one’s position to the needs of others to maintain harmony and relationships.

3)Compromise/reconcile. Searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties in to temporarily or partially resolve the conflict. This approach occasionally results in a lose-lose situation.

4)Force/direct. Pushing one’s viewpoint at the expense of others; offering only win-lose solutions, usually enforced through a power position to resolve an emergency. This approach often results to a win-lose situation.

5)Collaborate/problem-solve. Incorporating multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives; requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue that typically leads to consensus and commitment. This approach can result in a win-win situation.

Each of the above five methods are further explained below:

Forcing (using power or dominance) implies the use of position power to resolve the conflict. It involves imposing one viewpoint at the expense of another and is characterized by a win-lose outcome in which one party overwhelms the other.

It is used when there is no common ground on which to bargain or negotiate, and when both parties are uncooperative and strong-willed. Project managers may use it when time is of the essence, an issue is vital to the well-being of the project, and they feel they are right based on the information available. Under such circumstances, project managers take the risk and simply dictate the action to move things forward.

This approach is appropriate when quick decisions are required or when unpopular issues such as budget cuts, fast-tracking or staff cutbacks are essential in a project.

Forcing usually takes less time than compromise and negotiation but it leaves hard feelings because people dislike having others’ views imposed on them. Conflict resolved by force may develop again and haunt the enforcers at a later date. Although forcing definitely resolves the conflict quickly, it should be used only as a late resort.

Withdrawing (avoidance, denial or retreat) involves giving up, pulling out, or retreating. It also refers to the refusal to deal with the conflict. It involves ignoring conflict as much as possible.

This style is appropriate when a “cooling off” period is needed to gain a better understanding of the conflict situation and also when the others party involved in the conflict is both unassertive and uncooperative.

Withdrawal is a passive, stopgap way of handling conflict and generally fails to solve the problem. Therefore, this style should not be used if the conflict deals with an issue that is of immediate concern or is important to the successful completion of the project.