Project Management Skills Development

- Conflict and Negotiation

Two of the Main topics covered in “Conflict Handling” and

“Dispute Resolution.”

The Five Styles of Conflict Management are:

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* Dominating Style (characterized by high concern for self and
low concern for
others)
* Avoiding Style (associated with both low concern for self and
others)
* Compromising Style (a moderate and an intermediate level of
concern for both self
and others)
* Integrating Style (high concern for both self and others)
* Obliging Style (low concern for self and high concern for
others)

All these styles are appropriate in certain dissimilar situations,

but in general there are two styles that are the most appropriate
in most of the situations.
Amongst the above 5 Style, Integrating and Compromising are
the best options.
Among the above 2, “Integrating” is the best style which
involves a high level of concern for yourself and for others. This
style is the most appropriate when you have a large amount of
time to spend debating and working towards a positive solution
that will benefit everyone (including yourself), and seeks to
bring all the most positive aspects of everyone’s ideas into the
solution.

The second-best style is “Compromising,” and this contains a

moderate amount of concern for yourself and for others.
Compromising takes less time than Integrating and is
appropriate when you have less time to come to a decision.
Where Integrating seeks to bring all the best ideas together,
Compromising seeks to pick a solution that involves the least
“pain” for everyone. If you do not have time to work to bring all
the ideas together, finding the one that everyone can at least
agree to use is your next best option.

The next important topic discussed in the Chapter are the 4

Alternative Dispute Resolution
Techniques (ADR).
ADR or Alternative Dispute Resolution Techniques include,
Negotiation, Mediation, Collaborative Law, Arbitration,
Facilitation, Conciliation, Peer Review, Adjudication and
Ombudsman.

ADR consists of the two major forms namely Arbitration and

Mediation, though ADR is generally classified into four types:
* Negotiation - It is a give-and-take decision-making process
involving interdependent parties with options as "distributive
and integrative negotiation." It is a type of communication that
involves a simple bilateral exchange of information, potentially
leading to common understanding and joint decision-making.
* Mediation - Usually Mediation is used within communities
and provided social cohesion in the face of conflict and
disharmony, so it is closely associated with the civil justice
system and virtually synonymous with ‘amicable settlement’.
Mediation practice can clearly be traced back as far as the 17th
century, when Alvise Contarini, an ambassador designated by
the Republic of Venice, and Fabio Chigi, a cardinal designated
by the Pope (later Alexander V11), were two mediators who,
working over a period of five years, played a crucial role in
bringing an end to the Thirty Years’ War.
* Collaborative Law - Collaborative Law includes adoption by
legal representative who can influence the nature and purpose of
the legality. It is a process by which two lawyers agree to work
together in a joint meeting, comprising of themselves and the
parties, in order to agree a mutually acceptable settlement. It is
characterized by the fact that,
if these attempts fail, the lawyers cannot then act as legal
representatives in court and must pass the case on. This acts as a
powerful incentive to resolve the matter.
* Arbitration - Arbitration involves a third party who can be
involved by the disputants themselves or trusted individuals
might intervene on their own initiative; though, this was not an
institutionalized role but there were characters who had
established reputations as peacemakers, góðgjarnir menn or men
of goodwill.

While the other available ADR includes:

* Facilitation - Facilitation involves the use of techniques to
improve the flow of information in a meeting between parties to
a dispute. The techniques may also be applied to decision-
making meetings where a specific outcome is desired. The term
“facilitator” is often used interchangeably with the term
“mediator,” but a facilitator does not typically become as
involved in the substantive issues as does a mediator. The
facilitator focuses more on the process involved in resolving a
matter.
* Conciliation - Conciliation is used with the intention to build a
positive relationship between the parties to a dispute. A third
party or conciliator (who may or may not be
totally neutral to the interests of the parties) may be chosen by
the parties to build positive relationships.
* Peer Review - Peer review is a problem-solving process to
resolve disputes by a panel
of both fellow employees and managers. If dissatisfied with the
recommendation of peer review, the unhappy party will be able
to seek relief in other forums for dispute resolution. The Peer
Review's rationale is to resolve disputes early before they
become formal complaints or grievances.
* Adjudication - Adjudication uses public officials and not
strangers, chosen by a process in which the public participates.
Their job is not to maximise the ends of private parties, nor
simply to secure the peace, but to explicate and give force to the
values embodied in authoritative texts such as the Constitution
and statutes, to interpret those values and to bring reality into
accord with them and the duty is not discharged when the parties
got settlement.
* Ombudsman - are individuals who rely on a number of
techniques to resolve disputes. These techniques include
counselling, mediating, conciliating, and fact finding. Usually,
when an ombudsman receives a complaint, he or she interviews
parties, reviews files, and makes recommendations to the
disputants. Typically, ombudsmen do not impose solutions. The
power of the ombudsman lies in his or her ability to persuade the
parties involved to accept his or her recommendations.
Generally, an individual not accepting the proposed solution of
the ombudsman is free to pursue a remedy in other forums for
dispute resolution.

Thanks, Suman
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