Project Human Resource

Management
(MSPM 613)

Mohammednur Ahmed, PhD

Department of Project Management
Lunar International College
 Chapter Five
Conflict Management
 Chapter Content
• Basic Concepts of Conflict
• Theory of Conflict / Conflict Handling Modes
• Conditions that Lead to Conflict
• Conflict and Performance
• Conflict in Projects
• Managing/Resolving Conflict in Projects
• Conflict Management Techniques Negotiation
• Negotiating Strategies
 5.1. Basic Concepts of Conflict
• Conflict is as inevitable in a project environment as change
seems to be. When project team members interact during the
course of completing their tasks and responsibilities, there is
always a potential for conflict.
• Conflict is “a situation of competition in which the parties are
aware of the incompatibility of potential future positions and
in which each party wishes to occupy a position which is
incompatible with the wishes of the other.”
• One of the basic cause of conflict stems from the
incompatibility or incongruence between goals of the
individuals working on a project and organizational goals and
expectations.
• Conflict is the offspring of disagreement between individuals.
It refers to any situation in which there are incompatible goals,
thoughts or emotions within or between individuals or groups.
 5.1. Basic Concepts of Conflict
• Conflict refers to any situation in which there are
incompatible goals, thoughts, or emotions within or between
individuals or groups that lead to opposition and
disagreements.
 5.1. Basic Concepts of Conflict
• Conflict:
– is a process that involves people disagreeing.
• Researchers have noted that conflict is like the common cold.
– "sharp disagreement or opposition" and includes "the
perceived divergence of interest, or a belief that the
parties' current aspirations cannot be achieved
simultaneously"
• Definition
– Opposition
– Incompatible behavior
– Antagonistic interaction
– Block another party from reaching her or his goals
• Everyone knows what it is, but understanding its causes
and how to treat it is much more challenging.
 5.1. Basic Concepts of Conflict
• Four Levels Of Conflict
– lntrapersonal conflict, also known as role conflict, stems from
unmet personal or professional expectations within the
individual. This level of conflict may not affect the project, as
long as it does not influence other project participants
negatively. However, it can reduce the motivation and
productivity of that particular individual.
– Interpersonal conflict can occur between specific team
members or between one person and the entire group.
Interpersonal conflict is most often caused by differences in
personality, style, communication skills, or competing personal
ambitions.
– lntragroup conflict refers to a conflict between a single person
and a group of people (such as his or her project team). It may
occur, for example, in a union environment when what an
individual wants to do (e.g., produce more) is against what the
group norm dictates (e.g., restriction of output).
– Intergroup conflict can arise between groups of people within
the project team or between the project team and groups outside
the project.
 5.2. Theory of Conflict / Conflict Handling Modes
• The Traditional View
– assumes that conflict is bad and always has a negative
impact on projects or organizations.
– This view argues that performance declines as the level of
conflict increases, and therefore it must be avoided.
– In this view, conflict is closely associated with such terms
as violence, destruction, and irrationality.
– This traditional view dominated management literature
during the late 19th century and continued to do so until the
mid-1940s.
– Because the traditional view considered conflict in a
negative light, attention was given to reducing, suppressing
or eliminating it. It was the manager's responsibility to free
the project of any conflict.
 5.2. Theory of Conflict / Conflict Handling Modes
• The Behavioral or Contemporary View, also
known as the human relations view,
– It argues that conflict is natural and inevitable in all
organizations and that it may have either a positive or a
negative effect.
– This approach advocates acceptance of conflict and
rationalizes its existence. Since projects may sometimes
benefit from conflict, project managers should focus on
managing conflict effectively rather than simply
suppressing it or eliminating it.
– The behavioral view dominated ideas on conflict from the
late 1940s through the mid-1970s.
 5.2. Theory of Conflict / Conflict Handling Modes
• The interactionist view
• It is the current theoretical perspective on conflict and
assumes that conflict is necessary to increase
performance.
• While the behavioral approach accepts conflict, the
interactionist view encourages conflict on the basis
that a harmonious, peaceful, tranquil, too-cooperative
project organization is likely to become static,
apathetic, stagnant and nonresponsive to meet the
challenges of change and innovation.
• This approach encourages managers to maintain an
ongoing minimum level of conflict enough to keep
projects self-critical, viable, creative and innovative.
 5.3. Conditions that Lead to Conflict
• Ambiguous roles, work boundaries, responsibility and
authority are likely to occur when two or more individuals,
sections or departments have related or even overlapping
responsibilities with ambiguous roles and poorly defined
authority.
• Inconsistent or incompatible goals may lead to conflict when
the individuals or the units define and establish their own
missions and purposes within the organization. Incompatible
goals arise when individuals or departments are dependent on
others and yet perceive each other as having opposing goals.
• Communication problems create the most misunderstanding
and the most intense conflicts. The misinterpretation of a
design drawing, a misunderstood change order, a missed
delivery date or a failure to execute instructions are generally
the results of a breakdown in communication.
 5.3. Conditions that Lead to Conflict
• Dependence on another party can lead to conflict when one
discipline or unit is dependent on the other for activities and
resources. Each party may be more interested in meeting its
own deadlines than in being sensitive to the needs of other
parties who may be working on tasks and activities that are
crucial to project success.
• Specialization or differentiation creates a condition leading
to conflict due to professional egos. Modern high-technology
organizations are characterized by pools of technical experts or
specialists responsible for unique tasks. These specialists possess
their own viewpoints, language, goals, and ways of doing things.
• Need for joint decision making can lead to conflict as people
may have quite different opinions and points of view but conform
to pressures for joint decision making. This condition is
especially prevalent when different technical groups have to
work together with management groups.
 5.3. Conditions that Lead to Conflict
• Need for consensus creates a condition for conflict when project
teams having a diverse mix of team members with divergent
talents, backgrounds, and norms must agree among themselves.
Such a condition arises when no decision maker is available to
evaluate and select among several alternatives and enforce the
selected solution.
• Behavior regulations lead to high levels of conflict as individuals
tend to resist tight boundaries placed on their actions. Such
situations may involve safety and security concerns (policies, rules
and procedures) about which the individuals have views different
from those of the management.
• Unresolved prior conflicts tend to build up and create a tense
atmosphere, which can lead to even more intense and destructive
conflict. In general, the longer a conflict lasts without reaching a
satisfactory resolution, the worse it becomes. The use of positional
power to resolve conflict (a forcing approach) leaves bitter feelings
and generates more intense conflict at a later date.
 5.4. Conflict and Performance
• Conflict, if not managed appropriately:
– It can be destructive and detrimental to project
performance.
– It can drastically lower team morale and productivity and
hamper the decision-making process, making it long,
complex and difficult.
– It can create tension among individuals, and cause the
formation of competing coalitions within the project
organization leading to lower commitment, incompatible
goals and unnecessary power struggles.
 5.4. Conflict and Performance
• Positive Values of Conflict
– Diffusion of more serious conflict. Minor conflicts, if not
managed effectively in a timely manner, can lead to major
conflicts and to serious and undesirable consequences.
– Major stimulant for change. If there is trust and respect
between the project participants, any conflict encourages
them to look into themselves, analyze the situation
rationally and feel positive about it.
– Fosters creativity and innovation. The process of
managing conflict, if done constructively, can lead to a
clarification of facts. Conflict can also stimulate the search
for new methods or solutions.
– Enhances communication. a positive view of conflict
encourages both parties to communicate more effectively
by listening to each other and trying to understand the other
person's perspective.
 5.4. Conflict and Performance
• Positive Values of Conflict
– Clarifies issues and goals. a positive approach to conflict
management will motivate the team members to clarify
their positions on the various issues, policies, goals and
objectives.
– Increases performance, energy and group cohesion.
Conflict and disagreements are almost sure to happen
among project team members with different ideas and
skills.
– Balancing of power and influence. Conflict situations can
reveal the relative power and influence of the parties. After
the conflict is resolved, the losing party loses status and
influence while the winning party gains status and tends to
feel increase in their power and influence.
 5.4. Conflict and Performance
• Negative Values of Conflict
– Conflict causes stress. In extreme cases, or for particularly
sensitive people, conflict causes stress that affects individuals
both emotionally and physically, leading to back pains, ulcers,
high blood pressure and heart disease.
– Conflict creates an unproductive atmosphere. Conflict and
clashing views in a project may lead to breakdown or lack of
communication. The resulting confusion and ambiguity can
lower productivity.
– Conflict tends to distort behavior. Decisions may be
implemented in an authoritarian style due to excessive
emotional involvement. Loyalty may become more important
than making rational management decisions.
– Conflict may cause loss of status or position power. conflict
and disputes, depending upon how they are managed and who
the parties are, may label the parties as winners or losers.
 5.5. Conflict in Projects
• Sources of conflict in a project include:
– The project manager, the project team, the clients or
customers, other internal stakeholders (contractors, staff
and service personnel, functional managers, senior
managers) and external stakeholders (general public, press,
personnel from regulatory, financial, political and
technology areas) who are not directly part of the project.
• The most common and well documented sources of conflict
include
– incompatible goals, structural relationships, limited
resources, communication problems and individual
difference
 5.5. Conflict in Projects
• Categories of Conflict
– Goal-oriented conflicts are associated with end
results, performance specifications and criteria,
priorities and objectives.
– Administrative conflicts refer to the management
structure, philosophy and techniques and are
mainly based on definition of responsibilities and
authority for tasks, functions and decisions.
– Interpersonal conflicts result from differences in
work ethics, styles, egos and personalities of the
participants.
 5.5. Conflict in Projects
• Reasons for Conflicts in Project Management
– Project priorities or goal incompatibility. Goal conflicts
involve differences in project priorities and criteria for
evaluating results. Goal conflicts also refer to differing
views on the necessary sequence of tasks or events.
– Administrative procedures. These refer to differences
regarding how the project will be managed. Conflict over
reporting systems and levels of administrative support
required for a project.
– Technical opinions and performance tradeoffs. These
are related to disagreements over technical issues,
performance specifications, technical.
– Task uncertainty and information requirements.
Disagreements in this area are related to uncertainties in
accomplishing tasks due to unpredictable technology.
 5.5. Conflict in Projects
• Reasons for Conflicts in Project Management
– Role uncertainty. This refers to disagreements between
the relative responsibility, authority and accountability of
the project manager, project team members and functional
managers in an organization.
– Differences in time horizons. Some project participants
may have a long-term view of various project issues, while
others have a short-term view.
– Human resources. The management of project human
resources, including staffing and personnel utilization, is a
common and major cause of conflict in a project.
– Resource allocation. Other projects or groups in the
organization may need to utilize the same people,
equipment or facilities, causing conflicts, especially if
resources are in short supply.
 5.5. Conflict in Projects
• Reasons for Conflicts in Project Management
– Costs and budgets. The budget is one of the most important
constraints of a project. It is an important yardstick for
measuring overall performance.
– Schedules. disagreements related to schedules center on the
sequencing and prioritizing of schedule items and on time
estimates, especially when people want a higher priority for
their projects' activities ahead of those of others.
– Communication problems. a lack of trust, respect and
effective listening skills can develop into serious
communication problems. People may misinterpret
messages, leading to conflict and misunderstanding.
– Personality. interpersonal differences associated with
individual styles, perceptions, attitudes and egos are
guaranteed to clash at times, even among friends.
 5.6. Managing/Resolving Conflict in Projects
• Conflict Management Techniques
– Stimulating conflict
• Accept conflict as desirable on certain occasions.
• Bring new individuals into an existing situation.
Thoughtful questions and comments from newcomers
or outsiders may provide a different, fresh perspective.
• Introduce programs designed to increase competition.
– Conflict stimulation can play a positive role in
organizations with large programs or projects (especially
R&D organizations) where it is important to foster
creativity and innovation
 5.6. Managing/Resolving Conflict in Projects
• Conflict Management Techniques
– Resolving structural conflicts
• Procedural changes mainly refer to changing work
procedures to avoid conflict.
• Personnel changes involve transferring individuals into
or out of the project in order to resolve personality
conflicts.
• Authority changes clarify or alter lines of authority and
responsibility to reduce conflict.
• Layout changes rearrange work space to resolve
conflict.
• Resource changes involve increasing resources so that
the disputing parties can each have what they need.
 5.6. Managing/Resolving Conflict in Projects
• Interpersonal Conflict Resolution Techniques
– Withdrawing (avoidance, denial or retreat)
• involves giving up, pulling out or retreating i.e. refusal to
deal with the conflict or ignoring conflict as much as
possible.
• This style is appropriate when a "cooling off" period is
needed to gain better understanding of the conflict
situation and also when the other party involved in the
conflict is both unassertive and uncooperative.
– Smoothing (accommodating),
• It involves emphasizing areas of agreement while avoiding
points of disagreement with the objectives of keeping
harmony and avoid outwardly conflictive situations.
• It works when the issues are more important than personal
positions and aspirations of the parties involved.
 5.6. Managing/Resolving Conflict in Projects
• Interpersonal Conflict Resolution Techniques
– Forcing (using power or dominance)
• Implies the use of position power to resolve the conflict
by imposing one viewpoint at the expense of another.
• Forcing is used when there is no common ground on
which to bargain or negotiate, and when both parties are
uncooperative and strong-willed.
– Compromising
• is primarily "bargaining"-receiving something in
exchange for something else.
• It involves in negotiations and searching for solutions
that bring some degree of satisfaction to both parties
involved in the conflict.
 5.6. Managing/Resolving Conflict in Projects
• Interpersonal Conflict Resolution Techniques
– Collaborating
• is an effective technique to manage conflict when a
project situation is too important to be compromised.
• It involves incorporating multiple ideas and viewpoints
from people with different perspectives.
– Confronting or problem solving (negotiating)
• Conflict is treated as a problem in this process and both
parties are interested in finding a mutually acceptable
solution.
• This approach requires a give-and-take attitude between
the parties, meaning that both parties are somewhat
assertive and somewhat cooperative.
 5.8. Negotiating Strategies
• Types of Negotiations
– Distributive negotiations (win-lose). a situation where one
party's gain is another party's loss.
• This often occurs during intense conflicts over economic
issues such as negotiating cost overruns or schedule
delays.
– Integrative negotiations (win-win). The focus of integrative
negotiations is to seek solutions in which both parties gain.
• The final resolution may not always be what each party
wanted, but because it is beneficial to both sides, it is
mutually acceptable.
– Lose-lose negotiations. negotiation leads sometimes lose-
lose outcomes when both parties take an extreme position and
consequently no satisfactory agreement can be reached.
 5.8. Negotiating Strategies
• Negotiation Strategies
– Unilateral Negotiation Strategies. Negotiators should
consider their own interests or managers should consider
the interests of their organizations.
– Is the substantive outcome (goals and issues at
stake) very important?
– Is the relationship outcome (feelings and attitudes
between the parties) very important?
– Interactive Negotiation Strategies: suggests that it is
important to examine the negotiation from the other party's
perspective.
• When anticipating the other party's priorities,
negotiators should consider the kinds of actions the
other party might take.
 5.8. Negotiating Strategies
• Unilateral negotiation strategies
– Trusting Collaboration: the negotiator seeks a win-win
outcome in terms of both substantive goals and positive
relationships.
• Trusting collaboration is most effective when both
parties are open, interdependent, and support each other.
• It increases mutual trust and leads to effective problem
solving and a win-win settlement.
– Open Subordination. corresponds to an accommodating
style of conflict management in which negotiators are more
concerned about positive relationships than about
substantive outcomes.
• Open subordination can dampen hostility, increase
support and cooperation, and foster more
interdependent relationships.
 5.8. Negotiating Strategies
• Unilateral negotiation strategies
– Firm Competition: is used when substantive outcomes are
important and relationships are not. i.e. similar to the
forcing style,
• This is used when a negotiator has little trust in the
other party or the relationship is not good from the
beginning.
• The negotiator exerts status or position power to gain
substantive outcomes for himself or herself.
– Active Avoidance: People consider this strategy when
neither the substantive outcomes nor the relationship are
important to them or to their organizations.
• Refusing to negotiate is the most direct and active form
of avoidance. Generally, such an action affects
relationships negatively.
 5.8. Negotiating Strategies
• Interactive Negotiation Strategies
– Principled collaboration: instead of relying upon only
trust and reciprocity, the negotiator should persuade the
other party to negotiate based upon a set of mutually
agreed principles that will benefit both parties.
– Focused subordination. the parties can gain substantive
outcomes for themselves or the organization while assuring
a relatively positive relationship outcome.
– Soft competition. competition strategy should be softened
because good relationships may be important for the future
of the project, especially if the other party is powerful and
potentially threatening.
– Passive avoidance. Instead of a direct refusal to negotiate,
negotiators can passively avoid negotiation by delegating
someone else to explore possible outcomes.