Team Conflict: The Nature Of Conflict And Project Management

roject team conflict can be healthy because it tends to strengthen the team after it is resolved. Conflict forces people to confront a situation, identify causes, and look for solutions. Understanding the nature of conflict and how to resolve it is just another tool that should be in every project manager's toolbox.

Nature of Conflict

The BussinessDictionary.com defines conflict to be, "Friction or opposition resulting from actual or perceived differences or incompatibilities." In other words, conflict is a disagreement where the parties involved perceive some threat to their needs, interests, or concerns resulting from:

* Varied perspectives on the situation
* Differing belief systems and/or values
* Differing interests and/or objectives

Benefits of conflict include:

* Better ideas
* The team is forced to search for new approaches or solutions
* Team members are forced to clarify views or positions
* Tension stimulates interest and creativity
* Long standing problems are surfaced and dealt with

Dealing with Conflict
Conflicts and disputes are a natural part of human behavior and should not be considered undesirable or a sign of failure. The project manager is responsible to identify and resolve conflict between team members on his or her project.

Conflict resolution requires active listening. Each party wants their perspective to be heard and will not be satisfied until they have expressed what it is that they want and why.

When all sides have been heard, the project manager should begin by seeking out common ground between the participants. Here are some hints:

* Maintain self-esteem and respect everyone's perspective
* Avoid taking rigid positions
* Seek common ground when possible
* Collaborate
* Listen. Paraphrase if needed to confirm understanding

3 Step Conflict

Keep an open mind and identify potential solutions. Evaluate the advantages/disadvantages, cost/benefit, or pros/cons for each one.

3. Select a Solution

Select and agree on a possible solution or combination of those suggested. Implement and evaluate the outcome. Be flexible and willing to make adjustments if necessary to improve on the solution

10 Conflict Resolution Strategies

1. Avoidance: it is possible to avoid conflict without resolving the underlying dispute. The parties may agree to disagree and that no further action is required

2. Compromise: involves working out a middle ground that satisfies all parties to some degree. This can be called the win-win approach.

3. Confrontation: this approach focuses on identifying the underlying problem and choosing solutions that allows the involved parties to work through the disagreement.

4. Smoothing: de-emphasizes the differences between the points of view and focuses on commonalities

5. Withdrawal: involves avoiding or retreating from the conflict or potential conflict and allows the involved parties to work out the conflict on their own

6. Force: requires one of the parties to yield to the point of view of another. It is called the win-lose approach and can increase