Question

Hi

Can you please assit with the following question.

How would you manage conflict in a project environment?

Answer 1

Conflicts arrises from various factors, it may be internal factors or external factors. Some of the factors which gives rise to project conflicts are :

- lack of funds

- command from multiple boss

- more stress situation

- depleting resources or lack of resources

- confusions in roles and responsibilities

- lack of communication skills

- different personalities and different perceptions

HOW TO MANAGE CONFLICT IN PROJECT ENVIRONMENT

1) Clearly defined policies

The policies, rules and regulations of the project should be clearly defined to all the team members. There should not be any confusions regarding any guidelines of the project.

2) Understand human behavior

As a project manager it is very important to know the human behavior, how an individual behaves or reacts to certain situation. Understanding human behavior can resolve many conflicts.

3) Cultural difference

There are different cultures followed by different individual. A project manager should make sure that no team members are hurt because of the culture they follow as this is regarded as sensitive matter and can hurt the feelings of an individual giving rise to conflicts. There should not be any discrimination between the team members.

4) Individual personality

Every individual is unique in his own way. Personality and perceptions differs from one individual to other. This will lead to the conflicts as the individual view point differs. Hence the project manager should exercise his authority over his team members in a proper way so that there is no conflicts between the team members.

5) Knowledge of the environment

As a project manager, he should have knowledge about the internal and external environmental forces. It includes staff, team members, rules and policies of the company, about stakeholders, government policies etc.