CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Conflict Resolution in Project Management

Executive Summary

The probability of conflict increases while managing a project. The potential for conflict in project management is usually high because of the involvement of individuals having different personality, frame of mind, personality and behavior. In project management different tasks are assigned to different people according to their particular skills and expertise which increases the likeliness of conflict as well. The individuals involved in the project are from different backgrounds working together to complete a complex task. Hence, there is often a clash in their ideas and opinions. This purpose of this paper is to enlighten and examine the reasons and factors that are responsible for the conflict in project management. The chances of conflict in project management increases when the projects are related to the industry of information technology. IT industry is very vast and diverse field which requires a lot of effort and hard work. The origin of conflict is initiated when the people involved in the conflict interact with each other. Due to the interaction and the clash of ideas originating from different frame of minds conflict occurs. The probability of conflict in IT industry increases due to the sophistication of the tasks assigned; the industry of information technology is very complex field and requires a lot of ideas and visions to complete the task. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether conflict in project management is inevitable even when the project is properly managed. This paper will discuss different types of conflicts and different styles and approaches used to resolve them. This topic is relevant to all IT professional because it aims to enlighten different stages of project management and provide solutions for the conflict that are originated.

Conflict Resolution in Project Management

Introduction

Project management refers to all actions required to meet a definite need within the deadlines. Thus, as the project is a temporary action that has a beginning and end, using identified resources (human and material) during its execution, and that costs should be budgeted resources and a balance sheet separately from the company. "End products" refers to the expected outcomes of the project. The difficulty of managing a project is largely on the number of people involved (Pinto, 2007). In fact, in contrast with personal or internal projects in small scale for which the need and the response to this need can be provided by the same person or a limited group of people, in a project in the professional sense, the term of need and satisfaction of this need is generally the responsibility of different people. This increases the probability of conflict while managing the project; hence, it is said that “conflict during project management is inevitable”.

Thus, it is necessary to ensure (for the duration of the project) that the product is being clearly meets the expectations of the "client." In contrast to the traditional commercial model ("Seller" / "purchaser") in which a customer buys a product and manufactured to meet your needs, the ...