Handle Conflict Like A Leader
Gathering individuals together and asking them to work as a group doesn’t always work as designed. Somewhere there will be a division of conflicting ideas and opinions. In asking team members to collaborate and provide answers to problems, each separate resolution may have its merit, but strong willed individuals will fight tooth and nail for their particular feedback to reign above all others.
This is where you, as the manager, bring conflict resolution to quell the situation. There are a number of methods you can apply to the different types of conflict you may experience.
Conflict that runs different to others and competes for attention has no regard for other viewpoints. It brings lots of tension, raised levels of emotions, and fosters a very poor amount of participation. Arriving to a front of agreement is difficult.
Avoidance of a situation is another method of conflict. By not participating in a project, dissatisfaction of how the project is being managed, procrastinating about a certain task, and refusing to address problems are all symptoms. Avoiding a task or situation only hinders the project and delays the inevitable resolution that will have to be performed at a later date. Better to handle the problem and move it out of the way.
A compromising conflict falls in the middle of the road, missing the goal of the project. Rather than make a hard decision, team members choose to take the easy route, fostering mistrust and a cynical attitude.
The opposite tact of an compromising conflict is the collaborating type, where the attempt to complete every aspect and desire suddenly becomes a primary task. Scope creep is known for this type of conflict, consuming project resources, time, and costs, while the project suffers from members attempting to do too much while missing sight of the project’s original tasks.
Delivering resolution to the different types of conflict is possible, and a necessity if you desire the project to arrive at its destination on time. Recognizing the type of conflict being used assists in locating an answer. Individuals that avoid making a decision will require a competing style of conflict to arrive at a fair judgement and move things along. In a situation of competing conflicts, bring other team members into the conversation to gain their thoughts and opinions.
An avoiding type of conflict is useful if smaller topics and issues that do not pertain to the project are on the table. Inviting the other team members to brainstorm and come up with ideas will generate answers to solve problems and move them out of the way. The first idea or answer may not be the best one for the situation.
Your own type of compromise may be required when team members refuse to move from their personal stances. In these instances, they may have lost sight of the project issues on the table. Stronger team members sometimes influence the weaker ones to give in. Weaker members may have ideas and opinions just as good if not better. Garner their input as well.
Other methods include putting together agendas to keep on point, and alleviate tangential discussions that divert the main topics. Brainstorming sessions where team members annotate their ideas and read them aloud means everyone has an opportunity to present their side.
A strong course in project management PMP training teaches project managers how to lead projects successfully, including the soft skills and project abilities of communication management, risk management, change management, quality control, task and delegation management and more. K Alliance is a very good source of business soft skills training and project management training courses.
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