Project Management

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How do you deal with conflicts?

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Andrey Grubin PMP, PMI-ACP Brooklyn, Ny, United States
Conflict is a common issue at workplace. Do you have necessary skills to deal with the most basic conflicts at work? What do you think are the best techniques to deal with conflicts at any time?
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Joseph Pangan Senior Principal Consultant| Genpact Philippines Angeles City, Philippines, Philippines
Know and pick you battles.

- Set ground rules
- Acknowledge the conflict and engage
- Understand the conflict and discuss what is in it for conflicting parties to resolve the conflict
- Not all conflicts are worth it. Choose wisely. Do not be dragged.
- Learn from conflicts
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3 replies by Angela Even, Paphatpisit Klinklan, and Salvatore Castellano
Oct 09, 2017 9:05 PM
Salvatore Castellano
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I agree with these, but also you have to put yourself in the other person's shoe....depending the situation though, adapt to the situation.
Understand why this situation is happening, maybe it's a misunderstanding...don't get too caught up in emotions.
Mar 05, 2021 6:01 AM
Paphatpisit Klinklan
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Agree with this suggestion.
Feb 06, 2022 3:51 PM
Angela Even
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Set Ground Rules. That is vital. Everyone on the team needs to know the expectations ahead of the project.
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Salvatore Castellano Ptoject Engineer| Aerospace Industry Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada
Oct 05, 2017 8:42 AM
Replying to Joseph Pangan
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Know and pick you battles.

- Set ground rules
- Acknowledge the conflict and engage
- Understand the conflict and discuss what is in it for conflicting parties to resolve the conflict
- Not all conflicts are worth it. Choose wisely. Do not be dragged.
- Learn from conflicts
I agree with these, but also you have to put yourself in the other person's shoe....depending the situation though, adapt to the situation.
Understand why this situation is happening, maybe it's a misunderstanding...don't get too caught up in emotions.
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Vishakha Sharma PMP, PSM, Sr Project Manager, Agile and Scrum, Delivery Manager| Artha Learning, Swiftwin, Tech Mahindra Ltd, Upside Learning Solutions Pvt Ltd Pune, Maharashtra, India
1. Listen and understand both the ends who are in a conflict.
2. Let them put forth why they feel they are right and why do they think that other person’s views are incorrect. Each one gets an equal chance to speak.
3. Evaluate what are the positives in each one’s ideas. And in fact let the conflicting team discuss on pros and cons of each one’s ideas.
This will also open up everyone’s mind and they will start seeing other person’s views and ideas.
Facilitate and get involved in such discussions initially, and later you can tell your team to follow this process to sort out the matter.
One of the two will convince the other based on actuals and facts. And eventually they will start putting the problem down on a table and positively discuss on each one’s idea / solution.
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1 reply by RK J
Aug 03, 2019 2:46 AM
RK J
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It is very important to resolve the conflicts without any delay and drags. Otherwise it will have huge impact on project in many ways.
We shoild talk to both the parties seperately and try to understand both the views.
Finally we need to bring both of them to the table and try to convince both of them for a solution
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Vishakha Sharma PMP, PSM, Sr Project Manager, Agile and Scrum, Delivery Manager| Artha Learning, Swiftwin, Tech Mahindra Ltd, Upside Learning Solutions Pvt Ltd Pune, Maharashtra, India
On a more people management front - As a project manager, best is to keep calm while trying to get everyone to resolve the matter, and give equal opportunity and respect to each one in conflict.
In conflicts, often one’s ego gets hurt. So it is important to ensure that equal respect is given to both - who is right and who is wrong. Depending on the team member’s personal attitude, special care should be taken if the person feels insulted after loosing the conflict. Try not to pick a side, because this will only decrease the trust the second person has within you.
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1 reply by Tony Yang
Nov 22, 2019 4:03 AM
Tony Yang
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yes, when a conflict happen, both of two will angry and hope to be approved, at least should be respected. so try not to pick a side is very important, then should keep them cool down,know the conflict all information as possible as you can. because two people's conflict happen maybe cause by other people. then if you can let both of them set on adverse side to think. that will be a good way to solve the conflict.
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David Kachoui Director of Business Development| Natech Plastics New York, Ny, United States
Any manager has the responsibility of facilitating productive group dynamics and interactions. Conflict is important for a healthy work environment. If the conflict is productive, give the team this feedback and encourage more. If it strays into disrespect or lack of listening, it can lead to dysfunction, so the manager must address that.

The underlying issue is most likely that both parties need to develop certain skills to be able to engage in productive communications.
1. Give the feedback to the individuals as a team - very important that you do not do this privately
2. Identify the needed skills
3. Put together the specific learning activities to help them develop these skills
4. Coach them through these learning activities
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Jess De Ocampo Lean Six Sigma Professional/Project Manager/Consultant/| . Manila, Ncr, Philippines
Handling conflict in the workplace?
1. Talk with the other person.
2. Focus on behavior and events, not on personalities.
3. Listen carefully.
4. Identify points of agreement and disagreement.
5. Prioritize the areas of conflict.
6. Develop a plan to work on each conflict.
7. Follow through on your plan.
8. Re-orient the team (again) on house rules, code of conduct
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1 reply by Shivanjali Bhutkar
Jul 01, 2021 12:28 PM
Shivanjali Bhutkar
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great points! All are stakeholders but conflicts need to be listened to and settled. Many times negotiation also comes in when parties don't agree on single idea. At the end, project success is the goal.
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ATHANASIOS GKOLAS PMP - PMI-RMP-BIM Manager | OMITEM Consulting Engineers S.A Athens, Greece
Conflict can occur in any organization. Its causes can range from personality clashes and misunderstood communication to organizational mismanagement.
To manage conflict, should consider the following:
1. Acknowledge the conflict.
2. Focus on the problem, not the person.
3. Choose the right time and place to talk.
4. Listen to their perspective.
5. Avoid accusations and blame
6. Develop a plan for resolution
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Andrey Grubin PMP, PMI-ACP Brooklyn, Ny, United States
Thank you all for your feedback and suggestions on this topic!
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Andy Wu SAP Application Manager| SANY America Inc Peachtree, Ga, United States
Dealing with conflict is dealing with people , for a heath organizational environment, with all policies defined, it is good to go from normal approach , like everybody mentioned, be a listener , be a solution provider , be a doer. However , in the reality , a lot of organizations are not good at management, for those , finding a good leader with power who can understand and support you looks like a short cut.
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Md. Masudur Rahman Project Manager| Pride Group Dhaka, Bangladesh
Acknowledge the issue by listening carefully, then try to understand the situation.
Focus on the issue not on the person.
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