Resolving Conflict in Project Management

Syed is an experienced project manager with more than 14 years of ICT experience, successfully delivering high-value key projects across all domains of ICT services.

  Communications Management   Risk Management   Talent Management   Using PMI Standards  

A team working with a leading real estate developer was busy preparing to go live with automation of lease management, after investing heavily in the required resources. Just before the “go live” date came the sad news that the project had been shelved. For the team members, this news came as a surprise; they were not aware of the cause.

After formal closing of the project, it was revealed that at the heart of the project failure was a conflict between the VP of leasing and the CFO—an argument related to integration between the new leasing system and the existing legacy ERP. The takeaway here is that all conflicts—no matter how big or small—are harmful to projects. All conflicts impact time, cost and our credibility.

In this article, I will revisit conflict in view of project management, and bring into focus the importance of managing conflicts to ensure that our projects succeed to create the expected value.

What PMI Global Standards Say About Conflict
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) outlines conflict as an inevitable part of project environment. The sources of conflict can be varied from project to project, but—if it’s successfully managed—we can reduce or eliminate the negative impact on projects.

Conflict management is part of a project manager’s role, day in and day …

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