In some projects, there will be several different types of teams with different types of work to complete. The relationships between these teams and their team leaders can have a profound influence on the project, with the potential to either enhance smooth working or cause damaging disruption. If the work of one team is dependent on the timing or quality of a previous team, there is potential for conflict if anything goes wrong.
PAUSE FOR THOUGHT
Think back to projects you know about or in which you have played a part. From your experience, note down some of the ways in which you have seen teams add value to a project, and some ways in which projects can be disrupted by uncooperative teamwork.
Value can be added at any stage of a project if teams focus on deliv- ering the best that they can to their customers. In some cases this may be another team that develop the project on the basis of the first team’s work. Usually value can be added by finding out more about what customers really want and delivering the best that can be produced within the scope and budget of the project. Teams that achieve all that is required of them within the resource limitations and hand over their part of the project helpfully also add value. Value can be added by using the learning from working on the project to improve working practices. New skills can be developed through project work, includ- ing skills in teamworking, supervision, coaching and peer support.
You have probably thought of many other ways in which value can be added.
Teams also have considerable power to disrupt. They can delay work so that their tasks are not completed on time, and they can work carelessly and produce work of a poor quality. They can allow per- sonal interactions to cause conflict and stress. They can adopt atti- tudes that present a poor image of the organization to external stakeholders. They can simply behave badly.
Uncooperative behaviour is normally addressed informally and face to face in the first instance. If behaviour continues to disrupt progress, however, 154 Managing projects in human resources
more formal procedures will be needed. It might be necessary to establish a framework for performance management within the project. Many of the essentials are already in the plan, so it would not be difficult to assign specific objectives to individuals to detail the contribution that they are expected to make to their team’s work and the outcomes that the work must achieve.
Conflict is a risk to the success of the project. You can manage this risk as you would with any other type of risk – in a controlled manner. The man- agement process is vital from the beginning to the end. Identify the risks and analyse them, develop a risk mitigation plan and then monitor the risks.
Example 13.1 Risks from conflict
An experience project manager was discussing his experience of con- flict becoming a risk in projects. He said:
It is inevitable that conflict will develop at some stage in any project team composed of people with different personalities, backgrounds, experiences and specialist skills. Interpersonal conflict may arise where people do not want to get along because of different specialisms, racial prejudices, ethics, morals and the like. Typical causes of conflict include break- down in communications, conflicting objectives and lack of trust.
Ambition, jealousy and simply the wrong ‘chemistry’ are not unusual. There is often fear of change, or fear that some inad- equacy or failure will be exposed.
There are many approaches that can be taken to reduce the possibility that conflict will damage the project. Staff can be asked to work together in an initial team-building workshop to identify any conflicts that they can predict might arise. The risk of conflict is strong wherever there is personal interac- tion in an essential channel of communication. When these are likely to arise from specialist approaches or different professional concerns, the team mem- bers may be much more aware of the dangers than the project manager. If the team are involved in identifying the risks and preparing contingency plans for the project, this can become a positive contribution to effective working across specialist and professional boundaries.
The risk of conflict will not disappear even if it is discussed and under- stood. The project manager will still need to consider what action can be taken if conflict develops. A project manager needs to be alert to signs of conflict.
These will include clashes of interests and raised voices, although sometimes Managing people and performance 155
it will be less obvious if people feel frustrated or blocked from voicing opinions, and may only be evident if individuals become reluctant to be involved in areas of work.
There are five useful approaches that a project manager might take to manage conflict when it develops:
࿖ Allow the conflict. If the conflict seems to be useful in helping to bring important issues to the surface you may decide to allow it to proceed. If people seem to be accepting that differences of opinion need to be ex- pressed and considered, it is probably best to encourage open discussion and to work with those involved to identify solutions.
࿖ Smooth and support. It may also be possible to leave conflict to run its course if the cause is temporary and the situation will soon change, al- though you may have to be sympathetic and offer some temporary support to those who are particularly uncomfortable.
࿖ Prevent conflict. Sometimes it is possible to predict potential conflict and take action to prevent it from happening. To do this you have to know your team members well and take time to think through how you expect the situation to develop.
࿖ Contain conflict. Allow the conflict but prevent it from spreading beyond the area of work where it is useful or tolerated and not causing damage.
࿖ Reduce or eliminate the conflict. This will usually require the project manager to take action to change the situation in some way.
Sometimes the causes of conflict are structural and a project manager can reorganize things to reduce the potential for conflict. It might be possible to improve communications or even to substitute a member of staff if this becomes necessary. Making changes in the organization of the project or the roles and responsibilities of staff may also help to reduce the opportunity for conflict. At worst, if it is not possible to manage conflict informally, it is pos- sible that more formal procedures like grievance or disciplinary actions will become necessary.
As the project progresses, circumstances may change and there will be dif- ferent pressures that may encourage competition or collaboration. Ideally, a project manager will notice the dynamics that change and develop, and can be prepared to intervene if necessary.
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