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Conflict Management
Conflict is inevitable because of the following reasons:
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Requirements of many stakeholders
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Limited power of the project manager
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Necessity of obtaining resources from functional managers
Conflicts can be avoided by Informing the team of:
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Exactly where the project is headed
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Project constraints and objectives
The seven sources of conflict in the order of their frequency are:
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Schedule
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Project priorities
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Resources
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Technical opinions
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Administrative procedures
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Cost
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Personality
Conflict is best resolved by those involved in the conflict.
Conflict Resolution
The key conflict resolution techniques are:
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Confronting (Problem Solving): Confronting means solving the real problem so that the problem goes away. Confronting leads to a win-win situation.
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Compromising: This is lose-lose situation, since no party gets everything. This technique involves finding solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to both parties.
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Withdrawal (Avoidance): In this technique, the parties retreat or postpone a decision on a problem. Dealing with problems is a PMI-ism; therefore, withdrawal is not usually the BEST choice for resolving conflict.
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Smoothing (Accommodating): This technique emphasizes agreement rather than differences of opinion
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Collaborating: In this technique, the parties try to incorporate multiple viewpoints in order to lead to consensus
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Forcing: This technique involves pushing one viewpoint at the expense of another
Problem-Solving Method
Problem-solving method could include:
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Define the root problem
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Analyze the problem
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Identify solutions
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Pick solution
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Implement solution
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Review solution and validate improvement