Take your project career to new heights with AIPM membership. Join now to unlock the benefits of Australia’s leading body for project professionals.
Take the quiz
Join thousands of project professionals across Australia who have powered their career prospects with RegPM™ certification.
The demand for project management skills continues to grow across a range of industries, and professionals are building lucrative and rewarding careers.
For nearly 50 years, the AIPM has been driving project management across Australia.
02nd Mar 2021
On a daily basis, project managers interact with various people, from team members and cross-functional teams to stakeholders and clients. In doing so, you often need to set and manage expectations, manage different ideas that come up and balance competing priorities.
With so many people, opinions, ideas and tasks involved, the chance of conflict arising is relatively high. If not managed correctly, conflicting interactions can quickly get out of control and derail even the best laid-out projects.
Whether you are currently working in the industry or are thinking of starting a career in project management, conflict management is an essential skill to have. With this in mind, consultant and author of A Servant’s Heart-Leadership That Inspires, Arpan Roy, delves deeper into three key elements that are at the heart of resolving conflicts effectively. For expert advice on conflict management in project management situations, read on.
Before we launch into our three key elements of effective conflict management, it’s important to define what conflict in project management is and why it’s paramount that you know how to successfully navigate it.
Conflicts are common in any sphere of life and can arise for many different reasons in project management. When the needs, goals, or values of different project stakeholders interfere with one another, conflict is likely to occur. Whether caused by poor communication, inadequate leadership, irresponsible behaviour, insufficient resources, an overly tight deadline or a limited budget, conflicts are almost inevitable in project management.
While conflicts may seem like something to avoid, they should be viewed as an opportunity for different people to raise problems, highlight unforeseen issues and come to conclusions. Without effective conflict management skills, unresolved conflicts can hinder productivity, lower morale and lead to inappropriate behaviour.
In order to ensure the success of any project, the project manager should be well versed in conflict management and aware of their resolution style.
All of these interactions can be a trigger for conflicts to take shape. If not managed, it can all get out of control very quickly.
If conflict management is an area you would like to improve your skills, this article is for you, as consultant and author of A Servant’s Heart-Leadership That Inspires, Arpan Roy looks at three key elements that are at the heart of resolving conflicts effectively.
Now that you have an understanding of what conflict is, why it can occur and the importance of conflict management in project management roles, we can get into our first tip for effectively managing conflict.
Even before you look at how to resolve conflicts, it’s essential to develop a mindset that serves you. I recently had the opportunity to discuss this topic with a few leaders. One thing that stood out was how they felt their conflict resolution skills improved as they embraced a positive mindset.
A positive mindset influences your language and what you focus on. Both of which are instrumental in resolving conflicts.
With this mindset, there are two key things to focus on as we approach a conflict:
Leaders with great conflict management skills are great listeners, and they give others the time and space to express their opinions. This not only helps them understand others but also makes them feel heard and valued.
You will have greater clarity on resolving a conflict when you understand its source and type. Often, leaders struggle to resolve disputes because they don’t comprehend the root cause.
Firstly, you look at identifying the source. What is the conflict about, what triggered it? Please note the emphasis here needs to be on what rather than who.
You then work out which of the below types the conflict is about.
Once you understand the type of conflict, you can address it accordingly. You might find it insightful that identifying the source of conflict can be linked to our mindset with which we approach a conflict. If you show curiosity, and are willing to listen to others, it greatly enhances your chances of identifying the source, and resolving a conflict effectively.
As you look at resolving conflicts, or even put in processes to prevent them, this is an important aspect to focus on; what’s right rather than who’s right.
Why would this work well? Firstly, it takes the ego out of the equation. Think about it, in a tense environment, if someone were to call you wrong and the other person right, how would you process that?
In the heat of the moment, chances are, not very well. Conflicts escalate when we take things personally, when we start thinking that others are out to undermine our self-worth, even though this may not be the others’ intent at all.
Focusing on what’s right rather than who’s right is a great way for you to diffuse the tension in your space as it stops people from taking things personally.
The other advantage of doing this is to hold people to a common factor. It could be a specific result, a standard or benchmark, or maybe a criteria. This makes things more objective and creates greater alignment. It also becomes easier to hold people accountable to what guidelines have been established. Imagine bringing this approach to a project kick-off meeting. It would be a great way to set and manage expectations across the board.
Your conflict management skills can often be a make or break factor for your project’s success. Adopting a positive mindset, understanding the conflict better and focusing on what’s right can help you manage conflict in your project management role.
As the saying goes, “The quality of our lives does not depend on whether we have conflicts or not, but how we respond to them”. In many ways, this applies to projects as well. So how would improved conflict management skills serve you and your project?
If you’re looking to give you a competitive edge in your project management career, receiving our Registered Project Manager (RegPM) certification will prove to employers and colleagues that you have the skills, knowledge and capabilities required to successfully manage projects.
To find out more about our RegPM certification, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team or read more on our national certification online.
Innovate, drive change, and motivate your project team to succeed through our series of project leadership workshops.
A contract management plan is key to successful contract management. Find out why you need one and how to create one here.
Learn about the contract management process and build your contract management skills with practical tips from a lawyer.
Find out about the range of project delivery methodologies and how you can build robust project delivery skills.
Enter the destination URL
Or link to existing content