Conflict is the conflict between plan and reality, or the conflict between different expectations between people, or the conflict between people's interests. Conflicts have two different natures. Conflicts that can promote and improve work or help team members progress can be called constructive conflicts; on the contrary, conflicts that hinder the progress of work and are not conducive to team unity are called destructive conflicts. . Among them, constructive conflict has a positive effect on team building and improving team efficiency. It increases the talents and abilities of team members and provides diagnostic information for organizational problems.
In a project environment, conflicts are inevitable. Inconsistent demands, competition for scarce resources, miscommunication, schedule prioritization, and differences in individual work styles can all be sources of conflict. There are seven main types of conflicts: schedule, project priorities, resources, technology, management process, cost, and personal conflicts.
Project day managers must be able to find the cause of the conflict, and then actively manage it to minimize potential negative impacts. Team rules, team norms, and mature project management practices all help reduce conflict.
Factors that influence conflict resolution methods include: the relative importance and intensity of the conflict; the urgency of resolving the conflict; the positions of the parties to the conflict; and the motivation to resolve the conflict permanently or temporarily.
Five commonly used conflict resolution methods (withdrawal, appropriate and forceful):
(1) Withdrawal/avoidance, withdrawing from actual or potential conflict, deferring the problem until it is fully prepared, or pushing the problem to other personnel for resolution. Both sides are not active in solving the problem and do not want to cooperate. Retreat is a temporary conflict resolution method.
(2) Moderation/accommodation, emphasizing agreement, downplaying differences (even denying the existence of conflict); unilaterally making a step back in order to maintain harmony and relationship. This is a generous and lenient approach, for the sake of harmony and the overall situation, to accommodate the other party, or to temporarily put aside the disputed point and seek to cooperate with the other party on other non-controversial points. De-escalation is also a temporary conflict resolution method.
(3) Compromise/mediation, in order to temporarily or partially resolve the conflict, to find a solution that can satisfy all parties to a certain extent. Both sides are willing to resolve the conflict decisively and cooperate in attitude. Both sides got what they wanted, but only some, not all. Both sides made concessions, both gained and lost. Compromise is a two-sided tolerance, and tolerance is a one-sided compromise.
(4) Coercion/ordering, at the expense of other parties, to implement one party's point of view; only provide win-lose solutions. Often, power is used to force an urgent problem. One wins and one loses.
(5) Cooperate/solve problems, comprehensively consider different viewpoints and opinions, adopt a cooperative attitude and open dialogue to guide all parties to reach consensus and commitment. This is the ideal outcome for both parties to the conflict, provided that both parties are respectful, cooperative, and willing to listen to each other. Project managers need to develop the skills and experience to be able to effectively adjust their conflict management style to the situation.
Conflicts are unavoidable, and project managers must actively manage conflicts. Five commonly used conflict resolution methods can be abbreviated as "withdrawal, appropriate and forced", namely: withdrawal/avoidance, relaxation/tolerance, compromise/mediation, coercion/order, Collaborate/solve problems. For more knowledge points and related exam questions over the years, please look for conciseness in the application treasure. If you are busy with projects and have thought about soft exams, you need conciseness!
