Project Conflict

By Dick Billows, PMP

Summary: Project managers can resolve conflicts using a number of techniques But other conflicts can't be resolved and rather than gteaminactioncorrect_1.2.mp4ive up, project managers should manage these feuds so they don't affect the project results.

Steps to Use in Analyzing a Project Conflict

1. What is the history of the conflict? What is currently happening?

2. What is your real need (interest) underneath your position? What is driving your attempt to win your position? If you have more than one interest, how would you prioritize them?

3. What do you think the other person's perspective is of the conflict?

4. What do you think is their real need (interest) underneath their position?

5. What is your BATNA? How can you strengthen it?

6. What do you think their BATNA is?

7. Do you foresee any problems pertaining to your feelings/reflexive conflict behavior that could arise during the discussion?

8. What can you do to prevent potential problems?

When we can't resolve the conflict we manage it.

BATNA is the acronym for Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. If you look at it from the simplest standpoint, your BATNA is the choice you can make if you conclude that negotiating with a particular party is not likely to yield a favorable result. You can walk away from a negotiation if your BATNA is better than the likely outcome of that negotiation.

BATNA, however, covers far more than that. One view says that BATNA is the measure of the balance of power in a negotiation. If other parties need you in order to reach their objectives, your BATNA is strong; your negotiating circumstances are strong. If you want to buy a new car and the same model is for sale at several car dealers, you have a strong BATNA because you can benefit from their competition for your business.

It is crucial to think of BATNA as having two stages in a negotiation. You start off with your 'walking-in' BATNA; the things you can influence or control before the negotiation begins. However, once negotiation starts, the BATNA is a dynamic element, changing as you derive information about the interests of other parties and their constituencies and as you compare the resources each party (including you) has available to bring about and fulfill an agreement.

You can think of BATNA in negotiation like playing a game of cards. Your walking-in BATNA may be the first cards you are dealt. In many card games, your hand may change during the play as new cards are dealt to you (and others). So your BATNA changes as new cards come into your hand. If those new cards are only known to you, you develop a greater understanding of your own apparent strength. If the new cards are dealt to all the players in a way that allows each player to see at least some of the cards in each player's hand, you learn more about the comparative strength of your BATNA. In negotiation, rather than looking at cards, we are assessing information about our own resources, those of other negotiating parties, and the influences on each negotiator from their constituencies.

By looking at BATNA as an ongoing, changing measure of negotiating strength, as a mechanism for deciding whether and/or when to quit, we develop a disciplined, informed approach to our negotiations.

How to Resolve Project Conflicts
Step number	Responsibility of	Actions to take
1	Project manager	Listens to each side of the conflict explain their position
2	Project manager	Decides whether this is a conflict that must be resolved for the project to be successful
3	Project manager	If the project manager must resolve the conflict, the next step is to determine what conflict resolution strategy to use: The project manager might analyze each party’s side, weigh them, and impose a solution on both parties. The strategy may be successful in the short term but it is not a long-term solution to many conflicts The project manager might ask each of the parties to compromise to a certain degree and reach a solution they can both live with. It’s kind of compromise may also not be a long-term solution. The project manager might ignore the conflict if resolution seems unlikely and if the damage to the project is slight.