We all know how frequently a small disagreement within the team members can flash-over into a full conflagration in no time, scorching you and your colleagues in minutes. What it means is that you as the leader of the project team need to think on your feet and take a quick decision to douse the flames before they have any significant negative effects on the team and project outcome.
Conflict resolution does have some trusted and tested techniques that can be used as per the specific situation. These techniques are listed as below;
Confronting: A resolution technique that involves face to face dialog and focuses on win-win outcome.
Compromising: This is where stakes are small and both parties looking for a quick resolution.
Smoothing: One party loses or obliges for the sake of achieving the overall larger goal or for future trade off.
Avoiding: Temporary solution to postpone issue for future. Leads to recurrence of the issue.
Forcing: Win lose situation where one party wins at the expense of other party; rarely brings a lasting solution.
The best answer is to have a conflict resolution mechanism set ahead of time - for example ground rules for the project team. This is something that team already has in place and agrees to abide by and has a buy in from all affected members.
The reason this is the best alternative to choose because trying to resolve a conflict when tempers are high may lead to distrust from one of the parties. While if you have ground rules laid out well in advance, there is no way it could be ignored by any party privy to the conflict. What has to be done is ascertain the facts and view it from the perspective of the rules already in place! Team norms should ideally be established when the unit is first formed. These are rules that help the group run effective meetings and make sure everyone is heard. Some examples of team norms:
Meetings will begin promptly when scheduled.
One person talks at a time; there are no side discussions
De-personalize discussion of issues - no attacks on people
E-mail and other communications will be answered within 24 hours.
In event of a disagreement, a final decision would be made by the PM/GM
When we pose an issue or a problem, we will also try to present a solution.
No responsibilities will be assigned unless the person being assigned the responsibility accepts it.
Do you have your ground rules set up for your project team?
Shyam Verma, PMP, ITIL
IT Project & Program Delivery Professional
LinkedIn:spverma. Twitter: Shammy11
This article is also available on blog site http://pmpower.wordpress.com/
Shyam Verma is seasoned Project & Program Management professional with strong technical background, Program management, Key account management & Service Delivery for global clients. He has over 15 years of experience in IT solution delivery in a variety of business domains spanning North America, Japan & Asia Pacific.