Workplace Referees: The Importance of Conflict Management As Project Managers
In the fall of 2016, I had the pleasure of taking Mr. Leslie "Jim" Sklenar as a professor for my Communications Management course. While there were many key takeaways from this course, the biggest takeaway for me concerned conflict resolution and management. Although this was not the primary purpose of the course, the brief overview of conflict resolution and management led me to a simple yet very relevant thought: It is not only the responsibility of a project manager to manage and control the triple constraint, but a project manager may need to also be a peer mediator. This year, during the fall of 2017 in an elective course titled "Special Topics in Project Management", Mr. Marcus Parker further broadened this perspective for me. A project manager's responsibility regarding conflict management is not limited to just peer mediation, but at times may require the project manager to be a teacher, a mentor, and (dare I say it), a referee.
Though initially insulting, think of the word "referee". What are referees? By definition, a referee is "an official who watches a game or match closely to ensure that the rules are adhered to and (in some sports) to arbitrate on matters arising from the play." To make this applicable project management, it is the responsibility of the project manager to closely monitor the resources, constraints, and work performance, to ensure that customer expectations are met, and to arbitrate on matters (conflicts) arising from the performance of project work.
To break this down further, lets consider the term "conflict". A brief google search of the term provides us with the following definition: "a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one." The problem with this definition is that it unintentionally puts a limitation on the term. Conflicts are often times associated with people. Although human resources (HR) are usually a primary cause of conflict and are likely the primary recipients of conflict resolution and management, conflicts can occur in various aspects of project management, not just HR.
Consider the knowledge area of scope management. We are all familiar with scope creep...which presents a conflict. As a project manager, the project charter, requirements documentation, and scope baseline are comparable to the [insert religious document] (this blog is PC) as it concerns project management. Scope creep creates an opportunity to deviate from project plans, incur cost overruns, ruin schedules, and so much more. While scope creep and gold plating are frowned upon, ultimately it is the role of the project manager to make the call. In this case, conflict resolution and management would involve managing customer expectations, communicating the impact of changes to the project, and ultimately making the decision of customer satisfaction vs. the triple constraint. Although it is not impossible to satisfy the customer with the originally planned outcome, product, or service, the conflict arises from having to tell the customer "no". Delivering bad news is no easy task, but can be resolved or managed through being proactive rather than reactive. Consider the unexpected customer request and propose paths forward that may satisfy the customer without sabotaging the triple constraint. Come up with appropriate plans for action and allow the customer to feel like they are making the decision by involving them in the process.
On a more broad scale, business strategies can create conflicts as well. The business strategy itself may not present a conflict (although it potentially could), but the way in which project selection, business processes, business goals, and business objectives align with an organization's strategy may present a conflict. My current coursework focuses heavily on internal business operations and how they make or break the success of an organization. If the mission and vision, goals and objectives, project selection, and business processes are not well aligned, this can create an internal conflict, where work being performed by employees does have a place in the overall strategy of the organization. Although a project manager may not typically have the clout nor power to make changes to components of the business strategy, there are tools available that a project manager may use to make recommendations. Through the use of tools like SIPOC diagrams and business process maps, a project manager may adequately document current business processes, identify gaps and opportunities, and present that information to someone higher in the organization (i.e. Project Sponsor). While this may be outside of the project manager's job description, it is certainly not out of their jurisdiction to make recommendations that would allow the project team to be able to work more efficiently, and likely prevent ongoing or unforeseen conflicts.
It is certainly the responsibility of the project manager to be a peer mediator, but conflict resolution and management goes so much further than resolving petty disputes between project team members. It is the responsibility of the project manager to understand how conflict arises in all knowledge areas, and be prepared through extensive risk analysis and management, stakeholder management, and proper communication management. The project manager should try to understand the mission and vision of the organization, communicate that to the project team, and ensure that all project work adds value to that mission and vision. As the project team's referee, the project manager should know and understand all of the key players, understand internal business rules, and provide fair and proper leadership so that they may be prepared for conflicts as they arise.
Though initially insulting, think of the word "referee". What are referees? By definition, a referee is "an official who watches a game or match closely to ensure that the rules are adhered to and (in some sports) to arbitrate on matters arising from the play." To make this applicable project management, it is the responsibility of the project manager to closely monitor the resources, constraints, and work performance, to ensure that customer expectations are met, and to arbitrate on matters (conflicts) arising from the performance of project work.
To break this down further, lets consider the term "conflict". A brief google search of the term provides us with the following definition: "a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one." The problem with this definition is that it unintentionally puts a limitation on the term. Conflicts are often times associated with people. Although human resources (HR) are usually a primary cause of conflict and are likely the primary recipients of conflict resolution and management, conflicts can occur in various aspects of project management, not just HR.
Consider the knowledge area of scope management. We are all familiar with scope creep...which presents a conflict. As a project manager, the project charter, requirements documentation, and scope baseline are comparable to the [insert religious document] (this blog is PC) as it concerns project management. Scope creep creates an opportunity to deviate from project plans, incur cost overruns, ruin schedules, and so much more. While scope creep and gold plating are frowned upon, ultimately it is the role of the project manager to make the call. In this case, conflict resolution and management would involve managing customer expectations, communicating the impact of changes to the project, and ultimately making the decision of customer satisfaction vs. the triple constraint. Although it is not impossible to satisfy the customer with the originally planned outcome, product, or service, the conflict arises from having to tell the customer "no". Delivering bad news is no easy task, but can be resolved or managed through being proactive rather than reactive. Consider the unexpected customer request and propose paths forward that may satisfy the customer without sabotaging the triple constraint. Come up with appropriate plans for action and allow the customer to feel like they are making the decision by involving them in the process.
On a more broad scale, business strategies can create conflicts as well. The business strategy itself may not present a conflict (although it potentially could), but the way in which project selection, business processes, business goals, and business objectives align with an organization's strategy may present a conflict. My current coursework focuses heavily on internal business operations and how they make or break the success of an organization. If the mission and vision, goals and objectives, project selection, and business processes are not well aligned, this can create an internal conflict, where work being performed by employees does have a place in the overall strategy of the organization. Although a project manager may not typically have the clout nor power to make changes to components of the business strategy, there are tools available that a project manager may use to make recommendations. Through the use of tools like SIPOC diagrams and business process maps, a project manager may adequately document current business processes, identify gaps and opportunities, and present that information to someone higher in the organization (i.e. Project Sponsor). While this may be outside of the project manager's job description, it is certainly not out of their jurisdiction to make recommendations that would allow the project team to be able to work more efficiently, and likely prevent ongoing or unforeseen conflicts.
It is certainly the responsibility of the project manager to be a peer mediator, but conflict resolution and management goes so much further than resolving petty disputes between project team members. It is the responsibility of the project manager to understand how conflict arises in all knowledge areas, and be prepared through extensive risk analysis and management, stakeholder management, and proper communication management. The project manager should try to understand the mission and vision of the organization, communicate that to the project team, and ensure that all project work adds value to that mission and vision. As the project team's referee, the project manager should know and understand all of the key players, understand internal business rules, and provide fair and proper leadership so that they may be prepared for conflicts as they arise.
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