Project Team Building,
Conflict and Negotiation
PA-404
Building the Project Team
Team building and conflict management are two of the most important
people skills that project managers can cultivate, but they are also two of the
most difficult undertakings. We must recognize that no project team comes
fully assembled and ready to go. Simply grouping a collection of diverse
individual together is not the same thing as building a team.
Effective project team do not happen by accident!
Steps in building the project team
Identify necessary skill sets
Identify people who matches the skills
Talk to potential team members
Build in Fallback positions
-Try to negotiate for personal assistance
-Adjust project schedules and priorities accordingly
-Notify top management of the consequences
Assemble the team
Skill inventory matrix
Responsibility Activity Matrix
Characteristics of effective project team
A clear sense of mission
A productive interdependency
Cohesiveness
Trust
Enthusiasm
Result Orientation
Reasons why teams fail
Poorly developed or unclear goals
Unclear Goals permit multiple interpretations
Unclear goals imped the willingness
Unclear goals increase conflict
Poorly defined project team roles and interdependencies
Lack of project team motivation
The project is perceived unnecessary
The project may have low priority
Poor Communication
Poor leadership
Turnover among project team members
Dysfunctional behavior
Stages of group development
The process of group development is a dynamic one. Groups go through several
maturation stages that are readily identifiable, are generally found across a variety of
organization.
Stage One: Forming
Members get to know each other and lay the basis for project and team ground rules.
Forming consists of the process or approaches used in order to mold a collection of
individuals into a coherent project team. In this stage members are primarily unaware
about the purpose of the project. The earlier this stage is completed , the better.
Stage two: Storming
Conflict begins as team members begin to resist authority and demonstrate hidden
agendas and prejudices.
Storming refers to the natural reactions members have to the initial ground rules.
Members begin to test the limits and constraints placed on their behavior. Storming is a
conflict-laden stage in which the preliminary leadership patterns, reporting relationships,
and norms of work and interpersonal behavior are challenged are perhaps,
reestablished.
Stage three: Norming
Members agree on operating procedures and seek to work together ,
develop closer relationships, and commit to the project development
process.
Stage four: Performing
Group members work together to accomplish their tasks.
Stage five: Adjourning
Group may disband either following the completion of the project or
through significant reassignment of team personnel.
Conflict Management
One study has estimated that the average manager spends over 20% of his time dealing with
conflict!
Conflict: Conflict is a process that begins when you perceive that someone has
frustrated or is about to frustrate a major concerns of yours. Conflict is a process and
it is dynamic.
Types:
1. Goal Oriented
2. Administrative
3. Interpersonal
Sources of Organizational Conflict
1. Reward System
2. Scarce Resources
3. Uncertainty
4. Differentiation
Interpersonal Causes of Conflict
1. Faulty Attributions
2. Faulty Communication
3. Personal Grudges and Prejudices
Methods of Resolving Conflicts
Mediate the Conflict
Arbitrate the Conflict
Control the Conflict
Accept the Conflict
Eliminate the Conflict
Negotiation Strategies
SEPARATE THE PEOPLE FROM THE PROBLEM
One of the most important ideas of negotiation is to remember that
negotiators are people first.
Put yourself in their shoes
Don’t deduce their intentions from your fears
Don’t blame them for your problems.
Recognize and understand emotion: theirs and yours
Listen actively
Build a working relationship
FOCUS ON INTERESTS, NOT POSITIONS
There is an important difference between the positions each party adopts and
the interests that underscore and mold those positions. When we refer to
“interests,” we mean the fundamental motivations that frame each party’s
positions. As Fisher and Ury note, “Interests define the problem.”
It is not the positions taken by each party that shape the negotiation nearly so
much as it is the interests that are the source of the parties’ fears, needs, and
desires.
INVENT OPTIONS FOR MUTUAL GAIN
Managers sometimes put up roadblocks for themselves, making it
difficult to consider win-win options when negotiating.
Managers can have premature judgment.
Some managers search only for the best answer.
Managers assume that there’s only a “fixed pie.”
Thinking that “solving their problem is their problem” is another roadblock.
INSIST ON USING OBJECTIVE CRITERIA
