This is the third of six articles that discuss key skills for successful project managers. The extract posted here will be published in its final form in a forthcoming book, Delivering Value with Project Management, by Woods & Marshall (2023).
Link to Skill #1: Leadership, Power, and Influence
Link to Skill #2: Motivation and Teamwork

Strong interpersonal and technical skills help project managers excel at their work and enable others to see them as effective leaders and managers. In this series of articles, I will share six key interpersonal skills that project managers should focus on developing.

Skill #3: Negotiation and Conflict Management

Conflict management and negotiation are essential power skills for project managers. Conflict in projects arises when there is disagreement about some aspect of the project. Proactive conflict management requires the project manager to continuously monitor stress levels in the team to anticipate the likelihood of rising conflict. Monitoring resource utilization levels in the project schedule and staying connected to project team members are critical activities that the project leader must perform.

Conflict in a project is to be expected because of the level of stress, lack of information during the early phases of the project, personal differences, role conflicts, and limited resources. Although good planning, communication, and team building can reduce conflict, the conflict will still emerge. How the project manager deals with the conflict results in the conflict being destructive or an opportunity to build energy, creativity, and innovation.

To manage conflict, project managers must know how to negotiate for the good of the project. Negotiation is an active process where you try to get an agreement between the people involved in a situation where there is disagreement. In any project, the project manager, the project sponsor, and the project team will have to negotiate with stakeholders, vendors, and customers to reach an agreement acceptable to all parties involved in the negotiation process. Negotiation is necessary when stakeholders disagree on what is to be included or not included in the project scope. A project manager will need to facilitate discussions between the competing stakeholders to determine the best decision for the project.

There are several approaches to managing conflict(1). Different approaches are recommended based on the characteristics of the conflict and the quality of the relationship between the individuals engaged in the conflict.

Collaboration involves developing a solution that fully satisfies both parties but requires a high level of trust between the people involved, and plenty of time to develop the outcome. This requires high levels of cooperation and assertiveness to push toward a “win-win” solution. This is the ideal response to conflict on projects, and the project manager should always have collaboration as the goal.

To resolve conflict collaboratively, a project manager should evaluate the situation, develop a shared understanding of the problem, develop alternative solutions, and work with involved parties to select a solution.

However, due to time constraints and level of authority, project managers may need to consider one of the other approaches.

Compromise involves developing a solution that partially satisfies both parties and requires participants to be willing to give up concessions to resolve the conflict. This approach results in partial wins for both parties to the agreement, and the results may be less than satisfactory but allow the project to move forward.

Accommodating is a response that requires one party to allow concessions to maintain harmony and goodwill. This response typically arises when the two parties to the conflict have unequal power, such as a disagreement between the project sponsor and a project team member. In this case, the project team member may have to concede their position to resolve the conflict.

Forcing, on the other hand, occurs when there is not enough time to collaborate or problem-solve, and an urgent response is required. This type of conflict resolution may be necessary when critical decisions need to be made, or a quick response is required. Project managers may need to force an end to conflict within the team if there is not enough time to work out an agreeable resolution. Project managers should not rely on force to resolve conflict because doing so repeatedly will erode the trust the team has in their leadership and support.

Avoiding or withdrawing is another option when encountering conflict. This occurs when no one engages in the conflict, and the conflict does not get resolved. While this is technically a response, it is not encouraged because avoiding conflict may lead to increasing problems within the team or with stakeholders. Ignoring problems early in a project often leads to bigger and more expensive problems later on in the project.

Most project managers have a default approach that has emerged over time and is comfortable. For example, some project managers find using the project manager’s power the easiest and quickest way to resolve problems. “Do it because I said so” is the mantra for project managers who use forcing as the default approach to resolving conflict. Some project managers find accommodating the client the most effective approach to dealing with client conflict. The effectiveness of a conflict resolution approach will depend on the situation. The forcing approach often succeeds when a quick resolution is needed and the investment in the decision by the parties involved is low.

How good are your negotiation skills? Assess yourself here: https://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3095

Next week we will discuss the importance of emotional intelligence for project managers.

About the UNG Press

The information presented here is an excerpt from a forthcoming book that will be published by the University of North Georgia Press, a scholarly, peer-reviewed press. UNG Press is an extension of our sponsoring university, the University of North Georgia. Our primary function is to promote education and research, with a special emphasis on innovative scholarship and pedagogy.

For media inquiries, please contact the University of North Georgia Press at ungpress@ung.edu or call 706.864.1556.

References

(1) Schaubhut, N. A. (2007). Thomas-Kilmann conflict mode instrument. CPP Research Department; Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. (2020). Developing Management Skills (10th ed.). Pearson.